Friday Skull Session

By Elika Sadeghi on February 1, 2013 at 6:00 am
119 Comments

Mornin' Sunshine!

Am I the only one that feels like the entire world is in New Orleans but me? I'm a bit jealous of everyone who's going to the game and the parties, sure; but I'm being severely taunted by the thoughts of all the amazing food everyone's consuming in the Big Easy without me.

Flashbacks to my own food endeavors in New Orleans for the Sugar-Bowl-that-never-was combined with all the Instagrams and TwitPics from everyone in NOLA this week are really making me understand why some people hate #foodporn so much. A thousand pardons from me to you, if I ever made you feel this way.

And now, moving on...

FIVE DAYS TO GO. I could tell you all an electrifying story of how a man named Justin Zwick proved to be the last straw for me in 2004, and I no longer followed recruiting as if I was going to be taking a midterm on who committed where. Or, I could just give you yet another, gentle reminder that our very own Alex, Derek and Miles are pretty amazing at keeping us all up to speed on Urban's latest targets so that the rest of can, you know, live our lives.

With five days to go until National Signing Day, Alex reported yesterday that WR Darren Carrington has canceled his visit to Ohio State this weekend. Carrington is a four-star recruit out of San Diego, and is currently pledged to Oregon. Alex speculated that a scholarship was no longer in the cards for Carrington once the Buckeyes landed Corey Smith. Despite the fact that I started this topic off by killing any modicum of recruiting credibility I may have had, I can actually confirm this one myself, as a very reliable source told me Wednesday morning that WR coach Zach Smith was on his way to the airport to visit a recruit at Horizon in San Diego, until he got a call that Meyer was no longer interested in the WR Smith was scheduled to visit.

College of DuPage OL Matt Finnin (Nebraska commit), who Alex reported yesterday had been offered by the Buckeyes, has decided to stick with his commitment to the Huskers. 

Ezekiel Elliott, an Ohio State commit since April 2012, surprised many of us by visiting Missouri recently and now the sharks are circling. Florida State offered the running back yesterday and reports surfaced that Alabama may have offered as well.

Lastly, five-star safety Von Bell, got a visit from Everett Withers last night. Withers was the last coach able to get a word in with Bell before he shut down his recruitment. Bell will be making his final decision this weekend. His final three are Ohio State, Alabama, and Tennessee. 

TIMEOUT. What better way to get a Buckeye's day off to a great start, than to tell a little story of a Wolverine getting called out? It appears the non-existent timeout calling, well-done meat eating, A1 requesting, Wolverine's game-calling on Thursday night, of the Mavericks' loss to the Warriors, wasn't exactly up to par for Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. When Cuban saw a tweet regarding Webber as a TV analyst, the following ensued: 

Also, just because, this is pretty funny

Columbus DispatchIt'll cost you a pretty penny.

I AIN'T SAYIN' SHE A GOLD DIGGER. Kyle reported earlier last week that Ohio State was considering football ticket price hikes for future seasons.

If approved, the rate hike, the first in three years, would start for the upcoming 2013-14 academic year. Ohio State will raise public ticket prices $9, from $70 to $79. Faculty and staff prices will increase from $56 to $64. Student tickets will go up $2 in 2013 and another $2 in 2014. Students paid $32 per game in 2012.

According to Doug Lesmerises of the Plain Dealer, the finance committee met yesterday with Gene Smith, and fully supported the plan to increase ticket prices for standard games, and introduce premium game pricing for up to two games per season. 

The Ohio State Board of Trustees is scheduled to vote on this later today, and is expected to approve it. 

 NFL PLAYER SAFETY. I had an opportunity to listen to DeMaurice Smith speak at a media event before the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl not too long ago, and despite all the extra attention that has been paid recently to football player safety, it was still an incredibly eye-opening experience.

Smith used an opportunity at a Super Bowl news conference yesterday to publicize some of his complaints with the NFL regarding player safety issues. Most importantly, Smith wants a system that verifies the medical credentials of all medical personnel on teams, and for the league to create a Chief Safety Officer position to look out for the well being of the players. Smith also referred to the referee lockout earlier this season as an example of disregard for player safety in the league. 

Domonique Foxworth, the union president, also voiced his complaints:

"The league, their No. 1 focus -- at least they say their No. 1 focus -- is health and safety. And we say our No. 1 focus is health and safety," Foxworth said. "How come we have such a hard time moving the ball on some health and safety issues?"

LINKS. LINKS. LINKS. In case you thought Saints fans were over it, they're not... Former Badgers really shouldn't be allowed to be this likable... The obsession with political correctness is going overboard... One of my favorite music videos of all time... These will never get old... But this joke kind of is... Please rise and remove your hat before clicking this link.

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