I'm not much into gloss (I think it's called #humblebrag these days) but I think it's safe to say 11W rose to the occasion – specifically DJ's masterpiece and Ramzy's usual brilliance – in exploring the impact of President Gee's tenure at Ohio State, and of course the media's take on his impending retirement. Site alum @steakandstiffarms also penned a fantastic ode to the good doctor.
As such, it's probably best that I stick to my typical attempts at sophomoric humor while looking at what else is happening in the world of collegiate sports.
With the national media's faux-outrage cooling off after receiving what they wanted all along, it's time to turn to their next punching bag.
Incoming athletic director and part-time learning disability diagnoser, Julie Hermann, was on the Rutgers campus yesterday as part of a damage-control event staged by university president Robert Barchi.
After meeting with the prez to discuss the future of Rutgers athletics and the impending transition to the B1G, Hermann also had the chance to hook up with B1G commish Jim Delany and a group of reporters as the school looks to calm the waters in the wake of revelations about Hermann's ability to attract lawsuits from former subordinates.
After staunchly denying any wrongdoing after the player-abuse story broke saying, "I never heard any of this, never name-calling them or anything like that whatsoever. The word 'whore' is not part of my vernacular. Not then, not now, not ever. None of this is familiar to me," Hermann seemed to back off that stance yesterday:
"That lesson of 17 years ago was honestly why I felt I was uniquely qualified, not only very qualified but uniquely qualified because I have been a student-athlete, been an assistant coach, been a head coach and now an administrator. I have been in every spot that exists in an athletic department, and I understand the challenges. I have been successful with them and I had a failure with them."
Wait. What lesson of 17 years ago are you referring to, Julie? That question probably won't even be asked now simply because Ohio State > Rutgers. That reality (as welcome as it is) makes Gee's words much more appealing than Hermann's actions when it comes to the ambulance-chasing faction of the national media.
COME GET YOUR PHIL. A few days back, the undisputed king of preseason football lists and rankings, the venerable Phil Steele, released his 2013 All-B1G teams and no less than six Buckeyes made his first team headlined by Braxton Miller, Bradley Roby and Ryan Damn Shazier. In fact, a total of 17 Buckeyes were named on the combined first through fourth-team squads with even guys like the wildly-unproven Curtis Grant picking up a second-team nod.
Yesterday, Steele unveiled his national preseason All-American teams and once again, the Buckeyes were well represented.
In a no-brainer, Roby was tabbed as a first-teamer and Shazier joined him as part of Steele's 12-man defense. Braxton Miller settled for second-team which is to be expected considering Johnny Heisman's return to College Station. Still, you have to like Miller slotting ahead of A.J. McCarron and Teddy Bridgewater.
Though I agree with the placement, I was a bit surprised to see Andrew Norwell pick up a third-team selection compared to Jack Mewhort's fourth-team honor. Mewhort typically gets more press than any of his offensive line brethren and plays the glamorous left tackle spot but on the field, I think Norwell is one of the more underrated linemen in the country and figures to have the best chance of carving out a role at the next level.
Either way, the Buckeye ball carriers should enjoy running through the left side of the line this season.
KITTS ABOUT TIME. The nation rightfully rejoiced Tuesday as Ed Hightower announced he would hang up his hairpiece whistle after the 2013-14 hoops season but even bigger news emerged yesterday.
Mike Kitts, the lesser-known but decidedly less-competent B1G hoops official, also announced he's riding off into the sunset after one more season of botched block/charge calls and countless unecessary trips to the video monitor.
Though Kitts will still be involved in what I assume DJ would call the zebra-hustle, and he'll do so with the fresh title of Coordinator of Men's Basketball Officials, I think it's pretty telling he'll be filling that role for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. That said, I'm sure the likes of Canisius, Marist and Iona are pretty used to awful officiating so the league shouldn't miss a beat with Kitts mentoring the officials.
Kitts: Quietly worse than Hightower for 30 yearsOSU SQUADS CONTINUE TO GET THEIR LEARN-ON. The NCAA announced yesterday that six Ohio State athletic teams have been honored with public recognition awards for their work in the classroom.
The term APR (Academic Performance Rates) has become a bit of a dirty word across the college landscape thanks to things like a program's academic standing taking a hit when kids turn pro and don't finish the current quarter or semester.
Calculated on a rolling four-year average, Ohio State's softball, women's volleyball, women's women's tennis, women's gymnastics and women's golf teams all posted perfect scores of 1000.
Urban Meyer's squad posted a score of 982 and was honored by the NCAA for ranking in the top 10% of all FBS programs, along with the other five teams. The football team now has a three-release streak of being honored as a top 10% performer.
Northwestern and Wisconsin were the only other B1G football programs to gain recognition from the NCAA. In case you're wondering, the Harvard of the West has never received an APR Public Recognition Award.
BOOMER SUE-NOR. A trim installer's lawsuit against Oklahoma State head football coach Mike Gundy is moving forward.
Brent Loveland is suing for over $10K in damages on the basis that he was canned for arriving to Gundy's home, aka the job site, sporting an Oklahoma Sooners baseball shirt.
According to court filings, Loveland asserts he was hired to complete trim installation, at a cost of $80k over a three-month period, on the Gundy home but was unceremoniously dumped based on his wardrobe choice, which he says was the product of dressing in the dark that morning.
In the lawsuit, Loveland accuses Gundy of approaching him on his first day on the job and saying, “How dare you come into my house and offend my wife?" According to the suit, when Loveland asked what Gundy was referring to, the coach replied, "That (expletive deleted) shirt you have on."
For his part, Gundy says there was no 13-month contract in place and that Loveland was on a day-to-day agreement. Wait, who the hell needs $86K worth of trim installed at their crib? If I'm paying $86k for "trim", I have a feeling it won't have much to do with my house.
HEADY NUGGETS. The last 33 years as told by CNN... I think this is called a porcu-plymouth... Is Phish a great band? Yes... Louisville's Kevin Ware is shooting jumpers... Rumor has it this dude likes Brenda... Hey! My eyes are up here! (NSFW, I suppose)... S-E-C! S-E-C!... 15 Of The Most Deformed Fingers In Sports... Gee's Greatest Hits... Cal has a new hoops floor... Global legality of prostitution...Devin Smith's 4x100 relay team placed 4th in their heat and 17th overall and will thus earn Honorable Mention All-America status... Passive-aggressive bro can't get Lay'd.
