Eleven Warriors

As Thomas Francis Gilroy once said, "With great traffic, comes expensive server upgrades." Or something like that...

On Thursday morning, at approximately 5am ET, we will be upgrading our server again. We're trying to position the site to withstand the unbelievable traffic we'll experience on National Signing Day (2/1), but if you're keeping score at home, this will be the fourth server upgrade we've performed (from a shared hosting account to a VPS6 box) since the start of football season.

This is clearly a good problem to have, but it's not cheap. Our server costs are approaching a nice car payment each month and I'd like to once again ask for your help. As you're probably all aware of by now, we're holding a fundraiser to hire our first full-time beat writer. The funds we raise will go to paying this person's (our first-ever real employee) salary and benefits as well as to help out with travel, technical, marketing and other exepsnese.

We're committed to keeping this site free and proving that model will work in the long run. We'd also like to keep the ads to a minimum. Some of our peers, who we respect immensely, resemble NASCAR rigs with the amount of ads and although we'd prefer to keep things clean/minimal around here, we can't do it without a little help.

Every little bit helps, whether you're a whale and want to party with the crew after the Spring Game or you just have a few bucks to spare.

Please consider donating today and we'll spare you further photos of Brian, our server tech.

...every Super Bowl match-up has featured at least one player on their rosters who played in the "Big 33" (PA/OH) All-Star Game.

This year's participants are:

New York Giants: (WR) Mario Manningham, (FB) Henry Hynoski, (LB) Chase Blackburn, (G) Chris Snee, (RB) Da'rel Scott, & (CB) Brandon Bing

New England Patriots: (QB) Brian Hoyer, (P) Zoltan Mesko, (FB) Lousaka Polite, (WR) Dorin Dickerson, & (C) Dan Koppen

Manningham - (OH)/Michigan Wolverines

Hynoski - (PA)/Pitt Panthers

Blackburn - (OH)/Akron Zips

Snee - (PA)/Boston College Eagles

Scott - (PA)/Maryland Terrapins

Bing - (PA)/Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Hoyer - (OH)/Michigan State Spartans

Mesko - (OH)/Michigan Wolverines

Polite - (PA)/Pitt Panthers

Dickerson - (PA)/Pitt Panthers

Koppen - (PA)/Boston College Eagles

This is also the 14th straight Super Bowl to feature an Ohio State Buckeye on one of the teams' rosters, the last game where there was not a Buckeye was the 1998 Super Bowl between Green Bay and Denver.

Well fellas, I have checked into my new command...I'm up against it with work, but a lot of good challenges ahead. I'm going to be very busy, mentoring all these young guys and sharing my experiences.banter

I'd like to thank you all for the conversations, insight and game day talk we've shared over the last 3+ years...this was a great find on my '08 deployment, and the only sane place to go during tatt-gate. I'll miss this stuff day in and out.

On a positive note, there are about 15 Buckeye fans onboard, so I have a lot of people to talk football with.

I'll still be around, not quite as frequent as I have over the last three years, but at least once a week, until 2015...then it's on...

Jason and Denny have my new e-mail address. If you want to keep in touch with me, give me a shout. (LA Buckeye, Buckeye Dude, Buckeye Ski, Pam M Man and others).

Let me start this off by saying how excited I am about Urban Meyer and the new coaching staff. They should do tremendous things for years to come at Ohio State. However, over the past couple months I've become increasingly annoyed at my Buckeye brethren (don't mistake me for saying I still don't love everybody on here and all Buckeye fans around the globe) and the majority of them who think Urban can do no wrong. Seemingly all of the sudden we forgot our former opinion of him (he was a snake to most of us.) Now yes, that has a lot to do with sour grapes after the 2007 BCS National Championship Game, but some of our criticisms were very fair. Let's not forget that this is the guy who retired twice before turning 50 citing health reasons and wanting to be with his family, only to return to coaching a year later. But now since we were the program he chose to return to, he can do no wrong and EVERY action he takes is an act of God. It is ridiculous and unreasonable. After the bowl ban was released, I openly questioned Urban's promise to recruits that there would be no more punishment and expressed relief that nobody decommitted. At the same time I stated that this was an oppurtunity for Urban to stick through a rough patch like he has never done before and prove he's not fragile like some have suggested based on his "retirements" (which both convienantly came after his two worst years as head coach anywhere.) When I said those things, I was not trying to say I dislike of Meyer. I was mearly trying to take an unbiased look at things. I was shocked at the response I got from a couple of users here. I was called a lunatic and called out by those I thought were very level headed about things. Now this Dominic Clarke incident comes to light and we won't even listen to the kid because he is just some "stupid kid ranting" about "URBAN MEYER GOD OMFG #$)%#$ URBGASM." I'm not saying Meyer did Clarke wrong, but I am saying that its ridiculous that we are dismissing Clarke's thoughts immediately because we are blinded by our love for Urban.

We need to get over this "Urban can do no wrong" phase as a fanbase. If we do not we will turn into the defenders of guys like Saban and Les Miles, who see clear misdeeds happening inside their program yet take them as deeds of God because they love their coach (and winning) so much. Tressel wasn't perfect. A lot of us thought he was. Yes, he is a great man, but he ended up having his flaws. Urban will have his flaws as well. I think it would be amazing if we could recognize those flaws (I recognize them as the flaws of college football, not exclusively Meyer) yet still embrace the amazing head coach we have in Urban Meyer. I hope I am not the only one who thinks Urban is imperfect. All of this is just my two cents.

GO BUCKS!

"Five-star quarterback Gunner Kiel has apparently had an 11th-hour change of heart and decided to switch his commitment from LSU to Notre Dame, sources tell Scout.com.

Kiel committed to the Tigers on Dec. 27, a pledge that came after the Columbus, Ind., native backed away from a commitment to Indiana on Oct. 21.

The nation’s No. 1-ranked quarterback prospect was scheduled to arrive in Baton Rouge on Jan. 14 as an early.

On Monday morning, multiple sources confirmed that Kiel was not on LSU’s campus – two days after he was set to arrive.

A source later said Kiel was not in a 3 p.m. meeting for early enrollees. A source also confirmed that Kiel was not yet enrolled in classes at LSU.

The spring semester begins on Tuesday, and students have until Jan. 26 to add classes.

Shortly after 9 p.m., Scout.com’s Dave Berk tweeted (@DMBerk), “Very good source just informed that ND players have been told Kiel to be in class on Tuesday (in South Bend).”

http://louisianastate.scout.com/2/1149386.html

Top quarterback prospect Gunner Kiel switches from LSU (via Indiana) to Notre Dame. I'm sure good old Beetface will ruin him emotionally in no time.

The post regarding the little four year old Bryson, his mower accident and the surprise hospital visit by Coach Tressel was touching and I believe is indicative of the moral character of this man.

A somewhat similar incident occured Dec. 18, 2006. Our family was in Columbus attending the funeral of our son-in-law, Army Captain Shawn L. English, a native of New Albany, Ohio who was killed in combat in Iraq Dec 06, 2006. Shawn left a wife, (our daughter) and 3 little boys ages 7, 5 and 3 at the time..

Somehow the news of Shawns death reached the Buckeye organization and our family was contacted and invited to watch the last practice at OSU before the game against Florida.

After the practice, Coach Tressel huddled all of the players at mid field and was giving a little pep talk. At the end, we heard hiom remark to his players that while the game was important, that what was really important was people like Shawn who were willing to give their life for their country. He then asked our family to come to center of the huddle where he continued to talk of Shawn and our families sacrifice. He then dismissed the team with the exception of Troy Smith and Ted Ginn who he had learned were idolized by our 3 young grandsons. Smith and Ginn got on their knees to be a little closer to eye level with our grandsons and talked to them about football. The 7 year old said "I am also a big fan of Anthony Gonzolez" Coach Tressel asked one of the assistants to "Go get Gonzo out here" Gonzolez came out and along with Tressel, Smith and Ginn presented each with autographed balls and jerseys. Coach Tressel then spent about a half hour with our family. Afterwards, Butch Reynolds was introduced and at our grandsons request ran up and down the field with them. (he of course lost)

What a wonderful way to take minds off of our tragedy for a short while.

As in the case of Bryson, Coach Tressel certainly demonstrated what is important to him in life.

It is my opinion these and similar situations by Coach Tressel dramatically outweighs any mistakes of judgement he made related to the player tattoo and uniform issue. His " five year banishment" by the NCAA not only creates a loss to collegiate football, but a loss to all in and out of football who may have been future beneficiaries of his compassion and gooodness.

He certainly always will be remembered by 3 little boys as such.

Curt Daily

PCB, Fl.

I'd say overall, things look pretty similar, subtracting the records. The OSU staff put TP in a better position to make throws he was capable of making in 2008 compared to BM in 2011, which is why I think you see the more yards, higher YPA, higher QBR, and less rushes through 12 games.  

Pryor had a better supporting cast (as well as coach) and it clearly shows through the records and the stats. Things will go up for Miller and I think his second year and third year wil bothl be better than Pryor's, which is scary, because we are talking about a guy who would have broke almost all OSU QB records and has these awards on his list:

Awards and honors
2007 Hall Trophy (U.S. Army Player of the Year)
2007 PARADE National Player of the Year and All-American
2008 Pete Dawkins Trophy (U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP)
2008 U.S. Army All-American MVP
2008 Big Ten Freshman of the Year (coaches)
2008 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (media)
2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Sportsmanship Award
2009 Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year
2009 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (media)
2010 Rose Bowl MVP
2010 All-Big Ten Honorable Mention (coaches and media)
2010 Big Ten MVP runner-up
2011 Miller-Digby Award (Sugar Bowl MVP)

Where's the best place to measure the human factor in any sport? On the field of play, damn it!

Let the press publish college football polls. But, why should its opinion determine who is the champion? This is the central issue behind the Mythical National Champion(ship). The fact that opinion has ANY official weight in this regard, is an affront to every college football player and defiles every single solitary son-of-a-bitchin' drop of sweat ever shed by every damn college football player who has EVER played! College football is played ON the field. That is where the champion must be crowned. It is NOT a matter of opinion. The official role of the polls in determining college football champions must come to an end, forthwith!

When the first AP poll was published, in 1936, it was easier for the deans of colleges and universities to loftily invoke the the sanctity of the scholar-athlete, as justification for leaving the crowning of champions to the press. Changes have come to college football - in the millions. This confederacy of institutional insincerity must give way. And as it does for basketball, the NCAA MUST sanction the championship of college football.

College football is about dates and times and places. It's also about oft-heard refrains like "showing up for work" and "taking care of business." So, why have the conference championships if - ultimately - someone's opinion counts more than the box score? The box score is the proof of work. Bama had its chance and didn't get it done. LSU - from the same division as Bama - did. Argue all day long about how good Bama is. Bama didn't get it done. Therefore, only a conference champ should face LSU - in the national championship game. I...will never recognize the winner of Monday night's game as...National Champion.

The road to the national championship must be a "Tournament of Champions."  Further realignment will be necessary.  ACC, B1G, PAC, SEC and four new conferences to be named later, can give us eight conference champions, annually. Don't believe it can't happen. Realignment has been a major subplot of the 2011 season. This realignment will refine what is now, two circuits of post-season play: the BCS and non-BCS bowls. The likes of the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange, Pinstripe, Rose and Sugar - rounds of 4 games, 2 games and 1 could be the venues wherein which, the national champion is crowned.

It's time for a cold weather bowl. It's monumentally unfair not to play, post-season college football games in cold weather. Warm weather teams have enjoyed this unfair advantage for far too long - arguably - rendering their national championships, more mythical than mythical. New York, Chicago, Denver, Seattle and Boston are prime venues for bowls. The pros play in snow. Crafty marketing can upend prevailing wisdom. All these sites are attractive to travelers. Vast sums await to be made.

As for academics, if we're past the point of rethinking the money issue, now's the time to rethink the academic issue, as well. Make playing football, a class or classes - like independent study - which can be credit earned, in lieu of electives. Virtually all the academic disciplines could be enlisted to consort with this realm of study. Players could write papers or produce multimedia presentations, in summation of their on-field efforts, at season's/term's end. Give them special flexibility to submit their work, given the amount of money they bring into, the school. This way, the rigors of athletics - a university endeavor - will not clash with the typical, academic schedule.

See: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/blog/ball_dont_lie/post/Harvard-Business-Sch...

I don't hold Vince Young's 2005 MNC Longhorns in high esteem - because they were handed the crystal, by a USC team high on itself.

By the same reasoning, the SEC's ongoing championship streak can be deemed fraudulent. It can be argued the SEC was USC's biggest beneficiary, between 2006-2008, when the Trojans lost a combined 5 games.

Had Southern Cal taken care of business (and pollsters been as generous - then - as they have been to Bama this year), I believe USC would have won two out of three BCS titles, against the SEC.

Alabama vs. LSU will not give us a true champion - because of the polls and the BCS. This game will merely make SEC-dominance, more mythical. 

Great story I came across. Go Bucks.

You won't be able to read or hear about this story on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, or the Columbus Dispatch this week. You see there is nothing, as a fallen people, that we like better than a story of a good man who also has fallen - sad isn't it. (Believe me, I know from personal experience!) We get a weird sort of pleasure reading about it, listening to all the details, and then making comments about it to our friends, family, and posting comments about it all over the Internet. Twisted - I know, but think of how many times we participate in this. Well, this is my blog and I've decided I'm going to do something different. I'm not going to condemn anyone, but I'm also not going to excuse anyone. What I really want you to see after this blog entry is that our legacies do not have to be defined by our failures, our sins, our mistakes despite what some TV commentator might say, but they can be defined by the grace of God working through us day in and day out.

Well, in light of that, I would like to remind you or maybe tell you for the first time my story of Coach Tressel and the legacy that he will carry in my family.

On Aug 17th my son was run over by a lawnmower. It just so happened that on that day Bryson was wearing his brand new #33 jersey. Bryson was probably the biggest 4 year old OSU football fan ever and was so excited about his new jersey . In fact, his dad had on a matching jersey. Turns out his daddy used his jersey to tie around Bryson's leg to stop the bleeding and Bryson's jersey was cut off. While I was in the emergency room with Bryson before he was life-flighted to Columbus Children's hospital he let me know that he was upset about his new jersey . I assured him we would get him a new one, but never did I dream how things would turn out for him.

Bryson had his leg amputated and then spent quite a bit of time in the hospital as he healed. During that time, through a series of events that I'm not even sure of, Coach Tressel was made aware of Bryson's accident and his love for the Buckeye's. It wasn't a couple of days later and Coach Tressel came to meet Bryson in person. He came alone: no cameras, no media, no support crew. He came. He encouraged. He let us tell him Bryson's story. He let us take his picture with Bryson. He gave Bryson some signed hats and a covered note pad. He promised to get Bryson to a OSU football practice and to an Ohio vs Michigan game (since that always falls on the weekend of Bryson's birthday). All of that was great, but what left the biggest impression on me was when he handed us his business card and wrote his personal cell phone number on the back. He told us to call if we needed anything - are you kidding me! Who does that! I will tell you - not somebody who is only interested in lining his pockets or winning football games. We were of no value to him, my husband is a youth pastor, we don't live in Columbus , & we aren't alumni of the university. We were just a hurting family who he took time for, in the middle of football season, to encourage.

He fulfilled his promises to Bryson. Bryson was able to go to two OSU football practices and went to the Ohio State/Michigan game the next year and sat in the most amazing seats. On the notebook he gave Bryson he wrote, "The Buckeyes are cheering for you."