Eleven Warriors

The Grizzlies won a tough 91-88 game in front of their home crowd. The win is their first home playoff win and second playoff win over the Spurs. They now lead the series 2-1 and could take command of the series with another home win. Our very own Mike Conley put up 14 points, 8 dimes, 6 boards, and 3 steals against only one turnover and three fouls. Not only that, but his tough D at the end helped prevent Ginobli from even attempting a shot in the closing seconds. Conley can give his team a great shot at winning their next game if he turns in a similar performance in game four. And I'm not at 125 words yet . . . . . hmmmm.

http://espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310423029

Just received a university release spelling out some of the details for the Jesse Owens Spring Game. Because of a lack of bodies, it had been disclosed that the game would be O vs D, but here we find out more about the format, such as the fact that the ball will be spotted to create game-like situations with 3-6 scripted plays to follow.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Jesse Owens Spring Game honoring America’s finest is this Saturday as the Ohio State football team holds its annual spring scrimmage, presented by Nationwide, at Ohio Stadium. The football action will be in an offense-vs.-defense format, with both units battling for the right to wear the scarlet jerseys for August practice.

The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team will host Fairfield in an ECAC Lacrosse League game at 11 a.m. in the first portion of the doubleheader, with the football scrimmage beginning at 1:30 p.m. The Big Ten Network will televise both contests. Gates will open at 10 a.m., and the popular FanFest will begin at 10:30 outside St. John Arena. The Jesse Owens Classic in track and field will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and will resume Sunday at noon.

In the football scrimmage, the ball will be put in play at various spots to create a variety of game-like situations. Each drill will consist of 3-6 scripted plays. If the offense sustains its drive on its first possession, it will be allowed to continue the drive beyond the scripted plays to its conclusion.  However, if the first drive is stopped and the offense starts over, the drive will end on the prescribed play no matter where the ball is located. Penalties will be assessed and will not count as a play if accepted. If the penalty is rejected, the play will count. Points can be scored by both the offense and the defense according to predetermined values for first downs, turnovers, long plays, etc.

Tickets are $7 in advance and $15 on Saturday at the stadium. Advance tickets may be purchased at the Athletics Ticket Office, online at OhioStateBuckeyes.com, through Ticketmaster and at area McDonald’s locations. Day of game sales are cash only. Ohio State students get into the game free with a valid ID. Children age 6 and under will be admitted free of charge. Seating is general admission. Proceeds from various events surrounding the scrimmage benefit the Ohio National Guard Family Readiness and Warrior Support Program, LiFE (Learning in Fitness & Education) through Sports Program and the Ruth and Jesse Owens Scholars Fund.

Special recognitions during the day will involve members of the Jesse Owens family and Buckeye football All-Americans. A number of active military and veterans groups, along with their families, will also be recognized. OSU coaches will wear military caps and the football team will be wearing special helmets painted in a silver, gray and black camouflage pattern registered and designed specifically for Ohio State. Each helmet will feature an American flag decal on the front and a Jesse Owens commemorative decal on the back, along with decals in memory of Jake Nickle, an OSU weight room volunteer, and Colleen Dobbins, daughter of assistant men’s lacrosse coach Dave Dobbins.

 

Open parking will be available in most of the lots surrounding Ohio Stadium. Shuttle service will be provided free of charge to fans parking in West Campus lots beginning at 9 a.m.  Disability parking is available in the lot directly east of Ohio Stadium. RV parking is at Bill Davis Stadium.

Saturday’s forecast calls for rain throughout the day.  Please be sure to dress appropriately; umbrellas cannot be used in Ohio Stadium. 

Buckeye fans set national records when 95,722 were on hand at the Horseshoe for the football Spring Game (2009) and 31,078 watched the lacrosse action in 2010.

http://www.daytondailynews.com/dayton-sports/high-school-sports/ohsaa-sa...

This really ticks me off. I feel the OHSAA is about as corrupt as the NCAA. WE need spring football in Ohio. The southern schools have had this advantage for years now. SEC dominance anyone? What's the harm of a 2 week non-contact instructional practice session? I say follow suit with this issue and separate public and private school playoffs. The OHSAA uses the best interests of students as a disguise to serve their own best interests. If a kid is blessed with the physical and athletic skills to play collegiate or pro football, then why not offer them help to reach their goals? Any student chasing an academic scholarship is afforded all the opportunities he or she needs to achieve that. Don't give me the "concerned about the student/athlete's future" argument. We are talking about a small percentage of students with special abilities. Go pro as early as you can. Get the money. You have your whole life to pursue an education.

From a university release:

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Big Ten Conference announced its 2013 and 2014 conference football schedules today. Ohio State, a member of the Leaders division, will play four home and four away league contests in each of those seasons.

In 2013, the Buckeyes open Big Ten play hosting Wisconsin Sept. 28. Other Big Ten games in 2013: Oct. 5 at Northwestern; Oct. 19 vs. Iowa; Oct. 26 vs. Penn State; Nov. 2 at Purdue; Nov. 16 at Illinois; Nov. 23 vs. Indiana; Nov. 30 at Michigan.

Ohio State has two non-conference dates confirmed for the 2013 season: Aug. 31 vs. Vanderbilt at Ohio Stadium; and Sept. 14 at California.

In 2014, Ohio State begins Big Ten action hosting Purdue Oct. 4. Other Big Ten contests in 2014: Oct. 18 at Iowa; Oct. 25 vs. Northwestern; Nov. 1 at Wisconsin; Nov. 8 vs. Illinois; Nov. 15 at Penn State; Nov. 22 at Indiana; Nov. 29 vs. Michigan.

The Buckeyes’ non-conference games for 2014 are Aug. 30 vs. Navy in Baltimore; followed by three games at Ohio Stadium: Sept. 6 vs. Cincinnati; Sept. 13 vs. Kent State; and Sept. 20 vs. Virginia Tech.

The champions of the Legends Division and the Leaders Division will meet in the Big Ten Football Championship Game on the first Saturday of December, with the winner earning the Big Ten Championship and a chance to play in the Rose Bowl Game or Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game. The inaugural Big Ten Football Championship Game will be played in prime time on December 3, 2011, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, while the second Big Ten Football Championship Game is scheduled for Dec. 1, 2012, at a site to be determined. FOX Sports will serve as the official broadcast partner of the 2011‐16 Big Ten Football Championship Games.

Woo -- here's to playing in Evanston when it's not ice cold.

First posted by Stephan at Inside The Shoe

After the loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16, I was absolutely heartbroken for this group of seniors.  If there was ever a class that deserved a national championship, it was this group.

Eddie Days, Jon Diebler, Dallas Lauderdale, David Lighty. The class of 2011.

For four (or five) years, these kids’ blood, sweat and tears went into making Buckeye basketball the rising power that it is today.

For Lighty and Days, their journey began in the 2006-07 season that ended in a loss to Florida in the national championship game.  Despite making the team as a walk-on, a concern about Days’ heart kept him out of that season.  He finally made it back on the team as a walk-on before last season.

David Lighty was a role player on that national runner-up squad, but was a starter for the remainder of his career.  Lighty suffered a foot injury in December 2008 that caused him to miss the remainder of that season.  Lighty holds the NCAA record for most appearances with 157.

Dallas Lauderdale. The ultimate team player. If the Buckeyes needed to go small for a game, he didn’t complain about his lack of playing team.  If they needed him to play 25-30 minutes, he would play like it was his last time on the court.  Despite free throw form that might make you cringe, Swatterdale came to play on a nightly basis.  And he has a mean falsetto.

Jon Diebler. Sharpshooter extraordinaire.  Diebler is the all-time 3-point shooting leader for Ohio State and the Big Ten with 374 made.  It’s scary to think how many more he would have had if he had shot better that 29 percent during his first season on campus.  If the Buckeyes needed a big 3-pointer, there was no one you’d rather have with the ball in his hands than Threebler himself (something he proved in the loss to Kentucky with an ice-cold 3-pointer to tie late in the game.)

Diebler celebrates another B1G championship with his teammates
Enough with the details, now I’m going to try to explain how this class finally put Ohio State on the map in the basketball world.  Obviously, Thad Matta has a lot to do with the success.  Before this class, Buckeye basketball only showed blips of the potential it finally put together over the past four years.  Some may claim that the “Thad Five” class of Greg Oden and Mike Conley and others may be better than this, but I disagree.  Yes, that class got to a Final Four and a national championship game, but they did not show the dedication to this university like these kids have.  Oden, Conley and Daequan Cook all left after their freshmen year.  Othello Hunter left after his sophomore year.  Only David Lighty stuck around for graduation.

This class has quite a list of accomplishments.  An NIT championship their freshmen year, a heart-breaking first round loss in the NCAA Tournament to Siena their sophomore year, Big Ten regular season and tournament champions their junior and senior years, and losses in the Sweet 16 in each of their last two seasons.

Ohio State has always been a football school.  Football runs through Buckeyes fans’ minds first and foremost.  But with the rough patch that the program has hit over the past few months since “Tatgate,” Buckeye fans could put all the trouble in the football program out of their minds, 40 minutes at a time.

David Lighty: A True Buckeye
This team was fun to watch.  They looked like they enjoyed playing basketball. And, perhaps most importantly, they looked like a team.  The seniors had bonded over their four years together, and they took the young ones under their wing.  These guys genuinely liked each other.  There are times where teams do not hang out with each other outside of the locker room and practice court.  This group of Buckeyes had fun.

This class changed me from a casual Buckeye basketball fan, to one resembling the person I become during Buckeye football games.  During close Buckeye football games, I tend to pace back and forth while watching.  During the final 5-10 minutes of the Kentucky game, I found myself to be doing the same thing.  This told me something.  Ohio State was no longer a football school with an ok basketball program.  The basketball program had arrived.

The arrival began with Matt Sylvester’s game-winner over then undefeated and number one Illinois in Matta’s first season.  That put Ohio State basketball on the map. But it was only because of an upset, and only for a short period of time.

I really began following Ohio State basketball late in the 2006-07 season.  From the 49-48 victory over Wisconsin to the huge shot by Ron Lewis to force overtime against Xavier in the second round to the 20 point comeback against Tennessee in the Sweet 16 to the loss in the national championship game against Florida.  I was upset, but not as upset as I was after the loss to Kentucky this year.  I had nothing invested in that team. I hadn’t followed them for very long.  I hadn’t grown emotionally attached to them.

After the NIT Championship season, I thought maybe this group could form something special.  I saw this group in person for the first time at Dayton in the first round against Siena.  In a game the Buckeyes should have won, they showed flashes of the excellence that would come over the next two seasons.  That team was playing without David Lighty, arguably the best defender Thad Matta has ever had (future Aaron Craft may disagree, but he’s got three more years to prove himself.)

It took 5 years, but Days finally scored for OSU
In the 2009-10 season, like most Buckeye fans, I had my doubts after Evan Turner went down with a broken back.  The rest of the team stepped up and showed that they could play without him, but they were a much better team with “The Villain” in the lineup.  After he returned, Turner carried that team on his back, all the way to a Big Ten Championship and the Sweet 16.  After the loss to Tennessee, Turner decided to enter the NBA Draft and wound up as the second overall pick to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Losing the National Player of the Year, no one could have foreseen the season the Buckeyes had this year.  Instead, with a mix of veteran experience and young talent, Ohio State started the season with 24 straight victories and finished with a 34-3 mark.  There’s no doubt this team liked to have fun, but once the lights were on and it was gametime, it was all business.  They overlooked no one, playing every game as if it were their last.

I have to admit, it will be tough to watch the Buckeyes without the stifling defense of David Lighty, the 3-point sniping of Jon Diebler, the shot blocking ability of Dallas Lauderdale and I will miss the crowd chanting “Edd-ie! Edd-ie! Edd-ie!” whenever the Buckeyes get an insurmountable lead.

After all that, I only have one message for this group of seniors.

Thank you.

• Rex Kern
• Stanley Jackson
• Joe Germaine
• Troy Smith
• Craig Krenzel
• Terrelle Pryor
• ... Shane Falco (Had to, deal with it!)

I'm sure there will be additional names in your mind for one reason or another. That is a list for me that represents a buttload of diversity. It also represents my age. 'Baby Face' Germaine & Stan 'The Man' Jackson were in my teenage years. Krenzel was in my early twenties. Troy. Didn't know what to put after Troy there. Seems it speaks for itself. Rex Kern & the 'Super Sophmores'. TP, countless games won on his ability.

Everyone has their own mental list. We all take with us a memory of who we believed in. Who we wish could've been around longer. That particular player or core, represented something special to you. For me, there will probably never be another '02. A generation a bit older might say there would never be another '68. Each holds the line against the other. I might also say I was lucky enough to be a part of the tOSU experience that not many have in regards to intimacy with a team (Germaine/Jackson Era). I remember going to Mill Run as a 'youngin' for a team movie. I remember the sidelines. I remember sitting in on a recruiting visit ... It amazed me to sit in a upside down Buckeye helmet. It amazed me that Scott's father (Walt) was used to this type of thing. I also remember that terrible FG game against a certain state up north on the visit above. The rainy atmosphere also hindered the girl I was hoping to develop a relationship with, something I still haven't buried the hatchet w/Mother Earth on. Walt still reminds me of how down I was after. Those QB's were MINE! I knew they could put it together for this game. My best friends Dad was their coach for freaks sake, they have to win! Whoops, not true. People are mortal & make mistakes. Things happen out of your control.

----

When you think of what you have loved/hated in regards to tOSU Football, QB is involved with your top list. We are very obviously in a transition (Not sure I can call it a transition at this point) to a more mobile system. Looking at the progression over the years makes it clear that our aim is to continue the Troy, Pryor mold. I don't link those two names as in they are the same (So don't try it yourself!), but the obvious steer towards QB mobility is evident. Times change and our own sport evolves. Efficiency vs Mobility. The grail is someone who can do both, without issue. Military personnel will tell you that regardless of what you've seen in games ... you can't actually run & gun. It's not Xbox. It isn't a simulation. There are issues that arise.

So the question is, do you want a mobile QB who makes the plays with his feet first or do you want one who makes them with his arm first? Is there a happy medium? Did you love a dual QB system? Hate it? Want someone who can make receivers superstars? Don't care, get the down? Eliminating the '02 championship as a qualifier, just based off games and you, would you prefer Krenzel over TP? Hell no, TP any day of the week?

(P.S. - Again, planned to bring this up previously on just preference and not the crap that has started since. Hoping we can not flame out into goofy territory)

I am trying to think about next year now. Even though I am still gloomy over the state of our football program and our early exit in the tourney, our immediate future (at least in basketball) is indeed bright.

I am 100% confident that Jared Sullinger returns next year, however, I think Buford bolts for the NBA.

We are lucky to have a guy like Aaron Craft, who I believe is a four year player who will develop into one of the best players in the country by his junior and season seasons. Another guy, Deshaun Thomas, will benefit most from this upcoming off season in my opinion. I think his first full off season will turn him into a more complete offensive threat. Thomas is another guy who I believe will stay at least until his junior year.

Then we have a trio of players: Jordan Sibert, Lenzelle Smith Jr., and J.D. Weatherspoon who will be sophomores next year looking to contribute more than they did this year. I think at least one or two of these guys (Sibert for sure) will be a significant contributor off of the bench. And who knows, maybe Sibert starts at shooting guard next year if Buford leaves.

I also can't forget the underrated recruiting class that Thad has put together. Shannon Scott (PG), Amir Williams (C), Sam Thompson (SF), and LaQuinton Ross (SF) are all four star players according to ESPN. A three star, Trey McDonald (C) rounds out the class. Although I think McDonald and Thompson will have to wait a year or two for their turn, I think Scott, Williams, and Ross could all contribute. Especially Scott and Williams.

Here's my opinion on next years depth chart to finish off this comment.

Starters:

Aaron Craft (Point Guard)

Jordan Sibert (Shooting Guard)

Deshaun Thomas (Small Forward)

Jared Sullinger (Power Forward)

Amir Williams (Center)

Bench (6th, 7th, 8th players):

Shannon Scott (Point guard)

LaQuinton Ross (Small Forward)

Lenzelle Smith, Jr. (Shooting Guard)

Bench (Bench Warmers):

J.D. Weatherspoon (Small Forward)

Sam Thompson (Small Forward)

Trey McDonald (Center)

Any walk on's

So, I've caught a little bit of feedback for labeling this team an "underachieving disappointment" in the game recap.

I feel I tried to clarify how I feel about this team and I truly don't feel the comment was an emotional knee-jerk response as I tried to summarize the game that ended hopes of a national title. Clearly, I'm aware of what this team accomplished by winning the regular and postseason conference titles. In no way am I trying to diminish the accomplishments of this team. I have stated on a few occassions that they are my favorite collection of players in hoops ever since I started following the Buckeyes. I'm 37.

For me, I guess maybe I get too caught up in the end result of sport. I stand behind my comment, though it was beyond without malice, because I felt early in the year this team was capable of winning it all. Then as the season unfolded, it became clear they were the best team in the land. Finally, they were awarded the #1 overall seed by the committee and nobody in America questioned that distinction.

So, the question is, considering what the team accomplished versus what they didn't - failing to get out of the Sweet 16 as the #1 overall seed - do you feel this team underachieved? Do you feel the end result was a disappointment? Do you think both? Do you think neither?

Why do you feel the way you do? I'm extremely curious to see what some well thought out responses to this look like.

First posted at Inside The Shoe

Ed. Note: This is part 1 of Danny's response to Brady. Part 2 will come next week and will cover more of the financial part of it all.

Moving to a playoff system in the Division formerly known as 1-A is all the rage these days.  Everyone, from U.S. Senators to NBA owners (of all people) has thrown their ideas out into the open.  Now, while the BCS is not a perfect system by any means, I think it has taken some unnecessary heat.  All I would like to do is defend the current system a little bit, so people can stop complaining and whining for a playoff system, and just enjoy the great game of college football.

To everyone that thinks the BCS is the worst thing that has ever happened to college football, what did you think of the pre-BCS years?  There was no designated National Championship Game.  The conferences were very tightly bound to certain bowl games.  Now, bear with me, because conference names have changed a bit, bowl affiliations basically amounted to the Big Ten champion (see: Ohio State or Michigan) playing the Pac-10 champion (also known as USC) in the Rose Bowl, the SEC champion playing an at-large bid in the Sugar Bowl, the former Big Eight champions meeting an at-large in the Orange Bowl, and the South West Conference champions playing another at-large in the Cotton Bowl.  The ACC as we know it now (with Florida State, Miami, and Boston College) was not intact yet.  These at-large teams were either second place teams in major conferences or independent teams that may have played a very weak schedule (PENN STATE).
Under this system, the top ranked teams rarely played each other.  If the Big Ten and the Pac 10 were both down during a season, but USC ran the table and won the Rose Bowl, they could have been crowned national champions easily, even though another conference, say the Big Eight, might have been stacked with great teams and their conference champion had only one loss.  If the teams that were ranked #1 and #2 in the polls met in any bowl game, it would have been considered the game of the decade.  Fast forward to today.  There are still bowl games, and conferences are still affiliated (although much more loosely than before), and the top two ranked teams play in the final game, every single year.

           
Now, getting to those top two teams, that is a completely different story.  There is the AP Poll, the Coaches Poll, the Harris Poll, ESPN Power Rankings, etc, etc, etc.  Everybody ranks teams.  What the BCS decided to do was take the two biggest polls and average them out with a computer generated ranking to cancel out any bias.  On paper, does that not sound like fantastic idea?  You can’t just take the human polls, because people will vote for who they think is best.  If a reporter covers the Big Ten, how many Pac 10 or SEC games do you think he or she watches every week?  If I was given a choice between Ohio State and a team with completely identical statistics, I would think Ohio State is better every time.
 

People have bias, whether it is intentional or not.  Computers can’t decide the champion on their own, either.  There is a difference losing a game on a blown call by a referee or losing the game because your team made mistakes.  Humans can judge that, computers can’t.  All computers can do is look at your record and at the records of the teams you beat, to determine if your wins are really all that meaningful.  But, by combining the two you can determine the two teams that the majority  of people think are the two best teams in the country, and then let those two teams settle it on the field.

Again, I want to reiterate that I do NOT think the BCS is the solution to all our problems.  It won’t cure diseases or create world peace.  But what it does do is produce a national champion in college football that more people can agree on than in any other time period in the history of the sport.  And how Ohio State fans, of all people, can complain about the BCS is just beyond me.  The BCS has been kinder to the Buckeyes than it has to any other institution.  Ohio State has appeared in three national championship games and eight BCS games overall.  There are also immense financial implications of switching to playoff system, but that is another post for another time. 

I believe the idea here is that Brady will respond to my post, and then I, in turn, will write another beautifully crafted article with superior arguments to his.  Which is fine with me; the financing of major college football is more than enough for a post of its own.

First posted at Inside The Shoe

Ed. Note: The first in a series of posts between Brady and Danny on what system is better: The BCS, or the Playoffs.

The NCAA basketball tournament is at full throttle and our Ohio St. Buckeyes have been as good as advertised up to this point. George Mason hardly stood a chance on Sunday with OSU’s onslaught of 3 pointers and the physical presence of Jared Sullinger on the inside. The Buckeye’s move on to Newark, NJ to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Friday night. With any luck, and continued hot shooting from the outside, OSU will move to the regional finals against the winner of North Carolina/Marquette for a chance to head down south for the Final Four.

Without a doubt, March Madness is this country’s greatest sporting event. The excitement and revenue that is generated from this tournament is astronomical. There are upsets and buzzer beaters every year that get your heart pumping no matter what team you root for personally. Nothing can compare to the drama that Cinderella teams such as Butler and George Mason create when they beat the odds and take down national powers. I am not a huge Basketball fan by any means but am gripped annually by this event.

With all the success and excitement that Basketball creates in this country every March, I wonder what football could do with a similar format. The ridiculous, unfair and laughable way the NCAA decides to crown its’ champion on the gridiron still dumbfounds myself and the population at large. Tournament brackets are so easy and obviously fair to set up one can lose their mind trying to figure out why a computer formula is in charge of crowning a champion. This is America! We decide things on the field.

My colleague Danny at ITS seems to think that the BCS is a fair and objective way to decide the NCAA football champion. Over the next few posts we will explore some of the issues and have an ongoing back and forth… like a virtual argument. Feel free to add your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below as this is always a hot button topic sure to bring out some interesting opinions.

My first, and most obvious argument, is that every other sport in this country (including lower divisions in college football) have a bracket style tournament where things are decided on the field. Many against a college football playoff have said that loss of class time and damage to bowl tradition are adverse effects to this style. I want to address both of those.

Losing school time due to travel and extra games is laughable in my opinion. The end of the football season comes towards the winter break for most schools and allows ample time for scholarly activities during the week. As I mentioned, all other divisions of college football have figured out a way to play these extra games without damage to the student athlete. What about the 4-6 weeks of down time between conference championships and the bowl games? You’re telling me there isn’t a way to fit an 8 game playoff in that time?
The other major issue is what to do with the bowl games. There is a rich and long history with the major bowl games that many don’t want to mess with. I kind of understand that point of view but if we want a playoff, collateral damage is unavoidable.

The man with the plan

There are many suggestions on how to incorporate the bowl games into a playoff system but they would never be the same. I can live with that if only to see the fat cats on bowl committees lose their six figure salaries. These men, and the college presidents, are the one standing in the way of what most of the country wants. Why? Money… it’s always money. These men are very powerful and don’t want to lose the easy payday that comes every year. Until this problem is dealt with, it is going to be an uphill battle.

Well Danny, the first shot has been fired across your bow. What say you?