Ohio State vs. Oregon in a Farm Village
The Oregonian's John Canzana paints a pretty descriptive picture of the recruiting war being waged between Ohio State and Oregon over several Duck recruits:
The story of the "Seven Samurai" features a village of Japanese farmers who hire seven lone-wolf samurai to defend their crops against a gang of marauding bandits who intend to invade after the harvest. Now, pay attention: Oregon's football program is the farm village, the Ducks coaching staff are the samurai warriors and Ohio State is playing the role of the bad-guy marauder. Got all that?
And the bad-guy marauder is everywhere at once:
Dontre Wilson, a 5-foot-10, 174-pound running back from Texas, committed to Oregon last spring. He now plans to visit Columbus this weekend. Meanwhile, Ohio State celebrated Kelly's NFL announcement by rushing Buckeyes offensive coordinator Tom Herman to San Diego to visit four-star wide receiver Darren Carrington Jr., another UO recruit. Also in San Diego, Ohio State offered two more critical Oregon commitments, twin basketball/football stars Tyree and Tyrell Robinson, scholarships after the Eagles-Kelly business went public.
Will the samurai hold?
Comments
I thought Will Lyles was the bad-guy marauder?....
Keep Calm and Ignore the Trolls.
Any Kurosawa reference is awesome in my book, but I don't think that Seven Samurai really speaks to the situation on a metaphorical level. I mean, Oregon's staff aren't a bunch of mercenaries (ronin) for hire, nor are they doing this job solely for honor (the village people had next to nothing to give to the seven ronin); hell even the idea of Oregon--a blue chip program by today's standards--being the poor townsfolk regularly being raided is laughable (a slightly more apt descriptor would be lower-tier schools that hemmmorage recruits when they "blow up" on the national stage).
Fun fact: A Bug's Life shares the exact same plot structure with Seven Samurai; along with the Western classic The Magnificent Seven (which itself was the first of three Western Kurosawa remakes: Yojimbo was remade into A Fistful of Dollars and Rashomon would be remade into The Outrage).
Bonus points for correct use of the word ronin, for an astutute literary critique of a cobbled-together metaphor, and, most importantly, for referencing A Fistful of Dollars. Well played, Sir.
Another interesting tidbit on A Fistful of Dollars: Sergio Leone basically remade Yojimbo shot-for-shot (for example, the opening scenes are damn near identical from a photographic perspective) without Kurosawa's consent, leading the famed Japanese director to sue Leone.
I'm fairly certain now that I need to read more often...
Yeah, those movies are all subtitled...
"The revolution will be televised."
After reading this conversation, I am ready for Jeopardy.
Okay, since we're all reveling in the amazingness of the Samurai mythos, allow me to suggest some great escapist reading. James Clavell's "Asian Saga" is one of the best series of historical fiction I have ever read - absolutely brilliant storytelling. Start with Shogun and just read the whole series.
Shogun is magnificent.
"I 've got an El Camino full of rampage"-- Sterling Archer, codename: Duchess
While we're on the topic, if you're up for a heavy dose of authentic ronin literature, I would suggest "Musashi: An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era," a fictitious account of the life of one of Japan's greatest ronin/eventual samurai.
Dean, definite upvote. I read Musashi in high school after it was recommended by a well-read friend and it took me months to get through its 1000 or so voluminous pages. It is a tome well worth the time invested.
I vividly remember being astonished that I had to explain to some guys at my high school what a samurai was. Meanwhile, they were astonished to find that someone would read a book so large by choice.
Did you guys ever watch Ronin Warriors?...
http://www.toyark.com/news/attach/2/6/0/2/Ronin-Warriors-Armor-Plus-Kent...
Keep Calm and Ignore the Trolls.
"Their powers in their armor"
You just became my favorite user..
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Haha. "To Arms!"
The Warlords were such badasses.
Keep Calm and Ignore the Trolls.
Nostalgia overload. I miss the 90s.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
I took a Film and Lit class while I was at OSU and we watched a Kurasawa and a Bergman and I don't remember anything about either of them but our teacher liked to talk about single malt scotch and hung out in the street benches outside of Buckeye Donuts so I will say that I retained a little bit of knowledge from that class.
Also one time in that class a guy from New Jersey took to defending Ronald Reagan in front of a room full of literature/humanities students and it was funny for everyone.
This has been another episode of 'a scientist talks about the humanities'.
Taquitos.
Speaking of single-malt Scotch, I highly recommend The Macallan: the 18-year is really, really good, but the 12-year is perfect for having a bottle on the sideboard at all times.
Ahh, Speyside. My experience is limited to standard Glenlivet and Glenfiddich (neither of which I particularly cared for) but I've always wanted to sample the "sherry-bomb" Macallan.
I'm particularly fond of South Islay malts, Laphroaig being my favorite. Talisker is another favorite, and Highland Park will probably be my next bottle--like Macallan, it's finished in Oloroso Sherry butts, as well.
Try Auchentoshan's single malt called "Three Wood", triple distilled to cut down on the smokiness of the peat, and aged in sherry casks. It's remakable smooth, a low-lander dream in a glass..
When it comes to Scotch, there is but one word you need to know: Oban.
My brother-in-law has a bar at home that would make any upscale restaurant green with envy, and he has many top shelf Scotches, but Oban is the most smooth.
And I work at Honda, my daughter is a senior at CCAD who draws nothing but manga, so I get enough Japanese culture to last a lifetime.
To err is human. Really sucking requires having yellow stripes on your helmet.
All this talk about Scotch - I'm gonna go have a snort right now - good way to start Friday and celebrate winning a deal I've been working on. Might need a Cohiba to pair it with, but it's snowing outside so the smoking room is closed for now....
I'm not a Scotch guy per se (shout out to bourbon), but I will say that I do enjoy Balvenie 17 Madiera Cask. Excellent stuff.
Taquitos.
Ever try a Padron 64 with some good Scotch? Mmmmmmm...
To err is human. Really sucking requires having yellow stripes on your helmet.
Padron '64 Anniversario Maduro is my absolute favorite cigar (the '26 is right up there, as well); though call me crazy, but I prefer a good cup of dark roast coffee. I find that scotch tends to cut through the smoke, where coffee creates a really satisfying complement. The earthieness of the coffee better matches and complements the stogie; almost elongating each draw through your sip, and then through to the next draw, it's like a never-ending experience.
Okay, so this is just random word association, but reading about Padron made me think of Patrón, which is one of my favorite tequilas (the Anejó, that is). Any tequila connoisseurs among us?
I wouldn't call my self a connoisseur, per se, but I am a pretty big fan (had my first shot at three, haha). I haven't had Patron's anejo, but their silver seems a bit overpriced for me. Milagro's Silver ($27) is really smooth, clean, and strong; and El Jimador (100% de agave for $17, win!) is my go to for margaritas. I've been dying to get my hands on some El Tesoro de Don Felipe Reposado, though; I hear that stuff's the bomb.
Ironically, I'm whipping up a batch of green sangrita ("El Bocho") today. While it's a supreme chaser for tequila; it's honestly pretty good when served alongside a nice glass of some good stuff, a small bowl of smoked sea salt, and a bohemia on the side. Pair that with some real tacos mexicanos (whatever meat you prefer in a soft corn taco, topped with finely minced raw onion and fresh cilantro), and you're in foodie heaven.
Okay, I like the way you party, Hodge.
Padron '64 and '26 are usually too expensive for me, but I'll put their ordinary thousands series cigars up against anything. You can't go wrong with your 'P's: Padron, Padilla, Perdomo, (Rocky) Patel, Pepin (Garcia), etc.
I took a film class that was taught by a radical feminist wannabe vampire and her grad student followers. Consequently, we spent about half the class covering mostly German and Soviet silent films - Nosferatu, Metropolis, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, The Phantom of the Opera, The Battleship Potemkin, The Birth of a Nation (which is kinda like a vampire movie in a twisted way), Sunrise.
Toward the end of the class, I became depressed and began wondering if gender is really just a social construct. Your class sounds like it was more fun.
But without Potempkin and Birth of a Nation (racist though it may be), we'd never have the montage.
And without the montage, we'd never have Sam Raimi; or at least be missing an integral part (the other part being the famed "Ram-o-cam").
Technically speaking, they were great achievements and very influential. But, in the absence of those two films, I suspect some other filmmakers would have figured out a few tricks, independently.
I was in over my head. It was the end of my freshman year so I was spending most of my time on The Oval and didn't care one way or the other about film to begin with. HOWEVER, it was certainly an experience. Watching that guy stand up and say with all of his conviction that he "would not let people talk so poorly about the greatest president of the twentieth century" was so, so awesomely absurd.
Taquitos.
Also took an OSU Film class. The prof let our class pick the last two movies, one pick by the guys and one pick by the girls. Both movies starred Leonardo Dicaprio oddly.
Nice analysis Hodge - very Ross-like in it's precision. Will you be doing a pre-Academy Awards breakdown on strengths and weaknesses of the various contenders?
I'm pretty miffed at the Academy. Affleck being snubbed for Best Director is criminal: Argo was one of my top films this year, Hooper's omission for Les Miserables is similarly offensive. That said, the field seems wide open this year; Hathaway will probably win for Les Miserables, but other than that I don't know of any favorites. Cooper's got some hype for Silver Linings Playbook (which I haven't seen), and might just unseat Daniel Day-Lewis since he already has two Oscars in this category. It should be a pretty fun Academy Awards, though.
Day-Lewis actually made me feel like I was watching Lincoln in the flesh. I just don't know how I could pay him a higher compliment - he's got my vote for BA.
I concur - I haven't seen enough of the other films Hodge mentioned to have a true opinion or "rooting interest" during awards season, but Day-Lewis and Lincoln were exceptional.
Haven't seen Lincoln yet, but I loved Day-Lewis in There will be blood.
Dustin Fox was our leading tackler as a corner.... because his guy always caught the ball.
The post spawned one of the greatest exchanges I've ever seen 11w. Refreshing!
The Magnificent Seven is a great film with a fantastic cast.
The Magnificent Seven kicks ass. Are they suggesting Coach Meyer and his staff are Eli Wallach's army and the Oregon coaches are the good and noble Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen? Whatever dudes. Coach Meyer will still pwn you.
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Exactly! And when you take into account the fact that Oregon's entire staff went to DeSoto to attempt to secure Dontre Wilson's committal, aren't they really the gang of merciless marauders?
If I recall, in Seven Samurai, the ronin seiged the bandits' complex, as well.
Meanwhile, Eiji Edagawa gets angry when the Marauders invade the neighboring farm village.
He sends a mesage to the Marauders, which says "you promised me that you were only going to invade my village, which I explained to you would be left unprotected by samurai! But now I find out that you are pillaging another village against my wishes. For that reason, I will recruit another band of Marauders to invade my village unless you come to your senses!"
I look at Urban more as John Wayne in "Big Jake". Riding into town to "free" recruits from the clutches of evil coaches.
An angry fan...rooting for an angry team...led by angry coaches
Or, if Wilson ends up getting stuck in Eugene, the movie of his life (and college playing career) will turn into On the Waterfront:
"Thought you was dead" - Oregon fan base
"Not hardly" - Urban Meyer recruiting
"Sherman ran an option play right through the south" - Greatest.Civil.War.Analogy.Ever
Mothers know nothing about creeping maruaders...
or major awards...
What are we going to do if they have their official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle?
I imagine if they come with that, they'll put their eye out.
The world is full of kings & queens who'll blind your eyes & steal your dreams - it's heaven & hell - Ronnie James Dio.
I hear the Oregon Coaches went to the wrong city, LA, as they were mistakenly trying to sign the wrong Wilson....OWEN. By the time they got to Texas, the "Recruiting Crashers" were too late as Urban had already been there...
Plus, Owen owed the Urbz for inspiring him with his own personal brand of motivational tactics. So he made sure to further slow the UO coaching staff (in part due to fear of Urban yelling at him some more).
Though Urban still isn't sure who the hell that Owen Wilson guy is (though he's pretty sure he's met him before).
Does 11W offer degrees? I just learned more in the last few minutes of all the great movies I've missed. Actually, 11W is secretly a college within tOSU.
More scotch recommendations, please!
More substance in this thread than North Carolina athletes get in "real" classes that someone actually paid for.
I find it interesting that everyone (in Oregon) is bashing Ohio State for coming in and recruiting Oregon verbals after the coaching change; calling Meyer sleazy and unethical.
IIRC - Same thing happened after Tressel left. Kyle Kalis flipped to UM. Anyone remember that?
Oregon is currently trying to poach some of the USC (de)commits. Nothing wrong with that?!
<sigh>
It's clear that recruiting is now a true battleground, and those with the strongest leaders will survive and thrive, while all others battle for the scraps.
Glad we have a damn good General leading our Army of "marauders".
As Woody said "You Win With People". It's all about getting the right kind of competitors and coaching them up. We are in good hands with Urban (Woody 2.0)
Got to this point and then realized that I had forgotten what the original subject matter was. Great conversation on this thread, and i am taking copious notes !
Does this make Urban Toronaga and Hoke Ishido? Brady better hope not or he'll be buried up to his neck and residents of "Ohio" invited to saw on it with a bamboo saw.
A coach leaves, a call is made, the questions is, "Might you be interested in Ohio State since your coach left?" If the answer is "No." Hang up and don't waste another nickle. If the answer is "Yes." Game on!