Eleven Warriors

Let's face it: the offseason sucks, and is little more than a several months-long reminder that our lives are empty husks without the soothing siren song of football to remind us of our superiority to other geographical locations and the people that live in them. So to remedy this, we sat down and discussed ways that we could get through the offseason while simultaneously finding completely stupid and arbitrary things to feel superior about. The result is The B1G List.

Birds.

They're everywhere. Invading our parks, shaking down the elderly for their precious bread (old people need fiber), pooping on our cars in such a way that it could not have possibly been an unintentional accident; truly birds are the scourge of our skies and the harbinger of all that is bad in this world. Birds, as made famous in the movie "The Birds" and "Birdemic: Shock and Terror," are truly the most feared of all Earth's creatures, which is why each of the 50 states have selected a bird to represent their region and strike fear in the hearts of all those who enter their realm.

And of course the Big Ten is no exception. Each of the nine states which currently have colleges in the Big Ten have carefully selected the most ravenous and feared avian from within the confines of their states to show the rest of the country just how foolish it would be to mess with the likes of an Indiana, or Illinois, or Minnesota.

But, alas, not all winged hellspawns are created equal, and today we shall look at who is top dog... bird... bird-dog in the states of the Big Ten.

The Items: Buckeye Bobbleheads

Hello and welcome to what could potentially be the last Stumbler for a while here at 11W.

We had a good run covering a gamut of topics from coaching manuals penned by Woody Hayes to Buckeye Frankensteins and even Mark May. It was a long and winding road but I think we had fun and learned something about ourselves in the process.

Seeing as though this might be the last edition, I figured we’d take things out in style with these Jim Tressel and Troy Smith bobbleheads.

Man, wouldn’t those two collectibles really tie a room together? Just place them on your mantle and let them do the work. Watch your guests ogle them aggressively as you regale them with tales of Michigan wins, national championships and a Heisman Trophy.

It’s that Heisman Trophy that really symbolizes the season when those two were clicking on all cylinders, and we’ve got the videotape to prove it. 

So…we all seem to be pretty happy about saying goodbye to the spawn of the product of the worst focus group in the history of mankind.

The East/West divisional split makes sense on a lot of levels, not the least of which is an end to the embarrassing names we’ve lived with for the past two seasons. Fans of teams from other conferences have had their fun with that, but its time has passed and the news that division name changes are on the way restores the world to a more logical and reasoned state.

The Big Ten East will reportedly consist of Ohio State, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State and Rutgers. The B1G West features Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Purdue and Wisconsin.

While I would have thought that splitting up the Mitten State with a protected Sparty/TTUN crossover would be good for competitive balance, I’m fine with taking a trip to Ross-Ade Stadium out of the normal rotation. It’s also good to see Ohio State’s trips to the wind tunnel in Champaign limited as well, come to think of it.

Separating Indiana and Purdue isn’t great for the rumored fans of those two schools, but a protected crossover is expected.

So now that we’ve got the divisions figured out, the conference’s presidents and chancellors should ratify them soon and put this all behind us.

Almost.

There are a thousand different things that go into making a championship football team. One component you'll always find in such teams, however, is an upperclassman emerging as a key contributor.

In 2002, Cie Grant was named a starter on what would eventually be Ohio State’s first national championship team in 34 years. He had come to Ohio State after a standout high school career in multiple sports, but football was his calling card.

His first three seasons as a Buckeye were fine, not exemplary, though. Luckily for Cie (and Buckeye fans), a switch went off before his final season. Grant was one of the leaders of the defense and helped anchor one of Ohio State's best defensive units of the past 25 years. It was Grant who was there to deliver a hit on Ken Dorsey on the final play of the second overtime in the thrilling national title game victory.

Four years later, Antonio Smith was the Buckeye who emerged amid championship hopes. A walk-on from Columbus, Smith went on to earn All-American honors in 2006. His steady play in the secondary contributed to Ohio State’s stellar defensive numbers – until that meeting with Urban Meyer’s Florida offense.

Sometimes a switch goes off, the proverbial light coming on, but it isn’t that simple. Division I college athletes don’t just see change with a sunset and dawn of a new day.

“It takes a lot of dedication, hard work and discipline,” Smith told Eleven Warriors. “Those were the three key characteristics I was blessed to have. I believe all of those things worked hand in hand and all of the components linked together.”

Welcome to a huge week as far as offseason college football happenings are concerned.

Later this week, the Big Ten Conference is expected to vote to move to a nine-game league schedule and abolish "Legends and Leaders." The new B1G divisions, "East" and "West", actually make sense and mean that you can once again be proud of your beloved conference.

This week will also bring some clarity to the new college football playoff picture, when conference commissioners and an athletic directors advisory group meets in Pasadena, Calif., to vote on a name for the event as well as pick the host of the inaugural title game, to be played Jan. 12, 2015 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, or Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.

As for the name of the event:

“It will be simple and descriptive,” said Bill Hancock, the executive director of the playoff and championship game. “And not cutesy.”

The College Bowl?

The Gridiron Classic?

Hancock wouldn’t play the “getting warmer or colder” game, but affirmed something Big 12 Conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby said earlier this week: “We want it to be more like the Masters than NASCAR.”

We can certainly get with that.

Kyle Trout was not always sure that this dream would come true.

Trout wearing the colors he has long dreamed of.

As a kid growing up in Lancaster, 40 minutes southeast of Columbus, Trout was well aware of what being a Buckeye was all about, but that doesn’t mean he had an inside track to his eventual offer and subsequent – and quick – decision to join the Buckeyes' 2014 recruiting class.

“Growing up in Lancaster, there’s always been a great Buckeye history,” Trout said. “All the way to Rex Kern, then Barry Walker, Bobby Carpenter and Jimmy Cordle; now Luke Roberts, and soon, me. It's a great tradition and I'm proud to continue it, and of course it is the place I dreamed of being as a kid. We used to watch all the games on TV, but were unable to ever get to a game. I have a brother and a sister, so to get five tickets to a game was not cheap. The UCF game last year was my first time ever in (Ohio Stadium).”

Yes, that’s right. Ohio State’s leading recruiter among this year’s commitments, despite only being a commit for less than three months, and an Ohio boy through and through, had never been to Ohio Stadium prior to last September. Not for a spring game, not on a tour after impressing the Ohio State coaches last summer after two-day camp, not ever. Zilch, zip, nada.

While Trout was not familiar with the “Brew Crew”, the nickname given to the 2008 recruiting class spearheaded by Orlando native and former Buckeye Mike Brewster, he can certainly appreciate the thought behind it.

“All of us are trying (to recruit other players). We are constantly talking via group messages,” he said. “We communicate all the time and are recruiting like crazy. We are all on the same page, because we just want to be crazy good.”

Anna Saelens crossed the finish line at the 2013 Boston Marathon at 2:45 p.m. Four minutes later, her life – and the lives of millions – would change in an instant. Two bombs were detonated near the finish line, injuring hundreds and killing three. Several Ohio State students witnessed the tragic events unfold before them in the streets of Boston, an American city resembling war-torn nations half a world away.

Those who were there have struggled with their emotions in the days since. Saelens is no different. In an email to Eleven Warriors, she revealed she doesn’t even like discussing the details with her parents and friends. Regret is another sentiment running through Saelens’ mind.

“I only wish that I had finished three minutes earlier, so I could have had the opportunity to turn around and help,” she said.

Boston native Taylor Landes was just enjoying another Patriots’ Day with her family. Their tradition includes the Boston Red Sox’s annual day game followed by a walk to Boylston Street to cheer on runners in the marathon. Many other Bostonians have the same itinerary for Patriots’ Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts. 

The entire commonwealth comes together with a festive spirit consuming its crown jewel, the city of Boston and its enduring marathon. Schools are out, businesses are closed, and fun and fellowship reign in the Northeast.

“It’s a day of joy and camaraderie,” said Landes, a junior at Ohio State. 

It's been quite the week. To say America has had better weeks in its illustrious history would be putting it lightly, though the developments late Friday night should hopefully have everyone optimistic for a better string of days to follow.

With that brief comment given on the recent chain of events, here are a few things to consider this Saturday morning in the world of sports.

 LEADERS AND LEGENDS CONFINED TO THE ASH HEAP OF HISTORY. Amid the nationwide intrigue regarding the conclusion of the manhunt in Boston, Massachusetts, the Big Ten quietly announced that its expected divisional alignment will see the end of the failed Legends/Leaders experiment. The Big Ten will realign its divisions and drop Legends/Leaders, going with a simpler East/West label instead.

I'd hate to tell the Big Ten I told it so, but, well, I told it so. When the divisions were announced, my position chastised the conference for the following.

• The B1G had nonsensical divisions to start. What justification could there be for putting Wisconsin on an island like it did?
• It announced the new divisions only with placeholder names of "X" and "O", making its nonsensical divisions even worse. It was screwed no matter what stupid division names it finally conjured.
• No reason was given for why one program was a Leader and not a Legend. Why is Ohio State a Leader and not a Legend? We're Leaders, right? Could you remember without having to Wikipedia it?
• But, seriously, Legends and Leaders. Those aren't divisions, those are corporate buzz words from the "synergy" conference your boss made you attend.

Alas, Big Ten fans finally got what they wanted. Legends and Leaders are no more, to be replaced with East and West. The remaining question to ask: how much money did the Big Ten waste on the focus groups that came up with those ill-fated divisions in the first place? Is that promotion to come up with a mnemonic for it still on the table?

We're back with another edition of the Ohio State football recruiting notebook.

Harris committed to Michigan over the weekend

Today we're going to take a look back at the happenings in the recruiting world last week and we're also going to preview the upcoming week in recruiting for the Buckeyes.

The dead period has ended and the Ohio State coaching staff is out on the road visiting with and evaluating prospects.

The Buckeyes hosted a bevy of visitors at this past weekend's spring game at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. The group included 2013 signees, 2014 commits, and 2014 targets.

Finally, a couple of players the Buckeyes had high on their recruiting board including Drake Harris (Michigan), Dallis Todd (Oklahoma), and Sam Mustipher (Notre Dame) spurned the Buckeyes for rival schools.

Join us as we take a dive into the wide world of Ohio State football recruiting covering past visitors, upcoming visitors, prospects who committed elsewhere, and much, much more.

Around the Oval is Eleven Warriors' weekly love letter to Ohio State sports that don't get the coverage they should.

Coach Greg Beals and the Buckeye baseball team traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, this past weekend for three games against the Cornhuskers, although the trip didn't begin as Beals would've wanted. Friday's game saw the home team — who had previously lost only two conference games — grab 15 hits as they beat the Buckeyes, 11-2. Ohio State starter Jaron Long kept his team in the game until the fifth inning, when Nebraska knocked the right-hander out of the game after he allowed six runs.  

Dempsey came to the rescue twice

Nebraska took the early initiative in Saturday's game and led, 4-1, after six, but the seventh produced Ohio State's first lead of the weekend. Having already scored two runs on a single and fielder's choice, the Buckeyes got a crucial two-out single from Ryan Cypret to score two more and give his team a 5-4 advantage.

But at the death the Huskers forced extra innings: Austin Darby singled to left in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 5. The 10th inning came and went, and then in the top of the 11th Troy Kuhn doubled with two outs before Tim Wetzel did the same two pitches later to give Ohio State the lead. From there, Trace Dempsey closed out his third inning of relief and evened the series with a 6-5 win.

On Sunday the Buckeyes survived a late rally to take yet another weekend series. Brian King pitched seven shutout innings while his team scored one run in the second, third and fifth innings before a four-run eighth looked to put the win beyond all doubt. After King's evening was finished, his first reliever, Greg Greve, gave up a run and was replaced after three batters by Ryan Riga, who got the Buckeyes out of the inning with no further damage.

His ninth inning cameo, however, wasn't so smooth. Riga faced five battesr, gave up two runs and didn't get a single out before he was replaced by Trace Dempsey. As he had done the day before, the closer steadied the ship and gave up just one more run as the Buckeyes took the game and the series, 7-4.