Eleven Warriors

The Items: Stuff that "Doesn't Exist"

Welcome back to another edition of the Stumbler.

Remember the year 2011? The Artist won Best Picture, gas prices were basically the same and you didn’t look any different. Come to think of it, 2011 wasn’t that long ago. 

That’s strange because the record books are having trouble remembering what happened down in New Orleans on Jan. 4, 2011. In fact, there is no record of it at all.

However, the record book of my life remembers things a bit differently, and so does eBay. Just look at all of this stuff commemorating things that didn’t happen.

It’s amazing really. 

Tilt-shift photography is a photo effect that creates a shallow depth of field, making the subject look like a miniature-scale model. The technology actually dates from the 1960s, but it's experienced a revival of sorts as techniques to create the effect have become popular with tools like Photoshop.

The web is full of amazing tilt-shift photos, but Ohio State is sorely underrepresented in the tilt-shift world. We're hoping to change that. Please enjoy these 10 tilt-shift images of Ohio State venues, buildings and other scenery.

McMillan and Archie

It's been a big two weeks for Ohio State football recruiting as stars from the 2014 class made their way to campus for visits.

Perhaps the biggest visitor of them all was Hinesville (GA) Liberty County linebacker Raekwon McMillan, who was in Columbus Monday through Wednesday of last week.

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker is considered one of Georgia's top players and is the No. 1 inside linebacker prospect on the 247 Composite index. He holds offers from almost every major college in the nation, including the likes of Ohio State, Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Texas, USC, and many others.

McMillan has had the Buckeyes as one of his top schools ever since he was offered last April and currently has the Scarlet and Gray as his sole leader. His trip to Columbus last week was his fourth. On this trip, McMillan had the opportunity to meet many key figures in the Ohio State athletic program, including former two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

We caught up with McMillan to get the scoop on his most recent trip to Columbus. Read on for what his leaders look like, when he expects to make a decision and more.

Braxton Miller and Carlos Hyde have cemented their places in the Ohio State backfield. Quarterback and running back are coming off a season in which they combined for more than 4,000 total yards and 45 touchdowns. That’s ended any debate about who might be occupying said positions. 

But if the spring is any indication, another Buckeye may be spending a lot of time in the backfield. Defensive end Noah Spence has turned heads since the Buckeyes’ first practice on March 5.

He’s made life miserable for offensive lineman Jack Mewhort who, according to head coach Urban Meyer, has already secured a spot as team captain. Mewhort and his fellow linemen proved to be an effective unit last season and were considered by most observors to be the Big Ten's best, but even they have no answer for Spence.

“I’m glad he’s on our team, that’s all I can say,” offensive line coach Ed Warinner said. “His speed off the edge is amazing. He’ll make (the offense) better because he gives us something every day to work on.”

Said Mewhort: “Noah Spence has gotten a lot better and has more confidence since the last time I played against him.” 

Spence presented glimmers of that potential last season, when he appeared in 11 games and finished with 12 tackles, including a 20-yard sack in his first career game against Miami (Ohio). He spoke of a learning curve when he arrived on campus, and it was evident during fall camp.

Linemen that resembled tree trunks were far different than the twigs he outmuscled and maneuvered around during a five-star high school career. It helped shape expectations of immediate success. But Spence stayed realistic and just sought daily progress.

“Any time was good for me,” he said. “But I’m never satisfied with anything. I don’t think I did as well as I could have been. I want to do a lot better.”

Morning, all. 

I usually am lucky enough to report on some spring practice observations, but no can do this week. At least the actual spring game will be this Saturday. 

In the meantime, I have some post-basketball season updates, a lawsuit, and weird water in Louisville to share with you. Onward, dear readers.

 CONCUSSION SUIT. While the O'Bannon case is getting a lot of the air time right now (and deservedly so) for football-related lawsuits, it's not the only grouping of lawyers in town. 

Former NFL Players are suing the league over misinformation about concussions: 

Former NFL players trying to sue the league over concussion-linked injuries argued in court Tuesday that the NFL "glorified" violence and profited from damaging hits to the head. Players' lawyer David Frederick also accused the league of concealing the emerging science about concussions over several decades, even after creating a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury committee in 1994.

This is a serious deal. Regardless of whether or not the lawsuit itself finds the NFL at fault, concussions are a serious problem at all levels of football and the issue needs to be addressed. 

At the Big Ten Media Days before the last football season, Zach Boren was asked about concussions and how he felt about the recent suicide of Junior Seau. At the time, I was somewhat surprised by how opinionated Boren was about head safety.

Now I understand his concern perfectly – modern helmets aren't doing enough to protect players – and it's possible that the NFL isn't either. The joint Big Ten-Ivy League study on concussions can't release its findings soon enough. 

The Buckeyes cap off an intense two weeks of spring practice with the LiFE Sports Spring Game in Paul Brown Stadium this Saturday. 

Michael Thomas doesn't want to win the T. Wash Award 

The spring game is always an exercise in balancing excitement and realistic expectations for fans. On the one hand, we have struggled through an otherwise football-less winter with only a few glimpses behind the spring football curtain. 

On the other hand, the spring game only provides limited information about the progress of the team – i.e. Is the defensive line really this good or has the offensive line just regressed? 

Furthermore, will players' spring performances translate to on-field results when it matters in the fall? This question is the whole reason for our annual Childress-Washington Spring Excellence Award.

Part of the solution is to simply appreciate the spring game for the football itself and to not try and over- or undervalue any individual performance. 

It also looks to be a beautiful Saturday in Cincinnati this weekend, so that doesn't hurt either. 

In the spirit of tempered expectations while still analyzing the team's development, here are the top nine things I'll be looking for this Saturday. 

There was a time not too long ago when college football recruiting was decent, honorable and respectable.

No, not the part with cash-filled envelopes, fixed grades, family payoffs or slush funds. Texas oil magnates were lining pockets for Bear Bryant's Aggies over 60 years ago and both SMU's death penalty and Johnny Be Good turn 25 this year. The indecency of dirty recruiting is inextricably attached to the tradition of college football.

But there was one element of college football recruiting that actually used to be wholesome: The mail.

Coaches still may not be able to adequately construct a proper sentence (saying "we did/didn't play good" is required by the NCAA for all post-game press conferences) but their letters were always pristine in both language and appearance, arriving in perfect A9 Diplomat envelopes with either meticulously handwritten or hand-typed addresses.

The gentlemen running this business used mail correspondence to approach high school boys as fellow adults. Decades later, the boys are still boys but the men have changed: They've completely abandoned their typewriters and heavy-stock letterhead for mass-printing and magic markers.

All eyes toward college football now. The college basketball season is over, though that has been the case for over a week now after Ohio State failed to secure the West Regional in Los Angeles. The spring game is this Saturday in Cincinnati, and there are still plenty of Buckeyes left to better know.

Marcus Baugh

The eighth installment of the fifth edition of this now 25-part series titled Better Know A Buckeye profiles Marcus Baugh. Baugh, a longtime Ohio State fan from Riverside, California, is the only tight end prospect in Ohio State's 2013 recruiting class, though Urban Meyer definitely helped himself by signing the best tight end on the entire West Coast. His recruitment was very brief and it is given an accordingly brief treatment here. After recapping this story, I discuss strengths and weaknesses before including highlight film and projecting a redshirt. I conclude with miscellaneous things of only minor importance before making the decision that Marcus Baugh is better known. He is put on the board accordingly.

Height: 6'4
Weight: 233 lbs
Fake 40: 4.7
High School: John W. North High School; Riverside, CA

Follow @MarcusBeeezy

His Recruitment

That Marcus Baugh, from Riverside, California, attracted the attention of Urban Meyer at Ohio State could plausibly be described as a triumph of Urban Meyer's national recruiting perspective. We casually observe that Ohio State's recruiting pull has Ohio State recruiting places unfamiliar to the most attentive Ohio State fan, including Chattanooga, Tennessee (Vonn Bell) and Pendleton, South Carolina (Michael Hill), in this recruiting class alone. This can be understood as evidence of Meyer's ambition to use his clout to get the best players to play at Ohio State, regardless of their state of origin.

The Ohio State spring game MVP is a dreaded award. It conjures images of the NFL’s “Mr. Irrelevant,” a title saved for the final pick of the draft. In years past, Bam Childress and Taurian Washington were spring game superstars who never lived up to their potential during the regular season. 

Another wide receiver – Michael Thomas – doesn’t want to fall into that same trap. A spring filled with accolades culminated last April with a 12-catch, 131-yard performance in the Buckeyes’ annual Scarlet and Gray game. It was perhaps the brightest spot for an offense that got the tagline of “clown show” and passing game that was termed “non-functional.”

During the 2011 season, Ohio State’s leading receiver had all of 14 receptions during the 13-game schedule. It didn’t get much better during the first 14 practices of the following spring. That’s why Urban Meyer was so vocal in his criticism.

Then Thomas had his double-digit receiving game. But it never materialized into production during the regular season. Thomas managed to haul in just three passes for 22 yards.

“I don’t think it was a curse,” said wide receivers coach Zach Smith, about Thomas’ spring tease. “But it was motivating because of the year he had and the expectations he had after the game. I'm glad it happened now.

“Last year, he might have been a little inflated. But he's not now.”

Congratulations to the Louisville Cardinals for winning the men's basketball national championship last night. 

Too often, title games can be anticlimactic and frankly, unmemorable¹. But this year's title game was very representative of this season as a whole: thrilling, hard-fought, unpredictable at times, and even questionably officiated. 

In their 82-76 victory, Louisville proved to be the best team in the nation and while that's certainly not surprising — they were the top overall seed and one of two teams to boast both an adjusted offense and defense ranked in the top 10, according to noted stats wizard Ken Pomeroy — it was hardly a boring contest. 

Michigan became the fifth Big Ten team to finish as the national runner-up since Michigan State's championship run in 2000, but the only shame they should feel is being Michigan, and not for their play or effort yesterday.

Still, the fact that I don't have to deal with a Michigan national championship has me celebrating á la Peyton Siva's dad.

For a while, though, such a horror looked to be on the verge of becoming a reality. In the first half, Michigan went up by 12 with NPOY Trey Burke on the bench for much of it thanks to early foul trouble. Spike Albrecht², however, channeled his inner Brandon Paul witch and exploded for 17 points after averaging under two per game this season.

Then Luke Hancock, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, quickly got the Cardinals back in the game in seemingly the blink of an eye. He put in 16 of his career-high 22 points in the first half and Michigan's lead was down to one at halftime.