Eleven Warriors

Bet you didn't think we could tie Ohio State into two photos related to women or garments worn by women on the same day. The first one is a little old, but hey, Greg Oden is in it. He's pictured above with Kevin Durant at the (2007) ESPYs and the two are fixed on the booty of Camilla Belle.

You can maybe make a case that Oden is actually peeping the ESPY hardware. If you look closely, he does appear to be peering right and away from Belle, but we can't bring ourselves to believe that. Besides, the facial expression is clearly displaying the affirmative answer to his mental question of, whether given the opportunity, he would in fact hit it. Durant is unquestionably all-in.

The second photo features a future Buckeye opponent, proud enough in his own sexuality and big enough to kick your ass for laughing at him.

Here's a hint: he will be going head-to-head with Beanie in a game that might mean a little something. Click the photo to find out who the thong-rocking future NFL first-round draft pick is.

(Via EDSBS)

Laurinaitis likes Florida, Beanie looks for Robo on the goal line and Ray Small decking Ray Small. Those are just a few of the funny scenarios to come out of the first ever Buckeye Uplifting Athletes charity event held at Eddie George's Grille 27 Wednesday night.

Donald Washington ended up mercy-ruling Kyle Mitchum for the championship (34-0) after getting past Wells in an all-Ohio State matchup in the semis of the players video game tournament.

The LA Times has a feature up exploring the futures of Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno. Bowden is atop the all-time victory list over Paterno by a single victory and it's pointed out that the guy that has a better season in 2008 may finish on top as speculation mounts as to whether this is the final season for both.

If Joe Pa is unable to catch Bowden on the career leaderboard, he can always fall back on his 7-1 mark head-to-head against him.

We have a new shirt up featuring six of our favorite surnames. Consume and help right this economy.

No confidence in Manning?

It's been a little over a day since the news hit and many of us are still wondering why Quinn Pitcock did decide to retire from the Colts.

After notifying the Colts of his intention not to report for the start of camp, Monday's speculation was that he had lost his desire to play football.

After his agent officially notified the team of his retirement in vague terms, he was unavailable for comment and the Indy press still have no idea why he walked away. Phil Wilson of the Indianapolis Star's would only venture the following:

Until I hear differently, the only speculative guess I will make is that Pitcock made some money and decided to go a different path with his life.

Quinn appeared to be a pretty bright guy, having considered Duke as a destination in high school -- he even listed working with computers as a hobby (which is pretty much like finding a four-leaf clover in a media guide). Maybe he earned just enough to buy equity in a company like Cuil or PowerSet and has this master plan (okay, scratch Cuil). Or maybe he just wanted to be able to walk pain-free when he was 40.

If that's the plan, he doesn't exactly have to be Warren Buffet, but he'll have to be smart with his money. He probably earned in the $300-$400k range his rookie season and he did secure a $436,500 signing bonus, but Colts president Bill Polian said the team plans to try to recover two-thirds of that bonus. That leaves about $500k when it's all said and done. Not chump change by any stretch, but not exactly enough money to set you up for life these days, either.

Whatever the reason, we have to respect it. How many of us have hated a job we've held? As to his future -- is it too early to start the Pitcock for graduate assistant campaign?

The Big Ten has decided not to renew the contract of referee and family guy star Cleveland Brown Steve Pamon. After his crew blew big calls in back-to-back games, including the non-fumble that was in the Illinois game, Rivals uncovered some unsavory tidbits from his past and the writing was pretty much on the wall. His blown call against the Buckeyes ultimately didn't matter -- but maybe the added swagger of being undefeated heading into the MNC is worth at least a Spitler finger-tip on the ball?

More nuggets are starting to filter out from the Big Ten media days last week including this tale of Tressel deftly side-stepping a question about the '08 election while in an elevator with fans. (Note that this is not an invitation to discuss said election on this blog -- unless you're advocating for a Whig party candidate, that is.)

WhatIfSports has simulated every 2008 matchup 100 times to "deterministically evaluate all teams to come up with the best possible ranking of how every team compares to every other team" and their computers seem to love the Buckeyes. Means nothing of course, but I'll take that 48.9 PF/GM and 7.6 PA/GM anytime. Georgia, Oklahoma, LSU (their code must be missing the PerrillouxMeltDown routine) and USC round out the top five.

Dantonio is expecting more Gatorade showers in '08.

We're counting down the weeks until kickoff by profiling a different Big Ten team each week. Today, Sparty is up.

Michigan State seems to be a popular choice for the "darkhorse" team in the Big Ten conference this year. They are coming off a 7-6 record in Mark Dantonio's first season and the way their schedule sets up, this popular choice could be a correct one.

COACHING: Anyone has to be better than John L. Smith and Dantonio proved that last year. All six of Sparty's losses were by a touchdown or less, including two overtime losses to Iowa and Northwestern. Dantonio is building MSU back up and this season will continue to show that.

OFFENSE: Michigan State returns 7 starters on offense, including senior QB Brian Hoyer and senior RB Javon Ringer, but lose their top two receivers in Devin Thomas and Kellen Davis.

Hoyer enters his second season as the starter and put up respectable number last year, throwing for 2725 yards and 20 touchdowns, against 11 interceptions. His receiving corps is very green and will be hard pressed to find equivalent production, with Deon Curry (Sr.), Mark Dell (So.) and Fred Smith (Fr.) leading the way.

Ringer is a stud. His 1447 yards last year gave him the third highest total amongst Big Ten backs and he should receive more carries this year without his sidekick Jehuu Caulcrick around. Of course that could also have an adverse effect, allowing his legs to wear down as the season progresses, if junior A.J. Jimmerson can't step it up.

The offensive line has three starters returning, but also bring back another three with starting experience. They are a big line, averaging over 300 pounds. The key is for this line to stay healthy, if they do, MSU is in for a good run.

DEFENSE: Even though they only return 6 starters on defense, Dantonio can coach this side of the ball and he has his two top tacklers from last year to build around.

Greg Jones lead the team in tackles last year with 78, despite not starting until week 6. He totaled 14 against the Buckeyes and will be joined by fellow sophomore Eric Gordon and junior Adam Decker.

The Spartans D-Line returns just one starter, DE Justin Kershaw, who only registered 1.5 sacks last year and 34 tackles. Cincinnati transfer Trevor Anderson enters his fourth year in Dantonio's system and should provide instant help. Incoming freshman Tyler Hoover could also enter the rotation.

The secondary returns six of their top 8, including senior corner Kendell Davis-Clark, who was second with 72 tackles a year ago. Strong safety Otis Wiley, an honorable B10 selection last year returns, along with sophomore Chris Rucker, who started at corner before he suffered an injury.

KEY GAME: The key game for MSU is the Notre Dame tilt, September 20. MSU opens at Cal, which could go either way. With games against Eastern Michigan and Florida Atlantic sandwiched in between, a victory over ND could mean a 3-1 or 4-0 start. A loss could send Sparty into conference play with a potential 2-2 record.

BEST-CASE: If Michigan State can hold up their end of the 2008 Big Ten pack and win all of their OOC games, they open up conference play at Indiana, at home against Iowa and at Northwestern. Could a 7-0 start be possible? If so, Ohio State and Michigan await the following two weeks.

WORST-CASE: While MSU may be considered the dark horse, I still don't see any higher than a fourth place finish. Their last five games are: OSU, at Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue and at Penn State. If MSU suffers a couple of early season losses, they could possibly squeeze out two victories after Oct. 11, finishing around .500 again.

Michigan State has been ranked only four times (Wks. 4-7, 2005) in the last four season, but Mark Dantonio is making some strides. He is locking down the top HS prospects in Michigan and a hot start to the 2008 season could boost his effort in recruiting. Of course a victory against Michigan wouldn't hurt as MSU marches on to their second straight bowl game.

Maybe Doug should pick up a Pacer in an effort to fly under the "radar"

While it's old news that Doug Worthington blew a .095 en route to charges of DUI, speeding and shady plates the latest question is whether or not it matters that Worthington was rolling in a 2004 Escalade.

The Plain Dealer's Doug Lesmerises appeared to take a shot at Ken Gordon of the Dispatch for not reporting the type of vehicle Worthington was driving when he was stopped. In defense, Gordon stated he thought the make and model of the car was irrelevant and to report that Worthington was driving an Escalade would unfairly feed suspicions of further wrongdoing.

I'm not sure where I fall on this topic. On one hand, with constant worries of impropriety at virtually all major programs it's probably worth a mention. On the other hand, many in the general public immediately take such news as a guarantee of wrongdoing so it might be better left unsaid in the morning paper.

You know how it is, as soon as your non-Buckeye-fan acquaitances heard the news did they not immediately act like a 2004 Escalade cost as much as a 2008 Bentley when, in fact, an '04 Escalade only blue books at 20-24k? Not exactly Lotus territory.

So, what do you think? Should the make of the car be newsworthy or do you even care?

As a tech worker, I'm a pretty big fan of Google Maps mashups. Ever since Google handed out the keys to the service, the web responded by creating a metric giga-ton of specialized maps. There are maps to locate cell towers, plan and find running routes and even a map that allows you to plot nuclear blast radii.

The map shown above just might take the cake, however. 700+ photos documenting pure Buckeye global propaganda efforts.

Additional photos and information here.

There's a good reason why you didn't hear a peep out of us when Michigan running back Kevin Grady was busted for a DUI: we don't like to tempt fate. Not only do most of us have our own stories making it home when we shouldn't have, but we're also pretty rabid about a major sports team that just so happens to have a roster consisting of nothing but college students.

More fun than a DUI class (AP Photo)

Though tackle Doug Worthington fell short of Grady's epic 0.28, he does earn style points for getting caught on Woody Hayes Drive. In addition, his effort was good enough for two Fulmer Cup points -- deemed "an appropriate charge for a generic, unremarkable Ohio" (that's rich coming from a state where these guys are the official outfitter). What, no bonus points for him being underage as well?

It's never easy guessing what type of punishment is in Worthington's future because unless the offense is a matter of public record (like, for instance, a DUI), nobody outside of the program would even have a clue if it happened at all. Still, I'm guessing he sits for the opener against YSU and is back on the field in week two. Just a guess, nothing more.

If Worthington is held out of games, the press will see an 11-game starter on the pine, while the rest of us know that he was actually part of a four-man platoon at defensive tackle. Against Michigan and LSU, the four turned in a total of 32 (Worthington), 28 (Abdallah), 28 (Larimore) and 27 (Denlinger) minutes. Hardly a dominate tandem in that group so far*.

Still, the play of the interior defensive line is the key to whether the 2008 Buckeye defense will truly be dominant. The other components are in place and any loss of playing time out of the tackles doesn't help.

We should be thankful that nobody was hurt and all it usually takes is one DUI to learn a hard lesson, so hopefully Worthington can get through this and we'll look back and see it for what it is: youthful indiscretion.

* Saying nothing of the fact that despite Worthington having the most upside of the DTs (HS Parade AA, plenty of PT as a sophomore), he's still 6-7, 276. Not exactly prototypical DT size. Yet.

Everything measured

With Big Ten media days in the rearview mirror, the weekend was spent catching up on what everyone fortunate enough to make the event had to say.

There was a little bit of an update on Donald Washington's situation. Tressel is sticking to his mischievous teen metaphor, saying Washington was "working hard to get his car keys back" after it was pointed out that sophomore Chimdi Chekwa is listed as a starter ahead of Washington in the media guide. The thinking is that D-Wash will have to sit out for the opener for the what-shall-remain-unnamed trouble he got into in the spring.

What do you do when your team has dropped two consecutive MNCs and you're worried about the group's psyche? You bring in guys that give off pheromones that exude clutch. Through his Y-town connections (former 49ers owner Ed DeBartolo Jr), the Vest arranged for Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana and Roger Craig to speak to the Buckeyes this summer. Even though that 49er group won five Super Bowls and is synonymous with greatness, they also dropped four NFC Championship games and that lesson wasn't lost on the players.

Jason Lloyd of the Lorain Morning Journal scored an interview with Tressel and although the Senator deftly avoided a Eugene Clifford question, we do find out that he sent AD Gene Smith an email after the Tennessee series was announced that said "Shoot me if I'm on the sideline against the Vols." It's funny because when that game was announced, I'd have put money on the fact that it would have been Tressel still here over Phil Fulmer still being in Knoxville, but with Fulmer's contract extension (teflon Phil?) and Tressel's statement, I'm starting to wonder. I have honestly never contemplated life after Tresssel and now that I am doing that, it's scaring me a little. Even at Ohio State, most coaches aren't Tressels.

Brian Cook of MGoBlog managed to gain entrance to the Chicago event by producing 375 pages of printed UFRs. I think his first taste left him a little bit frustrated but he was able to ask an Illini about J Leman's American flag tie. That and he's the 948th person to come out of Jim Tressel press conference thinking the guy is boring. That's fine with us. You'll hear none of that "I'm a man! I'm 40!" coming out of Cbus.

Baltimore Sun Photo

It's looking more and more likely that Troy Smith will get that first crack at the Raven's open quarterback job. It's being treated as a three-man race, but Flacco is playing like a rookie and the team would be taking a step back by handing the job to Boller. I think he was the young guy I was grooming on Madden five years ago if that tells you anything about how many chances he's failed to win the job in Baltimore.

Smith is looking to build on what he showed as a starter in the last two weeks of last season. After dropping his first start against the Seahawks, Smith rebounded to lead the Ravens to a victory against the Steelers in the finale (video) -- and it wasn't even against the scrubs as it was a game the Steelers were trying to win in order to move up as a playoff seed. Smith helped lead the Ravens to a 17-0 lead -- their largest of the season -- and the win snapped a Ravens nine-game losing streak*.

If he does hold onto the starting spot this season, he'll have to pay a little more attention to his blind side. Left tackle and future NFL HoFer Jonathan Ogden rode off into the sunset and attempting to fill his shoes will be 2nd-year guy Jared Gaither out of Maryland. Todd Heap is a reliable commodity -- when he's healthy -- and Mason and Clayton on the edges are more than adequate. If Willis McGahee can get up to speed on the playbook, he'll become invaluable to Troy's success, despite a young line. And Baltimore is uniquely set up for a young quarterback to etch himself into the hearts and record books -- not every city has Trent Dilfer as an obstacle to such greatness.

A Buckeye getting reps with the first team at an NFL camp is significant for two reasons. First, it allows us to finally start fantasizing about all-Buckeye NFL teams (though we're a little thin at RB for the moment with only Pittman representing -- this, of course, is subject to change soon). Second, it's another move in the direction of establishing quarterback as a position top preps should come to Ohio State to play. Yes, Pryor is huge, but if you're a prototypical NFL quarterback, where are you going to go to school if given the choice between USC and OSU? The last time a Buckeye quarterback opened the season as the starting quarterback of an NFL team, gas sold for $1.03 a gallon. And that needs to change.

This is yet another example of Smith proving the naysayers incorrect. Whatever your thoughts on Inn-And-Out burger indiscretions, money from boosters or the curious play in the Florida game, you can't say that he hasn't excelled at proving doubters wrong.

* This win also featured the first of what figure to be many NFL games that see Smith and Santonio Holmes recording touchdowns against each other.

On what should be one of the top few days of a guys life -- when he's signing a fat contract to play the game he loves, all anyone in Vernon Gholston's new home town wants to talk about is Brett Favre.

Sorry, Vern

Gholston's contract, worth somewhere in the $30-$50m ballpark, with $21m guaranteed, was signed at 4:30AM and checks in at a whopping 250 pages. Big news for Gholston and the Jets, right?

Not quite.

After ESPN broke the news that the Jets had received permission to talk to Brett Favre, the press conference organized to discuss the contract signing turned into the Brett Favre show:

The Favre-related questions came at Mangini, one after another, and his facial expressions went from smiling to frowning. Finally, he pleaded for questions about Vernon Gholston, the Jets’ first-round pick, who signed a contract Friday.

Welcome to the Big Apple, kid.

There's no truth yet as to whether the Jets decided to buck the trend against prohibiting athletes from doing things in fear of hurting themselves in favor of clauses prohibiting Gholston from hurting others. Like no inadvertent flexing lest he shatter every window within a five mile radius.

HERO. A Penn State student was arrested in their indoor facility wearing only a pair of jeans and a team helmet, clutching a replica of the 2007 Alamo Bowl trophy.

More coverage:

• The official site has more video footage of Tressel and the players.
• Full footage and transcripts via the B10 conference website.
• Not surprisingly, Tress further downplayed the "Only between gentleman" comment.