Eleven Warriors

I spy a good place for a syrup tap...

Oh, wait...my biscuit. I meant to say Rick Majerus has taken the hoops job at St. Louis, derailing a stellar career as the hooptiest expert analyst to ever appear on the Worldwide Leader. The svelte Majerus took a three year sabbatical to focus on carb intake and ESPN growth and development classes such as Communication of the Obvious and Stroke the Coach 101. Contract terms were not disclosed but speculation is that Thick Rick's compensation package includes a gingerbread house and a pool filled with sausage gravy. In all seriousness, Majerus is a popular guy amongst his coaching peers and college basketball is much better off with him on the sidelines versus TV.

On the Buckeye front, Jamar Butler's pop says JB will stay at Ohio State for his senior season. As reported by Keith at Buckeye Commentary, the previous Dispatch article indicating Butler would enter his name in the draft appears to have been gun-jumping on a level that only 11W can appreciate. Butler will be back to join a possible starting group including Cook, Lighty, Koufos, and Hunter.

Somebody has a headache right about now

The Wiz and various other outlets are all over this, but we couldn't just sit back and say nothing when a rival program has FELONY charges filed against six of their players.

State College Police filed the felony charges against six Penn State players, including junior safety Anthony Scirrotto, who topped the Big Ten in interceptions last season, and junior corner Justin King, a 2nd team All-Big Ten selection. The six are accused of forcing their way into a party on April 1st and laying a beat-down on several people, including a man that was struck in the head with a beer bottle and beat while unconscious merely for trying to break up the scuffle.

Bond has been set at $50,000 for Scirrotto and $10,000 each for the other five. In a statement issued by the athletics department, Paterno and the staff said punishments would be levied after "due process has transpired".

Not surprisingly, the charges have vaulted Penn State to the top of the Fulmer Cup Standings.

Archie bangs out another post

This may be old news to some of you, but I just stumbled upon it and nearly spit my Coke out when I saw it. Evidently, there's a Buckeye Legends blog where some of the all-time Ohio State greats are posting. Archie is there, so is Greg Frey, Jim Karsatos, Mike Lanese and others including former WTVN Sports Director George Lehner.

Why, just two days ago, Karsatos broke down the spring game performances of the three quarterbacks (he likes Boeckman early). Earlier in the month, Archie wrote a heartfelt post about the passing of Eddie Robinson.

This increased competition from real Buckeyes means we have to raise the bar a little bit around 11W. Look for upcoming features about what we most enjoyed about winning two consecutive Heismans, our favorite completion to Cris Carter and a colorful tale regarding our two years at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.

On second thought, maybe we'll stick to what we actually know: wild speculation, rumor-mongering, bad jokes and spotty analysis.

Uh...Somebody needs drug tested...

With all the talk about the mass exodus, the natives are getting a little restless. Oden and Conley are definitely gone, Cook is crazy enough to take a leap of faith and now Jamar Butler is running his gums about turning pro. Obviously, both Cook and Butler need to return to put themselves in better position to get guaranteed money in next year's draft but sometimes stupid is as stupid does.

Thankfully, Thad Matta is a recruiting machine and this year's incoming group is certainly putting up stellar numbers on the all-star circuit. In case you missed it, 7-footer Kosta Koufos produced 14 points and 8 rebounds in just 25 minutes in the 2007 Jordan Brand Classic showcasing his smooth inside-outside game. This cat is going to start right away and will fit in perfectly with Matta's system.

Two other incoming recruits, 6'8" power forward Dallas Lauderdale and 6'7" sharpshooter Jon Diebler teamed up in the Ohio North-South All-Star game leading the North to a 127-122 win. Diebler blew up for 31 points (11 below his season avg) stroking 5 threes. Down low, Lauderdale dominated the paint hitting 13 of 14 FG attempts finishing with 28 points and 8 boards.

Bottom line, take a deep breath Buckeye fans. Koufos, Lauderdale and Diebler will all see significant playing time on what will be a young but more hungry team. Sprinkle in 6'6" Evan Turner and 6'7" Eric Wallace and next year's squad will undoubtedly challenge for a league title and will be much deeper than this year's bunch, especially in the paint. Better yet, the 2008 class is getting rave reviews. PG Noopy Crater and 7ft BJ Mullens give the Buckeyes two 5-star preps and 6'8" Luke Babbitt was recently named Nevada's POY.

Booze Belt, Liquor Holster

It's never too early to start thinking about tailgating gear for the 2007 season. If you're one that likes the loud-mouth soup on the heavy side, we have the killer accoutrement. Gentleman, we present the Booze Belt.

The belt features two "holsters" to store the hard stuff and "six molded ammo slots for shotgun shell glasses (included)". You can tell that there's still a little bit of Vegas coursing through my veins because the first thing I thought of was packing it with Vodka and cans of Red Bull.

At $89.99, it's a bit pricey, but you can bet the wearer of this belt will be mighty popular come tailgate/party time.

(Via Gizmodo)

If you don't exercise your right to bare arms, someone could get hurt.

The AP is reporting that the Portland FBI field office has offered a $5,000 reward for help in apprehending someone that has been sending dozens of threatening letters to individuals, media entities and "multiple individuals associated with University Athletic Departments in Ohio, Michigan, and Arizona". Some of the letters have been graced with a white powdery substance that the FBI has identified as an insecticide.

What is the author so upset about you ask? Your guess is as good as mine, but that athletic department in Ohio that they're pissed at is -- you got it -- Ohio State. The FBI released excerpts from two of the letters hoping that the public will be able to help. The first is from September 2004:

"We are fed up with networks exploiting women in sports coverage. ABC/ESPN exploit collegiate and professional cheer squads in their coverage of football and basketball. They also screw WNBA players and WTA Tennis players. Compare coverage of cheer and dance squads based on their outfits they wear. Compare quality of shots, length of shots and number of shots Pigs park their cameras on us close up, front view, dozens of times each game, yet rarely ever show on TV in this manner, unless squads are wearing sweaters, jackets, under shirts, etc... Watch how they always zoom in on WNBA players shooting free throws then leave at the last second as she starts to shoot, disrupting the flow. Watch on ESPN how they will show women serve, close up, from every angle (side, back) EXCEPT when they zoom in close front, they will leave as she starts to serve, disrupting the flow. We have asked nicely for them to respect us and all women, yet they refuse. They exploit innocent people, so we will too. When they start respecting us, we stop mailing these out."

And this one is from December 2006:

"For the past 6-7 years, ESPN and its nationwide networks have exploited cheer/dance teams all across the country. They do this by parking their TV cameras on these women for their own personal entertainment, but only give TV time to squads that wear long sleeved shirts, jackets, sweaters, etc. The squads that don't wear these types of outfits? They get EXPLOITED. For a long time we have warned ESPN the networks and several schools what would happen if this did not change. For the last 6 years, Ohio State cheerleaders have received more TV time than any other Division 1A cheer squad on ESPN, because they wear long sleeved red/white outfits. If they wore sleeveless outfits, they would not get ANY TV time. So, we are fed up with this constant exploitation."

I have never in my life heard of women being exploited by wearing more clothing, so that last part totally baffles me. Just goes to show you that the world has plenty of nuts. We're counting on you FBI and Joe Citizen. Keep this whack-job away from Ohio State's cheerleaders.

Now, I want you to go to each of these agents - discreetly - and say the words "tse-tse fly". Say nothing else. Now go.

Andy Katz has written a feature about Mike Conley Sr. and his new career as an agent. It's true that he negotiated his own contracts in track and field, but I'm sure that was the rule rather than the exception for that sport in his era. Saying that, people seem to think he's well suited for the task at hand. Sneaker pimp Sonny Vaccaro had this to say:

"If there was ever a person to take on a venture like this it's Mike. He's going to do good things for Greg. They won't be easily recognized now but they will. Greg will be the perfect first client for him and Mike has negotiated contracts before -- in track and field. Mike Jr. will be more difficult because it's his son and he'll want what's best for him and he'll want to max everything. Daequan won't go high enough for a marketing need. It's all perfect for him."

And:

"He's probably one of the most personable, likable and honorable people I've met. I knew he was thinking about this for a while. And he also has this going for him -- his clients totally believe in him."

Katz also speaks to the "unnamed agent" that pointed out how his inexperience could hurt him when it comes to negotiating a contract for Oden, before helpfully listing all of the finer points for Conley Sr. to consider.

Fred "Ogre" Palowakski expected to commit tomorrow

Ohio State received great news today when lineman Michael Brewster committed to the 2008 class. The 6-6/305 tackle from Edgewater High in Orlando will join fellow commit and 5-star recruit Mike Adams on what's looking like an incredible offensive line.

Brewster marks the first recruit for the 2008 class to hail outside of Ohio. I already know I want this guy on the team because he's gotta have a huge set to be a Floridian that commits to OSU in spite of the events of the last four months. The smack he's going to hear over the next year or so from people in his own state is going to be ruthless.

Pfef has more with word that stud tackle prospect J.B. Shugarts is also on the verge of committing.

Any fan of college football can tell you that Wayne Woodrow Hayes was, to put it mildly, a feisty man. Between stomping on wristwatches during practice, destroying the yard marker during the Michigan game, the Bauman incident and many other Hayesisms, you could say he had a little zest for life.

That's why, when I first saw this photo of Hayes serving as Grand Marshall of the 1984 Columbus Secret Santa Parade, I was shocked, yet not surprised.

A 71 year-old man is riding on a seat carved into a helmet on top of a conversion van in mid-November Columbus.

Yet, that's just Woody being Woody. I'm betting that a 71 year-old Chuck Norris may even take a pass before doing something like this.

(Via Random Nonsense)

ohiostate-buckeyes.blogspot.com Image

Once again, defense took over as the Gray squad rallied to defeat the Scarlet squad 17-9 at the 2007 Ohio State Spring Game.

Over 75,000 fans turned out for a gorgeous Saturday afternoon of football that saw the defenses score 2 of the game's 3 touchdowns. But don't let that scare you. Experienced fans understand that offenses take longer to pick up their timing while good defenses are ready right away. And the Buckeyes look to have a scary good defense for next season.

Keith at Buckeye Commentary has a great game wrap-up pointing out (among other things) that Todd Boeckman's numbers would have been better had it not been for some drops.

Update: Reader Frosty was kind enough to send in some photos of the Spring Game.

See Also: Spring Game Photos [Go Bucks!]