Sunday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on February 22, 2015 at 4:59 am
Champion Jamarco & Champion Meech
100 Comments

We start today with a sermon from Archbishop Gus Johnson (courtesy of Bishop Nasrallah):

TV Reminder: Ohio State's men's basketball team — yes, they're still a thing — is back in action today at 1 p.m. on CBS. The opponent? A school you probably haven't heard of. (Shoemaker will be through in a couple of hours with his preview.)

11W's WEEK IN REVIEW. Here is some 11W #content from people more talented than myself:

THAD MATTA: STILL WINNING. I'm a big defender of Thad Matta, so when you read this snippet, please picture me clapping from the bleachers.

From Sam Vecenie of CBSSports.com:

Matta -- over his decade-plus now in Columbus as coach of the Buckeyes -- has developed one of the best track records of simultaneously developing professional prospects while still having team-level success. Among all schools that have had six early entrants into the NBA Draft since 2006, Matta's winning percentage is fourth-best behind Kansas, Duke and Memphis. He has also made two Final Fours, been to two other Elite Eights and two other Sweet 16s, and won either the Big Ten regular season or tournament title in six of his 10 seasons. 

Basically, Matta is the complete package for any prospective recruit that would consider Ohio State. He's also quite teacher for assistants to learn from as well. 

[...]

That means there's only one thing left for Matta to accomplish: a national championship. He came within nine points of getting it in 2007 with Greg Oden and Mike Conley in town. Then, in 2012, with a twosome of Jared Sullinger and Deshaun Thomas leading the way, he came within two points of reaching another championship game in a heartbreaking loss to Kansas. Given the resources he has at OSU and his sheer level of success, one would think that championship is only a matter of time.

Once that happens, it becomes clear we're looking at a Hall of Famer.

I hate when people hold championships against Thad Matta. Try winning a 16 team tournament in a video game, that's hard enough. Now make it a 64-team tournament (or however many teams they allow these days) that only happens once a year.

Whenever I encounter a Thad Matta hater, I always ask "What coach would you replace him with that would also come to Ohio State?" and their reactions are always akin to a slug being showered with salt.

The only thing that should change Matta's lifetime employment status is a felony, and even then, I'd have to see which felony we're talking about.

PHIL STEELE'S ONLY QUESTION FOR 2015 BUCKS. College football's oracle seems high on next season's team:

I know I'm a homer and preseason polls are worthless speculation, but there's no logical case for not voting OSU No. 1.

Will this stop a handful of hot take artists from trying? There's a better chance I start at quarterback for Ohio State in Blacksburg.

MICHAEL BENNETT IS AS HE DOES. The NFL media does not deserve Michael Bennett. Point blank. 

As long as we've cleared that up, here's Bennett at his press conference at the combine:

I also can relate to Bennett's reasons for "slowing down" his Twitter account (via Marla Ridenour of Ohio.com):

Bennett is also a master of the low expectations technique:

Going to miss that fella a ton next season, but I'm going to miss his off-the-field quips even more. 

THE NEW SUB-MANTRA? The Chase is complete, and now we live in the era of "The Grind." Looks like we got our sub-mantra yesterday:

This blogger approves. Keep up the good work, Urban and company!

NUERNBERGER ON THE CLOCK? I know NFL teams like to get their kickers' attention by bringing in another kicker for a workout.

So, I wonder if that's what Urban is doing, because according to Scout's Brian Dohn's report, a former Baldwin Wallace soccer player visited the Woody recently.

Apparently, Ben Deighton has a handful of teams chasing him as a 2015 graduate transfer/kicker. (Baldwin Wallace needs to update its roster, because it still lists Deighton as a freshman.)

Neuernberger, as freshmen kickers are wont to do from time to time, missed a couple of kicks this past season. It never cost OSU anything, obviously, but this staff grades everything.  

UPSHOT TO MONDAY NIGHT OPENING. OSU will open its season on a Monday night (September 7th), which is cool until that Saturday rolls around. The good news is that weekend's opening slate is.... not bad.

From Kevin L., who pointed this out to me in an email:

  • South Carolina vs. North Carolina
  • Michigan at Utah
  • Washington at Boise State
  • Alabama vs. Wisconsin
  • Arizona State vs. Texas A&M
  • Texas at Notre Dame
  • Auburn vs. Louisville
  • BYU at Nebraska
  • Stanford at Northwestern
  • Virginia at UCLA

Yeah, we're going to need that "sim to season" button, like, tomorrow.

THOSE WMDs. The Knicks' road aliases are hilarious... Hot Take: Pat Fitzgerald is bad, actually... Hunter S. Thompson's well-balanced and healthy daily regimen... I have many questions about this Vine from the Louisville-Miami game...  "I Can Be Trusted," says Notoriously Untrustworthy Florida Man... UGA's Chris Conley is a freaky leaper.

100 Comments
View 100 Comments