Monday gets hated on (and rightfully so) but Tuesday is not a good day either; it's so worthless. What were these people thinking when they invented the Gregorian calendar? It should just be a three day week.
RAEKWON COULD START. An interesting competition will be Raekwon McMillan's quest to supplant fellow former five-star recruit Curtis Grant. Luke Fickell is hoping the senior can hold off the pup. From Cleveland.com:
"We need senior leadership," Fickell said. "You’re best when your seniors play best. You can evaluate all the years I’ve been here, when the seniors play really well, you’re going to have a good season.”
C'mon, Fick! Haven't you ever played EA Sports' NCAA Football (peace be upon it) franchise? You always blood the youngster if the talent is close to that of the elder player. It pays dividends down the road. (Somebody get Urban on the line. I need the controller in my hands.)
In the article, Curtis laments the five-star label and the expectations that come with it and his inability to take to coaching earlier. He'll have the inside track to the starting job, but Fickell didn't mince words on if he'll hesitate to throw Raekwon into the fire:
Is it possible for McMillan to start?
"I don't know. He's in here early, which is a big help to him," Fickell said. "Can a freshman do it? Yeah, he can."
The true winner of the competition will hopefully be Ohio State fans. Either Grant puts it together or Raekwon gets an early start on his career.
D'ANGELO RUSSELL AMASSES HONORS. Ohio State could use a player like D'Angelo Russel for the Big Ten tournament and March Madness, but alas, the kid is still in high school.
From the Louisville Courier-Journal:
Louisville native/Ohio State signee D’Angelo Russell have been selected to play in the Jordan Brand Classic All-American game in Brooklyn next month.
[...]
The Jordan Brand Classic, which will be played April 18 at the Barclays Center, is widely considered the nation’s second-most prestigious high school all-star game, behind only the McDonald’s All American Game. All four of those UK-bound players, as well Blackmon and Russell, were also selected for the McDonald’s game.
(Hold on while I pick my unhinged jaw off the floor because Michael Jordan attached his brand to something considered "the second-most prestigious.")
But the honors didn't stop there for the future Buckeye:
Blessings coming my way from every direction Just got selected for the U18 USA training camp it's a Honor #Blessed
— D'Angelo Russell (@D_Russ3) March 10, 2014
Thad got a good one in this kid.
WAZZOU JUST WON THE 1915 TITLE. Well, this is super corny. From Scout.com:
With Mike Leach looking on, the Washington State Senate adopted a resolution that declared the 1915 Cougars the national champions for going undefeated and winning the 1916 Rose Bowl, as noted in a report by the Spokesman. The Senate resolution honored the 1915 WSU squad as the first West Coast team to win a Rose Bowl, beating Brown University 14-0. Cornell is considered the 1915 national champion, going 9-0 but they did not play in a bowl game.
Why retroactively claim a title from nearly a century ago? Is this something to impress recruits? (No.) Will there be a frenzied rush to purchase "1915 FOOTBALL CHAMPION" merchandise? (No.) Is this something to make Mike Leach feel better about living in Pullman, Washington? (Probably.)
This is the kind of stuff Mike Leach would have clowned only a few years back. What happened to his pirate sword-waiving bravado? This is a fall from grace I'm not sure the Grand Canyon could accommodate. This trend needs to stop.
LES MILES KNOWS THE SCORE. People wonder why I love Les Miles. The reasons could fill probably a week's worth of Skull Sessions, but here's another. From Saturday Down South:
“There’s little or no evidence that would say that injury is likely,” Miles said. “Having said that, the incidence of injury in football is 100 percent. That being said, ‘He hurt his hand. Why? Because he was playing football. He hurt his elbow. Why? Because he was playing football.’
“Fatigue, if there’s a guy on there that’s tired, here’s how we handle it: We played Oregon and Auburn and a number of teams that use the up-tempo offense, right? Here’s what happens: The guy goes like this (patting his head) when he gets tired. When the ball is stopped, he runs off the field quickly. And we put another guy on the field quickly. It just happens. As the time it takes to get on the far hash, it becomes difficult to do, don’t get me wrong. But in the ebb and flow of the game, it’s not been an issue for us.”
I get Miles' point, but if the incidence of injury is 100%, I'm not sure there'd be enough players to play a game. Yet, numbers and math have never been of interest to supernatural shamans like Les Miles, and I can't say I blame him. Numbers are garbage.
But gypsy math aside, Les Miles isn't here to use "player safety" or a player's barely-cooled corpse as an excuse to try to alter the foundation of the game. His team squares up and handles the damn business.
I tip my cap to you, Les Miles. You are a true Soldier of Fortune and apart of a dying breed.
THAT SAMMY SILVERMAN WORK. I'll tell ya what, folks. It's going to be good to see Buckeyes littering the first day of the NFL draft after a few lean years. It just seems right, you know? Anyway, here's Sammy's latest.
Ryan Shazier is not real. Hopefully he'll be around when the Browns make the 26th selection of the first round. (The Browns will probably take Zach Mettenberger. If that happens, just know I'll be in jail before the sun sets.)
THOSE WMDs. Be sure to download BTN2GO for your phone so you can watch the B1G tournament while you work... Brutus wants to be the next Bachelor... PSA: Please stop taking selfies at funerals... Couple held hostage by enraged 22 lbs cat... Rain: Ghengis Khan's secret weapon... A championship week drinking game... Something called the Fresno Grizzlies will wear TMNT jerseys this year... Stephen King created a list of 96 books for aspiring writers to read... Norway's lovely monument to the victims of the worst mass shooting in modern history... Lost images from WWI's western front... A hawk attacking a water balloon in super slow motion...
