Monday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on July 7, 2014 at 6:00 am
Armory razing, 1959 via The Ohio State Archives
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This Tracy Sprinkle case has been wild. First, Rowland breaks the arrest and suspension story open. Then some unknown Northeastern Ohio newspaper sauntered onto the scene and reported Tracy Sprinkle was booked on heroin charges.

But then we found out, no, Tracy Sprinkle wasn't rolling around Lorain with balloons of heroin, but there were drug and rioting charges.

Cleveland.com then reported Tracy Sprinkle was arrested on cocaine charges (which is more in-line with the accompanying riot charges).

The police report, like I said, is wild.

From Cleveland.com:

The initial responding officer described a scene of "absolute mayhem" inside [Lorain's Grown & Sexy Lounge] upon arrival, including chairs being thrown, and deployed a police dog to attempt to get control of the situation. Sprinkle, 19, and another 23-year-old man, Wayne Blue, are described in the report as shouting at each other outside the bar repeatedly as the officer attempted to restore order. All night shift units of the Lorain Police responded to the scene, and the Ohio State Highway Patrol also arrived to assist, according to the report.

[...]

According the report, Blue said he was struck in the face with a bottle by Sprinkle. The officer said that Sprinkle "denied any involvement with anything and otherwise remained quiet."

In addition to Sprinkle's drug charge, both Blue and Sprinkle were charged with rioting and failure to disperse. A check of the bar after the fight by police found "the pool table had been flipped over, overhead lights were broken, tables and chairs had been thrown around and broken apart along with multiple beer and liquor bottles."

The Columbus Dispatch — Please note: I'm not even a journalist, and I know how to cite things —  was able to clarify the situation around the cocaine charges:

The cocaine was not found on Sprinkle, but rather hidden in the back seat of a squad car in which he had been placed after the fight.

Police acknowledged another arrested person had been in the vehicle prior to Sprinkle. The officer searched the car after the first person's release and had found no drugs.

Not to keep dropping bombs, but I'm also not a lawyer; however, that seems like a wide berth of land on which Tracy Sprinkle's shark-lawyer can stand.

AN IDIOT'S PREDICTION: plea deal and Sprinkle sits out the 2014 season.

(And can somebody tell me why Sports Illustrated ran a massive picture of Urban Meyer — a man on vacation — on top of a story about a teen getting pinched for blow in Lorain?)

The biggest shocker of this case, to me, anyway, is a 19-year-old decided to go to something called a "Grown & Sexy Lounge." But then again, the people involved in this police report sound neither grown or sexy. Such are the risks of attending a soiree in a den of iniquity. One minute you're blowed down and chattering with a 42 year-old with four kids and the next you're throwing liquor bottles and talking trash to cops, the people who can put you into jail for the weekend. It's a losing proposition.

This story, though, is more entertaining than two bros urinating in some bushes, an underage drinking arrest or a grainy surveillance video of a shithouse like Sugar Bar 2. For that, I'm somewhat thankful. "Go big or go home," as the Shawnee used to say.

I assume Urban will let the case play out, but in the mean time, I think we should all pray for Tracy Sprinkle's soul:

I dunno, Kirk. I don't like disagreeing with men who can crush my melon-shaped head with their bare hands, but The Workhouse is the closest thing to Hell I've encountered in my 27 years of meager existence. 

Still, the point does stand on the record, and say what you will about Franklin County's jail, it doesn't employ Mickey Marotti. #Prayers4Tracy

LIVE FROM THE OPENING. In his last scene in season four of Game of Thrones, we last saw the Lord of Whispers looking forlorn on a boat headed to an unknown location.

It appears he's now surfaced in a place you'd least expect: Beaverton, Oregon.

Eleven Warriors Worldwide LLC sent Birm to the west coast to cover Nike's The Opening. Yesterday was the start of the Elite 11 quarterback challenge, which runs parallel to The Opening. (Here's the Eleven Warriors image gallery from the event.)

According to Birm (and others), Penn State's 2015 crown jewel, Brandon Wimbush, put in a stellar performance on the day, showing a big arm and great "coachability." 

Kyler Murray, a Texas A&M commit, also balled out in the second Elite 11 session

Birm also caught up with 2015's No. 1 dual-threat quarterback, Torrence Gibson, who is suffering from a high ankle sprain. Gibson says he wants to "focus" on playing QB, and his ankle injury won't allow him to workout at receiver. He also maintained he wants to make a visit to Ohio State this summer.

Justin Hilliard, Tyler Green and a plethora of 2015 Ohio State targets will be in action this week. Here's the schedule if you want to set the ol' DVR:

ON ESPN U

JUSTIN HILLIARD IS CHARITABLE. Justin Hilliard, Ohio's top prospect, was half of the 10-Star Wednesday tandem that nuked our servers last week. 

It would appear Ohio State got not only a helluva football player, but also a helluva human being. Here's Hilliard yesterday going out of his way to help the needy:

THE HUNT FOR JEROME BAKER. On Friday, Cleveland Benedictine four-star linebacker Jerome Baker will pledge his allegiance to a collegiate football team. 

Ohio State is hoping to keep the young fella within the state. Here's Baker in an interview with SB Nation:

"So much is happening, going into my senior year. We're contending for a State Championship and I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go," Baker explained. "I thought I might as well get it off my plate. That's the major reason why I decided to do it before my senior year. I did it in July because two-a-days start in August."

Ohio State, Florida, and Tennessee are widely considered to be the favorites to land the standout linebacker.

[...]

Ohio State: "It's the home school. It's pretty much a second home for me. When there I know the players and have friends who go there. I have great relationships with the coaches. There's so much that Ohio State has."

Hmmm. Let me look into my crystal ball for a second....

Consider it done.

According to multiple sources, Jerome Baker is an Ohio State lock; so it should be another good week for Buckeye recruiting.

OHIO'S TOP 30 FOR 2016 . Here's a snippet of Rivals' breakdown of the cream of Ohio's potent 2016 crop:

Name Position High School College
Tommy Kramer OL Cincinnati Elder List
Jake Hausmann TE Cincinnati Moeller List
DeMario McCall RB/ATH North Ridgeville List
George Hill RB/ATH Hubbard Ohio State
Justin Layne WR Cleveland Benedictine List
Luke Farrell TE Perry List

Portsmouth OL and Ohio State commitment Tyler Gerald checks in at No. 10 on the list.

Of the top six, Ohio State has offered and are "in" on every player except Justin Lane, whom the Buckeye have yet to offer.

Five of the top 30, including four of the first 15, hail from Cincinnati. (Wagner has an in-depth look coming later today.) Kerry Coombs told Rowland the following last week: "There’s no better high school football anywhere in the country than there is in the city of Cincinnati.” 

So Coombs' Queen City connects will be important for the 2016 cycle. Another, less heralded recruiting asset will be Marionaire and tight ends/fullbacks coach, Tim Hinton.

Hinton spent a few years at the University of Cincinnati under Jim Tressel's dark apprentice, Mark Dantonio. He was poached (along with Ed Warinner) from Brian Kelly at Notre Dame. He's also an under-appreciated recruiter.

Don't believe me? Here's Urban Meyer on Tim Hinton:

"Tim is an awesome coach," Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said. "He and I worked together on the Ohio State staff in 1986, but what I am most impressed with is his time spent as a high school coach in Ohio. He had some outstanding teams at Harding and his extensive experiences coaching in the state were crucial in my desire to want him on our staff."

You're damn right Urban Meyer is familiar with Hinton's '98 team — the best football team in Marion County history and one that gave Mike Doss and state-champ McKinley its toughest game of the tournament — and the 2001 team that rolled Justin Zwick and the Massillon Tigers up like a Wal-Mart area rug on clearence.

And when OGs like Tim Hinton are hitting from the fifth spot on the recruiting trail, good things are going to follow.

AARON CRAFT DOES AARON CRAFT STUFF. Via Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass), here's Aaron Craft in action yesterday for the 76ers' Summer League Team:

If NBA Summer League is your cup of tea, Edr4225 put together the schedule of former Buckeyes hooping in it this year. (Aaron Craft, LaQuinton Ross, David Lighty and DeShaun Thomas.) 

THOSE WMDs. LBJ is coming back... Run and Gun: How Javaris Crittenton went from basketball phenom to standing trial on a murder charge... This is how Colombia received their soccer team yesterday... ABC 6 INVESTIGATORS: Cartel Cash Pipeline Runs Smack Through Central Ohio... Twilight of the Pizza Barons: The Domino’s and Little Caesars founders’ contrasting legacies... Ex-Alabama FB player Tyrone Prothro gets help to pay $10K in student loans after O'Bannon testimony... NOBODY #RiseAndGrind's harder than Detroit... 

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