If there's ever a civil war in Ohio, there's no doubt in my mind Skyline Chili will be at the root.
THAD'S ODYSSEY. It's a shame Charles Dickens is dead. Instead of writing A Tale of Two Cities, which is a book, he could've written A Tale of Two Thads, which would have ran numbers.
From (some dude named) Patrick Maks of (some site called) NewYorkTimes.com:
Ohio State (23-10) — which earned a No. 10 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament and will play Virginia Commonwealth on Thursday — trailed by as many as 17 points less than a week after a 24-point loss to Wisconsin at home that could be considered the nadir of the team’s inconsistent season.
Because of this, Matta’s personal triumph is mixed with unrest from corners of the team’s rabid fan base.
[...]
“The first two comments on my game story the other night were from people that, the first one said that Matta needs to be fired and the second one agreed with him,” said Bob Baptist, who has covered Ohio State basketball for The Columbus Dispatch since 1997.
“This is the night after he set the record for wins, which I thought was pretty interesting. It’s sort of illustrative of the short-attention-span fan right now.”
Gotta respect the fellas out there logging onto the Dispatch.com web site to voice their desire to see Thad Matta fired. There's no doubt their social life is robust and fun.
Snark aside, this season showcased the best and worst of Thad. Recruitment of D'Angelo Russell and other key freshmen? Good. Development of the senior class? Bad.
I'm a Matta soldier, but two or more tournament wins would do a lot to boost morale going forward.
B-BALL CROOTIN' EXPENSES ON RISE TOO. Believe it or not, colleges spend money to convince talented #teens to attend their school.
We all know about the millions pumped into football recruiting, but basketball recruiting isn't a cottage industry anymore.
From Erik Brady, John Kelly, and Steve Berkowitz of USAToday.com:
Two programs that reached Final Fours — Kansas and Louisville — spent more than $400,000 a year on average while two others —Wisconsin and Virginia Commonwealth — spent well below $100,000 a year on average. Everyone else is fairly evenly distributed in between.
[...]
Wisconsin gets a big bang for its recruiting buck. The Badgers, who enter this tournament as a No. 1 seed, spent $299,000 over the five-year span, with average annual spending at a bit under $60,000. Likewise San Diego State averaged below $55,000 — less than the five-year and annual averages of the 144 schools that did not make the tournament in any of the five years. The Badgers and Aztecs made it in all of them.
For comparison's sake: In 2012-13, Ohio State spent $374,844(!) on men's basketball recruiting. In the last five years, it spent an average of $220,938 per year.
The only thing I can discern from these numbers is that #teens are fickle.
EARLY IMPACT. If I were the father of an elite recruit (L-O-fucking-L), I'd do everything in my power to make sure he early-enrolled in college. (I make no excuses about the fact I'd rather my kid learn from Mickey Marotti than John Q. Algebra.)
Jashon Cornell did the early enrollment thing, and there's a good chance Ohio State could depend on him later this fall.
Brian Dohn of CollegeFootball.Scout.com, in his article about potential freshmen impact players, tabbed Cornell as a potential impact player:
Jashon Cornell- Ohio State.
Ohio State does not have many holes to fill, but defensive end is an area of need and there is an opening for Cornell, especially after incoming defensive end Dre’Mont Jones injured his need.
I think if Cornell plays it will be at defensive tackle. Urban's gone out of his way lately to paint the backup defensive line as the program's punching bag, and a summer with Marotti would give Cornell the frame to compete.
TIM BECK WAKES UP ON THIRD BASE. Seriously, how long do you think it took Tim Beck to say "Yes" after Urban Meyer offered him the quarterbacks coaching job? I'll set the over/under at a half second.
From Tony Gerdeman of TheOZone.net:
"It's a blessing to be here, obviously I'm very excited," Beck said after the Buckeyes' second practice last Thursday. "I just go day-by-day, really. I'm still learning the process, the procedures, the guys, how we practice, just everything about it. So that's what I do. I just come to work every day, roll up my sleeves, work as hard as I can, learn as much as I can, and coach as hard as I can. That's kind of my philosophy right now."
[...]
And even though he has three established quarterbacks at his disposal, he has to find a way to keep getting them better. Regression is not allowed, and neither is a lack of progression. So how does he keep these two things from happening despite a limited number of reps for each player?
"We're always taking mental reps," he said. "Stand behind the huddle and go through their progressions and reads. Every quarterback does. It doesn't matter who's going, every quarterback stands behind the huddle and we talk through where's your read, where's your progression, what's the coverage, what did you see?
"So there's ongoing teaching constantly mentally for all the guys. That's healthy, not healthy, whoever. It doesn't matter who's in. Only one quarterback plays at a time, so in order to get them all ready to get the appropriate reps because you never know when you've got to call on a guy, that's what you do. He stands back there and gets himself mentally ready."
Don't worry, Tim. It's not like you have to live up to the standards set by a guy who just coached a "third-string" quarterback through three post-season W's and a national title.
MIKE THOMAS IS ABOUT THAT LIFE. Ohio State is on spring break this week. Some players (as is their right) are partying on beaches. Mike "LUNCH PAIL" Thomas, however, is grinding to become Ohio State's next first-round NFL receiver:
Good morning peeps. Busy day, training at @TonyVillani_XPE with @Cantguardmike .Then @DC_CHILLIN_8 @iamSB3 @GenoSmith7 and @BMarshall . #NFL
— Cris Carter (@criscarter80) March 17, 2015
This dude looks like he could play linebacker if he wanted:
#imonspringbreakthough.
THOSE WMDs. Wolf catches a salmon along side a bear at Katmai National Park... 120-year-old photochrom prints that reveal Ireland in all its glory... How running an $837,000 office pool destroyed this man's life... American basketball players are the stars of Iraq's Superleague… DANKEY KANG... For the three who haven't seen: John Oliver torched the NCAA.
