Started The Way of Kings yesterday on the recommendation of a friend. Nearly 200 pages in and I can confirm its banger status. Worth checking out if you enjoy high fantasy novels.
ICYMI:
- Latest depth chart projection.
- Part 2 of our look at records that could fall this fall.
- Chase Young: That fella is going to be good.
- The G.O.A.T. Game Tournament, old school bracket semifinals.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Bivouac.
THE LEGACY OF A TEXAN. On another timeline, J.T. Barrett prepares for his final season at Texas under new coach Tom Herman, the founder of MENSA (the organization for geniuses), that tried so hard to lure him to Columbus while offensive coordinator at Ohio State.
Thankfully Mack Brown's quarterback evaluation skills deteriorated down the stretch like salt into a beer.
On this timeline, Barrett prepares for his final season at Ohio State. And despite it being basically ensured he'll leave with a swath of quarterback records, his legacy is still up in the air thanks to a tumultuous past two seasons.
From cleveland.com:
He instead looked less accurate, allowed his footwork to get out of whack and seemed to lack the confidence to really let the ball fly like he did in some his best games in 2014. He struggled guiding a talented but young offense to the place it needed to get for Barrett to be the starting quarterback of a team that wins a ring.
"It isn't like his main thing is trying to win the Heisman or anything like that," Joe Barrett said. "It's trying to get back to the championship game and rewrite that wrong."
[...]
"Did I have speed bumps? Yeah," Barrett said. "But representing where I'm from, my family, I think I've done a good job of carrying not only my family name, but Wichita Falls, with the things I've accomplished here at Ohio State."
That article is worth the read, if you're looking to read more about Barrett instead of doing work.
As I've said before: I'm all in on the Barrett swagwagon. If that leads me to a tomb on the bottom of the sea, please make sure "He also was high on Dwayne Haskins" makes it onto my epitaph. Thanks.
THE RIGHT GUARD DANCE. We're less than week away from Ohio State dashing Indiana's brains against a Ford Bronco bumper in the parking lot of Memorial Stadium, and we still don't know who will start at right guard.
The race is down to three men.
From theozone.net:
“Matt Burrell is in the mix,” he said. “We’ve had Branden Bowen, our offensive tackle, has played some over there and has looked good. And Malcolm Pridgeon. Those three guys.”
Burrell left the spring as the No. 1 right guard following a terrific close to camp. Now, it has been Bowen and Pridgeon who are closing late.
Matt Burrell played in every game last season, seeing extensive time on the offensive line against Bowling Green, Rutgers, Nebraska, and Maryland. Malcolm Pridgeon came to Ohio State as a heralded junior college transfer, but a knee injury cost him his season in 2016. Branden Bowen played in all 13 games last season as the team’s No. 3 offensive tackle. He also saw quite a bit of playing time against Bowling Green, Rutgers, Nebraska, and Maryland.
This is either a great sign about the depth at right guard or a worrying development that nobody has seized the position. I have enough pessimism in my life without dragging hideous monster into my Ohio State fandom, so I'm choosing to believe its the former.
HARBAUGH! My brother once removed all the marshmallows from a box of Lucky Charms and put the rest of the cereal back in the box for me to eat. That was more mature and made more sense than Jim Harbaugh and Michigan claiming they haven't compiled a roster.
From nj.com, which filed an FOIA request for the roster two weeks ago:
The ridiculous response from Michigan was to delay for nearly two weeks and then claim: "There is no responsive document."
Obviously, Michigan was jerking us around. The NCAA caps training camp rosters at 105 players and each school's NCAA compliance office tracks the roster at all times for eligibility purposes.
When the transparent attempt to skirt the FOIA rules on the exact loophole predicted was pointed out, Michigan's reply: Give us another week or so. We'll see if we have such a document.
The worst part is if Harbaugh gets away with this — and it looks like he will — it will only embolden his lizard brain to try more antagonistic childlike shit like this.
I hope Florida beats them by 60. It won't happen, but that won't stop me for Gator chomping next Saturday night until my hands blister.
NEBRASKA NOT WITH RUGBY TACKLING. Urban Meyer hired Chris Ash from Arkansas back in 2014. Ash's first move was to adapt rugby tackling, a system devised by Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks.
Ohio State went on to win the title behind (Ezekiel Elliott and) a tenacious defense.
That system apparently won't work for Nebraska.
From the Associated Press:
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska football coaches no longer are putting players through rugby-style tackling drills, and the athletic department has ended its contract with the Seattle company that was helping the Cornhuskers transition to the technique.
Nebraska paid Atavus $100,00 last year to provide training to coaches and design drills for players. The school was to pay $80,000 this year but exercised a clause allowing it to terminate the contract for any reason before Jan. 15.
New defensive coordinator Bob Diaco, when asked about rugby tackling last spring, said "there are a lot of style of tackles that have to be conducted."
"There are a lot of style of tackles that have to be conducted." What an amazing quote. Let's hope none of them are on display when the Buckeyes roll into Lincoln on Oct. 14th.
LIFE COMES AT YOU FAST. You know the old saying: One day you're the youngest tenured faculty member at Ohio State, the next you're pulling the ripcord on your life and moving to Belize to avoid a windfall of shame that's about to land upon you.
From Owen Daugherty of The Lantern:
A professor and administrator recognized as the youngest-ever person to achieve tenured faculty status at Ohio State no longer holds either position with the university.
On March 17, Dr. Terrell Strayhorn was fired from his role as director of Ohio State’s Center for Higher Education Enterprise. The firing came on the heels of an administrative review that showed he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in undocumented and improper speaking fees at events held across the country.
Then, on May 3, Strayhorn resigned without notice from his faculty position — a day before Ohio State completed a months-long investigation of a complaint that alleged an improper relationship with his understudy at the education enterprise center, policy analyst Dr. Royel Johnson.
Would just like to announce I am still available to accept tens of thousands of dollars in undocumented and improper speaking fees. Interested parties should email me.
THOSE WMDs. Restricting Soviet travel in the U.S. during the Cold War... Hunting a Killer: Sex, drugs, and the return of syphilis... 22-year-old gets job at website... A Texas cop needed cash for a political campaign, so he took a side job with a cartel... I didn't look like a heroin addict.
