Went to Washington D.C. this weekend — "the Big Apple" as the locals call it — and the FBI didn't incarcerate me. I'm thriving beyond my haters' wildest nightmares.
Quick thoughts:
- Ambar would print money in the Short North. (Potential investors, please don't cut me out of this gold mine.)
- Specific shoutout to 11W member Nate, the coolest bartender in the D.C. metro area, at Lola's Barracks Bar & Grill.
- Specific shoutout to 11W legend Denny, who made a cameo at Lola's as smooth as Denzel Washington..
- Specific shoutout to 11W member Sharkvsghost. You did me dirty with those shots at Union Trust. It still love you.
- Specific shoutout to 11W member bigdrill. Ran into him at our boarding gate. It's an honor knowing a former Army Sergeant Major peruses these humble grounds.
ICYMI:
- Harry Miller, a 2019 high four-star center from Georgia, became the 10th commitment of the class.
- In Miller, the Buckeyes landed a versatile lineman who hopes to use his football career to better the lives of others.
- It's time for Michael Jordan and Isaiah Prince to lead the offensive line.
- Urban Meyer and Ryan Day zero-in on 2019 four-star QB Graham Mertz. Can Ohio State flip the Wisconsin commit?
- Have a tailgate recipe the world needs to know about? Submit it to the Official 11W Tailgate Cookbook. The author of the highest-voted recipe receives a $50 gift certificate to the 11W Dry Goods.
Word of the Day: Cacoëthes.
OHIO SPEED. I am old enough to remember when pundits making six-figures a year claimed Ohio State couldn't win the big game because it lacked SEC speed.
Speed alone doesn't make a football player. But there's a reason coaches like Urban Meyer emphasize it.
Chase Goodbread of NFL.com says the Buckeyes have the fastest player in the country this year:
The Buckeyes' two-sport star is next in line among the parade of NFL draft prospects from the Ohio State DB room. But on the track, he's fearsome as well. Sheffield broke OSU's 60-meter dash indoor record earlier this year with a time of 6.663 seconds. That's the fastest 60 time of any player listed here. The former Alabama player, who had a one-year stop in junior college in between, broke up nine passes last season. That was the second-most on the team to Denzel Ward, who was selected fourth overall by the Cleveland Browns in this year's draft. Word from the OSU staff is that Sheffield is every bit as fast as Ward, who tied for the fastest 40-yard-dash time (4.32) of anyone at the NFL Scouting Combine this year.
Again, speed doesn't make a football player. However, speed like Sheffield's can negate mistakes. As long as Sheffield isn't a disaster in coverage or understanding his assignments, he'll continue Ohio State's first-round CB pipeline. Speed like that can't be coached.
ZONE-6: BROTHERS WITHOUT BLOOD. As anybody who has held a job in their life can attest, liking your coworker as a human is a key to achieving peak production in the workplace.
Two Zone-6 capos, Johnnie Dixon and Parris Campbell, say sharing blood couldn't strengthen their bond. BTN profiled the duo over the weekend:
#NationalBestFriendsDay@YoungKing_JD5 and @PCampbell21 are in for a fun year.
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) June 8, 2018
Not only are both going to put up big numbers, but the best friends get to do it together. pic.twitter.com/EpGDWSZ6AQ
Start the damn season tomorrow! This could be the most likable team in Ohio State history.
IRON KING EYES LIFE CHANGE. The American Meant Industry is on the verge of taking a massive loss. The Iron King, Cardale Jones, First of His Name, Poacher of Badgers, Controller of Tides, Slayer of Ducks, Troll Sultan, and 12th Son of Ohio is eyeing a dietary transformation:
Need help transforming to complete plant based diet. Who or where?
— Cardale Jones (@Cardale7_) June 10, 2018
Of course Dolodale's father, Tyvis Powell, asked what every Chipotle investor wants to know:
Soooo... about that chipotle card..
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) June 10, 2018
Jones making the switch could be a game-changer. I love a medium rare steak, but I'm also a content, loyal subject of the Iron King.
MICHIGAN MAN DREAMING BIG. Michigan defensive lineman Rashan Gary, one of the three intimidating players the Wolverines have signed in the last decade, hasn't realized he'll leave Ann Arbor without a national championship.
From detroitnews.com:
“I’m focused on going to the Big Ten, winning it, going to the national championship and winning it,” Gary said. “I’m just focused on the season. I ain’t even thinking about the NFL, to be honest. I’m focused on the season, focused on my brothers and what we’ve got right ahead of us. It’s right there, we’ve just got to go get it.
“I need a national championship. I need that. That’s something that me and (linebacker Devin) Bush and our whole 2016 class was talking about is winning that national championship. That’s something I need a taste of. I’m not thinking about (the NFL). I’m focused on the season and my brothers.”
He currently weighs 280 and said he will play this fall at a max of 286.
Gary is a helluva player, and I can't fault him for deluding himself into believing illusions of grandeur. Still, he can rest easy knowing a lot of 2019 mock drafts have the Browns drafting him, so playing for a competently run program is just around the corner.
RIP RUBBER BOWL. Pour one out for the Rubber City this week as it's losing a formerly iconic structure.
From apnews.com:
AKRON, Ohio (AP) — Billy Graham saved souls there. Karl Wallenda once walked on a tightrope above the gridiron. The Rolling Stones performed there in 1972, getting fans so worked up that a couple dozen got arrested. And there was football. Lots of football.
In the end, the Akron Rubber Bowl’s splendid past couldn’t save it from the wrecking ball. Allowed in recent decades to crumble into a public health hazard, the landmark 78-year-old stadium will start to come down next week.
Like the booming local tire industry that inspired its name, the Rubber Bowl once stood as a shining source of civic pride in the modestly sized Rust Belt city that lived in the shadow of larger Cleveland — with its pro teams and 80,000-seat stadium — to the north.
To Akron, the Rubber Bowl was a huge deal.
Let's all promise to prevent that from ever happening to the Shoe.
THOSE WMDs. Texting mistakes you don't know you're making... Desus Nice on what he learned watching Sex in the City... Sorry, Adidas, I won't try to make my sneakers go viral... MIT creates "psychopath" AI using dark side of Reddit... The Tower: A Grenfell investigation.
