I'm eating at Tommy's Diner in Franklinton (the power corridor of Columbus) for lunch, and I can't wait. May dine at 10:30 a.m., too, like kings do.
ICYMI:
- Urban Meyer and Ryan Day searching for elite prospect in historically shallow pool.
- Examining Buckeye passing against ranked opponents and what Dwayne Haskins adds.
- Looking at each freshman and the possibility of a redshirt.
- Rex Kern on J.T. Barrett's legacy.
- Kyle Snyder: USA Freestyler of the Year.
- 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: Digerati.
UNLEASH THE FRESHMEN. The NCAA actually made a pro-player move Wednesday when it allowed freshmen to appear in four games and still redshirt.
That's only good news for a team with championship ambitions and five-star talent to blood.
From Colin Gay of The Lantern:
For Ohio State, this provides an instant opportunity for players in its 2018 recruiting class to get playing time during their first season at the college level.
With many opportunities for players in the 2018 class to make a significant contribution during their first season, such as four-star tight end Jeremy Ruckert, four-star defensive tackle Tommy Togiai and five-star athlete Tyreke Johnson — who has been practicing at cornerback since he arrived as an early enrollee — there is one position in particular that could thrive with this new rule being put in place.
With J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber slated for the majority of the carries, the Buckeyes have a drop-off in experienced depth at the running back position after Antonio Williams transferred to North Carolina on April 23. Now, two members of the 2018 class, four-star running back Master Teague and four-star running back Brian Snead will battle for playing time as the No. 3 back on the depth chart.
Games against the likes of Rutgers and Illinois just got a lot more interesting. Those second halves will offer more pertinent looks into the future than the spring game.
Did I watch fourth quarters against Rutgers before the change? Absolutely. I get paid to live this life. But this year I may actually pay attention.
LYIN' LEE CORSO LIED. Lee Corso has gone on television for damn near two decades now and claimed that, as Indiana's coach, he gathered his team under the Ohio Stadium scoreboard after his team took a 7-6 lead in the first quarter, as it was Indiana's first lead in the series in 25 years.
I believed it because Corso looked like my grandpa, but he's dead to me now, too.
From Tom Orr of theozone.net:
A bigger issue is that Indiana University’s official archives have not been able to locate the supposed photo.
The photo at the top of this article is from the IU Archives file on the 1976 OSU/IU game, but they don’t have the scoreboard photo.
According to their records, “there is no mention or photo of such an event in the following Monday’s (Nov. 1, 1976) Indiana Daily Student.”
They also cite an anonymous player from that team who says it didn’t happen.
In the end I will willingly adorn myself with my grotesque Crying Jordan crown. I'm more embarrassed about believing Corso than that fable about a benevolent break-in artist with Christmas spirit.
People who regularly appear on television lost their souls a long time ago and don't operate under the same moral code of lesser beings who don't regularly appear on television. This much is known.
I still feel victimized by Corso. What else is he lying about? What else is he hiding? Are we even sure his name is Lee Corso? I want to hire a private investigator.
HARBAUGH PODCASTS ABOUT EMPTY THREATS. It appears Jim Harbaugh read How to Motivate a Football Team for Dummies, because he's pulling out a tactic usually reserved for high school coaches trying to whip their doughboys into a team capable of winning a game this year.
He issued a 110-player roster to his team this week, saying this is what would look like if the season started today.
From mlive.com:
Harbaugh says that list, which includes a mix of returning scholarship players, the remaining 16 scholarship players from Michigan's 2018 recruiting class, Utah graduate transfer Casey Hughes and walk-ons, is strictly based on merit.
In other words, the coaching staff based on the list on the team's current needs, talent and level of production.
"Who the best players are," Harbaugh said on the podcast. "And there already is scholarship players who aren't in the 110, and there's walk-ons -- preferred walk-ons -- who are in the 110.
"And there are tryout guys who made it that way that are in the 110."
Maybe this isn't a motivational tactic at all. Maybe he's actually serious with this shit.
Nobody would be surprised if multiple players off the street strolled into Schembechler Hall and took roster spots from players previously handpicked by Harbaugh.
Somehow there aren't Michigan fans raising the alarms about their podcasting coach. As always, some people need to feel fire melt their flesh before they believe the direness of their situation.
OSU PODCASTS, SNIPES COACH. Oklahoma State athletic director Mike Holder went on a podcast—it feels like everyone is podcasting in 2018 but me—and dumped on Mike Gundy's recruiting.
From cbssports.com:
Holder joined the "Pistols Firing" podcast with Kyle Porter and Carson Cunningham on Monday, and said he'd like to see more from Gundy on the recruiting trail.
"You've got to give credit to Mike Gundy. He's really matured into a difference-maker as a coach," Holder said on the podcast. "I would approach recruiting a little differently than he does. I'd want to finish higher in those recruiting rankings than we consistently do. I think that ultimately puts a ceiling on what you're able to achieve."
Holder is right in that recruiting is the lifeblood in national championships. But Oklahoma State isn't a blueblood like Oklahoma, and Stillwater is still a town of 60,000 in rural Oklahoma. (Norman, by comparison, is a 30-minute drive to Oklahoma City.)
That's quite the leap for blue-chip talent to take even before considering the head coach unironically rocks a mullet in 2018.
MORE BOSA DEETS. Urban Meyer and Ryan Stamper mandated Ohio State footballers write letters to the families of fallen service members from the State.
Nick Bosa wrote to a father of a fallen soldier in the 7th Special Forces Group, and it had the desired effect on the family.
From nwdailynews.com:
EGLIN AFB —The father of a 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) soldier killed 10 years ago in Afghanistan is amazed that a top Ohio State University football player remembered his son in a Memorial Day letter.
“It was jaw-dropping,” said Sam Casey, father of the late Sgt. Nicholas Casey, an Ohio native who died when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive as he and other soldiers entered a building in Baghlan province.
...
The letter to the Casey family was delivered to Nicholas’ widow, Rachelle, who shared a photo of it via text message to Sam Casey. From there, Casey’s son posted the letter on Twitter, and the story was picked up by a number of sports and news media outlets.
In part, Bosa’s letter to Sgt. Casey’s family read, “I want to say that he will never be forgotten, and the courageous acts that he did will also be appreciated not only by me, but everyone on the team.”
The United States of America, everyone.
THOSE WMDs. Golden age of plot twists... 40 of literature's best villains... Finding home in Taco Bell... A bike share war shakes Seattle... Where the debate over "designer babies" began.
