Skull Session: Chris Holtmann Was Proud of Seth Towns, College Football Season Could Be Shortened, and Evan Turner Should Join Carmen's Crew

By Kevin Harrish on June 5, 2020 at 4:59 am
We're standing in the end zone in today's skull session.
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You've done it – you've made it to another Friday.

Song of the Day: "Still the One" by Orleans.

Word of the Day: Soporific.

 “AS A MATTER OF FACT I'M PROUD.” There was an astounding number of people on this very website legitimately expecting Chris Holtmann to discipline Seth Towns – or even kick him off the team! – for getting detained and released during a peaceful protest.

I'm sure Holtmann is very sorry to disappoint you all.

Holtmann said Thursday in a webinar with Ohio State's Sports and Society Initiative that it was the first time he didn't have a pit in his stomach to learn that one of his players had gotten in trouble with the law.

“I just had a great amount of respect and appreciation for him speaking his heart and pursuing what he believes and holding true to his convictions,” Holtmann said.

Holtmann said he got in touch with Towns' mother around 10:30 p.m. and learned that the former Northland High School attendee was alright. Shortly thereafter, Holtmann got on FaceTime with Towns.

"I said, ‘Hey, I want you to know I’m not upset. I don’t want you to feel like I’m upset, and I don’t want you to feel like you’ve, in any way, embarrassed the program because you haven’t,'" Holtmann said. "'As a matter of fact I’m proud of the fact that you have done what you believe and what your convictions are.'"

...

“What we saw him do the other day comes from his heart, and there’s a real purpose behind that and it’s a real strong-held conviction,” Holtmann said. “I was just really proud of him for doing that, and for his continued efforts, because it doesn’t stop with what happened on Friday night downtown.”

I'm SHOCKED that one of the first coaches in any major sport to publicly speak out against racism following George Floyd's murder would back one of his players peacefully protesting for the same cause. 

 SHORTENED SEASON? I've kicked around a lot of possibilities in my brain since the very bad virus flexed on us, but one thing that I'd never considered was that football season could start on time and end prematurely. But apparently, that's an option.

The president of the N.C.A.A. told congressional Republicans this week that the football season this fall could be shortened, with the regular season perhaps ending by Thanksgiving because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In a call on Wednesday with members of the House Republican whip team and other sports executives, the association’s president, Mark Emmert, said he anticipated that the college football season would begin around Labor Day as usual if games could be held within the regulations and guidelines of individual states.

But Representative Greg Walden of Oregon, who participated in the call, said that Emmert also said the schedule may ultimately be truncated and that certain championships, like conference title games, could be played by Thanksgiving.

...

Public health experts and federal officials, though, have said that the country could face a so-called second wave of coronavirus infections this autumn and winter, raising the notion that the season could be cut short, whether by deliberate design or by emergency order.

Look, when it comes to the conference championship games, do what you need to do. It's not like those are typically fascinating games, anyway. But if you touch my annual Michigan flaying, we're gonna have issues.

 ET TO TBT? Folks, if you think I'm gonna get worked up about a cryptic deleted Tweet from Ohio State's alumni TBT team, you're damn right.

The TBT Twitter account and Carmen's Crew each shared the following extremely interesting exchange yesterday evening. Both Tweets have since been deleted, but thanks to Slack history is forever.

Carmen's Crew.

Now, I don't want to get anyone's hopes too high because there's a strong chance this is the trolliest way imaginable to announce that Leon Rodgers is joining the roster, but there's also a non-zero chance this refers to Evan Turner.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' season officially ended yesterday, marking the end of Turner's NBA contract. Meaning, as yesterday, Turner is not an NBA basketball player and is free to play in the TBT. More than that, NBA free agency isn't for another four months after the league's schedule change. So if there's ever a year where it makes sense for an NBA player between contracts to suit up for an exhibition tournament, it's this year.

I don't know if it's actually going to happen, and the fact that they quickly deleted the Tweets gives me a good bit of pessimism, but it's at least possible this year, and every part of me wants to see it happen.

If it does turn out to be true, all eyes would turn Big X, where we would eagerly await the signing of The Villain's kryptonite Mark "The Shark" Titus.

 GONZO'S ON IT. For the NCAA's name, image and likeness changes to go smoothly, it will need an assist from congress, which means it's an extremely convenient time to have a former Ohio State football player in the U.S House of Representatives.

This obviously is not the nation's highest priority at the moment, for good reason, but I'm glad to see Gonzo's handling things.

 BRYSON SHAW DIY. If football doesn't work out for Bryson Shaw, HGTV just might.

I eagerly await before and after pictures of his dorm, cause lord knows some of those could use some of his DIY prowess (but let's be real – not the ones he'll be staying in).

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A man is caught eating his 90-year-old grandmother’s body... Proof of marijuana use is discovered at an ancient biblical site in Israel... The last veteran pension tied to the Civil War has been paid out... Research suggests we can “hear” hand gestures even when we can’t see them... Michael Jordan’s 20-page love letter to Amy Hunter is auctioned off for $25,000...

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