Eleven Warriors - A Buckeye Sports Blog

In case you were wondering, Tressel is not currently part of the webcam crowd.

Could Big Mike be the next Buckeye Legend?

The recruiting of high school football players has blown up over the last five years. There is so much information and exploitation of these young kids, it is difficult and expensive to keep up. I try not to get too hyped over someone who has yet to play a down for OSU, as rating 16 and 17 year olds is definitely not an exact science, so IMO, none of those rating services mean much.

However, it is hard not to notice the new verbals Tressel and his staff seem to be pulling in every week. We all know Tressel has a nice chunk of recruits verballed for the 2009 season and kids are jumping at the chance to play in Ohio Stadium.

Since Vico inspires me to know my Buckeyes a little better, I wanted to read a bit more on Tressel’s boys possibly coming to Columbus next fall. The list is quite solid, as 11 of the 14 are four or five star recruits, according to Scout and Rivals.

That is obviously impressive, but how about the head start JT has on the rest of his peers. After back to back national title games and three straight Big Ten championships, what high school kid wouldn’t want to come here and play in the Shoe, if offered a scholarship?

Michigan is second with seven verbals, although those recruits will probably be forced to sign their LOI under false pretenses, with nonwritten agreements and pressure from the governor. Michigan St. and Penn St. follow with six each .

However, the rest of the conference, has a total of 14. That’s right, Ohio State has as many verbal commitments as Minnesota(5), Wisconsin(3), Illinois(2), Iowa(2), Northwestern(2), Indiana (0) and Purdue(0), combined.

Jim Tressel and his staff have their recruiting machine rolling, picking up the top players nationally and separating themselves from the rest of the conference. While I think it is too early to discuss the 2009 class, I wonder if there is a freshman coming in this season, not named Terrelle Pyror, that you would like to see turn into a Buckeye Legend?

That’s the only reason I can think of as to why they haven’t just paid off West Virginia and put the Rodriguez saga to bed. How else do you explain the fact that the university is trying its best to ensure that the most exciting period in the last decade of Wolverine football enjoys some turbulence?

Contracts?

The latest twist is Rodriguez’s claim that he was forced into signing an amended contract while under pressure from what were assuredly the sturdiest and most intimidating trustees ever. So, you’re a former college football player and you’re going to let the Montgomery Burns triumverate pressure you into signing a contract that you’re uncomfortable with signing?

At a certain age — most say 14 or so — you learn what contracts are and also learn that breaking a contract will usually result in bad things happening to you. In his mid-forties, Rodriguez contends that he was misled because a variety of verbal promises, which were nowhere to be found in the… ahem… written document he was signing, were kept. Here’s the best part: West Virginia says he had a sports agent, a lawyer and a financial advisor at his side during the signing.

Certainly Rodriguez and his attorneys believe they have a case and they may, but why a school that’s dropping $226 million on stadium renovations is flinching over $4 million is beyond me.

Looks guilty to me…

After being arrested last July for having sex with a 14 year old student, former Buckeye captain Jason Simmons plead guilty today to three counts of sexual battery meaning he could face up to five years in the hole.

Additionally, DDN noted he’s earned the title Tier Three Sex Offender meaning he’ll have to keep law enforcement informed of his address for the remainder of his life.

Unfortunately, the judge didn’t order him castrated but I’m sure 5 years in the joint for doin’ the dirty with a 14 year old will result in a few beatings, at least.

Maybe I’m crazy, but you’d think a former Buckeye captain could parlay stories of the glory days into some action with a woman of legal age.

Bare minimum his record of 4.0 sacks in a game (Washington, ‘91) should yield some dry humping from a Dayton area Cougar if he played his cards right. Ridiculous.

Former Buckeye or not, dude can rot in the clink forever for all we care.

Could Oden change Kosta and create a Blazin’ dynasty?

There is no question Buckeye Nation felt Kosta Koufos should have stayed another year. Dreams of twin towers have danced in our heads for two years now and Kosta would have fit perfectly at the four spot, while B.J. Mullins could control the inside next year. We all know Kosta is selfish for not fulfilling our dreams and pursuing his, but it looks as if he may have made the right decision.

There are a couple of draft lists that have Koufos ranked within the top 16 prospects and Draft Express has Kosta listed as the 13th pick in their mock draft.

Which team has the best chance at pick #13 in this years draft you ask? Well that would be the Portland Trailblazers. What if Buckeye fan, what if? Could our dreams of Buckeye twin towers happen in the NBA? Would all be forgiven if Koufos ends up playing along side McLovin?

In another news, it became official yesterday, as Thad received the signed letters of intent for the two JUCO players he had been pursuing. Jeremie Simmons, a 6′2″ guard, originally from Chicago and 6′9″ Nikola Kecman, a native of Serbia. Chris profiled Simmons a bit last week and it looks as if Kecman is a prototypical European big man, Koufos Jr. anyone?

The scene in O’Brien’s driveway

Former head basketball coach Jim O’Brien was seen outside a National Check Cashers branch in Whitehall late Monday night armed with a check for $2.74 million thanks to Andy Geiger’s botched firing of the man with the $6,000 handshake.

Though I’m still red-assed over the whole saga, I’m pleased it’s finally over and done with.

Former O’Brien assistant coach and recruiting coordinator David Spiller also made the news taking over as head basketball coach at Berne Union High School. Spiller had been out of hoops altogether, working for John Deere and UPS, but the coaching itch returned.

I’m doubting the line of candidates for the post was overwhelming but it probably didn’t hurt that Spiller interviewed armed with references from Michael Redd and Clark Kellogg. Good luck to Spills in his new role.

In one other bit of news, it was recently announced Thad Matta’s Buckeyes have agreed to a home and home series with John Calipari’s Memphis Tigers. The first game will be in The Pyramid next season with a return game in The Schott the following season.

Besides the Tigers, other known non-conference games next season include Butler and at Miami as part of the Big Ten / ACC Mismatch, er…Challenge.

NY Daily News Photo

Apologies for the lack of updates, but the real world comes knocking every now and then. These are just a few of the items that caught my eye last week.

The Gun Show has taken part in his first practice as a Jet, but settled on a new number before doing so. 56 is now officially the new scary. The New York press were quick to make an LT connection, which Gholston deflected:

“He played for the Giants, a whole different team. For me, it’s a good number. There are only so many numbers you get to choose from as a linebacker.”

The New York Daily News article linked above also pointed out that the last Jet to wear 56 was former “third round bust” Anthony Schegel. Ouch.

Excellent blog, but definite Buckeye haters The Big Lead are playing up a dinner between Terrelle Pryor and Cris Carter the night before the spring game at Eddie George’s joint on campus. Pryor was already signed by this time and we’re sure he paid for the dinner, right? Right? So, nothing to see here. Move along.

Scout updated their 2009 recruit rankings and six Buckeye commits are featured in the top 100, more than any other school. What’s most amazing, though is the fact that all six are defenders.

I’m pretty sure the 2011 defensive two-deep is going to earn an MA rating.

Georgia and Texas each have five recruits in the top 100, while USC and LSU have for a piece.

Michigan and Michigan State each have two members of the top 100 and Illinois has one. I realize it’s way early, but at the pace Tressel is roping in top flight players relative to the lack of activity from conference brethren leads me to wonder if the Buckeyes wouldn’t be better off seceding from the Big Ten and trying to play full-time in the SEC. At this pace, the team’s only legitimate challenge will be once a year in January unless something is done. (Woo-hoo bitches Buckeye fan is nearly back and after September 13th will once again be shitting in coolers nationwide.)

Zook’s interloping into the fertile Ohio recruiting grounds is getting more notice and the Zooker is obviously pretty proud of his work. Good thing the Vest delivered that Melvin Fellows smack-down, to keep the upstart in check.

(Via Dotting the “I”)

Kyle during one of his famous “miss it” chants.

If you have been to or watched a Buckeye basketball game on TV over the last five years, you undoubtedly have seen the kid in this photo, OSU senior Kyle Blizzard. Kyle is originally from Trenton, Ohio and will graduate in June with a communications degree and business minor, hopefully parlaying his education into a job within the sports realm.

I have marveled at Kyle’s enthusiasm, cheering antics and of course his killer seats, I thought he would be an excellent person to talk Buckeye hoops with and he definitely did not let me down.

The atmosphere at the Schott has been a major disappointment since the facility opened in 1999 and if more people took on the attitude that Kyle does for every game, it could be one of the toughest places to play in the country. Kyle was kind enough to take some time out of his job search and school schedule to discuss a variety of topics about the Schott and Buckeye hoops.

11W is very appreciative of his time and I hope his insights will spark another lazy Thursday discussion on these topics.

Do you get special treatment to make sure you are in the front row?
The answer to this question is a little detailed because it depends on the policy of that particular game. Students can buy “splits” which are basically season ticket packages for the Big Ten games and all other games are sold separately. I had to approach the splits differently than the other games.

I’ll talk about the season ticket packages. I originally started sitting in the front rows when I was a freshman. I was involved in Block “O” and its NutHouse committee. At that time there were very few students who actually came to basketball games. Those two things were what allowed me to get those seats. My sophomore and junior years, I was an officer in Block “O” (president during my junior year). Block “O” and the athletic department work together on a lot of things and that relationship allowed us to reward our hard working officers with good seats. Last year we had assigned seats which didn’t work out as well as hoped and I bounced around from game to game.

This year, the athletic department tried a new policy for students in which they could buy general admission tickets that would allow them to sit in the lower bowl based on when they showed up to the arena. I and many other dedicated, (even in cold, snowy winter) absolutely crazy basketball fans would sit outside in line waiting for the doors to open so we could get as close to the action as possible.

Or for a less descriptive answer, being very involved in Block “O” helped me get seats up front for most of the years while this year I had to show up hours before the doors opened with all the other crazy Buckeye fans.

How or what is the process to get students to choreograph cheers/chants? Any meetings? Coaches involved?
Basically, just yell one out and get others to join in. There are some chants/cheers that we do that take some practice to learn. In the past, we would just do them a lot during the games and people would pick them up. Block “O” has always worked to find ways for students to join in on them and last year there was a big “tip-off meeting” to help teach everyone the tricks.

Again, it’s just someone feeling the game and what’s going on, knowing what would be good for that moment, and taking a leading role to get everyone to join in, kind of a lead by example method. Really, anyone can do it, and the more creative the better. Coach Matta has encouraged us all along to be loud and get into the game with chants and cheers. He even said he’d take a technical foul for us if he had to.

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