Good morning and my how you’ve grown since last Saturday! Before we begin, I want to give a shout out to a former Buckeye, Pam. Pam was a four-year varsity swimmer for The Ohio State University from 1976-1979.
This weekend, she competed in the U.S. Masters Swimming National Championship and won the 800 meter freestyle in Omaha Nebraska, making her a national champion in her age group. Pam’s an amazing swimmer, but she’s an even better mom. Congratulations ma! Your national championship adds to the growing list of family national championships dating all the way back to…well, this past weekend!
I think I speak on behalf of Buckeye Nation when I say we’re all very proud.
BAD WEEK FOR STORMS IN CENTRAL OHIO. Details are still murky and nothing has been confirmed by Ohio State, but by the time you read this, there's a good chance that senior linebacker Storm Klein will be heading to an arraignment for assault and domestic violence charges. Sad trombone noise folks, stay tuned for more details.
If true, Urban Meyer has zero tolerance for domestic assault, so this may be the end of the Klein chapter at Ohio State.
I HATED IT BEFORE I LOVED IT. When asked earlier this week by Eleven Warrirors, Coach Meyer said he is warming up to the idea of a 4-team playoff to decide college football’s national champion. This from Urban via his teleconference for the American Century Championship golf tourney in Lake Tahoe:
“I kind of liked the old (system) the way it was. But the more I hear about the way it’s going to work in the bowl system, (the more I like).”
With that said, Meyer is still concerned about how this system is going to play out logistically. He expressed some worry regarding preparation time for coaches and academic concerns for players traveling from bowl to bowl if they survive and advance.
I certainly understand where Meyer is coming from. It’s going to be very weird to see a team play in the Rose or Sugar bowl and then turn around and play another game. Luckily Urban’s got a great resource on campus in the form of Thad Matta. Who better to tap to learn how to get players fired up to play in a big game followed by getting them amped to play in an even bigger game the next week? My guess is you’ll see quite a few of these little basketball football pow-wows in the coming year. I’m glad Meyer has Matta and not someone like this.
WHAT'S THAT? YOU WANT AN URBAN MEYER CARICATURE CUT-OUT? The Cleveland Plain Dealer is running this interesting little promotion for Ohio State’s new head coach. It’s easy, all you have to do is cut out a hilariously weasely caricature of Coach Meyer, take a picture with you and the little guy on vacation and upload it to Cleveland.com’s website by August 15th for the chance to be printed in the paper’s season preview.
Meyer Mole.This is the kind of thing I can really get behind. I’ve already printed mine off and I’m not at a loss for places me and little Urban could go. Where are you gonna take the little fella?
My suggestion is we all get on this fast as the Plain Dealer’s “World Wide Urban Meyer” gallery (the place where all of these photos are supposed to live) is showcasing such worldly locations as Columbus, Cleveland and…Cleveland.
I’m no geography major, but something tells me that aint an accurate depiction of the world at large. Print him off and get snappin’.
FROM HEISMAN TO HOPIN'. Staying with The Plain Dealer, Bill Lubinger had an interesting and in-depth piece on the roller-coaster pro career of Troy Smith. Smith’s journey careened into another valley recently as the former Heisman Trophy winner was released last week by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
According to the Plain Dealer, Head Coach Mike Tomlin told Smith “he thought he could start in this league, and that they wanted to let him go early enough to catch on with another team.”
Being cut by the Steelers was just the latest in a series of disappointments for Smith in the pros. Drafted in the fifth round by the Ravens, Smith started only two games in three seasons but had actually beaten out current starter Joe Flacco before contracting a terrible case of tonsillitis that caused him to shed nearly 30 pounds.
Smith was released by the Ravens in 2010 and was quickly picked up by the 49ers. Troy won the starting job away from Alex Smith as early as October and went 3-2 for a 49ers squad that went 6-10 overall. Despite engineering half of the team’s wins, Smith was replaced by the previous (and current) starter Alex Smith and was released at the end of the season.
Smith garnered serious consideration from the Miami Dolphins last August, but the team ultimately chose to pass on him. Not to be deterred from his dream of playing professional football, Smith spent the 2011 season with the UFL Omaha Nighthawks. During his time in Nebraska, Smith started only one game, going 17 of 33 for 191 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Again the NFL came knocking when the Steelers signed him in late January, but with Ben Roethlisberger, Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich already on the roster, Pittsburgh ultimately felt they didn’t need Smith’s services.
So where does that leave the former Buckeye QB? For now his future remains uncertain, but his spirits are high:
"That’s the story of my life, man. But the thing about it is, it’s life… We’ll just keep plugging and plugging.”
THE MAGIC TOUCH? Speaking of OSU QB's, Buckeyextra’s Rob Oller asked a great question with his column yesterday: “Can Meyer finally turn OSU QB’s into pros?”
Oller brings up a reality most OSU fans wish would change course: the fact that OSU isn't exactly QB-U.
Would you believe me if I told you Mike Tomczak was the Buckeye’s most successful NFL QB over the past 30 years? Well, you should because Oller did the research and that’s a fact. Unfortunately not even the Buckeyes “most successful NFL QB” was that good. The Tomczak went 42-31 as a starter and won a Super Bowl ring with the Bears during his rookie season in which he never started a game.
So here comes Urban Meyer who has groomed QBs like Alex Smith and Tim Tebow. Say what you want about either, but both were one game away from the Super Bowl last season while Craig Krenzel was one sentence away from selling me a John Deere mower.
What do you think? Under Meyer will we start seeing success from Buckeye QB’s in the pros?
A SERIES OF LINK BACKS. A penny saved is a house earned. There are some days when I sit and wonder when Taco Bell will airlift tacos to an Alaskan town and then I realize that already happened. Hey wanna have your mind ripped out of your head? Facebook is testing a "Want" button.
