Good morning, America. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! Sorry, just practicing for the Olympics. If you happen to be reading this in another country, good day or evening to you as well.
It's been an eventful sports week, and the next few days are about to get even busier, though, hopefully, in a much more pleasant sort of way. As most of us know, the Olympics begin on Friday, the same day as Friday Night Lights in Columbus.
I glanced at the schedule, and I'm still not exactly sure what FNL entails. I can only presume a recruit will launch a dramatic comeback to win the skills competition while a perfectly coiffed Kyle Chandler looks on with the hint of a smile, content that his fiery, inspirational halftime speech worked.
The Big Ten Media Days will kick off tomorrow, and thanks to Kyle (not Chandler) and Chad, 11W will have boots on the ground. Yesterday, Chad tweeted about passing along any questions you might want him to ask coaches or players, like "who's your favorite cereal mascot?"1 or really anything that doesn't involve the Penn State scandal.
YOU'RE A BURKE. Also this Saturday, Big Ten Championship Game tickets go on sale, which will probably attract a lot of Wisconsin fans. With Ohio State and Penn State both facing postseason bans, the Badgers are by far the most likely representative from the Leaders Division. That's assuming Purdue and Illinois don't become consistently competent, and I don't trust either not to derp it up at some point, though yesterday, Dave outlined how a non-Wisconsin squad could end up in Indy.
Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke pointed out that both teams can still make a statement even though they're ineligible for the title game. As he said:
"I suspect you'll see the kids both in Columbus and State College, this will be a rallying cry for them. I don't think you need to sit there and feel sorry for those football teams. They'll be good, and we know that. We've got to take care of our own business.
"Even though those two schools may not go, they'll have a bearing on who does go for sure."
Meanwhile, Purdue Pete and Willie the Wildcat responded to the B1G mascots' "Call Me Maybe" video, which is already played out, with a spoof video of "Telephone", a song that was popular two years ago. Even if I like the enthusiasm, it's clear to me that the conference mascots need more up-to-date, and quite frankly better, taste in music.
BUCKEYES HELPING BUCKEYES. It's been called to our attention far too often recently, but in case there was any doubt, college football is not a pristine and virtuous system. Still, at a university like Ohio State, it does have ways of benefiting others.
Temporarily on the Olympic beat, Doug Lesmerises wrote, "the Olympics remind us where a chunk of money made by the football team winds up: paying for Olympic sports that have no hope of supporting themselves."
While those sports don't receive nearly as many headlines as football, rifle team member Amanda Furrer made it clear that she felt they had just as much support from the athletic department. That kind of financial backing can lead to more Olympians, who can train and improve their craft during college. Furrer added:
"Being a Buckeye is something to be proud of, and I know the benefits of being a student-athlete there are going to extend far past anything I can see now. I've already made the Olympic team, and I can say I owe a lot of that to being at Ohio State."
Although not every Buckeye in the Olympics is suiting up for the United States, it's fun to be able to cheer on those who also play or played for Ohio State. This is their time to shine.
A more palatable LaneTWELVE ABLE MEN. BTN's Brent Yarina posted his preseason Big Ten player rankings, which included six on offense and six on defense. Although John Simon, at #5 on the defensive list, was the only Buckeye in either of his top six, both Braxton Miller and Johnathan Hankins were presumably #7, or as Yarina calls them, "next in line."
Somewhat interestingly, he named a different DT, Purdue's Kawann Short, as the top defensive player in the conference, yet it's Big Hank who is projected to be drafted before every other B1G player. In NFLDraftScout.com's latest mock draft, he's expected to go #4 overall to the Vikings. That is, if he decides to turn pro after this season.
On the offensive side, it's not surprising that Yarina ranked Montee Ball and Denard Robinson at #1 and #2, but it's worth noting that he put Penn State's (?) Silas Redd in the fifth spot.
THERE'S A STORM COMING, MR. O'BRIEN. At this point, the only current Nittany Lion who has chosen to transfer is offensive tackle Ryan Nowicki, who appears to be Illinois-bound. A couple of recruits have decommitted, including Ohioan Ross Douglas2, a cornerback who is now headed to Michigan as a member of the 2013 class.
Undoubtedly, more exits will be coming, and at yesterday's Pac-12 media day, USC coach Lane Kiffin offered to dole out advice to Bill O'Brien on how to deal with bowl bans and scholarship reductions. However, like the Selina Kyle to the Penn State coach's Batman, trustworthiness isn't Kiffin's forte, who issued a thinly-veiled recruiting pitch to Redd:
"Our No. 1 concern is our running back position,” Kiffin said. “We’re concerned about our depth there."
Sure, Redd could potentially play for a national title if he transferred to USC whereas he might lose to Temple if he stayed, but if I were him, I'd be worried about the systemic shock of going from Matt McGloin as my QB to Matt Barkley. They share the same first name and...well, that's about it.
YOU'VE LOST YOUR INNER PIRATE. As one would expect, Mike Leach3 makes any media gathering more entertaining, and Washington State's new coach did just that yesterday. Probably because no one would want to turn his back on an armed Kiffin, Leach declared that Utah's Kyle Whittingham would be the best hunting partner out of all the other Pac-12 coaches.
Prompted, he also compared two of his players to Civil War generals, because why wouldn't a reporter ask Leach a question like that?
On quarterback Jeff Tuel:
"I would have to say that Jeff would be a little more like Stonewall Jackson, kind of all over the place, attack from all angles, the cavalry is over here, then over here. He's not afraid to split the force and connect and attack again from all kinds of different angles."
On defensive end Travis Long:
"I would say Travis is a little more of a Ulysses S. Grant guy. He's in the trenches. If it requires bombarding Vicksburg for a month, he's fully prepared to do it."
It's only a matter of time before he's teaching a history course at WSU, too.
SO YOU LINK THE DARK IS YOUR ALLY? Jon Diebler to Turkey?... Michigan's off-the-field troubles are starting to add up... Michigan State's long snapper fractured his neck but luckily has full use of his extremities... A look at Minnesota's patch honoring Gary Tinsley... On the heels of Ben Gibbard's "Ichiro’s Theme", six more indie songs inspired by baseball... The New Yorker's in-depth profile of Bruce Springsteen... Oh yay, NBC wants broader sitcoms... A street map of movie titles.
- 1 Based on his name alone, I'd guess that Bielema would favor Lucky the Leprechaun. Dantonio kind of strikes me as a Count Chocula guy. Because mustaches have to stick together, Danny Hope would pick Cap'n Crunch. Brady Hoke's answer would probably be "all of them."
- 2 No Ohio State offer.
- 3 Leach once guest starred on Friday Night Lights, meaning this Skull Session has come full (hearts) circle.
