Today's Saturday. Yesterday was Summer Solstice, the longest day of sunlight in the year. The day before saw, finally, the conclusion of two months of NBA Playoffs. In short, college football keeps getting closer and closer.
Today's Skull Session will be a little on the light side. Beyond some recruiting news from various camps that Ohio State is hosting, Ohio State news has been rather light. This is good. Basically, any Ohio State headline news during the summer is bad news.
Speaking of Ohio State headlines, there was a big one last night as Eleven Warriors' Jeremy Birmingham broke the news of Leesburg (GA) quarterback Stephen Collier committing to the Buckeyes. It's a good story, so take a second to read up on it if you missed the fireworks of last night.
WHY BERT LEFT WISCONSIN. Friday was a slow news day. Really, nothing caught my attention beyond this Grantland piece, which was bound to catch my attention because it concerns our friend, Bert.
"Bert" is the shorthand I've been using for four years now (example) to refer to what others call "Bret Bielema", a man whose parents I just assume meant to name him "Bert" because he looks like a "Bert" and acts like a "Bert". That his legal first name is "Bret" must be attributable to a clerical error at the hospital in which he was born because there is no other good reason for it.
Bert was given the full treatment from Grantland, which built the entire 5,300 word article on the following premise, via ESPN.com.
Why did Bret Bielema, a Midwesterner who led Wisconsin to three straight Rose Bowls, bolt for a middle-of-the-road SEC team at Arkansas?
The article measures at over 5,300 words. So, here's the answer in just 52 words from the article.
Bielema made plenty — $2.6 million, to be exact — but his assistants' salaries trailed behind those at similar programs. So every winter, Bielema endured the same phone calls, the same shrugged-shoulder meetings. Another coach called, Bielema's assistants would tell him. And those coaches offered paychecks that Bielema couldn't match.
That's really it. If recruiting is the life force and the fuel for successful college football programs, a core of familiar, reliable, and ambitious assistants is the glue that makes it stable. If not for Wisconsin being the worst laggard on assistant salaries in the Big Ten before Bert left, he might still be there. Right now, Wisconsin is comfortably above the median among Big Ten assistant salaries. Bert leaving Wisconsin for Arkansas was the wake-up call for Barry Alvarez.
The article does a weird spin job. It's not about Bielema, which one would expect from this article and who has solid bona fides to his name. Rather, it's a spin job on Arkansas. The author characterizes it as a mid-level SEC job while Wisconsin is somehow more prestigious and qualitatively "above" Arkansas.
And all of this raises the question: Is it better to coach a middling SEC program than to coach a perennial contender for the Rose Bowl?
[...]
And while Arkansas may never be able to outrecruit and outplay Alabama or LSU over the long term, it can position itself for the rare year, like Auburn's in 2010, when talent and schedule and luck align, resulting in a shot at the championship.
[...]
The Badgers went 12-1 in his first season, and over the next six years they planted themselves alongside Ohio State and Michigan as lords of the Big Ten. There were those three straight Rose Bowls, something that only Woody's Buckeyes and Bo's Wolverines have done.
This was the premise for the article, and it's not quite true. There are times when even the author doesn't quite believe what he's writing.
You might also know that Bielema was liked, but never quite loved, by Wisconsin fans; that he was considered competent but workmanlike, certainly not a genius, and that his success was explained away by factors like Ohio State's and Penn State's respective probations and the Rich Rodriguez era at Michigan.
This is accurate. It may understate just how successful Bert was at Wisconsin and how good he was, but the fact remains that his best team (2011) lost to the losingest Ohio State team since 1897. His 2008 Badgers lost to Rich Rodriguez' 2008 Michigan squad, which lost more games (nine) than any other team in the Wolverines' entire 134-year history. Yes: that Michigan team. Michigan won just one league game in 2008, and it happened to be against Bert's Badgers.
The truth is Arkansas is doing something that Wisconsin should've been doing five years earlier: using the ton of money its conference is generating and investing it in gridiron success. When the article cites Bert as saying he can be more successful at Arkansas than he was at Wisconsin, he's, for all intents and purposes, telling the truth.
Alas, there's really nothing in that article that we didn't know already, but it is worth reading if you wanted to see how many casual obscenities Bert can be cited as saying for a piece published by ESPN.
CHARLES SIMS LANDS AT WVU. Charles Sims was a standout tailback for the Houston Cougars in his past three seasons. He redshirted in his second year in the program (2010), but proved to be a capable all-purpose back in 2009, 2011, and 2012. Over those three seasons, Sims tallied 2,370 yards on 6.1 yards per carry. He added 158 receptions for 1,707 yards and eight receiving touchdowns.
His announced transfer from Houston earlier this month was surprising. Little was said of the reasons why beyond a statement by Charles Sims saying he was making this decision for himself. Instead, news of his transfer came with the stipulation that he not transfer to another school in Houston's same conference (which is now the New Big East, for those following at home). Further, he graduated from Houston this spring, so he was eligible to transfer to another school and play a final year. However, it seemed a little more likely that he would enter the NFL Supplemental Draft.
Yesterday, we learned that Charles Sims intends to enroll at West Virginia.
"I'm familiar with the offense and I just felt comfortable at West Virginia," Sims said during his visit with the Mountaineers staff.
"I'm familiar with their schemes and what they have going."
Sims said he was also considering UCLA before settling on West Virginia.
"It feels real good to make this decision," Sims said. "It's the next step in my life.
"I just want to hurry up and get back to what I do."
Adding Charles Sims to the backfield instantly improves Dana Holgorsen's team in many aspects. WVU couldn't run the ball well at all last year, leading to guys like Tavon Austin getting increased carries as the season progressed. Further, Charles Sims is a diligent receiver and will work well in Holgorsen's offense.
West Virginia also couldn't tackle well at all last year, or play a semblance of defense. It's unclear if Charles Sims could also be a linebacker for WVU. The answer is likely "no".
Ohio State may play some more outdoor hockey. OUTDOOR HOCKEY FOR OHIO STATE? I admit I don't know enough of hockey to offer much commentary on this, but it's appropriate for Ohio State fans to know.
Outdoor hockey games are en vogue. Ohio State hockey even recently got on board with this trend and had an outdoor league game in Cleveland in January 2012. Apparently, Ohio State is in conversation with Minnesota to participate in another outdoor hockey game.
The U of M is in talks with Intersport on hosting an outdoor hockey game vs. Ohio State at TCF Bank Stadium on @HockeyDayMN 2014. #Gophers
— Let's Play Hockey (@LetsPlay_Hockey) June 21, 2013
That Minnesota is wanting this isn't surprising. Its athletic director has openly expressed an interest in an outdoor hockey game at TCF Bank Stadium for his hockey program.
That Ohio State was mentioned as the likely opponent is a bit surprising. Outdoor hockey games occur because they generate more revenue than the standard indoor hockey game. However, the idea is to have two marquee opponents play each other in order to magnify fan interest. Ohio State hockey isn't exactly Ohio State football. Controlling for newcomer Penn State, Ohio State might, in fact, be the least prominent and visible program in the forthcoming Big Ten hockey conference. Wouldn't Wisconsin be the opponent Minnesota wants for such a game?
Hockey-loving friends of mine go back and forth on the value of outdoor hockey. Some love it. Some absolutely hate it. Admittedly, I can't say anything definitive about it.
MISCELLANY. Leaving issues of what she said or did aside for the moment, can we admit that in no way should Paula Deen be advocating food on the Food Network... Can't really comment much on Aaron Hernandez' situation, but it seems like he's already copped to obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. An arrest warrant is apparently forthcoming... Understanding attributable risk is certainly helpful... Game 7 of the NBA Finals won big in the ratings... I think these are the most substantive things Tim Duncan has said in front of a camera... There's certainly no "heat" wave in Cleveland at the moment... Packed house for Ohio State Women's Basketball's "town hall" meeting... Amir Williams and E. Gordon Gee are hitting the road and spreading the word in Southwest Ohio.
