Monday Skull Session

Does anybody here watch Hannibal on NBC? I thought it would be some unoriginal, sorry-ass reboot to gin some dollars out of an established franchise, but to my surprise, it's scintillating television. (The second season's finale was a gutpunch akin to Roose Bolton eviscerating Rob Stark in front of Mrs. Stark.)

THE HUNT FOR TORRANCE GIBSON. It appeared Ohio State had cooled on 2015's No. 1 dual-threat quarterback, Torrance Gibson, to the point they weren't keeping in touch with the Florida prospect. Another hindrance was the inability to get Gibson on campus. 

Both of those issues, however, appear to have been resolved.

The Lord of Whispers originally broke the story of Gibson eyeing a July 23rd visit to Columbus. Even better for Ohio State fans, Gibson will attend Friday Night Lights, as reported by old friend Alex Gleitman.

Say what you will about how he's handled his recruitment or opaque off-the-field incidents nobody seems to know anything factual about, there's a reason why Ohio State is still pursuing him.

THIS IS WHY I DON'T LIKE MATH. I do not like numbers, and I don't do math. This much is known.

Why do I have a distrust of anything numeric? For reasons like this (graphic via @Beanzarnie):

A 7% chance at going undefeated seems like blatant disrespect.

And if Florida State has a 40% chance of being undefeated, does it mean FSU is head-and-shoulders above everyone else or the ACC is hilariously pitiful? (Probably a little bit of both.)

REDEMPTION. With Friday Night Lights on the docket this week and Big Ten Media Days looming next week... we're getting pretty damn close to some actual football.

I am firm in my belief Ohio State's 2014 team will be better and more balanced than the 2013 rendition.

With the Buckeyes, Browns, Cavs and CBJ... this fall/winter is going to be *puts on shades and switches to Pitbull voice* a real good time.

JAMEIS WINSTON IS A CORNBALL. Here's Jameis Winston at yesterday's ACC kickoff event, on the possibility of college athletes being paid:

"We're blessed to get a free education, and that's enough for me."

Really, Jameis? Because I'm pretty sure your shoplifting of shellfish and Burger King pop says otherwise. (I also get a kick out of media lapping this up, as if an athlete hand-picked by his coach to attend a media day is going to rail against the status quo.)

But Jameis wasn't there to talk about his heists:

Jameis on Publix crab legs incident: "I don't talk about details. But I fixed it....I've leaned what it takes to really be a leader."

— Matt Porter (@mattyports) July 20, 2014

If only he had learned to be a leader after skating on a sexual assault charge, but hey, those are just more details Jameis Winston doesn't want to discuss.

(Whatever happens this year, it will take a lot more than a petty Heisman Trophy for Jameis Winston to be held in the same breath as Archie Griffin.)

NU IS UNDERRATED... AGAIN. Honestly, I was a bit shocked this article wasn't written by Kyle Rowland. I swear that dude has been claiming "Northwestern is a darkhorse" since our high school lunch table in 2004. (Our assistant principle called us the dumbest lunch table in the history of the school after a milk-chugging contest got a little out of hand. We deserved that.)

From InsideNU.com:

But this year is different. The common response among fans when I bring this up on Twitter is "I can't believe anything after last year." Some national media members don't even have Northwestern making bowl games (Jerry Palm of CBS and Brett McMurphy of ESPN, two very good writers). Somehow, they looked at this team objectively and decided there's a less-than-50-percent-chance they'll finish with six wins. That seems suspect, but it's not surprising.

Here's what most people know about Northwestern football last season: They finished 5-7 and were an incredible disappointment. That's not wrong, but it's also not the best basis to make a prediction for the following season. Due to a number of outside factors, we know that Northwestern should be a lot better this year, and that any projection that has the Wildcats missing a bowl game once again fails to consider all these factors.

Better luck with the injury bug, last year's team not being as bad as its record and a favorable schedule are three listed reasons as to why NU will be on the up-and-up this year.

To which, I yawn.

It's the same story with Northwestern every year, and I'm glad it was Ohio State that broke their back and put a tombstone over their 2013 campaign. 

"They win the right way, though!"

No, they're mediocre "the right way." Fans of elite Big Ten programs always profuse respect for the Wildcats, but none of them would accept Northwestern's average win-loss. 

If Ohio State went 1-7 in their last eight games, Big Nut would self-immolate himself in protest in front of Ohio State's rotunda. 

And sorry, it's hard for me to take Northwestern's academics seriously when a corporate colostomy bag like Darren Rovell was able to gain admission and graduate from their institution.

THOSE WMDs. The Pickpocket's Tale.. Deadspin's carefully curated gallery of John Daly at the British Open... Y.A. Tittle travels home one last time... The Fake Lantern's housing guide is very accurate... Rare photos from the Apollo 11 mission... Perturbed to learn Justin Hilliard eats Skyline by choice... A pictorial record of Native American tribes in the Early 1900s... What's killing writing...