Tuesday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on March 31, 2015 at 4:59 am
#Dream14 (and Donovan Munger)
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Is Logan Stieber the most dominant Ohio State athlete since Jesse Owens? I say yes.

URBAN: ADVOCARE GAFFE "NO ISSUE." Remember when Braxton Miller appeared to commit an NCAA violation by endorsing AdvoCare with a local holistic trainer?

Braxton said in the immediate aftermath he'd spoken to OSU's compliance department and it was "all good."

Yesterday, Urban Meyer echoed those sentiments during his speech at the Football Hall of Fame Luncheon:

If it's on the up-and-up with Ohio State's bossman, then it's on the up-and-up with me. An Ohio State spokesperson, however, didn't confirm that to Dispatch.com:

But an OSU athletic department spokesman told The Dispatch this afternoon there has been no final determination because the school is seeking “clarification on some issues from the NCAA.” The spokesman added that the school hopes to have final word in a week or so.

Braxton is an unemployed father with a child who essentially started his own business. If the NCAA bungles this one it will be tragic.

THAT TIME BEANIE WELLS COMMITTED TO USC. Beanie Wells, recently inducted to the Ohio High School Association Hall of Fame, took a trip down memory lane the other day to that time he committed to Pete Carroll's Southern California.

From Bill Landis of cleveland.com:

Wells, considered by some recruiting services as the nation's top running back coming out of Akron Garfield High School in the 2006 recruiting class, said Saturday that he briefly decommitted from Ohio State in 2005 and committed to USC.

"I don't think many people know, when I took a visit to USC, I went out there and had Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush and Dwayne Jarrett, three of their marquee players, hosting me on this visit," Wells said. "I decommitted from Ohio State and committed to USC while I was out there." 

That would have been quite the heist. Thankfully, Carroll's powers held no sway over geography and Mama and Papa Beanie:

"I called my Mom and called my Dad and told them I was going to USC the next day, and by the time I got off the plane and got home, I was decommitted from USC and back committed to Ohio State," Wells said. "My parents said there's no way you're going to Southern Cal for school, we can't get to you and Ohio State is the best situation."

Beanie admitted he "wanted to go," but physically couldn't at USC in 2008 when Ohio State got pinwheeled by the Trojans. He wouldn't have made a difference in that game, but it makes me sick to think of Beanie playing for the Trojans.

OHIO STATE BEEN IN THE GAME. As @bayfuture said: Here are some great facts to prove what you already knew to be true.

And this concludes your weekly reminder that Kansas chose a Texas A&M receivers coach over Ed Warinner.

As for the message to recruits (and, frankly, its players), well, Ohio State's pitch is even simpler than that these days:

AM I CRAZY? Louisville announced yesterday that Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier are headed to the Association. You know who still hasn't announced he's turning pro? D'Angelo Russell.

On top of that, Russell was spotted last weekend watching a D2 basketball final with Thad Matta. And even though "Loading..." is the default caption on any D'Angelo Russell social media post, there's this post-elimination Instagram post.

I am being crazy, right? D'Angelo Russell is not returning, right? (Please don't let me talk myself into this.)

ZEKE AS A BUFF FIGURINE. I assume the figurine of a crumpled Landon Collins will be the next figurine off the assembly line:

Zeke might average seven yards a carry next year.

IS THERE ANYTHING EDDIE GEORGE CAN'T DO? At this point, I expect Eddie George to get bored and build a new space station in his backyard within the next decade.

From Fox.17.com:

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- Criminal Court Clerk and Nashville mayoral candidate Howard Gentry has a familiar face on his campaign team. While well-known for his ability to run over opponents on the football field, former Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George hopes to help Gentry run all the way to the Tennessee Capitol.

George is a Nashville renaissance man.

He's the Titans' all-time rushing leader, has performed on the Nashville Repertory stage in "Whipping Man," has a 10-year-old landscape design firm in town, an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and also teaches a curriculum at Ohio State which teaches students the sports business and how to succeed when their careers are over.

And no, a story about an OSU legend entering one of the last few arenas he has yet to conquer isn't an excuse for you to drop a political hot take in the comments section.

FAT GERMAN KICKER. I think the artist of this work should give us the real profile of every OSU footballer:

LIL NICKY'S CRUMBLING ALABAMA KINGDOM. Yesterday, I mentioned Nick Saban's character risks blowing up in his face. Later in the day, he had to face the music — as much as an Alabama football coach can face the music in the state of Alabama, anyway — and the Tide's tinpot dictator employed the abominable "sorry, not sorry" defense. 

I like how Saban used "we" here, as if a man fresh off a domestic assault charge ended up on his team by anybody's doing but his own.

The only other blame in this situation belongs to Alabama's administration for kowtowing to a college football coach. (Remember when the media flipped out over E.  No. 1 Stunna Gee's "I just hope he doesn't fire me" line? Alabama's the living embodiment of that.)

Considering this is Smith's second DUI, I assume No. 1 on that list is "stop getting caught driving drunk."

And that, folks, is how the highest-paid Alabama state employee stays above reproach. Even the SEC's lizard king, Paul Finebaum, seems fed up. (In other news, Alabama coaches' salaries are up 60% since 2010.)

THEY'RE DRAINING THE DANG LAKE AGAIN. Does anyone, like me, remember taking in Mirror Lake's tranquil beauty on their way to bomb a final for a class they hadn't attended since bombing the midterm?

*scans horizon for raised hands*

I guess I should've left out that bombed exam qualifier.

From Eileen McCory of TheLantern.com:

Mirror Lake is set to be fenced off starting on Monday as work begins once again to make the campus landmark more sustainable.

A well was drilled and tested as a part of a sustainability study that concluded last year, Dan Hedman, spokesman for Administration and Planning, said in an email. He added that the drilling of the well and the testing of the water cost $56,000.

The university is now investing in infrastructure so the groundwater well can be a long-term solution for the lake, Hedman said.

This is why I'd be bad at bureaucracy. Somebody would bring me a $56,000 plan to drain a lake and I would say "You want me to spend 56k to drain a water-filled hole we literally drained last summer? Get the hell out of my office."

I feel like we should just fast forward to the part where Ohio State announces that — despite trying everything under the Sun — they're closing Mirror Lake because it isn't sustainable. I'm sure everyone will handle that with grace.

THOSE WMDs. Ohio State pays $800,000 to settle malpractice suit... Life in Chains: Finding Home at Taco Bell... 2 Federal Agents in Silk Road Case Face Fraud Charges... Optical illusions show how VR could trick our brains... The Teletubbies are terrifying in black and white.

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