The men's basketball team isn't dead yet. Jae'Sean Tate hit a game-winner to beat Penn State 71-70 in Happy Valley.
Coast-to-coast goes Jae'Sean Tate, for the @OhioStAthletics win. https://t.co/387HArmh6k
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 1, 2017
Word of the Day: Louche.
BUCKEYES RACE FOR THE BAG. If there's one meme college football programs love to know, it's declaring themselves "[Position] University."
When it comes to Defensive Back U, you'd be hard pressed to find a better résumé than Ohio State's.
From Matt Miller of Bleacher Report:
Is Ohio State DBU? There's a strong case for it with three first-rounders in this class. pic.twitter.com/bwjSoMqLwJ
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) February 28, 2017
What's funny is Ohio State's DB legacy goes further back than just this year. Kerry Coombs and Urban Meyer have rolled them off the assembly line with an efficiency that would make Henry Ford flush regret dying the same year scientists discovered penicillin cured syphilis.
Some players checked into Indianapolis yesterday. Defensive backs aren't slated to arrive until Friday. When that happens, Marshon Lattimore and Gareon Conley will look to add to the legacy created by former Buckeye DBs in the last five years.
From espn.com:
Ohio State defensive backs: The Buckeyes have emerged as the league's current kings of the combine looking back over the last four seasons overall. And while rival Michigan actually has more overall attendees this year, once again Ohio State's loaded draft class in the secondary is in line to steal the show. Since Bradley Roby left early and became a first-round pick in 2014, the Buckeyes have sent eight cornerbacks and safeties to the combine to flash their speed, versatility and ball skills ahead of the draft. And now Malik Hooker, Gareon Conley and Marshon Lattimore are all pushing to either solidify a first-round grade or sneak into that position after earning their invitations to Indianapolis. There's not much doubt that Ohio State has stamped itself as DBU in the Big Ten recently, and this year could strengthen the claim that it has become that nationally as well.
Clarity: Malik Hooker won't participate in drills as he recovers from hernia and labrum surgery.
Lattimore is a freak athlete, and he'll prove it this weekend. Look for him to be the first defensive back selected in the draft, which Meyer will use to pitch to 2018 prospects as "testimony over theory."
THIS LEAGUE SOUNDS LIT. Verlon Reed, a former Marion-Franklin quarterback, came to Ohio State in 2010 as a three-star athlete and started his career at wide receiver.
Nobody here needs a refresher on what happened between 2010 and 2011 with OSU football.
When Meyer descended from the posh ESPN studios into Columbus, he and Reed clashed. After an initial smoothing over, things deteriorated. Reed eventually landed at the University of Findlay, the only school that offered him a lifeline to play quarterback.
Reed signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions in 2015 but failed to catch on. The former Findlay game-breaker now plies his trade for the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles in the Indoor Football League.
The Screaming Eagles operate like no team you've ever heard of.
From Colin Hass-Hill of thelantern.com:
Neither Reed nor his coaches called the touchdown-scoring play. The Screaming Eagles, marketed as the first “fan”-chise, allow their fans to vote on which play to call. Fans can download the team’s app and select one of four options.
“The coach has the iPad that he’s looking at and he’ll see what play has the higher percentage and then he’ll let me know through my earpiece,” Reed said. “I’ll relay it to the team with the wristband.”
Fans also picked the team’s name, uniform, warm-up music and three players on the roster. Additionally, the team decided to put each player’s Twitter handle on the back of their jerseys.
Reed is in the middle of resurrecting his football career, which started promising for a local kid who dreamed of being a Buckeye then moving on to the NFL. A first-team All-Ohio quarterback as a high school senior, Reed entered OSU in autumn of 2010 listed as an athlete and began practicing with the receivers.
This is how Meyer should have solved the fans' consternation about play calling last year. He should've just said, "Y'all think y'all fancy?" And then unleashed the playbook through an app and let us guide our team to glory.
Look how the proletariat guided the Eagles victory:
A HUGE win by the Screaming Eagles in a tremendous FANchise bowl! The fans called an unbelievable game to lead the SLSE to the win! pic.twitter.com/cUpIM5tbdA
— Screaming Eagles (@SLScreamEagles) February 27, 2017
Sounds like the Screaming Eagles are on to something. This could be the future of football.
(And yes, you're damn right I use "y'all.")
ONE WAY TO WORK OUT YOUR LEGS. Demario McCall is the greatest football player in Ohio State history and it's not close:
@11W Adding to the legacy: Demario McCall spotted riding a bike with a completely flat back tire past the Oval
— Kenton (@K_stein14) February 28, 2017
@11W unfortunately he disappeared almost as mystically as he came, was too slow with the phone
— Kenton (@K_stein14) February 28, 2017
Has there ever been a player who fits "mystic" better than McCall? No.
Ohio State staffers should start plotting space at the WHAC for his Heisman. Him not winning it this year only guarantees its 2018 arrival.
THANKS, EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS. Good news, folks. We no longer have to worry the turf field at the Horseshoe infects our beloved players with poisonous chemicals.
From dispatch.com:
BRUSSELS — A European Union report says that there is "at most, a very low level of concern from exposure to recycled rubber granules" in artificial sports fields, allaying fears about chemicals present in the rubber.
The report published Tuesday by the European Chemicals Agency says that based on current evidence, it "has found no reason to advise people against playing sports on synthetic turf containing recycled rubber granules."
Late last year, Dutch researchers reached a similar conclusion, following an investigation triggered by fears over chemicals found in the rubber crumbs, which are usually made from old tires.
More advanced Dutch scientists will probably debunk this in thirty years, lol.
SOMEBODY SNITCHED. "'An unjust law is no law at all.' — Martin Luther King Jr." — Michael Scott.
From richmond.com:
Two of the University of Richmond’s best baseball players are among five who have begun this season suspended for NCAA rules violations related to fantasy football involvement.
Right-hander Keenan Bartlett, a junior who Baseball America recognized in the preseason as the A-10’s third-best professional prospect, and senior infielder/designated hitter Kurtis Brown, a first-team all-A-10 choice last season, haven’t played for the Spiders. Bartlett is ranked among the top 100 juniors in the country after a strong summer-league performance. Brown batted .342 with 17 doubles and 35 RBIs last year as a Spider.
UR was 2-2 heading into Friday’s game at Pitt Field against Toledo. The five remain suspended as Richmond waits for the NCAA to address their status. Two sources said they were involved in fantasy football, an NCAA rules violation. The players’ fantasy football activity was reported directly to the NCAA, which contacted UR, the sources said.
My mediocre son will question why our society tolerated the NCAA, and I'm not going to have any answers.
I'll just fall back on the World War II-era British excuse for everything from adultery to abandoning families.
"Look, lad, there was a war on."
THOSE WMDs. Keep your kids away from connected toys... The hunt for the perfect sugar... YouTube announces cable-free TV subscription service... Employee disappears along with $100 million... Serial killers should fear this algorithm... An NHL goalie on playing with mental illness.
