After emerging drenched with the blood of my enemies as the victor of the War of Five Skulls in March 2014, I have written five to seven days a week about the local team with the longest break being about four days.
I will already be en route to the Canadian Rockies when most of you read this. I will not have my laptop or my phone. In fact, it's my goal only to think about Ohio State football while making daily sartorial decisions and explaining to Canadians why the one true local team is a 2017 title favorite despite a 31-0 loss to Clemson in January.
Next week, 11W returns to the old-school Skull Session method of five writers in five days. I won't spoil the lineup, but people tell me I might be unemployed by the time I come back. Oh well, it's equal odds I log off and never return from a life of illegal mountain hermitage.
ICYMI:
- Teradja Mitchell, the nation's No. 2 linebacker, committed to Ohio State last night.
- In Mitchell, the Buckeyes landed the nation's most athletic linebacker for the second year in a row.
- Urban Meyer, Ohio State and going for it on fourth down.
- Five highly touted recruits of the Meyer era who didn't turn out.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Enervate.
T-R-U-S-T. Trust is one of those things every coach talks about cultivating in his team during the initial press conference. (We're also going to get more aggressive on the defensive side of the ball this year too!)
But talking trust and installing it are two different things. It's part of what separates Urban Meyer from an out-of-his-depth MAC coach Butch Jones at Tennessee. And it's what separates Ohio State from the Music City Bowl.
Meyer is one of the first coaches in the system to install a system on it.
Average leaders have a quote, good leaders have a plan, great leaders have a system! Trust and Brotherhood are on purpose here!! pic.twitter.com/AU2W2IBEIp
— Urban Meyer (@OSUCoachMeyer) June 2, 2017
Hard to argue with the results at this point. The team GPA is high. Players aren't routinely getting arrested. Even better, they intern and do charity. That 2014 College Football Trophy still shines, too.
Hopefully, the next Ohio State coach is taking notes.
GINN IMPRESSES BREES. The only acceptable opinion about Ted Ginn is he's the third greatest receiver in history behind Randy Moss and Joey Galloway.
Ginn turned 32 in April after the Panthers released him. Now with the NFC South rival New Orleans Saints, it didn't take long for Ginn to impress veteran quarterback Drew Brees.
From espn.com:
Ginn did have one notable drop in team drills (something else he has been known for over the years). But it was an impressive day overall -- and a reminder of just how fast the former track star still is in his 11th NFL season.
“I could not be more impressed with Teddy,” Brees said of the former first-round draft pick, who is on his fifth NFL team after having the best two-year stretch of his career with the Carolina Panthers.
Brees praised Michael Thomas in June last year. ("He gets it.") We all saw how that went. It'd be awesome to see Ginn enjoy another late-career renaissance in NOLA.
GET DUMPED THEN, SABAN. Sure, Nick Saban has won a lot of games at Alabama. But what the mainstream media fails to mention is he also lost 19 games in that same time span.
While all of those 19 Ls were delicious (shout out to Louisiana–Monroe, who beat Bama in Tuscaloosa), some were better than others. Let's go to the judge's ruling.
From sbnation.com:
3. 28-27 vs. No. 1 Auburn in 2010
Bama was up by 24, flying like Liu Kang into the middle of Auburn’s astounding trapeze act, with the hated Cam Newton being humbled after Alabama’s PA had played “Take the Money and Run” and “Son of a Preacher Man” (references to ongoing NCAA allegations), and the student section had thrown these onto the field ...
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/8607721/0lCij.jpg "lol gg bama fans owned")
... and Auburn won lmao.
2. 35-31 vs. No. 1 Clemson in 2016
Saban’s first-ever loss in a National Championship snuffed out a season that would’ve had a numerical case to rank as the greatest ever: being the first to go wire-to-wire as AP No. 1 in a 15-game season. Saban’s Tide finished one grueling second away from their fifth title in a decade and virtually undisputed status as the greatest dynasty ever.
[...]
1. Uncle Verne featuring Yung Joc. You already know.
Those were all extremely good moments. As soon as Cam Newton broke Alabama in half and entombed its student section in a dumpster behind a stadium concession, he switched from bad to good.
But I want to appeal the judge's final ruling. The Kick-Six was probably more miraculous, but this tape speaks for itself:
EXPECT TRAFFIC DELAYS. As anyone who works in the medical field at Ohio State can attest, Cannon Road is banjaxed most of the time. Getting that crucial corridor sorted is vital to the university.
Unfortunately, traffic will get worse before it gets better.
From Tom Knox of Columbus Business First:
A major road construction project on Ohio State University’s medical campus could cause a traffic logjam for workers, visitors and football fans through early 2019.
The $51.5 million straightening and raising of Cannon Drive from King Avenue to Herrick Drive is expected to start in July 2017 and last until April 2019.
Hey, at least it should be a massive upgrade when it's done. Not that that will stop people from complaining about being late to the Army kickoff.
Rendering from Ohio State, via Columbus Business First
According to the university's FAQ, the straightening and elevating are required for the future growth of the university.
- Creating 12 acres of developable land
- Serving as future flood protection
- Creating an eventual north-south connection between King and Lane Avenues
- Enhancing green space in the Olentangy River corridor
There's also a three-minute educational video if you're feeling kinky on a Saturday morning.
SNYDER CAVES. Kansas State blocked Corey Sutton from transferring to 35 other schools! 35! For some reason this idiotic move made sense to Bill Snyder, who defended it at length Thursday night:
Bill Snyder goes on a dissertation about the decision to deny Corey Sutton the opportunity to transfer. @KCTV5 #KState #KstateFB pic.twitter.com/qTUkfnb7bO
— Andrew Carter (@Andrew__Carter) June 2, 2017
Well, folks, it switched. Here's Snyder's boss on Friday:
Kansas State AD announces WR Corey Sutton has been granted a full release and is permitted to transfer to any school to which he requested.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) June 2, 2017
This is why powerful people need somebody with everyday common sense in their coterie of advisers. They could have done this from the beginning and it would have been fine. Kansas State wouldn't have crumbled as a program. Instead, its iconic coach gave his program a black eye.
At least a rational decision prevailed.
DRINKS ON GEE. Elwood Gordon Gee, the greatest threat to the Catholic Church since Martin Luther, isn't done making money yet. The 73-year-old West Virginia President earned a new side hustle Friday, which assuredly puts a nice chunk of change in his pocket:
West Virginia President Gordon Gee named the new chairman of Big 12 board of directors.
— Chuck Carlton (@ChuckCarltonDMN) June 2, 2017
Don't hate the player. Hate the game.
BRING BACK INDIANOLA PARK. I would be a bad billionaire because instead of hoarding coins and stressing about the capital gains tax I would undertake vanity projects like restoring Indianola Park back to glory:
Jun 2 in University District History: Circus, boxing, patriotic pageant, more at Indianola Park for big Children's Hospital benefit. In 1917 pic.twitter.com/z7aRss6GLZ
— Univ Dist History (@UDHCMH) June 2, 2017
I probably wouldn't be a billionaire for very long. Oh well.
THOSE WMDs. Documentary: This Drug May Kill You... Going out for lunch is a dying tradition... Most people will never understand my eating disorder... The X-Seed 4000... The immortal life of John Tesh's immortal NBA anthem "Roundball Rock."
