In sports, greatness often comes through adversity. And I don't mean in some maudlin, treacly way; greatness is born through a weird combination of luck and creativity when you're left with no other options.
And, as of now, the Ohio State Buckeyes are scraping the very bottom of their barrel of ideas. Their all-everything quarterback got injured before the season started. That's fine, we'll just use our Kenny Guiton stand-in and ride his consistency to victory. Oh, what's that, he's secretly amazing and a Heisman contender? Well hell, maybe this is a playoff team aft-oh, okay, he's gone too. Uhhh Jalin? Cardale? Elliott? Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?
My point is that we as Ohio State fans have a unique opportunity to watch a truly blank slate; as disappointing as it is for J.T. Barrett that he can't finish out the season, the Buckeyes will be forced to try out something new, again, in his absence. It's going to be fascinating as hell.
And it'll be especially fascinating because it is Big Ten Championship week, and this week we were lucky enough to have Matt Finkes (in his Finkes on Football segment) and ESPN's Adam Rittenberg on to talk about what kind of crazy things that Urban and Herman might try and pull out of their hats. Frankly I have no idea what those guys are going to find in the depths of their brains, but I'm personally really excited to see what happens.
Here's how our humble Dubcast broke down this week:
0:00- I'm going to break character a bit and talk about Kosta Karageorge here, as we did in the Dubcast. One of the things that I was trying (poorly) to convey in the Dubcast is how difficult is it to be involved with being so close to a program as a member of the media, and yet be removed from the family that is that team. You want to help, and reach out, but sometimes you don't think it's your place.
The truth is that it's always your place. Sports gives us a chance to help each other out and be the family that we say we want to be for each other as a community. Thoughts and prayers for the Karageorge family, and an understanding that we have a responsibility to help anyone struggling with suicide, will go a long way toward realizing that.
4:49- We break down the Michigan game and talk about how Ohio State will deal with the New Math that is Cardale Jones, starting QB. Plus Ask Us Anything (which you can do by hitting us up on Twitter or sending an e-mail to dubcast@elevenwarriors.com)!
20:40- Matt Finkes, with Finkes on Football. We get technical and break down the ins and outs of the upcoming game with a guy who actually, you know, played football at a really high level instead of just making jokes about how we couldn't.
38:33- Adam Rittenberg comes on and explains the mysteries of the offseason of the Big Ten, including why even a cool and breezy guy like Bo Pelini can get fired. Plus! His hot take on what kind of cereal Urban Meyer eats.
52:04- THE DARKEST TIMELINE INDEED
And that'll do it for this week! Join us next week as we talk about how awesome it is to win a B1G Championship, and how we look forward to the first round of the playoffs with the Brave Little Toaster as our new starting QB.
