Our hosting providerApologies for the rather meager post this morning, but work is still owning me and the site was down for a good 6 hours or so from late afternoon on. Naturally, we suspect hackers that are out to stymie the program and its propaganda-makers, particularly these guys or this guy -- we're not sure yet (but the FBI is on it). Though to be fair, the 2nd suspect thinks an Etch A Sketch is the computer that knocked off Kasparov, so he does have some coverage there.
Of course, on the football front, big news out of practice as Tressel took over some of the offensive line coaching duties and allegedly did some very uncharacteristic yelling and getting in guys' faces. Good. This is one of the many changes he's put into place since the waxing at USC and you have to start to wonder about Bollman's future. I don't know about you, but if my boss came over and started doing my work for me because of quality concerns, I'd be polishing up the old resume.
We're hearing that practices are more intense than they've been in quite some time at the WHAC. And folks are looking good. We believe this, because our practice source doles out superlatives like he does $100 bills. Here's what he had to say:
Practice was very intense. The older offensive linemen didn't participate in it much, but there was a pretty strong circle drill featuring the younger fellows. All the running backs participated, but didn't do much. Beanie looked fine, if a bit uncomfortable with the one big shoe, but no one so much as touched him in practice, so it's hard to judge whether he's really game-ready. Robiskie practiced extensively, so I'm not sure a hurt shoulder really excuses his non-attempt at that Pryor toss on Saturday. That's a real mystery to me. Most of the session was comprised of work on the perimeter - throws to wideouts, coverage schemes, etc. There was very little between-the-tackles work, and what there was wasn't at full go.
As for Pryor, he just looked fabulous. He threw lots of outs, some fades - a wide variety of throws he'll need in a game, so maybe they're opening the playbook a bit more for him. Tressel was in his ear almost the whole practice, yelling at him to "keep [your] feet," stay perpendicular to the line of scrimmage, always be in a good mechanical position to get rid of the ball, etc. I think his mechanics have come a long, long way from preseason. He's smooth, conversational with the other guys, and looks comfortable out there. Some of the guys are really taking to him. Pryor and Tressel seem to be developing a good rapport.
That, and the word is Small really was dinged up last week and it wasn't anything disciplinary. Guess I missed on that one
