Love to see you sufferIt's another Thursday morning and that means another edition of Thursday Skull Session. The Buckeyes were off last night, but I find myself waking up in a chipper mood this morning anyway due to the results of some basketball games that too place Wednesday evening.
Not only did my New York Knicks win their first game with their "big three" of Amar'e, Carmelo, and Chauncey, but I also got to see the Wolverines lose in the worst way possible to Wisconsin in Ann Arbor. I'm really not liking the Badgers right now, but nothing is better than seeing all of the Michigan fan base in pain, and one last second heave from Josh Gasser did the trick.
In case you decided to tune out to the sports world, went to sleep earlier than my grandpa, or just completely missed it, Michigan was outplaying Wisconsin for 39:59:58 of basketball. The Badgers are always a tough out with their minimal turnovers and tough defense so naturally they stayed in the game, but remained down 52-50 with one final possession left. After Jordan Taylor failed to get an open shot, he gave the ball up to Gasser, and this happened.
Roadtrip time. For all you college football roadtrip junkies, we have something for you. We're assuming if you visit this site that you are a fan of a Big Ten. If that's the case, here is a list for you of the top five Big Ten games for 2011, according to the Orlando Sentinel, who apparently knows about Big Ten football. The Bucks made the cut in three of the five games, including October 8 at Nebraska, October 29 vs Wisconsin, and November 26 at the Out House. The other two games to make the cut were MSU at Nebraska on October 29 and Nebraska at Penn State on November 12. Other notable games come on October 1 when Sparty visits Columbus and Nebraska visits Wisky, October 8 for Iowa at Penn State, October 15 for MSU at UM, October 22 for Wisco at MSU, November 19 for Michigan at Nebraska, and November 26 for PSU at Wisco. Book your tickets now, but hold out on making the trip to Columbus until Eat Too Brutus 2011 is all set (get ready for an announcement in the near future).
To charge or not to charge? That is the question. After word got out that Wisconsin would be charging for their 2011 Spring Game, Adam Rittenberg decided to stir up some debate on whether schools should indeed charge a ticket price for the annual event. I personally am all for the OSU method of charging as long as the money goes to charity. The Spring Game is part of spring practice for these teams and I think it's just taking the business of college athletics a bit too far when you begin to charge for the tickets and actually keep the profit. These events are a great opportunity to offer fans who don't normally get to go to games a chance to see their favorite teams play, while helping out a good cause at the same time. Plus, remember all the concession money from the game already goes to the school, so they already turn some coin in for hosting the game anyway. What's your opinion on this matter?
Carry on my Heyward son. Don Banks of SI.com came out with his second mock draft yesterday and Cam Heyward is the only Buckeye to make an appearance. Banks has Cam going #30 to the New York Jets in what I feel is a perfect fit for Little Ironhead. Cam is the ideal 3-4 end in the NFL and late round teams like the Ravens, Steelers, Patriots, Packers, and Jets (all who run the 3-4) would be just stupid to pass him up if they have the chance to draft him. An already great Jets defense would get even scarier if Banks' prediction comes to fruition.
The next John Simon. John Simon made a name for himself two years ago when he stepped onto campus by displaying his ability as both a warrior in the weight room and on the gridiron. It looks like it's deja vu all over again for the Bucks, as early enrollee, Joel Hale, appears to be stepping right into Simon's shoes. The Greenwood, IN native who started classes in January has been shadowing Simon in the weight room and in the film room in hopes to make an early impact at OSU and begin a successful career as a flex defensive tackle/defensive end in Scarlet and Gray. While he wasn't talked about as some of the skill players in the class of 2011, Hale was very highly recruited and chose the Bucks over Florida, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Penn State, and others last summer. I'm very excited to see what all the hard work this winter combined with spring practice reps can do for Hale when the season rolls along next season.
Turning over a new leaf. Yes David Lighty came back to life and William Buford had one of the best first half's of this season, but it was the OSU turnover margin that seemed to be the key to victory on Tuesday night. Falling under the radar a bit was the fact that Ohio State had just two turnovers in the entire 40 minutes against Illinois. The Bucks are sure to have some off nights this year like they did against Purdue, and are certainlt sure to catch another hot shooter like they did with Jordan Taylor in Madison. They cannot control those things all the time, but one thing they can do to off-set those factors is not turn over the basketball. The Bucks have three regular season games, the Big Ten Tournament, and the NCAA Tournament left on the schedule. Watching them for 28 games thus far, I can promise you that if they continue to take care of the ball, they'll be cutting down the nets in early April, as no team can contend with their versatility and talent level when push comes to shove.
