Time to get the Guiton-Hype train rolling.Good morning fellow Buckeyes and welcome to your Friday Skull Session. It's the time of year for bonfires, beer, and baseball, or if you're feeling a little frisky, all three. I've already brought the old cornhole set out of dusty hiding, tossing beanbags with wittebier in hand. I obviously don't work as hard as the Buckeye football team in spring. Believe it or not, cornhole has even found its way here to the sleepy mountains of western Carolina. A Midwestern game no longer. A part of me is a little sad that such a quintissential part of the B1G football experience is not longer unique, but another part of me really likes playing cornhole; it's a conundrum.
Anyway, unlike my lazy self, the Buckeyes have little time for cornholing or wittebier-ing, as spring practice contintues at full bore. Spring games are soon to sprout like wildflowers in the morning mists, and blah blah blah. Links below!
The Nicest D-Lineman in America. ESPN sat down with Cam Heyward to talk about his upcoming draft, his father, and his childhood. As always, Cam was gracious and classy. It's always rough growing up without a father, and he's a credit to himself and his mother. Cam Heyward also tags the movie "Heavyweights" as his favorite, a move critics may not appreciate, but what do you expect the 290lb defensive end to say?
Move Along, nothing to see here. Deadspin took a look at the history of BYU's enforcement of their honor code, finding it both inconsistent and problematic. Most interestingly, BYU has a black student body of less than 0.6% of the total student population, yet 60% of the expulsions due to honor code violations are black men. Since most of that 0.6% are student-athletes, it's unclear whether that grossly disproportionate level of expulsions is due to racial discrimination or a due to a larger microscope focusing on student athletes.
Regardless, any time you institute a really strict code of conduct that is only intermittently enforcable, you open yourself up to either abuse of the system by the authorities or the wrong perception that the authorities are abusing the system.
Joe Bauserman, OSU Quarterback? Unsurprisingly, the top story around the Buckeye interwebs was the quarterback battle for backup to Pryor. Plenty of ink has been and will be spilt on the Blogosphere battlefield in the upcoming months, but I'll just throw my own hat in the ring for Kenny Guiton. He's just got a great smile.
Real American Hero. Rob Oller over at the Dispatch writes about Bob Shaw, a little know Buckeye from the WWII generation. Recruited at 6'4" 270 lbs, Shaw wouldn't look out of place on a modern football field, but unlike most modern players, Shaw saw little fame and glory. Enlisting in the military like many his age, Shaw fought in the infantry, earning a Bronze Star, and eventually matriculated from NFL to CFL.
The Spielmans, Hoyings, Willis', and other Buckeye greats of the past deservedly get most of the attention, but it's nice to see some of the lesser known guys get the respect they've earned as well. It's a good article about a man with a lot of heart, and it puts into perspective the way in which many of us take for granted the low-stakes nature of today's game. As messed up as the world may be, stories like Bob Shaw's help brighten the day.
