Welcome to the conference, Nebrasky fanGood morning, red blooded, America loving Buckeye fans and welcome to a holiday weekend edition of the Skull Session.
Hopefully, you kicked off your long weekend in style, or at least with a littler more fervor than your host.
My work week was capped with a Reddi-Wip pie to the face (all for a good cause) and I guess I should be thankful I got to cut out a little early but if you've ever taken one of those to headquarters, you know it's a very serious matter. Within seconds, the odor of spoiled whipped cream seeps into your pores, hair and nostrils leaving you utterly screwed to do anything about it. You smell like a newborn baby that has thrown up a quart of milk on its onesie, left to dry in the Sahara desert. And it won't go away.
I know this isn't OSU related but I feel so strongly about trying to help others avoid a similar fate, I opted for a PSA of sorts as a way to channel goodwill toward fellow Dubyans.
Avoid this scenario at all costs. And forget trying the following to remedy the situation as I can attest none fully work. Showering. Swabbing your nose with Dawn. Washing your face excessively with scented girly soap. Rubbing Absolut inside the nasal passages, repeatedly. Huffing an unlit Yankee Candle for 20 minutes. Putting a slick of said Yankee Candle wax around the edges of the nostrils.
It's closing in on midnight as a I type and I am still getting a whiff of that gag inducing smell every fourth inhale. I can only implore you - don't be another senseless victim.
With my civic duty now complete, let's march down the tunnel...
Welcome to the Terrordome, Bill Nebrasky. Well, it might not actually be the Terrordome - I just wanted us all to quickly remember what a crank that song was back in the day - but Nebraska officially joined the B1G on Friday and we at 11W would like to extend a hearty Welcome Aboard.
We thought we'd look cooler if we waited a day, as if we were so rad we were busy with other things on Friday to be bothered with a little thing such as adding a football program with five national titles, three Heisman winners and the country's best winning percentage, and win total, over the last 50 years.
Bo Pelini's squad joins the Legends division, grouped with Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern where they'll be looking for their 3rd straight 10+ win season.
Jim Delaney is obviously reveling in the official announcement having landed such a powerhouse football school and Nebraska officials are salivating as they wait for the cash to start pouring in from the BTN etc. Once Nebraska is eligible to start receiving full and equal revenue shares (it's unknown what year that begins), they'll be swimming in the neighborhood of $20 mil annually versus the roughly $10 mil per year they stood to make from the Big 12.
Interestingly, former Husker AD Bob Devaney sought out Delaney to inquire about becoming the B1G's 12th member soon after Penn State was accepted into the club back in 1990. Nebraska just never felt totally at home in the Big 8 or Big 12 in large part to the Texas influence that looms over the conference.
Again, welcome to the show, Huskers. We look forward to an upset victory in your house on October 8th.
ESPN greed to blame for Gerry DiNardo . If you passed it up on Buckshots yesterday, you must read Teddy Greenstein's story on how ESPN honcho Mark Shapiro's allegedly lowball offer during contact extension talks prompted Jim Delaney to begin working on launching the Big Ten Network so the conference could generate its own TV revenue.
Delaney's, ahem, strong personality got a rise out of Shapiro in the process culminating with Delaney sending Shapiro a bottle of bubbly with a note after the BTN was successfully launched.
Shapiro insists the note said, "See, I did it" which didn't go over well:
My reaction was: Who does that? It was so juvenile. I sent the note to Bodenheimer (ESPN exec) and poured the champagne down the drain.
Delaney, of course, recalls it differently:
That's not how I would express myself. What I wrote was tongue-in-cheek. I believe it was: 'Enjoy the champagne while enjoying the network.' It wasn't juvenile at all. We did toast to Mark, and I was thanking him. If it hadn't been for him, we never would have pushed ourselves to do (the Big Ten Network). It was a continuation of the conversation. He left (ESPN), so I didn't get to tell him that in person.
Having won the war thanks to the BTN's money-printing ways, Delaney offered a last word on the sent champagne to his trump his original last word:
It was a pre-existing bottle in a cooler. It was a re-gift.
Damn, son. Cold blooded.
In honor of Earle Bruce? Lesmerises wrapped up a three segment Q&A feature on the Buckeyes by projecting a 9-3 record "for now" with a range of probable records swaying from 11-1 to 7-5, calling for an early game loss to Miami or MSU, a defeat at the hands of Nebraska, then a final defeat to either Wisky, Penn State or Michigan.
Though I'm not yet ready to offer a firm prediction on the season's won-loss totals, I'm not trying to think five losses is a possibility. Realizing it's early July, how do you see the record shaking out?
In the middle segment, Doug projects what the offensive attack will look like and it's hard to argue:
Bollman might be the most conservative of those three offensive minds (JT, Hazell, Bollman), and with inexperience at quarterback and receiver, this could be a buttoned-down version of what had been Tresselball. But keep an eye on what ideas new receivers coach Stan Drayton, formerly at Florida, might contribute, especially when it comes to throwing to the running backs.
I couldn't agree more about Drayton's potential influence on the offense. The only real depth on that side of the ball is at running back, so much so that Jordan Hall figures to line up in various sets to help out the unproven receiving corps. Quick throws might also be the order of the day if the patchwork line can't find itself quickly while breaking in two guards and a tackle until Adams returns.
I'm also on board with the line of thinking that Jaamal Berry and Rod Smith will be the primary ball carriers until Boom comes back. Hall will surely tote it a few times but if Berry/Smith can touch it roughly 12-15 times each that'll keep them both fresh while giving defenses different styles to prepare for.
The kickoff piece took a look at the Silver Bullets with John Simon labeled as the team's best overall defender. Do you agree? Or do have Nathan Williams, Travis Howard, Tyler Moeller or one of the LB's slated to blow up beyond expectations?
Touching on the LB's, I'm glad to see there's somebody with me in the Etienne Sabino Shouldn't Be So Quickly Anointed Camp. I would be far from shocked if Storm Klein was able to snatch away the starting Mike spot from the just as unproven Sabino. Anybody else see Klein pulling a Sweat from a year ago?
Mixtape. Oversigning.com takes a look at the James Jackson Affair and the reality that scholarships are one year renewable contracts...Ohiostatebuckeyes.com has a new look after joining the CBSSports.com College Network...Brian Bennett catches up with Archie...Trey Anastasio is also answering questions...The hard truth...Subtle Differences.
