Good morning ladies, gentlemen, and of course Adam Neft. Speaking of our favorite 97.1 The Fan personality, he was generous enough to do some charity work and recently hosted our very own Jason for a stint on his daily radio show. If you were one of the few that didn't catch it live or see it in Buckshots, fear not, because you can salvage yourselves by clicking here.
In addition to talking OSU football with Neft and guest host, the almighty Justin Zwick, Jason also was able to get a nice plug in about our annual tailgate, Eat Too Brutus. By now many of you know about the event taking place prior to the Wisconsin game on October 29, and while t-shirt/VIP passes are going fast, there's still a bunch of you out there who have yet to pick yours up.
Keep in mind folks, these will indeed sell out, so get your shirt now while supplies last. Even if you can't make it to the game or event, you can still buy a shirt and feel good about yourself as all proceeds go to the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research at Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center-James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.
As for the world outside of Neft, there's a little thing going on down in Miami. While we're trying to stay away from completely beating it like a dead horse, one thing I've found extremely entertaining is the attempt of both fans and media members to try and come up with a name for the week three match-up between the Bucks and the Canes.
Menexenus was kind enough to start a forum thread on the subject, so please feel free to jump in or chime in on the Skully comments and give it your best shot. Right now my winner goes to Cabanaboy925 for his suggestion of "Ink vs Pink". If you don't get it, think about it for a second.
Anyway, enough of this, it's time for your Thursday Skull Session.
JIM TRESSEL LIVES. By now you've probably heard that Jim Tressel (along with Lloyd Carr) made a pit stop at Brown's camp this week. Marcus Hartman at the BSB covers Tressel's visit to his old stomping grounds of Berea in this piece, which also features quotes from The Senator himself in an interview with radio station WKNR out of Cleveland.
If you're too lazy to click the link, JT talked to the station about how things have changed since his resignation (mostly how it's weird, but refreshing not preparing for camp), what it was like to make the trip back to Berea, his relationship with Lloyd Carr (it's what you expect), and what it was like watching Brian Robiskie. Tressel seems at peace with what happened earlier this year and it's good to see him out and about rather than hiding from the world in shame.
ESPN JUST WON'T GIVE UP. You would think at a time when Miami is all anyone wants to talk about that ESPN would finally give it a rest, at least for a few days, on bashing Ohio State. Well, at least I thought that until I logged onto the World Wide Leader in Selective Reporting and saw more rehashing on Terrelle Pryor's violations while in Columbus.
The boys up at Bristol wrote this little guy up about how TP, through his lawyer, has told the NCAA about violations he committed by taking money from mentor Ted Sarniak while at OSU, thus making him eligible for the NFL's supplemental draft that will occur this month. OSU has denied they had knowledge that Pryor told the NCAA of any additional violations outside of Tatgate despite writing a letter to the league stating that Pryor would have been ineligible for the entire season.
Leave it to ESPN to stir up the pot again. I do think the NCAA knew of any/all violations Pryor admitted to while under investigation and I don't think this will effect the pending ruling from the COI. If anything, any more violations on Pryor would likely only contribute to extending his ineligibility, rather than reflecting an institutional issue. Either way, should be interesting to see how this plays out.
TODAY'S MIAMI NOTES. I promise I won't go into too much detail, but I think it is necessary to keep you updated on the latest happening down with our friends in Coral Gables. For starters, I think it's interesting not many people are talking about the basketball program and, specifically former head coach, Frank Haith's involvement in this scandal. Haith, now at Missouri, apparently knew of Shapiro's shenanigans and did nothing about them. Luke Winn of SI.com thinks this could mean the end is near for Haith's tenure at Missouri and I couldn't agree more. How can the program keep someone like this when Indiana had to fire a coach for texting recruits too much?
As for football, some in the media were concerned about the eligibility of a few players who were named in the Miami report, but have since left the program. The big three were Robert Marve of Purdue and the Brown brothers-Arthur and Bryce-now of Kansas State. Both Purdue and Kansas State have spoken to the NCAA and have come out with statements saying all players are currently eligible. We'll see how long that lasts.
WHO'S NEXT? Michael Rosenberg seems to think the current issues in college football will not stop with Miami and his words don't even get to simmer for a minute before another program appears on the hot seat. The University of Central Florida received a notice of inquiry from the NCAA regarding potential recruiting violations by it's football and basketball programs yesterday.
The notice from the NCAA are believed to center around Ken Caldwell and Brandon Bender, both of whom are accused of helping the program recruit players to the school. The biggest name player implicated in the allegations is QB Damarcus Smith, a four star prospect from Louisville (Bender's hometown) who mysteriously decommitted from the local Cardinals in favor for the Knights this past year. Both men declined doing any wrong, but as we know well, that doesn't always hold true. Let's see how this next saga unfolds.
BIG TEN BITS. Penn State's coaches will have a tough task picking their starting quarterback, although we're hoping for "Excessive Moxie". Cousin of Vernon, Michigan State's William Gholston is ready for a big year. Bucky's 5th Quarter looks at which Wisconsin freshman will have the biggest impact in 2011. Indiana lost a great in Pete Pihos. Former Michigan running back Mike Hart is now coaching at Eastern Michigan. A look at the Purdue defensive line post-Ryan Kerrigan. Minnesota had an ugly first scrimmage, but leave it to Jerry Kill to look at the bright side of things.
