11W Industries grows yet again. In anticipation of bringing you more coverage than ever for this upcoming football season, we've added Jeremy Birmingham to our ranks. You may have already seen his handiwork in Buckshots and the comments but starting today, he's front-pagin' it.
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Is this thing on? It is? Let's get straight to it, shall we?
CUE HANK WILLIAMS, JR. We are now officially nine full days away from Ohio State's season-opening throttling of Akron, and I for one, am beginning to finally feel like football could be normal again. Yes, there will be occasional trips to memory lane, dreams of a time when the Buckeyes were synonymous with Tresselball and not Tressel-tell-all’s, but reality is what it is and we may have to accept the fact that we may never see another run like we witnessed during the previous decade.
However, like death, taxes, and female celebrities "accidentally" releasing sex-tapes just as they have reached "B-List" purgatory, some things are certain in the life of Buckeye fans. Foremost among them is that every home Saturday, rain or shine, Ohio Stadium will be filled to the rafters and with the sweet chant (O-H-I-O) urging your favorite college-aged men to victory. In the now immortal words of Bart Scott, "can’t wait!"
UA(v) STILL OFF-LINE. Remember Duron Carter? The son of Buckeye Hall-of-Fame wide receiver, Cris Carter? The Duron Carter who played 12 games for Ohio State in 2009? Well, apparently, Duron has not yet learned his lesson. When he flunked out of Ohio State before the beginning of the 2010 football season, it was widely assumed that he would head to Coffeyville (KS) Community College, get his grades in order and be back to FBS ball in the blink of an eye. Not so fast. Carter, who after a season at Coffeyville has decided to attend Alabama, is still not eligible (9:20 mark of the video).
Pro-Tip, Duron: Put down the game controller, put away the cell phone, and stop worrying about how many tweets you have and what your KDR is, ok? We all know you're an incredibly skilled wide receiver, but at some point, you will have to make your own mark. You growing up as a privileged kid, I sort of get that you don't necessarily have a work ethic that some other players do, but you have multiple advantages thanks to your genetic make-up. Please don't blow it. Buckeye fans are still rooting for you. Just take something seriously, please. Oh well, at least he's still on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award.
SECOND GUESSIN' SWEATER-VESTING. In the wake of Jim Tressel's forced-resignation/firing/retirement-thingy, many Ohio high school football coaches planned to show their support for Tressel with a state-wide tribute during the season's first week. The coaches would don sweater vests with a shirt and tie in honor of their fallen hero. Not all coaches, though, are as supportive of this idea as you'd imagine. According to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the northeast region of the state, where the Tressel legacy was born, is divided. Strongsville head coach Russ Jacques, a former college coach at West Virginia, Penn State and Wisconsin shared some particularly strong feelings on the matter.
"He has done a lot for high school football, but what he did by lying is inexcusable as far as the integrity of our game and profession."
Will your alma mater's head football coach be wearing a sweater vest?I don't have a problem with any coach who decides that they would rather not honor Tressel's career. His publicly crafted image has taken a hit entirely due to something he did or, more specifically, didn't do. That being said, one can only hope that Jacques has led a mistake-free life. (One of his former Mustang players, ex-Buckeye Scott Sika, seems to have a different opinion on the matter.)
FLORIDA BESTS OHIO STATE. AGAIN. CFN spent the last two days compiling a rankings system to determine which college football program has been the best over the last five years. The Florida Gators, with three 13-1 seasons on the ledger and two national championships (I seem to remember one... the other is a bit foggy), are pretty tough to argue with as the top program. The Buckeyes find themselves second; their unmatched success in conference play is a primary reason why. OSU has gone 36-4 in the past five years in the Big Ten, good for a 90% success rate. No other D1 school has won over 80% of their in-conference games in the same time-frame. Another telling statistic: In the past five years the Buckeyes have 27 "quality wins" (described by CFN wins over teams that finished the respective season above .500). The FBS average is just 10.58 during that same period.
C-L-A-R-K-E SPEED. Dominic Clarke claims to be the fastest Buckeye (rumored to be a 4.34 on OSU's fast indoor track), but Corey "Philly" Brown blames it on turf-toe.
BILL CONNELLY PREVIEWS OHIO STATE. What's this? A non-biased, informative preview of the Buckeyes? Excellent.
QUICK SLANTS Purdue loses another QB... Scott Van Pelt struggles with his Virginia-ty... Bruce Pearl and his Tennessee assistants get show-cause, but Kiffin and his 12 'secondary penalties' receive little NCAA attention... Danny Sheridan will talk to the NCAA about Cam Newton's "bag man"... This is probably still less expensive than 180k... Lache Seastrunk has an Urban Meyer-esque experience... Two future Buckeyes(?) commit to US Army All-American game... Tiger Stadium Vomit-o-Rama... Don't wanna pay for your truck? Beat up the repo woman instead... Boomer Esiason rips Tim Tebow... Getting married this fall, check here first... Amazing pictures of east coast earthquake devastation.
