Good morning, everybody! Snuffy. Al. Leo. Little Moe with the gimpy leg. The stamp on today's Skull Session reads "Wednesday, December 7, 2011", and seven is supposed to be a lucky number1, right? Here's hoping a fortuitous day is in the cards for all.
Lady Luck is already smiling on you by reading this in the first place. I mean that not in an arrogant sort of way, but in a technological respect. My relatively new laptop and I are in a codependent relationship in which it has decided to, at times, shut off when I leave it alone. Then I get upset, but ultimately forgive, because I can't live without it. And at the same time, the laptop temporarily turns its clock back to a New Year's Eve date from years past.
What are you trying to tell me about that particular NYE, computer, besides the fact that I shouldn't, and won't, see this movie? Should I be recalling a specific event that too much snake juice has erased from my mind? Did something happen that sent me into an alternate universe and now I have to course correct it, like someone accidentally making a wish to the Patron Saint of the Women Scorned? Am I in The Matrix?
I don't know. Maybe I'm starring in my own version of Frequency and don't yet realize it. Or, maybe I enjoy time travel and "what if?" scenarios in film and TV way too much.
Anyway, there's really no appropriate segue from that topic to the next, so I'm not even going to try.
REST IN PEACE. It's been a somber week for the Buckeye family. Sunday brought the sad news that former QB coach Joe Daniels succumbed to cancer. The man who had mentored players like Dan Marino and Troy Smith was by all accounts an even better person than he was a coach. He was 69 years old.
Yesterday, tragedy came in the form of the passing away of Brent Darby. Only 30 years old, the former Ohio State guard and father of two had been dealing with blood clot problems recently. He played several years overseas until returning to his home state of Michigan.
Especially compared to recent times, a lot of the early '00s was forgettable for Ohio State basketball. Sure, there was Ken Johnson blocking shots, Zach Williams making crazy faces, and Bass off the glass, but other than that, it's a period mostly remembered for less desirable reasons.
Darby, though, was memorable. In 2003, he put up 35 against Duke on the road in a losing effort, and despite leading a team that finished in 8th place in the conference, Darby fueled the Buckeyes to the Big Ten Tournament finals. In their first-round win against Iowa, the senior made the game-winning layup with under two seconds left.
As former teammate Michael Redd conveyed, "Brent's legacy will be that he was known as a great person first and foremost while also being a great player."
THE AARON FORCE. After that, I think we could all use a fluff piece about another #4. It would seem that Aaron Craft is kinda important to the hoops team. He's averaging 9.8 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.9 steals so far this year, and more impressive than his unyielding defense is his work ethic both on and off the court. Known to sometimes sleep overnight on a couch in the Schott, Craft puts in the time and effort needed to succeed.
According to Matta, "If we've ever had a kid come in here and say, 'Whatever I need to do to help the team win, I'll do it,' he's the best I've ever seen at it."
Not only that, but as you may have heard a time or two before, he's an excellent student who received the first B of his life in a chemistry class last year. As a fellow overachiever who also experienced her first B in a college science course2, I can relate when he blamed himself for not studying as much as he could have.
His performance during games and his humility outside the sport are the kind of elements that make the sophomore an easy guy to root for, especially since ESPN hasn't oversaturated us with talk about how awesome Aaron Craft is, true as it may be.
Gone but not forgotten
GATOR DATE. So, I guess there are, Urban Meyer, a few titillating story lines, Urban Meyer, that will accompany this year's, Urban Meyer, Gator Bowl between Ohio State, Urban Meyer, and Florida.
It's also the fifth-year anniversary of the Debacle in the Desert, but let's not reminisce about that. Whatever the main subject matter of the bowl is, Urban Meyer, we know that people will be discussing it and tuning in.
While OSU is an underdog facing an SEC school in a bowl game3, I'm feeling somewhat confident about this matchup. Maybe it's the invincibility that accompanies Urban Meyer euphoria, or maybe it's because I think his pride would not stand for his new team to lose to his old one, even as he claims he'll stay out of the preparations. Instead, he's poaching some of UF's staff (not RBs coach Brian White and LBs coach D.J. Durkin, who have both decided to stay with Will Muschamp) and attempting to recruit the nation's top players.
Although Ohio State allowed mediocre throwing QBs like Taylor Martinez, Tre Roberson, and Denard Robinson to produce RG3 type of stat lines, it is somehow ranked 15th in the country in pass defense and 24th in overall D, comparable to Florida's #9 defense in both categories. Each team has had its struggles on offense this year, and hopefully the Silver Bullets don't turn John Brantley into Aaron Rodgers. You may think it's impossible, but I also thought Denard completing 82% of his passes to his own teammates was inconceivable.
Fickell believes that even with all the chatter, his squad will be ready:
"I don't know that you could get any more distracted than what we've had...The guys are excited to have some clarity about what is going to happen in the future."
Urban Meyer.
EFF IT DUDE, LET'S GO BOWLING. As we know, college athletes cannot be paid, but they can receive free schwag when they participate in bowl games. For the Buckeyes and Gators, that includes a Fossil watch, Gator Gear performance headwear, rolling luggage bag, Jostens ring, and commemorative football. If their Jostens ring is anything like a class ring, they will wear it one time, stick it in a drawer, and anterograde amnesia-style, forget it exists at all4.
Several teams will acquire the Oakley Eyepatch 2, which disappointedly, is a pair of sunglasses and not, like David Bowie would advise, an actual eyepatch. Participants of the BCS games, as well as the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, will be presented with gift suites, which as the article spells out, "are set up as private events in which game participants, and often bowl VIPs, are given an order form and allowed to select a gift, or gifts, up to a value that is predetermined by each specific bowl, not to exceed the NCAA limit of $550 per person."
That, OU punter Paul Hershey, is why the eff you want to play in Idaho in December. You see, it's totally kosher to accept some expensive presents, as long as you or your fellow athletes don't take money or anything, because then you might have to sit out for 10 games your senior season.
SINFULLY DELICIOUS. Oh, college football. Similar to red velvet cake, you make me feel so guilty for loving you. First, the Big East is becoming bigger and less east-ier by reportedly planning to add Boise State, Faber College, San Diego State, Greendale Community College, Houston, Grand Lakes University, SMU, Adams College, and UCF. Logical.
Then, after the Big 12 voted yay on a plus-one playoff proposal, Jim Delany ate a human heart and voiced his disapproval. He thinks, God forbid, it would lead to a playoff system and though he agrees that the BCS isn't perfect5, one of his suggestions is moving the BCS title game closer to New Year's Day. Problem solved, because when I analyze everything that I dislike about an LSU-Bama rematch for the national championship, the first thing that comes to mind is, "How am I supposed to wait until the 9th of January to watch two terrible offenses of the best defenses ever assembled play, a mere two months after they first met? I will die of anticipation!"
Also, it must be stated again that Michigan is going to the Sugar Bowl while Michigan State, who easily handled UM, won the Legends Division, and was a kicker flop away from going to the Rose Bowl, is headed to the Outback Bowl. They didn't deserve it, but it happened. /BCS'd
THE LINKLEVOSS TWINS. Like Jimmy Darmody, Doug McDermott probably has an Oedipal complex... McGruff the Crime Dog could be the 76ers new mascot... Twitter's Year in Review is depressing in its lack of good taste... Paste Magazine named the 20 Best TV Characters of the past year and, more accurately, the Top 20 Shows... Hootie is a country singer now, but the Blowfish? Apparently an FDA-approved hangover drug...The Black Keys on The Colbert Report... "Xmas Time is Here Again" by My Morning Jacket.
- 1 Well, not always.
- 2 Biology 114. All I remember is the professor wore Seinfeld-esque black jeans with white sneakers. It fulfilled a requirement, anyway.
- 3 I CAN NEVER GET ENOUGH OF THIS TOPIC! TELL ME MORE ABOUT THEIR RECORD, ESPN!
- 4 Just don't trade it for tattoos, LULZ.
- 5 You don't say!
