Well, today is the last day of April and we will soon be another month closer to August and the start of football. But geez, if May is anything like the last few days have been around the sports world, we're not in for a quiet offseason.
So let's all talk about the New York Jets' quarterback situation! I'm kidding, of course. The only Jets1 I would approve of discussing at the moment are the song by Paul McCartney & Wings, Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez, and this alliteratively named little kid who is apparently going to be in the movie adaptation of Devil's Knot, based on the true story of the West Memphis Three.
Seriously, though, it's been a busy week in sports. While it's been just two days since the Big Ten officially announced its new geographically appropriate divisions, it seems like eons ago, perhaps because it should have happened eons ago and we all knew it was coming, anyway.
Yesterday brought us the release of ESPN's B1G schedule for prime time, which means we can start putting our Saturday night plans together for the fall. And by that, I mean making spreadsheets to keep track of which games will get our undivided attention and which ones we'll stick on the second TV because, well, Purdue.
To recap, Ohio State will host two night games that will air on ABC or one of the ESPNs: Sept. 28 vs. Wisconsin and Oct. 26 vs. Penn State. The week after the Wisconsin matchup, the Buckeyes will try to ruin Northwestern's Homecoming weekend in yet another night game.
In case you weren't aware, Eat Too Brutus IV and the Goblet of Fire will be held before the Wisconsin game, while its road show will head to Chicago the following Friday. A friendly reminder: E2B boasts an Urban Meyer-at-Ohio-State-esque perfect record.
Keep in mind, however, that this is just ABC/ESPN's schedule. BTN will unveil theirs next Monday. I know I've got my fingers crossed that Iowa vs. Missouri State on Sept. 7 will get the prime time attention it deserves.
ROUGH DRAFTS. Although the NFL Draft this past weekend was a disappointing one for Ohio State — as Urban Meyer said, "I thought we had more than three draftable players" — future drafts will most likely be more favorable. And sure, you might be beyond sick of mock drafts, but those were for 2013, so let's look at the shiny, new projections for the 2014 NFL Draft.
Scout lists four current Buckeyes in their top 100, but only one of them, CJ Barnett at No. 73, is a senior this year. Bradley Roby, who has made clear his intentions of turning pro after this season, is ranked in the top 10 at No. 8. Ryan Shazier (18) and Braxton Miller (46) are also in the top half, though it's too soon to tell whether they'll stick around for their senior seasons.
Charlie Campbell and Dan Kadar also see Roby as a top-10 pick, and more specifically, project him to the Titans and Eagles, respectively. Shazier sneaks into Campbell's first round at No. 31 to the Houston Texans.
Obviously, so much can change in a year, both in college and the NFL, but those kind of expectations show that Ohio State's relatively quiet drafts the past couple years — Cam Heyward was the only first-rounder in the last four drafts — is a trend that shouldn't continue.
IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE TOP. While the football team resides atop one ESPN preseason top 25 list, Jason King updated his basketball preseason top 25, where Ohio State is sitting pretty at No. 6. With the news that Adreian Payne will be back with Michigan State for another season, as well as the earlier announcement that Gary Harris will return, the Spartans are the highest-ranked Big Ten team at No. 3.
In the No. 9 spot, Michigan is the third Big Ten team in the top 10; Indiana (20) and Iowa (25) round out the other B1G inclusions.
Over at BTN, Brent Yarina decided to try to predict next season's All-Big Ten teams. Aaron Craft is the only Buckeye to be projected to the first team, though he is also picked to once again, after being honored in 2011-12, take home the Defensive Player of the Year Award. The presumable favorite to win the conference, Michigan State, has two players on Yarina's first team: Payne and Harris. It's Harris, however, who he expects to be named Player of the Year.
The other two Ohio State players to receive mentions are LaQuinton Ross (third team) and Shannon Scott (honorable mention). If Ross has the breakout season many envision him having, third-team All-B1G seems like low-balling him. On the other hand, we don't know how consistent he'll be yet and the league is again loaded with talented players.
LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR. In other Big Ten basketball news, Indiana is the last Assembly Hall standing, figuratively speaking, now that Illinois has sold the naming rights to their arena:
Illinois' new mascotThe 30-year, $60-million agreement, which goes into effect immediately, changes the name of Assembly Hall to State Farm Center. The facility is currently undergoing a renovation project expected to be completed in time for the 2016-17 basketball season.
For fans of those Lincoln-Kennedy coincidences that actually aren't all that accurate, State Farm's headquarters is located in Bloomington, albeit Bloomington, Illinois, not Indiana.
And even though it might be easy to make fun of Illinois for choosing a company that inundates us with the Aaron Rodgers, Chris/Cliff Paul, and "can I get a hot tub?" commercials seemingly every 15 seconds, Ohio State also went the corporate route with Value City Arena.
Besides, nothing is worse than KFC Yum! Center, especially if you don't like using exclamation points haphazardly.
LIKE MIKE. Tonight, Mike Conley will try to guide Memphis to a win, and series lead, in Game 5 against the LA Clippers. Amazingly, it's his sixth year in the NBA, though he had never planned to leave Ohio State after just one season.
According to CBS Sports' Gary Parrish:
"To be honest, I didn't want to leave Ohio State at all," Conley told me recently by phone. "I had a great time there. I enjoyed it. I still live there in the offseason. It's a phenomenal city and a phenomenal university."
"But after a few weeks go by, you start to see things unfolding, and then you have somebody whispering in your ear that you can go in the lottery," Conley added. "And I was like, 'Wow. That's one of my ultimate goals -- to play in the NBA. And you never know with injuries. God forbid, if something happens to me, I'll never get another chance to do this.' So you kinda have to pull that trigger."
Most Ohio State fans understood the circumstances, as disappointing as it was to lose him after only a year. Still, Conley's an easy guy to root for2.
Miami's Shane Larkin faced a similar situation this year. After a somewhat unexpectedly strong sophomore season, Larkin decided to declare for the NBA Draft, one that is relatively weak for PGs. Larkin won't be selected in the top five like Conley was, but he has a better chance of being a lottery pick this year than next year. The same choice certainly paid off for Conley.
BREAKING BARRIER NEWS. Last but definitely not least is major news from the sports world. Yesterday in a Sports Illustrated column, NBA center Jason Collins became the first openly gay player still active in a major professional sport. This barrier was going to be broken sooner rather than later, with former Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo suggesting a few weeks ago that it might happen in the NFL before too long.
For gay athletes, it's been a huge year for progress, and Ohio State's athletic department has stepped up in that regard. But this is the biggest step forward so far, and Collins coming out should not be diminished because he's a veteran free agent who doesn't play much, or because Tim Brando believes "hero" is a label reserved for the likes of Darius Rucker3.
But rather than focus on the negative reactions this news produced, I'm going to bring attention to all the support he received, ranging from his twin brother to politicians to other pro athletes like Nick Swisher. Around the NBA, players such as Kobe Bryant, Manu Ginobili and Steve Nash, his former coach Doc Rivers, and the Wizards organization all spoke of how proud they were of Collins.
He'll still have to deal with bigotry at times both on and off the court, but I think those responses from his fellow players shows that by and large, the sports world is ready to accept gay athletes. As Doc Rivers put it:
"I'm really proud of Jason. He still can play. He'll be active in our league, I hope, and we can get by this -- get past this. I think it would be terrific for the league. More than anything, it would just be terrific for mankind, my gosh."
AND WHITE AND LINK AND BLADES OF BLUE. Jason Collins played high school BB with Nick Andopolis... Hockey will soon know the power of BTN money... These Toledo Mud Hens jerseys are from a galaxy far, far away... Kevin Durant wore a shirt made of your grandma's wallpaper... Unless you stayed up until about 5 a.m. ET, you probably missed this 19-inning game... A rundown of fall TV pilots... April Ludgate approves... Add a wedge of cheese and this is the most Wisconsin image ever.
- 1 Sorry, Jet Li, but you're apparently making another Expendables movie. ↑
- 2 Especially compared to another former Buckeye whose team is still alive in the playoffs. ↑
- 3 He did have to overcome that eyesight affliction during the 90s. ↑
