Hello, friends. Let's cut to the chase and acknowledge the obvious. It's time for Urban Meyer to go.
College football can afford to take something else from soccer: the transfer fee. In professional soccer, a club can loan a player in the short term or permanently to another club if the second club pays the first club for the player.
Virtually every professional team sport has trades, but the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers are doing something different: rather than selling players, they're selling coaches. Essentially, the Clippers are paying a transfer fee for Doc Rivers.
What does this have to do with Urban Meyer? OSU athletics always needs more money, and head coaches can't get more valuable than when they're undefeated. Therefore, my modest proposal is that Ohio State should sell Meyer's contract to the highest bidder.
Meyer would be a great coach down in the SEC, where the big boys play real football. Meyer doesn't have the heart to be a head coach down there anymore – did you know he had heart problems at Florida?– but he could fit in at some schools. Don't get me wrong, Meyer could never hack it at an elite program like Alabama, but what about a sideways move to a school like Arkansas? Bret Bielema could show his compassion by accepting an apology for all the rude, snotty things Meyer has said about Bielema. It's more than Meyer deserves, but Bret is a gracious man.
Meyer is qualified enough to be a graduate assistant for Bielema. That might seem like a step down considering that Meyer is currently the head coach at Ohio State, but face the facts: if you're not in the SEC you're not really playing football. The numbers don't lie, and those numbers spell the end of Urban Meyer's so-called "Urban Renewal" in Columbus.
Note: the above argument is obnoxious and insipid and still manages to be more meaningful than what a hack from central Florida writes on a regular basis. Don't let trolling become your career, folks.
Prognosticator Phil Steele produced a list of the most likely teams to go 12-0 or 11-1, and Ohio State was his pick for most likely to go undefeated. It's worth noting that last year all of his power ratings had Florida State going undefeated. All the same, being at the top of the list is a good sign when it coincides with oddsmakers' projected wins. Ohio State's over/under hasn't been released, but 11 wins seems reasonable.
In other good news, OSU commit Damon Webb is the Rivals recruit of the week. And one of the most entertaining Buckeyes has a question:
Assuming that Bennett is talking about the grossest dairy product in existence and not something else, even an ounce of cottage cheese is too much, Mike.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'. To little surprise, a joint Big Ten/Pac-12 press conference confirmed that the conferences would play in the Holiday Bowl and Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl from 2014-2019. Set in San Diego and San Francisco respectively, this will take the Big Ten up to three bowl games in California.
Those two cities and Pasadena are preferable to the interchangeable Florida triad of Jacksonville, Tampa, and Orlando. Still, acknowledging complaints about the lack of diversity in bowl locations then setting up more bowl ties in one state doesn't make much sense. At least five Big Ten teams will participate in each bowl during the six year contract, which will ameliorate the sameness.
The greater diversity in bowl games could also be achieved through some form of tiered bowl selection process, which the Big Ten is exploring. It's not totally clear what the pecking order is, but most likely the Holiday Bowl would follow the Capital One Bowl and Outback Bowl as high-tier while the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl would be a 7-5 dumping ground.
Another tidbit from the press conference: when asked if the Big Ten would be looking for a Midwest bowl tie in Detroit, Delany replied, "we're not ready to announce, but you're in the right area". This may be a coy deflection, but does "in the right area" mean Detroit, Michigan, or the Midwest? If it's Midwest inclusive, the Big Ten getting a big money game in an NFL stadium like Chicago or Indianapolis or Cleveland would be pretty swell. But not Pittsburgh. Definitely not Pittsburgh.
STUDENT-ATHLETE, CAN YOU SPARE A DIME? The NCAA's credit outlook was downgraded to negative by Moody's on Monday in a matter relating almost entirely to the lawsuits against the NCAA. The report elaborates:
The outlook change to negative reflects increasing litigation and regulatory risks that could potentially alter the NCAA's operations. The escalation of risks reflect the growing perceived disconnect between the amateurism of student- athletes, as codified by the NCAA, and the commercial success of high profile college sports. Increased public discourse about the best interest of student athletes combined with highly publicized litigation could destabilize the current intercollegiate athletic system and negatively impact the NCAA and its member universities. The negative outlook also incorporates the long term reputational risk arising through alleged improprieties related to enforcement of complex rules.
Scintillating reading, it is. For those of you who'd rather not read through financial jargon, the NCAA is helped by its strong brand name, financial projections, and track record of low expenses, while the student athlete likeness case and head injury case, arbitrariness in enforcing punishment against schools, and heavy dependence on basketball tournament revenue drag its Aa2 credit rating down.
The Moody's report is a detached observation that comes to the same conclusion about the NCAA that those close to college athletics came to: that changes to the NCAA business model are inevitable, and the lack of consideration given to distributing money to anyone but the richest people has undermined the entire system. If the organization can't or won't change and its outlook degrades further, Ohio State may have to find its own way of sponsoring college athletics in time.
Replacing Osiecki's recruiting will be difficult. OSU HOCKEY FALLOUT. The firing of hockey coach Mark Osiecki in April was rapid and left some observers stunned. That decision has had some aftereffects for the program's recruiting.
According to Wisconsin site Bucky's 5th Quarter, Osiecki's firing cost Ohio State a couple more commitments in Tyler Sheey and Jack Dougherty. OSU lost recruits Zach Stepan, Nolan Valleau, and Cliff Watson following Osiecki's dismissal, and Sheey at least is highly touted.
The Wisconsin view of Osiecki's tenure at Ohio State is rose-tinted on account of him being a former Badger player, but it does bring back the question of whether his firing was too hasty. Transition costs are bound to happen with any coaching change, and replacing somebody generally liked such as Osiecki is difficult for new coach Steve Rohlik. Finding better-performing replacements is a challenge, one that Ohio State needs for one of its major sports to contend for the NCAA tournament.
NO MORE CRAFTY CHARGES. Speaking of the NCAA, the Playing Rules Oversight Panel made several changes to basketball rules that influence blocks and charges. Under the old rules, a defender had to be in legal guarding position when an offensive player left the floor for a charge to be called; under the new rules, the defender has to be there by the time the offensive player starts his or her upward motion with the ball.
I'm bummed that it would've eradicated Aaron Craft's game-changing charge against Iowa State, but on the whole. this is good for the aesthetics of the game. Defenses will have to go vertical to challenge shots more often rather than obstruct drives on the floor, which will lead to a faster paced game. Now watch the referees screw it up.
With the NBA Draft a few days away, Deshaun Thomas looks like a mid-2nd rounder, 46th overall and projected to go 41st to the Grizzlies. And because I would be remiss not to include this somewhere, Ohio State's next potential draft pick, LaQuinton Ross, has a short and sweet video on creating a weird-looking virtual Lenzelle Smith Jr in the basketball locker room. Thanks, Instagram video.
FIRE UP THE OUTRAGOMETER. Devin Gardner feels awfully confident about Michigan's chances against Ohio State this year:
Bill Simonson, host of the Huge Show, asked Gardner if Michigan is a championship-caliber team that can beat Ohio State in Michigan Stadium this November.
"We always have room for improvement, but this is definitely a championship-caliber football team that will win in the Big House against Ohio State," Gardner said. "We don't feel we're inferior to anyone in the country, and we're going to give it our all."
If there's one thing coaches say about offseason preparation, it's that being cocky in June is the best way for a player to reach his or her peak potential. Strength and conditioning coaches love nothing more than people feeling like they have nothing to prove because they're guaranteed a win in the fall.
Easy sarcasm aside, if you're looking for an indignant reaction to Gardner's swagger you'll have to look elsewhere. Confidence is a useful personality trait for quarterbacks, Gardner's comments are pretty respectful for "disrespect", and any harmless way to make the rivalry more contentious is welcome. Should Ohio State win in Michigan Stadium in 158 days, then's the time to relish the schadenfreude. Or now, if you prefer.
ET CETERA. Congratulations to Chicago Blackhawks fans, who were this joyous last night after that crazy finish... Wish Duron Carter the best with the Montreal Alouettes... Since Wimbledon is in full swing, recall how insane the John Isner/Nicolas Mahut match was... an NFL analyst and former scout digs Bradley Roby and Ryan Shazier... Bowling Green's sports information director gets clobbered... a recruit erroneously accused Ole Miss of having monthly KKK rallies... Be nicer to your caddy than Bubba Watson... Transfer Rushel Shell isn't wanted back at Pitt, was born under a wand'ring star... and this is the sad state of basketball recruiting.
