Johnny and Michael must've been watching the Bengals preseason game last night (I assume they were outside Browns TV coverage; shout-out to Dane Sanzenbacher) because they brought up one of the greatest Buckeyes of all time: Mike Nugent.
As someone who went through puberty under strongman Jim Tressel and who considers Phil Dawson his favorite professional footballer for the last decade, I admit to being a big fan of kickers and their craft, and I don't think it's an exaggeration to say Ohio State will never have a better kicker than ol' Iron Toe Nuuuuuuuuge.
Seriously, was there a bigger lock than a #MikeNugent3PointBanger? There have been professional wrestling matches with outcomes less preordained than one of Nuge's rocket launches while he was rocking the Scarlet and Grey. (I'm convinced the only reason he never stroked one from 70 yards was because Jim Tressel was a gentleman who didn't believe in humiliating his opponents.)
There are always a lot of debates about the "Mount Rushmore" of Buckeye footballers by position, but when it comes to kickers, OSU's Mt. Rushmore looks a little like this: Nugent. Nugent. Nugent. Nuuuuuugent. (And if you think I had to Google "how many faces are chiseled into Mt. Rushmore?" come down and collect your prize: a copy of Maniac Magee I purchased at a church rummage sale for 25 cents.)
ROBY, SHAZIER NAMED SI PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS. Sports Illustrated named their preseason All-Americans yesterday, and it appears punching a bouncer in Indiana does little to deter preseason hype:
Bradley Roby: Lockdown cornerback amassed 19 passes defended for the Buckeyes in 2012.
Ryan Shazier: Big Ten's second-leading tackler last fall will look to lead Ohio State to another unbeaten season.
Some other names on the list: Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, the awesomely-named Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Sammy Watkins, Marqise Lee and TJ Yeldon. Obviously, postseason All-American awards are worth a lot more, but it's cool to see some Buckeyes getting some love from the national media.
BLACK STRIPE GONE, HOORAY! Joe Ramstetter, the 6'3" receiver from Cincinnati Elder (and who one time thought baseball owned his future) became the first Ohio State freshman to have his black stripe removed after yesterday's full-pad practice. To me, this is a classic Urban Meyer move showing it's work he values in his program and not star-ranking or preseason hype. While Dontre Wilson has turned heads in camp, I for one am not surprised to see a preferred walk-on be the first to have his black stripe removed. Did I predict it? Hell no, but then again, did anybody?
ANDREW NORWELL IS A-OK. Buckeye fans suffered a bit of an anxiety attack on Wednesday when it was announced left guard Andrew Norwell was taken off the practice field due to injury. Losing him for an extended amount of time would have been devastating, because like the linebacking corps, offensive line depth is razor-thin. Fans (and coaches), however, can breathe easy:
Left tackle Andrew Norwell is expected to miss a couple of days, but be fine, after suffering a foot injury Wednesday.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 8, 2013
BYU WILL ONLY HAVE THREE PLAYERS THIS YEAR. Bronco Mendenhall, coach of the BYU Cougars, has decided to strike the last names of his players from the backs of their jerseys. While this in of itself isn't unorthodox, what he's replacing them with certainly is: team values. Yes, Honor, Tradition and Spirit are the only names you will see on the backs of BYU players this year. It will certainly be ironic when Tradition or Honor is ejected for targeting.
How are BYU players taking it? About as well as you'd expect:
Many players were stunned as they filed into the indoor practice facility to get their pictures taken in their new jerseys, and many were incredulous. Several players with negative things to say about the change refused to comment publicly.
Others, such as All-America linebacker Kyle Van Noy, chose his words cautiously.
"I am not really sure how I feel about them yet," he said. "One thing I have enjoyed about playing here at BYU is having the last names on the backs of the jerseys."
The Ghost of Joe Paterno, condemned to aimlessly walk the bowels of the Twelfth Circle of Hell, was spotted nodding in approval when he read about this. (You'd be shocked at the quality of 4G service in the pits of Hell, but it's not all that surprising when you realize the Dark Prince is the CEO of Verizon.)
JOHNNY MANZIEL HAS LAWYERED UP. I know some people wish I would ignore the story of the defending Heisman Trophy-winner possibly being ruled ineligible, and I'm marooned on an island in my defense of him because everyone else made great decisions at age 20, but this story is too good to ignore.
Manziel, in an effort to protect his eligibility, has done what everyone under some sort of investigation is advised to do: shut up and let a lawyer handle it. Manziel has retained the services of an El Paso law firm with NCAA experience. Please take a gander at the apotheosis of Texas:
Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury: I give you Jim and Jeep Darnell of Jim Darnell P.C., Attorneys at Law. Granted, I'm sure these guys were retained for good reasons, but I'm not sure how I'd feel going to war with an actual human being named "Jeep," and the last two vehicles I owned were Jeeps. (They get roughly 52 mpg on Nazi Blood, and they're great war chariots in my humble opinion.)
Weird name aside, according to USA Today, they're confident Johnny Manziel will start against Rice:
"I can't say much," Darnell told USA TODAY Sports, "other than we're working through the process. [Manziel] is cooperating with the investigation. We think when all this comes out on the other end, he'll be the starting quarterback for the Aggies against Rice."
BILAS ASSASSINATED THE NCAA'S JERSEY HUSTLE. We covered Jay Bilas taking the NCAA shop to task on Wednesday, and it appears his efforts have not been in vain:
Emmert says NCAA selling those goods is "a mistake." "We're going to exit that kind of business immediately."
— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) August 8, 2013
While fans will still be able to purchase jerseys through schools, which technically are the NCAA, the lawyers for Ed O'Bannon will be dining on this free red meat all the way to the chambers of the Supreme Court.
THOSE WMDs. Youtube HoF: The Worst of Walter White... Nielsen's tracking of Twitter in relation to TV is missing the point... Nate Silver says the New York Times should be churning a much larger profit... The sequel to Sharknado now has a name... Life in a toxic country... The town where police pull you over, take your money and use it to buy poultry-festival supplies... Why can't science keep up with sports doping?... Ohio State's tobacco ban won't begin in earnest until 2014... Letter carrier found with 13,000 pieces of mail in his home... Scammers use medical advice to get into your wallet... Gahanna man dances his way through sobriety test... $50 million apartment-office complex planned near Columbus Commons... Florida Man kills wife, posts grizzly Facebook photo... Youtube creators target Vine, Instagram with Mixbit... Ohio high school tormented by Twitter gossip... A profile of the first weed billionaire...
