Thank you to the military members who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country. America is far from perfect, but it's unquestionably the best humanity has to offer. We literally wouldn't be here without them.
So try to keep these brave women and men in your thoughts today, especially as you're shirtless in your backyard and reaching for your ninth Bud Heavy in between bites on a home-grilled burger.
[We now return to your regularly scheduled Skullcast.]
OSU IS A TENNIS SCHOOL NOW, Y'ALL. Two Columbus-area kids — Peter Kobalt and Kevin Metka — will compete for a doubles' national tennis championship today against some bums from Tennessee.
Per an OSU release (YEAH IM OFFICIAL LIKE THAT NOW), it's the second time in three years a Buckeye doubles team will compete for a title.
The match will begin at the conclusion of the men's and women's singles championship matches, and those kickoff at noon. Every championship match will be streamed on NCAA.com.
Kobalt and Metka's biggest fan? Athletic Director Gene Smith, who will pocket at least another $18,000 if Kobalt and Metka ride out on their enemies.
HENTGES ROLLS TIDE. We begin today with more troubling news for Ohio State's 2015 class: Buckeye target Hale Hentges, a four-star TE prospect out of Missouri, committed to Alabama last night.
After much deliberation and prayer, I have decided to play football at The University of Alabama! #RollTide
— Hale Hentges (@HaHentges) May 26, 2014
I get that the SEC has dominated college football for pretty much the last decade, and that Alabama is the best program in the best conference. Ever since reading the SEC bagmen story, however, a commitment to an SEC school always riles up the cynic in me.
Is that fair? Definitely not. Do I believe funneling slush-cash to teenagers in order to gain their commitment is unethical? Hardly. I'd probably do it too if I had the liquid capital on hand.
It's just frustrating knowing Ohio State isn't willing to bend the rules like the SEC. (And no, I'm not naive enough to believe Ohio State would come up clean if NCAA investigators turned over every rock in Columbus.) But I'm also not naive to believe OSU is on par with the SEC with these shenanigans, or that it's likely to change in the future.
Birm, as usual, prophesied Hentes wouldn't end up in Columbus, and he has a full breakdown on OSU's 2015 recruiting efforts over here. It's definitely not as grim as it might feel, but I feel like things will be slow until Ohio State wins some meaningful games.
STROLL THROUGH BUCKEYE GROVE. Buckeye Grove has always been one of my favorite spots on Ohio State's campus. It's a cool way to visualize the depth of greatness that has come through the program over the years.
Not familiar with Buckeye Grove? The venerable Doug Lesmeries of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, has a photo gallery available.
And here's how trees are earned in the grove:
Ohio State, however, does not limit itself to those organizations when handing out trees. The threshold for Buckeye Grove is one first-team appearance on any reputable, mainstream All-American team.
[...]
For instance, John Simon, repeatedly praised as one of Urban Meyer's favorite players and viewed by many as an ideal Buckeye, doesn't have a tree. He was the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 and first-team All-Big Ten. He made second-team All-American from the Walter Camp Football Foundation.
I was also glad to see LeCharles Bentley's tree that died had been replaced with a new one. (He's also one of the best follows among former jocks on Twitter.)
THE TEN GREATEST ATHLETES IN OSU HISTORY. CrackedHistory.com put out the list yesterday, and the names featured won't surprise many of you.
I'm not one to get fired up over arbitrary rankings, but Jack Nicklaus over Jesse Owens is ludicrous. I figured the word "athlete" would have disqualified Nicklaus because as we know, golfers aren't athletes:
John Daly is still the greatest, though.
ZEKE ELLIOT GETS HIS BEST FRIEND BACK. Last week, I mentioned Ezekiel Elliot's dog was stolen from his house. No clue if the scumbag responsible for the heist was apprehended or just couldn't deal with the conscience pangs, but Chase Elliot is back with his father. I am crediting myself with the alley-oop:
THOSE WMDs. Why FDR hated war... A Military Widow Reflects on Life, Loss and Moving Foward... The air war of World War I... Seriously, don't try your playground stuff on Marines... Memorial Day tribute... Abraham Lincoln's speeches to Ohio regiments... Lincoln respected the hell out of Ohio soldiers, by the way... The always-quotable Uncle Billy... Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier... USMC Silent Drill Platoon... Our Air Force is crazy good too... Not feeling good about OSU's chances against Navy if these dudes show up...
