Wow, is the world going to be salty when a bloodied-but-unbroken Clint Dempsey lifts the World Cup at the end of their little tournament.
Ghana got #Tresselized... who is the next to face the USMNT juggernaut? Ronaldo will give himself a concussion battering his impeccable hairline against the immovable object that is the American backline. Germany and the US will play to a draw as both sides rest their warhorses for the knockout stage.
Oh, America is going to the knockout stage. Fifa. Done. Goofed.
Some 11W stuff you may have missed:
- Is incoming freshman Marshon Lattimore the next Chris Gamble?
- Mike Young's arbitrary ranking of football coaches from Ohio.
- Mak's look at how Ohio State is exploiting ambiguous rules surrounding "guest coaching" spots at their prospect camps. (Cameron Hewyard's brother is attending one of these camps, by the way.)
- Phil Steele thinks the Buckeyes will finish third in 2015. (Ricky Bobby is disgusted at the thought.)
- Ryan Shazier is a future defensive signal-caller for Pittsburgh, says Ben Roethlisberger.
TRANSCRIPT TROUBLES FOR D'ANGELO RUSSELL. Yesterday, I mentioned the speedy recovery to a key cog of Thad Matta's 2014 recruiting class, Jae'Sean Tate.
Well, according to Bob Bapist of the Columbus Dispatch, there's problem with the crown jewel of that 2014 class, D'Angelo Russell. (Or, at least with Russell's transcript.)
From Mike Young's breakdown of the report:
D'Angelo Russell did not attend classes, earlier today, because his high school transcript has not been cleared by the NCAA Clearinghouse. Baptist indicates a source told him the clearinghouse is waiting on Russell’s score from a standardized test he took earlier this month.
“We are hoping to have him here soon,” Matta told the Dispatch.
As someone who loves bureaucracy with every fiber of their being, it warms my soul to see the NCAA is still in charge of an academic clearinghouse.
I do wonder, however, what sort of transcript issues get flagged by the mysterious clearinghouse? Because lets face it, it's not like a lot of these schools — high school or college — are in the business of educating their athletes anyway.
Hopefully OSU and the NCAA get this sorted, because D'Angelo Russell is expected to contribute immediately.
BUCKEYES BACK IN ON SETTLE. Always bad news for the competition to let Urban F. Meyer back into the game:
I have confirmation that Ohio State and Tim Settle have mended their relationship and the Bucks are back in in..
— Michael Rockstedt (@Mike_Rockstedt) June 16, 2014
Come be the next Michael Bennett, Tim Settle.
I BELIEVE I JUST LEARNED WHERE THIS CHANT CAME FROM. If you watched last night's US soccer game, you probably heard the "I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN" chant.
I go back and forth on it. Sometimes, like in the Dos a Cero victory over Mexico in Columbus, I love it. Other times, I wish we'd draw something else up.
But I did not know it started as a Navy football chant. From The Washington Post in 2003, via ESPN:
In October, the Midshipmen were in the last minutes of a 28-25 win over Air Force, then ranked No. 25. Navy hadn't beaten a ranked opponent in 18 years -- longer than some Mids had been alive. Yet some in the Brigade, which stands throughout every game, began jumping up and down at FedEx Field. "I," they chanted softly, then louder, "I believe . . ."
Sources say a group of Navy lacrosse players started the ruckus, though you can't be sure because urban legends are quickly springing up around Johnson's 7-4 team.
"I believe that," they yelled as more joined in. "I believe that we . . ." Until finally, the whole Brigade, more than 2,000 strong, was bounding up and down, screaming, "I believe that we will. ... I believe that we will win!"
So American sports fans can create more chants than "D-Fense!" and screaming incoherently!?
OLD MAN SMACKDOWN. Georgia is having discipline problems again — a freshman safety just transferred to Auburn — and at least one parent is angry with how former players are talking about the program.
Here's the father of UGA defensive lineman, Sterling Bailey, in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
“When I read some of the things said, it just made me sick to my stomach,” Bailey said. “That young man (Matthews) needs to realize who opened doors for him first. I’m speaking as a member of the Georgia Bulldog family, of the Bulldog Nation, because my son goes to school down there, too. I love Tray. I love his mom and dad, too. We’re good friends. But the comments I read made me feel like they were putting down the University of Georgia, the system and the coaches. Not one time did I see it mentioned what Coach Richt or the other coaches have done for him. That’s what made me mad.
“Coach Richt and the coaching staff opened their arms to this kid. They welcomed him into the Bulldog Nation and they stood behind him. For him to come out like that and make it seem like the University of Georgia had done him wrong, that’s what makes me so mad. Same with Shaq Wiggins and the other kids who had the opportunity to play at the University of Georgia. They leave and transfer and get dismissed from the team and they blame it on the school system. It’s not the system; it’s the kids. If you come and do what you’re supposed to do and do it right, you wouldn’t get in trouble and things like this wouldn’t come about.”
Break you off some then, Mr. Bailey.
It amazes me how Urban Meyer had a few bad apples/one rotted, murdering apple in Florida, and is still slagged off by the national media from time to time, but somebody like Mark Richt is totally immune to this kind of stuff.
(Feel free to be totally original and make a "MARK RICHT HAS LOST CONTROL" joke here. Mark Richt, despite years of mediocrity and his players committing crimes, is still employed. No, Mark Richt hasn't lost control of anything.)
LET'S CHECK-IN ON THE O'BANNON TRIAL. So how is the NCAA doing in its bid to prove it's not a price-fixing cartel?
NCAA now objects to any facts reported by newspapers. Judge overrules
— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) June 16, 2014
I'm no legal expert, but when you're objecting to facts, I think you already see the writing on the wall.
NCAA lawyers making many objections here -- helps build record for appeal if they lose this trial
— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) June 16, 2014
/facepalm
THOSE WMDs. The birth of a star... Techno-archaeologists try to save a zombie ship from the graveyard of space... Where a Pyramid Scheme Seems Very Far Away... What the gospel of innovation gets wrong... A wife's notes on her husband's last months... A father and his autistic son caught in a riptide... "Prisoner of Denver," by Hunter S. Thompson in 2004... Did Luis Suarez really headbutt a ref at age 15?... Drug justice varies in Ohio...
