On Friday, I wrote a piece about how OSU should secede from the Big Ten and join the SEC. It was, uh, deeply unpopular — such are the breaks of life — but how is somebody going to use the ChiefKeefNah.JPEG against me? I PIONEERED THAT IN THESE REALMS.
Honestly, no other barb thrown my way cut anywhere near as deep. It sent me in a stupor that lasted at least six entire minutes.
And don't even get me started about Ronaldo pulling hope from the ashes against the USMNT...
URBAN KEEPS THAT SPATULA ON HIM, BRO. It's always a dangerous proposition for enemy coaches when their prospects are on Ohio State's campus.
No. 1, Columbus is sick with it. No. 2, there are police cruisers in America that would envy Urban Meyer's closing ability. No. 3, see No. 1 and No 2.
All three of those things — or at least some combination, I'd wager — came together yesterday when four-star 2015 Tackle, Kevin Feder, switched his commitment from Miami (FL) to the good guys. (The Lord of Whispers has a full break down over here.)
Always adds a little spice to a commitment when it comes at the expense of another power program. IT'S EVEN SPICIER WHEN THAT PROGRAM IS MIAMI, A TEAM OHIO STATE BEAT FOR THE 2002 NATIONAL TITLE, IN CASE YOU WERE UNAWARE.
SAM HUBBARD IS A TE NOW, APPARENTLY. Ohio State did some positional unit bonding yesterday (here's the offensive line chowing down at Ed Warinner's crib) and an interesting picture surfaced on the internet.
One way to solve the search for a 2015 TE would be to convert an uber-athletic 2014 prospect.
#teamtightends @OSUCoachHinton and his players pic.twitter.com/EDa9WdKqZT
— Dawn Hinton (@dawnnhinton) June 22, 2014
Sam Hubbard, who turned down a Notre Dame lacrosse scholarship to play football at Ohio State, is the second from left in the above picture. Most had him projected at linebacker, but it's not as if Ohio State couldn't use depth at TE. (It's also not like the apparent move is permanent.)
Tim Hinton, swaggin' out in the back there, continues to prove why he's consistently one of the most underrated members of Urban Meyer's staff.
MO C PAYS IT FORWARD. Maurice Clarett is my favorite Ohio State player:
This is a super cool day for me. I just gave a hand up to Ms. Vernice Hunt and her son by giving them a house. I've been in this exact situation where I was released from a halfway house and needed assistance in transitioning back to society and I'm glad I could pass the blessing to someone else..... I would like to thank Mark Evans and American Wealth Builders for partnering up with me to do something impactful for the community....
IT'S ABOUT CULTURE. Last week, as a skeptic, I attended a clinic hosted by Tim Kight, an organizational/culture/leadership mentor who works with Ohio State's football team. I was convinced within the first 20 minutes of the six hour camp, and issued a stern #DJByrnesFlipFlop on the matter.
So the words between the lines of this Columbus Dispatch interview of Urban Meyer were especially interesting to me (it's worth reading in full):
Q: What do you take from San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich?
A: He talks about the culture, and if you don’t fit in the culture, you’ve got to go. Now, it’s easier when you’re talking about six or 10 guys (on a basketball team) instead of 120 (on a football team). But that’s what I got out of it. There was a culture created by David Robinson and Popovich and (Tim) Duncan, and that culture has survived for 18 years or whatever. The culture, like the (New England) Patriots in the NFL — this is the way it is, we’re not changing it.
"If you don't fit in the culture, you've got to go." It's almost as if Urban Meyer reads Ramzyn Nasrallah.
Q: Do you like the direction in which the NCAA is going?
A: I do. I like the player welfare direction everybody is headed. Obviously, I’m very spooked about the unionization and paying players or letting them look at (signing) their own contracts. That’s not good for the college model.
[...]
Q: Perhaps the biggest question mark on your team is the offensive line. How do you feel about that unit?
A: I feel good about the guy (assistant coach Ed Warinner) leading the unit. I feel good about the character of the people in the unit. I could lie to you, but I don’t feel good about it (right now). I hope on Aug. 15 (I will), but in spring ball, I was disappointed — though not surprised. I knew there was going to be a drop-off, but it was a big drop-off. We’re allowed to watch them now (in summer workouts), so I’ve been watching them work out. There are some good things happening.
Ed Warinner should be leading a B1G program this time next year. The proof is in the pudding. If he's not, well... you already know what I think.
And Urban "not feeling good" about the offensive line would scare me if it were the middle of October. Until then: Keep 'em hungry with the psychological ploys, Urban.
THOSE WMDs. How Hafeez Contractor is creating a separate India in the sky... Pictures from the World's Ugliest Dog Contest... Haunting beauty of abandoned mansions, shuttered asylums and deserted amusement parks... Authorities investigating mysterious death of 50 peacocks killed from arrows, bullets and poison... The life and death of basketballer Eddie Griffin... How the modern pig farm came to be... The gangs of Brownsville, Brooklyn...
