Only one NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGER this week, because I'm sure a lot of you slackers are playing catch-up on work missed during yesterday's World Cup game.
- Lavell Crawford's "My momma was old school..."
By the way, does Belgium even have a Waffle House? Because otherwise I'm not sure what their waffle-hype is all about.
Q/CRAFT GO UNDRAFTED. Unless you stayed up past midnight, you may have missed Ohio State basketball's draft streak come to an end during a banner night for the Big Ten as a whole.
Thad Matta, however, told Cleveland.com it might be for the best:
"I think back in the day, if you would have asked me this a few years ago, I would have said, 'Get drafted, get drafted, get drafted.' But as I'm learning now, sometimes getting drafted isn't the greatest thing in terms of what is the best thing for them.
"If they're a first-round pick, that's a great thing, because they get guaranteed money. But in the second round, yeah, if Ohio State is called and Aaron Craft or LaQuinton Ross is called, I'm going to be the happiest guy in the world. But ultimately what you want, you set the ego aside, and you say, 'What is best for the kid?'"
Here's an example of what Matta is talking about:
Ex-Ohio St PG Aaron Craft already drawing interest from Raptors, Spurs and Pacers, sources tell @FOXSportsOH. Craft also went undrafted.
— Sam Amico (@SamAmicoFSO) June 27, 2014
Of course a team like the Spurs is interested in Craft, but he also has a bevy of options from which to choose, as opposed to having his rights locked up by a team that might not have any room for him.
It will be interesting to see where Aaron Craft and LaQuinton Ross end up. Of the two, I think Ross has a better chance of one day seeing NBA action, but both of them are more than capable of having long careers in other leagues.
DAT LARRY JOHNSON GAME. Many mourned Mike Vrabel, surprising recruiting ace, when he departed for the Houston Texans. But his replacement, Larry Johnson Sr., is no recruiting slouch.
Josh Sweat, who some say is the best defensive line prospect since Jadeveon Clowney, visited Ohio State on Wednesday. According to Rivals' Marc Givler, Sweat says he "would love to be coached" by Larry Johnson.
Only 5% of experts have crystal balled Sweat to Ohio State, but there's only one Larry Johnson, and only one school that employs him.
[Insert UrbanMeyerCloser.jpeg here]
BTN WADING INTO THE PREGAME GAME. Here's an interesting development, courtesy Ryan Dunleavy of App.com:
The Big Ten Network has waited seven years to debut a remote college football pregame show from campus and it likely will only attempt it once this year, but the Rutgers-Penn State matchup Sept. 13 in Piscataway was just too enticing to delay the vision any longer.
Final details such as the lineup of guests on set and the Rutgers-affiliated broadcaster joining the three-person booth still are being finalized but BTN's smaller-scaled version of ESPN's wildly popular College Gameday will be set up outside High Point Solutions Stadium well in advance of the 8 p.m. kickoff.
I think this is the first time I've ever heard a trip to Piscataway, New Jersey, described as something "just too enticing to delay."
I don't care what B1G executives try to say, I will never accept Rutgers or Maryland into our mediocre football conference. THESE ARE NOT MY PEOPLE.
LANTERN TAKES A BLOW. Even The Lantern, the student voice of The Ohio State University, is not immune to the eventual death of newspapers:
OSU signed a one-year contract this week with Media Network of Central Ohio, a subsidiary of Gannett Company Inc. that has managed The Lantern’s advertising and business operations since 2012.
As part of the terms of that new contract, which goes into effect Tuesday, The Lantern will be reducing its print frequency to two days per week, typically Mondays and Thursdays, with an additional Friday issue when there’s a football game scheduled at Ohio Stadium that weekend.
The Lantern, however,will continue to publish online content Monday through Friday each week of classes.
I don't know the X's and O's behind the operation, but Ohio State couldn't come up with the extra scratch to keep the paper in print five days a week? Really? I find this hard to believe.
CAMPUSPARC/FOOTBALL BEEF ESCALATES. TE Jeff Heuerman spent a portion of two days this week ranting against CampusParc, a private company that oversees ticketing/parking regulation on Ohio State's company.
Yesterday, Cardale Jones ― before elucidating on the differences between students and student-athletes — entered the fray:
I have well over $350.00 worth of parking tickets and about $150.00 worth is from our OWN PRIVATE PARKING LOT!!!!
— Cordale Jones (@Twelve_Nem) June 26, 2014
I never got a parking ticket I didn't deserve, but then again, I've never been ticketed by a private company whose bottom line depended on citations. (The Heuerman thread has plenty of anecdotes from commenters about CampusParc's awfulness.)
It does seem like CampusParc is making hay off the football team, but it also seems Cardale has a problem following parking rules outside of the football team's OWN PRIVATE PARKING LOT.
I'm going to need more evidence before making a final ruling on this matter.
THOSE WMDs. NCAA admits it's a cartel, but says it "does good things"... Another SEC title: Hardest region in America in which to live... Fatau Dauda was jacked to save that Ronaldo header... I dare you to watch this entire video... Malaysia jet passengers likely suffocated, says Australia... Sheets of glass cut into solid waves... Big, if true... Where would you take an 100k check that's also a suicide note?... Reconciling our love of sports with their risk... How to pay off a mountain of student loan debt in six (long) years... From Kevin: Best 80's sneakers...
