You might think today is Thursday, but it is in fact Wednesday (I checked twice). Of course, it's the greatest Wednesday of the year: THANKSGIVING EVE.
I officially recognize three holidays a year: the birth and death dates of President Warren G. Harding (peace be upon him) and Thanksgiving Eve. What a glorious holiday.
But before we begin today, let us issue a Buckeye /salute to Noah Spence, who lost an entire season of football thanks to an archaic drug policy. Luckily for Spence, he's a freak athlete who carried a first round grade heading into the season. His stock might slip during the actual draft, but whatever team drafts him will be getting a hell of a player on the cheap.
Ultimately, it's a year's less wear-and-tear for a body of a guy who plays a high impact position.
Not what I wanted but now it's time to get ready for the next level, I've learnt so much in the last couple months that it's all worth it..
— Noah Spence (@nspence94) November 26, 2014
And touché to Gene Smith and the athletic department for sticking by Spence. It's good to see he will still be receiving his diploma.
HELL, IT'S MICHIGAN WEEK. Because I asked myself "How would Stone Cold Steve Austin lead off today's Skull Session?" Here are enough Game hype videos to kill a rhinoceros:
ELI APPLE GROWS UP. While Noah Spence and Rod Smith will never achieve their potential at Ohio State, it's refreshing to see a gifted player put it together at the next level.
Eli Apple isn't yet at his potential peak, but he's well on his way.
From Ari Wasserman of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Michigan's offense sliced through Ohio State's secondary for 451 passing yards, exposing a weakness that eventually cost the Buckeyes the Big Ten title and a chance to play for a national championship.
It's funny to think now, only 12 months later, that one of the key people Ohio State will lean on to prevent that from happening again wasn't even in the stadium that day.
His name is Eli Apple, a redshirt freshman who went from being a top-rated prospect who didn't get it to one of Ohio State's most important starters on defense.
Ohio State's cornerback depth chart isn't as deep as it should be, but I have the utmost confidence in Eli Apple to continue his trajectory and take over the No. 1 cornerback reins after Doran Grant's exit.
(Now, about that future No. 2 spot and the nickelback....)
BRADY HOKE RESIGNED TO DEATH ROW. Brady Hoke is not a bad guy. In fact, I'll go as far as to type he's a good guy who just happens to be out of his depth. And even though I have been kicking the corpse of the Hoke Era all year, I almost — almost!!1111 — feel bad for him.
From professional troll Drew Sharp of Freep.com:
A very relaxed Brady Hoke faced reporters Monday. The general tone of the questions concentrated more on the aftermath of the Ohio State game than the game itself. Every time Hoke attempted to keep the focus on the singular importance of this one game in comparison to all others, reporters' questions diverted the attention to his job status and the probability that he's preparing for his final game as Michigan coach.
There was no irritable inflection in his voice when asked his thoughts regarding the argument he would make to interim athletic director Jim Hackett in the coming days about getting a fifth year at the helm. Or when assessing what went wrong the past two seasons — specifically the past 20 games in which the Wolverines have won eight.
And not one of those victories came against an opponent rated among the top-30 teams nationally at the time of the game.
Pour some out for Brady Hoke tonight, please. I could never, ever truly hate the guy, and it's time Michigan found somebody truly contemptible to replace him. (LANE KIFFIN... MICHIGAN IS ON LINE ONE.)
TOP OSU COACHES IN THE GAME. Because my inbox gets hammered daily by a tsunami of Big Ten releases (99% worthless), I missed a link to another great blog post by Remy about the top coaches against Michigan, complete with stat charts and pictures.
Earle Bruce, Francis Schmidt, Woody Hayes, Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer makeup the list. And while it might seem sacrilege, and I know Michigan hasn't been good during Urban's era, but I'd definitely choose Urban Meyer to coach The Game over any other coach on that list. (No disrespect.)
GOLD PANTS SOCIAL. Only a handful of tickets remain for Friday's 11W Gold Pants Social. If you're on the fence: When else will you have another opportunity to drink suds inside the Les Wexner Football Complex at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center with former Buckeye greats and your favorite gang of creepy internet bloggers?
THOSE WMDs. Today's Anti-Michigan #Banger: BIRDMAN... Props to Doug Baldwin and Richard Sherman... Marion Police: $300 in beef jerky stolen... That moment when you make the Browns good and wonder if you might be a god... ESPN's Tim Keown goes long on Cowboys All-Pro LT Tyron Smith's struggle with money-hungry family members... Coach Boom will be carried off the field if his team upsets Florida State... Terps teach ambassadors how to footbaw.
