Please... everybody join hands and repeat after me: "We will get through this week together."
OREGON (OH) NOT CHANGING NAME AFTER ALL. So, you might have heard: Oregon, Ohio, (the suburb of Toledo) is changing its name on Monday, January 12th, for reasons that should be obvious to anybody reading this site.
Except, as it turns out, it's not happening at all because Oregon's mayor, Mike Seferian, is as prideful as he is pedantic.
From Kelly Heidbreder of 13abc.com (via Deadspin):
Even the mayor is a little feisty about this name change and loyal to his home team. He did a little bit of homework and found out The city at work I'm [sic] got its name in 1838. The state of Oregon got its name in 1859. He says they had the name first and they are not changing it.
"To change the name of Oregon just seemed wrong for us," says Mayor Mike Seferian. He says the origin of both names come from the Oregon territory out west even before Oregon was a state.
"It was an association back in the 1800s The people here were trying to get a business transaction going with the Oregon territory as well as the state of Oregon and it's pronounced the same Their accent might be different out there but the name came from the same spot."
Not sure Oregon Trail would have been as fun a game if it was about navigating the mean streets of Oregon, Ohio.
THANKING BCS EXTINCTION . While only a few would ever admit it: I succinctly remember large swaths of people who wanted to keep the BCS intact. There was some hogwash about a playoff diminishing the regular season. There was talk fixing something that wasn't broken.
And now?
From Adam Kilgore of WashingtonPost.com:
If the BCS still existed, Alabama and Florida State would have finished No. 1 and No. 2 and played for the national championship. Oregon and Ohio State would have played one another in a consolation game, muttering about the unfairness of a system that rewards pedigree over performance. The undefeated defending champs and the Southeastern Conference champion would have been the pairing. The two best teams in the country would have played in the Rose Bowl and wondered.
The best part about the new kind of national championship game may be the lack of ambivalence when Ohio State and Oregon meet on Jan. 12. We know they are the two best teams, because we just saw them prove it on New Year’s Day. (Okay, okay. Objection sustained, TCU.) They did not make it to AT&T Stadium because of perception and guesswork. They made it because they earned it.
I know Oregon is the current No. 2, but Kilgore is right: There's no way an undefeated, reigning champion Florida State would've been kept out of the BCS title game.
One of those teams would've won, and it would've either been "The SEC is still king," or "Florida State wins because they're built like an SEC team." And that narrative would've been treated as fact, because somebody had to win the damn title game.
Instead, both those fat cupcakes living on the accomplishments of yesteryear were dumped.
Good riddance to the BCS, that trash-ass system. If the BCS were still around, Oregon vs. Ohio State would've been in the Rose Bowl, and it would've amounted to little more than a pageantry-swathed exhibition game for bragging rights between two fanbases with little vitriol between them. (Given the stakes of next week's game, anything less would've been a disappointment.)
DUCK FANS ABOUT TO GET CAUGHT SLEEPING TOO. Ohio State didn't win the Sugar Bowl by as large a margin as I thought it would, but it still dominated Alabama.
And while I do think Ohio State's advantages in both trenches will lead to a Buckeye victory, I'm not calling for a rout of Oregon.
The Ducks are good, but apparently Ohio State isn't as respected on parts of the West Coast.
Meanwhile, at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center:
NUMBERS ON THOSE DUCKS. Lori Schmidt, 97.1's venerable reporter, put together this graphic featuring the Ducks' 2014/15 numbers:
I'll tell you what: Ohio State can't turn that magic diamond over like it did against Alabama. And that scares me, because Ohio State has been cavalier with the ball during portions of games throughout the season.
HARBAUGH MISSES ON BIGGEST RECRUIT YET. Reports flashed yesterday that Jim Harbaugh poached Shannon Turley, Stanford's strength and conditioning coach who was originally brought to Palo Alto by Harbaugh.
Michigan had a bit of an injury problem under Brady Hoke (peace be upon him), and Turley's innovative program worked magic with Stanford's injury numbers, so it was a match that made sense.
But much like Oregon, Ohio, renaming itself: It isn't happening.
Strength coach Shannon Turley to stay at #Stanford and NOT join Harbaugh at #Michigan, source confirms as others have reported tonite.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 5, 2015
Good to see Harbaugh missing out on his No. 1 choice as strength and conditioning coach. (Mickey Marotti's work in Columbus taught me just how vital that position is to the success of a program.)
THOSE WMDs. This is why you don't get tattoos in languages you can't read... TennesseeFootball.jpeg... I agree with @TeddyHeisman: This is required reading for all Buckeye fans... Hard to believe, even in defeat, Jameis Winston is still a bum... TIL: NYC has an underground ferret society... Civil War General Andrew Luck still slays me.
