Crazy how yesterday the NCAA and the College Football Playoff oligarchs were shamed by my snark to the point they reversed course and gave the players' parents/guardians stipends to attend the final in Dallas. I guess some intern finally got around to crunching the peanuts to PR equation.
Oh, Marc Loving whacked some Gophers last night:
Marc Loving's jump shot with 5.6 seconds left in OT lifted @OhioStateHoops to a 74-72 win over Minnesota. http://t.co/4hOXEROzhy
— Ohio State on BTN (@BTN_Ohio_State) January 7, 2015
And on a similar vein of good news: Taylor Decker, Cardale Jones, and Adolphus Washington will be back next year. That's (literally) huge.
CARDALE'S FULL PLATE. It surprised me last night to learn King Dolodale is in fact a mortal who deals with emotions, but it's true. You also might respect his service to the university even more when you realize what Cardale is dealing with outside of the Ducks' stingy defense.
From J. Spencer of MarionStar.com:
Daughter Chloe celebrates her two-month birthday on Wednesday, five days before her father makes just his third career start in the national championship game against the Oregon Ducks at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
[...]
While he and girlfriend Jeaney Durand, an OSU nursing student, have given life to Chloe, Jones balances that joy with updates about a gravely ill relative. Audie Murphy, his uncle, has liver cancer and has less than two weeks to live according to a tweet Jones sent Monday.
"I was told he watched the whole Alabama game," Jones said. "He understands what's going on as far as my status and Ohio State."
In his two starts, Dolodale delivered two of the most iconic OSU victores in recent memory. And he did it while balancing school, fatherhood, and football. Now, news of his uncle. So yeah, winning a national title as a "third-string" QB is fluff work to him.
There may never be another Buckeye like No. 12, which is sort of ironic considering he's straight out of Ohio State's thickest pipeline.
LOOK AT THIS COOL CHART. I like charts because they distill data (which I hate) into easy-to-digest formats (which I love), but only if the relevant chart supports the point I'm trying to make. (If the chart doesn't support the point I'm arguing, I simply say "The Y-Axis isn't properly defined" and walk away.)
From SB Nation's Jason Kirk:
The tale of two programs, explained, again by Kirk:
Ohio State is consistently relevant, with a peak decade, 1968-1977, about as good as any program's. OSU's line includes two of SRS' 12 best teams ever, the 1944 and 1973 Buckeyes.
And Oregon shot out of nowhere. The Ducks spent three different spans of 10 or more years as a below average team, as recently as 1974-1983
Again, nothing ground-breaking here, but still interesting to see the graph charted out. Unless Ohio State does something about Oregon's current trajectory, however, the Ducks could be the NFL's newest expansion team next year.
TALKING DOLO WITH YOUNGSTOWN'S SULTAN. Any article teased with "Jim Tressel speaks" is getting clicked. Jim Tressel speaks on petunias? CLICK. Jim Tressel speaks on fedoras? OH I'M THERE. Jim Tressel speaks on topsoil. DAMNIT I DON'T EVEN LIKE TO GARDEN BUT I'M LOADING IT UP NOW.
So needless to say, I was all over this article from Bill Livingston of cleveland.com:
"Everyone talks about the NFL being a quarterback's league. College football is a quarterback's league too," Tressel said Monday night in a telephone interview. "I'm so proud when I think back to when (Glenville coach) Ted Ginn and I talked to Cardale about going and taking a prep year (at Fork Union, Va., a military school.) Most kids wouldn't be willing to do that. It's exciting just to see what he's able to do now that he's grown up."
[...]
"I'm not surprised to see [Cardale's ascent]. I happen to have a lot of belief in Ohio State and what they're all about. I'm one of those believers who think a lot of good things happen after you suffer a little bit, and we suffered through that 2011 moment," said Tressel, who resigned under fire for his part in the cover-up of the scandal."
[...]
"A lot of people see see somebody streaking down the sideline, and they throw it down the sideline at a direct angle, because they think that's where the receiver is going to run," Tressel added. "But Cardale just has that ability to lift it over the top and give people the chance to catch it. No question he's got all the tools that he could possibly have. Coach Ginn talked about him a long way back as something special."
I'd like to think Jim Tressel will drift into a deep slumber after a stiff (and warm) glass of milk during the first quarter of the national title game because he's that confident in Ohio State.
GOOD NIGHT, GOOD FIGHT, OREGON. You do not want the national media picking your team in the lead-up to a big game, especially if your team is facing Urban Meyer. (Ohio State fans all nod wistfully.)
You're dead to us, @Andy_Staples. pic.twitter.com/GkS3YX9IJ2
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 6, 2015
Granted, just because Urban Meyer will use this as "bulletin board material," I will forever be amused by folks who get REAL FIRED UP because some writer picked against their team.
I respect and admire Andy Staples' work. It's a sensible opinion even though he's dead wrong.
OHIO STATE WILL WIN THE BIG GAME, but I'm not about to pound my fist about a milquetoast four-point loss prediction.
"REALITY" TELEVISION EXECUTIVES ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL. There used to be people worse than those who "can't get enough" of "reality" television, but the cowardly, cross-dressing Jefferson Davis and the Confederate Army has been dead for about a century.
Alas, I would become one of those people who "can't get enough" of "reality" television if a show was smart enough to feature Tyvis Powell and 12-Dale.
OSU's Tyvis Powell: "I am Cardale's roommate. He's my son. I am his father." There was no further explanation. End of quote.
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) January 6, 2015
@NicoleAuerbach He once elaborated, when asked about the fact that Cardale is older than him, that he adopted Cardale.
— Ryan Ginn (@RyanGinnBSB) January 6, 2015
Just wait until I hit the MegaMillions.
HARBAUGH NABS FORMER MEYER ASSISTANTS. After some wrangling, Jim Harbaugh nailed down two former Meyer assistants yesterday: Former Florida defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin will assume the same title at Michigan after declining other offers.
Greg Mattison, the former defensive coordinator under Brady Hoke (and Urban Meyer), will work under Durkin in some other capacity next year.
Only 325 more days until The Game. Makes u think, for sure.
THOSE WMDs. Russian dogs play no games... Cat teaching its kitten to drink water... Lmao , I bet ol' girl was furious... The Duck has fallen on hard times... The Art World's Patron Satan... "Eccentrics" inhabit the world's largest rock... The story behind an iconic CFB photo.
