Just putting this out there: If they kill Boyd Crowder the country is going to have a problem on its hands.
SPENCE BIDS ADIEU. Noah Spence is off to Eastern Kentucky to terrorize Ohio Valley Conference Tackles later this year, but he wants Buckeye fans to know he appreciates them:
I want to thank God for another chance, OSU for never turning on me, and eku for welcoming me..this year is all business.
— Noah Spence (@nspence94) January 20, 2015
Go on then, Noah Spence; handle the damn business, try not to catch terrorism charges this fall, and go get that pot of money at the end of the rainbow. THE ONLY ONE STOPPING THAT FROM HAPPENING IS YOU. (It's liberating to realize that.)
GO ON AND CROWN THEM BUCKS THEN IF IT'S LIKE THAT. Troubling news, folks: The chattering class, those idiots on TV that doubted Ohio State... they're starting to say, "Actually, Ohio State is a good team."
From the indomitable Jeff Svoboda of BuckeyeSports.com:
So as is now tradition, BuckeyeSports.com compiles our consensus poll of national college football writers and their way-too-early thoughts on the upcoming campaign. Sometimes these polls are right on – last year’s version had playoff teams Florida State, Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State ranked first, second, third and sixth – and sometimes they’re not. But it’s fun nonetheless to get a look at how things are set as we go into the offseason.
This year’s polls include those published by Fox Sports (Stewart Mandel), ESPN (Mark Schlabach), USA Today (Paul Myerberg), CBS Sports (Dennis Dodd), Sports on Earth (Matt Brown), the Big Lead (Ty Duffy) as well as Athlon, NationalChamps.net, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Bleacher Report.
[...]
1. Ohio State (8 first-place votes)
2. TCU (2)
3. Baylor
4. Alabama
5. Oregon
To which I say: Noooooooooo. Noooooo. Noooooo. Is there anything worse than a national pundit picking your team to be good? Obviously, but only things like locusts and famine.
The last thing I want is the national punditry to blow sunshine up Ohio State's ass all summer. TAKE THAT ASS ALONG, MEDIA. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing to see in Columbus. It was all a fluke.
PAST QBs REGISTER #TAKES ON QBGEDDON. FYI FWIW: Braxton Miller is enrolled for spring semester, which is a step he'd take if he planned on playing for Ohio State this fall.
But to understand OSU's present dilemma, perhaps we must turn to the past. Tim Moody and James Grega Jr. of TheLantern.com caught up with former OSU QB Bobby Hoying and recorded his #take on the current QB conundrum:
“I think you gotta give it initially to Cardale because he is gonna get all the reps this summer and in spring ball,” Hoying said. “And so you gotta think that will go a long way.”
But when it comes down to it, Hoying added the one who gets the reps won’t necessarily be the only deciding factor. Especially at a school like OSU, the talent pool is deep, and the coaching staff is looking to win with its best players on the field.
“To me, it’s gonna be pretty plain and simple come fall camp if all three guys decide they still wanna play quarterback and be at Ohio State,” Hoying said. “It’ll be the best man wins.”
Ohio State's QB derby is going to be shoved down our throats, but damn if it's not going to be a well-balanced meal. And even if you're dreading it, you must concede it will be fascinating. After all, there isn't an outcome in the derby that could shock me, and it's only January.
Moody and Grega Jr. also caught up with former OSU QB Greg Frey:
“They all have a little different skill set. I think it is very obvious watching them. Braxton is such a great creator and has exceptional athletic ability. J.T. is very much a technician, he is extremely accurate, he clearly has proven that he can run the football quite well. He is a student of the game, which is so impressive,” Frey said. “(Cardale) is very gifted with his size and his arm. I credit him for finally buying in, getting his personal life under control and really paying attention.”
[...]
“When you look at the last two years and the production at the quarterback position between (former offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach) Tom Herman and certainly Urban’s involvement, it is really unprecedented what the results have been,” Frey said. “You think about last year with Kenny Guiton coming in … Braxton got hurt, Guiton was amazing off the bench. You are talking four different guys excelling in the course of two years. That is just unheard of.”
Frey crushed the QB labeling; I love the description of J.T. Barrett as a "tactician," because it's perfect. J.T. Barrett approaches every football game with the cool-handiness of an octogenarian playing chess on a Sunday afternoon in a sun-soaked suburban park.
And yeah, Frey is right: We just watched "a third-string" quarterback win a national title, and we underappreciate what we just saw. The results Tom Herman pulled from his pupils are a greater testament to his intellect than his MENSA membership, which I am required by Ohio law to mention.
JIM HARBAUGH AIN'T TOUGH. Let the internet tell it, and this is a story about JUST HOW CRAZY THE OL' JIM HARBAUGH IS:
In his sit down with MGoBlueTV, @JayHarbaugh said that his dad once put Gatorade in his cereal because they didnt have any milk.
— Joshua S. Henschke (@JoshuaHenschke) January 20, 2015
Sorry, but that's not insane.
Cereal is sugared wheat; Gatorade is sugared water. If Jim Harbaugh were really about that goon life, he'd have told his kids to suck it up and eat the cereal with their hands. That's what we did in jail.
Hell, if Jay Harbaugh really wanted to tell me how crazy his #dad is, he'd tell me a story about a time he whined about the lack of milk and his hungover dad dumped a warm Budweiser into his frosted flakes.
Until I read a story like that, I am dead-set on Urban dropping 150 on Ann Arbor next year.
TAYLOR DECKER'S PEANUT BUTTER #TAKE IS LEGIT. One of my dreams is to one day overlord over a Judge Judy-style show where I rain judgement down upon people's #takes.
If I had that kind of show I'd do a bunch of gavel banging before awarding Taylor Decker all of my Ramen Noodles:
If you prefer creamy peanut butter over crunchy you probably also love the colors maize and blue #fire
— Taylor Decker (@TDeck68) January 20, 2015
TOUGH. FAIR. STRONG: Those are the only adjectives I can conjure when I ponder Decker's take. Creamy peanut butter? Only if your school schedules naps or you don't have teeth.
THOSE WMDs. I wish nothing but bad things on the Patriots... Ramzy is going to be so furious when he sees this... An oral history of Justified's creation... 109-year-old: Key to life is avoiding men... The haters did Randy Foye dirty last night...
