Folks, I think it's time we retire opinions. Twitter, ESPN shows.... shut it all down. What's the point in having a #sports opinion until the championship trophy is cast? The more I live, the less I understand.
I only say this because it seems like yesterday we were all like, "Russell is super silky, but there's no steel to the team." Now, I'm saying things like, "Don't let Russell get hot from downtown against Kentucky because you never know!"
Yes, the rumors are true: Ohio State whipped Maryland last night, and Patient 0 and Jae'Sean Tate established themselves as the alpha dogs of the 2015 men's basketball team.
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- Omar Little and Stringer Bell parley.
- Stringer and McNulty discuss business.
- A 2014 Ezekiel Elliott highlight reel.
IS THIS REAL LIFE!? Ohio State dumping one of the conference's best teams wasn't the only W secured by the Buckeyes last night: Five-star 2015 shooting guard Ja'Quan Lyle committed to our favorite university.
And while it's hard for me to express how excited I am to cheer for a man named Ja'Quan, I'm even more excited by D'Angelo Russell's Instagram caption:
One way I shuffle through life is I try to be prepared for the worst. If, Warren G. Harding forbid, I find myself piloting a vehicle between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m within the 270 outerbelt on a work day, I prepare myself for literal hell on earth. That way, anything short of literal hell on Earth will come as a welcomed surprise.
That's why I watched D'Angelo for all of ten minutes before I said, "This fella is as good as gone."
And now I'm getting baited by Patient 0 himself into thinking he could return next year? Noooo.
Thad got two years out of Sully, but Sully was a coach's son with deep Columbus connections. I would almost be angry with Russell if he came back, but that would only last for about four seconds.
Still, I won't allow myself to believe Russell is coming back until it's in ink. Why? Because I've tried to shirk disappointment since middle school.
MEET J.T. BARRETT'S OTHER COACH. Braxton Miller is a client of George Whitfield, a renowned QB whisperer who has been featured on these pages and beyond. But, there are many who think QB coach Tom House (who, to his detriment, worked with Tom Brady) is the actual QB WHISPERER.
Who is the true guru? I'm not one to say, but if House has earned the trust of a tactician like J.T. Barrett, then he can leave his Tom Brady tutelage at the door before I hug him.
From David Briggs of BCSN.TV:
Like with all of his clients, he put Barrett through a mechanical analysis — breaking down his motion at 1,000 frames per second — a functional strength test, blood work, and a “mental/emotional” evaluation. Though House does not discuss the specifics of his work with clients, he provided Barrett with a training routine to continue in Columbus and an added kick of motivation.
“He said, every time Tom Brady goes to see him, he just tries to get a little better,” Barrett said.
“And I was like, ‘We’re talking about Tom Brady; how much better can he get?’ With myself, I have a lot of things to get better at. It’s not about trying to get better at a thousands things, but something each and every week to get better at.”
House called Barrett a “great kid with an unbelievable capacity to learn.”
I forget from whom I heard it, or where (maybe a Bill Simmons podcast? [2012 was a bad year for me]), but I remember a man of authority stating Tom Brady could analyze defenses to the point where if a DB slipped and his WR came open, Brady wouldn't see it because he'd already written-off the route based on his pre-snap reads.
And while that might seem like the antithesis of a good QB play to a layman, it paints a picture of Brady's greatest trait: His preparation.
Urban Meyer preaches preparation, and that's been J.T. Barrett's calling card since he arrived in Columbus. For that reason alone it'd be stupid to count Barrett out of QBgeddon.
TRUST WHAT'S PROVEN. I might be biased, but if I had a son (and let's pause for a moment to thank the cosmic heavens that, to my knowledge, I don't) I would want his college coach to be Urban Meyer.
Sure, I get it: Nick Saban isn't bad either, but Ohio State is a much better academic institution than Alabama. For me, as a parent adrift in millionaire mercenary college coaches blowing sunshine up my #teen's ass, it'd be hard for me to ignore Urban Meyer's three national championships. Mainly, because it's hard to deny reality.
From Ryan Ginn of BuckeyeSports.com:
“I think it makes a tremendous difference,” Scout.com recruiting analyst Allen Trieu said. “His résumé coming in spoke for itself. But now that he’s done it at Florida and Ohio State, done it in the SEC and the Big Ten, I think that’s a tremendous validation of who he is as a coach and what he’s able to do. Obviously I think they were recruiting well before, but being able to show the rings is a burst for both him and Ohio State that is beyond huge.”
Meyer said the upcoming classes will still be assembled in the same way as previous ones. That means a focus on Ohio starting out before branching into feeder states like Florida, Georgia, Texas and New Jersey. After that, though, the Buckeyes tend to wade into unfamiliar areas if a prospect there catches their eye. That was the case when OSU went into South Dakota and Utah for the class of 2015, and it will still be the same going forward. However, the ability and success rate may grow now.
“Ohio State is a national brand,” Meyer said. “I think it's always been done there. Of course it's been a national brand and a national recruiting base, but we're always going to attack our local areas first. I think you see that when you see a breakdown of the class, you'd like to have 50 percent or more from the state of Ohio or within the footprint, and then you're going to go cherry pick.”
We covered 2015 DE/OLB/mutant Porter Gustin yesterday, and here's a glimpse of how Urban goes about cashing that championship equity:
From Neil K. Warner of HeraldExtra.com (via PotatoDigger):
"He was very impressive. I don’t know if Porter was ready for that. It opened things back up pretty good,” said Salem Hills coach Joel Higginson. “His (Meyer) whole approach was telling Porter that Ohio State has proven it can win. He told him, ‘Some coaches have faith that they can get there but I’ve proven that I can.’ ”
It would seem it's a message being pounded to recruits at all angles, too:
TRUST what's PROVEN #Elite15
— Mark Pantoni (@markpantoni) January 29, 2015
Again, if I were a parent, and there's a bevy of reasons I'm not, I just don't know how you could ignore the combination of OSU's rising academic profile and the results Ohio State has ginned.
That's why, even though I follow recruiting 1000% more than I did before I started writing at ELEVEN WARRIORS WORLDWIDE LLC, I will never trip about players who don't want to join the Mothership.
ARMY ON DECK? Hmmmmmm:
AD Boo Corrigan confirms talks between #ArmyFootball & @OhioStFootball for game after 2016 season.
— Sal Interdonato (@salinterdonato) January 29, 2015
(Remarkably, as Brent Sobleski of CollegeFootballTalk.com noted, these two storied programs have never met on the gridiron.)
Now, folks, I'd like to use an age-old, sleight-of-hand internet arguing trick: I'm going to disavow my problematic thinking before I reaffirm it.
No disrespect to the military — which I love for defending cravens like me — but it's a no-win situation for Ohio State to play any military academy.
Granted, I think we all learned a lesson this past year about opening with the Navy Death Star, and Army doesn't run the triple option, but I hate being put in a scenario where I'm rooting against future soldiers.
Because make no mistake: I would not let Army score an historic upset of Ohio State if it meant it would cost Ohio State even a shot at a national title.
Is that wrong? Yes, but that's the fervent support this Buckeye team's ginned in me. I can't help it; I know of no other way to live my life.
So please, Powerful People Who Don't Read My Ramblings, don't schedule the Army!
- Picking fights with the U.S. Army is a good way to get laid out on the pavement.
- I follow sports to avoid the cognitive dissonance that lurks behind every waking second of my life.
Thank You, and God Bless the United States.
I WANNA PARTY WITH THIS GUY. Is there any character more fun to party with than a wasted grandpa? (Besides, you know, the wasted grandma?)
I used to dread having a front-mirror seat to my body's decay over the course of an unstoppable lifespan, but the older I get, I rationalize it by looking forward to the day I'm like, 68, and I can throw all damns into the fall's wind.
In all honesty, that man could've been pushed off our mortal coil long ago. I don't know if that's the case, but I do know I'll be pouring some liquor into the grass tonight in honor of his kindred spirit. (I'd like to think, later in the day, he ended up putting his fist through the windshield of that RV behind him.)
THOSE WMDs. The toughest football team you've never heard of... Help a kid with cerebral palsy walk... Damn, Tolstoy, that's hateful... This marriage seems headed places...The Santa wrap was so genius though... Marshawn Lynch opens up about growing up in Oakland.
