It's Friday; it's Friday, gotta get down on Friday.
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- The Best of Al Swearengen.
- Al Swearengen's best rant.
- Al Swearengen talks business.
HOW BRAXTON ARRIVED AT ZONE-6. While Braxton's officially been a wide receiver for a couple of weeks, it was actually a move long in the works. Obviously, that move was kept dark, but Miller worked on his new craft with secret late night workouts with the likes of J.T. Barrett, Mike Thomas, Parris Campbell, and others.
From Austin Ward of ESPN.com:
"I mentioned [switching positions] to J.T., and he just looked at me and cocked his head to the side," Miller told ESPN.com. "He was just like, ‘Why?'"
[...]
"It was just something he wanted to keep between us, nothing crazy," Barrett said. "Everybody saw what he did at quarterback. But then you see him on the field [at wide receiver], and it was just natural."
[...]
"I really didn't know what was in my best interest, but I thought, maybe I will just play everything. I'm good enough. I know I'm good enough, I've got confidence and the first time I went out there, I surprised myself. I was like, ‘Wow, I can do this.' I just reminded myself that when I step on the field, I want to be the best player on the field. That was my determination."
It's wild to me somebody as gifted as Braxton Miller faced doubts, but I guess those are the things that happen when a player undergoes two shoulder surgeries while sitting out for 18 months.
There will be growing pains, but I assume during Urban Meyer's offensive doodling sessions he just sits there and cackles like somebody who just got away with a bank robbery. Will any player in the country command the attention that Braxton will by simply going into motion? I don't think so.
IT TAKES A SLOB TO RAISE A SLOB. I've never understood people who hold the younger generation in contempt and don't try to pass knowledge down. It's good to see that simply isn't a problem with the offensive line.
From Blake Williams of Scout.com:
Elflein seems to go full immersion in his teaching methods with the young guys. For the redshirt junior educating the new Buckeyes on Slob culture is just as important as anything done on the field.
“You have to teach them how to practice, how to study film, how to work out, how to take care of your body in camp, how to act around the facility,” Elflein said. “There is a certain way that we do all of that so we are teaching them and bringing them along with us. How we eat, how we watch film. If you have a young guy right there, this is how you do this, this and this. You have to teach them how to do that stuff.”
Considering all of the freshman offensive lineman came to Ohio State weighing at least 300 pounds, teaching them to eat is likely the easiest task.
It's tough for a freshman to crack the offensive line rotation, but coaches are already raving about some of the freshman Slobs. (OT/massive human Isaiah Prince was the first freshman to lose his black stripe.)
The bad news for opponents is the young slobs might be more talented than the bosses they'll be replacing in a year or two.
WE ALMOST WITNESSED BO PELINI BACK IN THE SHOE. The Big Ten's ban on playing FCS team doesn't come into effect until 2016, but it looks like it cost us a chance at watching Bo Pelini hoot and holler on the Shoe's sidelines while his team trailed by 12 touchdowns.
#YSU will make $420K for this year's Pitt game. Penguins had deal with Ohio State for $750K before B10 dropped FCS. OSU made up difference.
— Joe Scalzo (@JoeScalzo1) August 13, 2015
As much as I love Bo (and Jim Tressel) I'm glad the decision to replace them with Hawaii or Western Michigan was made. I don't expect Ohio State to be tested in either of those affairs, but those teams offer a stiffer test than the Penguins.
TOP COP CLEARS COPS' ACTIONS. The Columbus Police Department launched an investigation into the use of pepper spray on High Street crowds in the aftermath of Ohio State's eighth championship. It ruled it was a legal use of force.
From Theodore Decker of Dispatch.com:
Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs has agreed with earlier assessments by her subordinates that officers did not overreact when they used pepper spray and tear gas on University District revelers following the Buckeyes’ national-championship football win in January.
“The Division’s response to the dangerous crowd behavior was limited to a low-level use of force and was reasonable,” Jacobs wrote.
The chief’s two-sentence remarks were made on Wednesday, five months after Deputy Chief Thomas Quinlan’s review of the events of Jan. 12-13 was forwarded to her office.
As for the unfortunate souls who got pepper sprayed, at least they didn't end up like these two saps from a few Woodfests past.
PRICE, A DARK HORSE #QBGEDDON CANDIDATE? Here's a theory — and I'm just spitballing here, folks — but maybe Braxton changed positions because he knew Billy Price was eying a position switch of his own?
Yeesh, that's Cardalesque.
THOSE WMDs. That time Jim Harbaugh broke his hand punching Jim Kelly... Photos of the Perseid meteor shower... Erin Yogasundram, 23, sells clothes that speak internet... Trading haircuts for a kid's story... The rise of Dial Sports and pre-Internet sports betting.
