Thursday night Buckeye news:
- Kevin "The Monster" Randleman, a two-time NCAA champion and MMA pioneer, passed away at 44 from pneumonia complications.
- The women's basketball team suplexed the Iowa Hawkeyes on their home court, 98-81.
This week's NSFW ANTI-WORK #BANGERS:
- Kevin Randleman highlights.
- Kevin Randleman highlights.
- Kevin Randleman tribute.
FARRIS SNUBBED. Ohio State made headlines yesterday by leading the country in NFL Combine invites with 14. (16 if you count Noah Spence and Jeremy Cash.) Notre Dame was the next closest with 10. (If only there were a way to compare those two teams...)
Buckeye fans celebrated this occasion, as they should. It won't hurt recruiting, and it's testament to the recruiting and developing happening in Urban Meyer's regime. But folks, it's time to get angry.
Our good friend Chase Farris got snubbed.
From cbssports.com:
SNUB: Chase Farris, Ohio State
While he struggled mightily at right tackle, Farris impressed during East-West Shrine practices inside at guard, where he has a chance to be drafted. Ohio State had 14 players invited to this year's combine, but unfortunately Farris wasn't one of them.
Does the NFL have it out for Ohio State? I'm not saying it does... but we obviously can't rule out the scenario.
DINO STOKES SEC FIRES. As mentioned yesterday, Jim Harbaugh wants to take his team to Florida for spring break practice. The SEC is using the "haven't we gone far enough with football?" defense, which is the kind of duplicitous P.R. gambit I expected from the sport's serpent kings.
Mark Dantonio decided to toss some gas on the grill too.
From lansingstatejournal.com:
In a brief media session prior to his appearance at the Spartan Winter Tailgate in Grand Rapids, Dantonio was asked for his thoughts on programs holding spring practice outside of the state.Michigan State's football coach didn’t flinch.
“I think it’s creative, there’s no question about that,” Dantonio said. “From our standpoint, we’ve never thought to do that — but we’re thinking about it nowadays.”
[...]
“From my perspective we worry about who we are and what we do from there,” Dantonio said. “If we want to go to Florida or someplace else, in Texas or something like that, that would be our option to do that, and I guess that’s allowed right now.”
Normally I'd do whatever necessary to keep loved ones out of Florida or Texas, but I'm a big fan of judging people, plans, etc. by the types of people they infuriate.
This clearly hit a nerve with the SEC—the same conference riddled with posturing windbags riding on Nick Saban's three-inch coattails—so I encourage all Big Ten programs to follow suit immediately.
If I were Gene Smith, I'd pick up the phone and inquire about the availability of the facilities at University of Alabama—Birmingham. If you're going to strike at a rabid beast, you're best striking as close to the heart as possible.
WHY SNYDER RETURNED. World champion wrestler Kyle Snyder originally planned to redshirt this season in order to pursue his Olympic Dreams. But then he realized he could pursue Olympic glory AND help his team's defense of its national title.
This is his story:
Hard to argue with the decision.
CREW DID WHAT? Columbus Crew SC debuted new kits, and Twitter gored them:
#CrewSC Unveil 'For Columbus' Kits at City Hall https://t.co/kklNFtGohF pic.twitter.com/nsbJoOsDZ3
— Massive Report (@MassiveReport) February 10, 2016
This was a shocker to me at first, because Crew SC handled its rebrand with deftness.
My first impression, like Twitter's, was they deserved to die on the "bad idea" heap. I'm not a big fan of the pastel colors—and yes, I know it's based on Columbus' flag, which is near Marion in Ohio city flag power rankings—but they've grown on me like a fungus over the last 48 hours.
Black and gold reminds me of the Pittsburgh Steelers anyway. These jerseys could be iconic in 20 years and the subject of "classic throwbacks."
But what do I know? I'm just the guy who buys his shirts at gas stations.
BROWNS BACK DOWN. Speaking of questionable decisions in the Discovery City, the Columbus Partnership and the Cleveland Browns are ending their attempt to grift $5 million from the state to bring Browns training camp to Columbus.
From dispatch.com:
The president of the Columbus Partnership, citing what he calls misplaced anger from northeast Ohio lawmakers, said his group is pulling a request for $5 million in state funding to help build a summer training facility for the Cleveland Browns in Columbus.
“Despite open communication among Columbus, the Browns and many Cleveland leaders who support these plans, this request has surprisingly raised the ire of several Northeast Ohio politicians in a manner that mischaracterizes our collaborative nature,” Alex Fischer, head of the partnership, wrote in an opinion piece published in the Dispatch this morning. “We would never advance state funding that is perceived as pitting Columbus against another Ohio community. As such, we will remove this request from the priority list we give to legislative leaders next week.”
The Columbus Partnership recently asked the state to fund the project in the biennial state capital improvements bill that will be proposed in the next few months. The partnership is a coalition of business executives from the region's largest employers.
Breaking: Area businessman doesn't understand why taxpayers won't fork over millions of dollars to his organization and a shitty NFL team run by an owner who could be indicted; more news at the top of the hour.
THOSE WMDs. #Teen thieves pair phones with Jeep UConnect, get busted... Messi owns the crossbar challenge... Batman vs. Superman final trailer... The black market of Netflix accounts... Billionaire battle to bring the NFL back to LA... The only Bieber profile I'll ever read.
