My intern, who may also be my cat, tells me there are 10,000 Happy Jamarcos in the header photo. I didn't audit him, but 10,000 Happy Jamarcos are a small token of the happiness I found in Jones' christening at LT on Wednesday.
URBAN MEYER REACHES FOR ANOTHER CLIP. The NFL exodus facing Ohio State would cripple a lesser program, but like his assistants, he doesn't recruit players that don't dream of starring in the NFL.
He creates his culture through competition—in everything. It's a craft he has honed since Bowling Green.
From nfl.com:
"There's no such thing as doing a drill here -- we keep score," Meyer said from his office. "Everything is competitive. That started for us at Bowling Green [where Meyer coached in 2001 and '02], took it to a new level at Utah [2003 and '04]. People come here and say, 'My god, you wake up and you're competing.' At the end of the day, every drill is graded -- stock-block drills, one-on-ones, circle drill, the scrimmage. And when it's over, someone gets Gatorade, and the other guy runs gassers and is drinking out of a hose."
[...]
"We're not ashamed of it," Meyer said. "When I got into coaching, I heard people in recruiting and other areas say to kids, 'Don't worry about the NFL.' We don't do that. We want our guys to want it. It's a great way to earn a living. In my mind, there are very few jobs that pay you that kind of money to do something that you love. So long as it's not in the way of the team concept, we're gonna help them get there."
That link is worth a read, but fair warning it blindsides you with Jimbo Fisher and Florida State. No offense to the Ohio State alumnus author, but Jimbo and FSU only intrigues me if it involves an FBI raid and multiple felonies.
But yeah, the silver lining to the brutal schedule is Ohio State could theoretically endure two losses and still make the playoffs with a few fortunate bounces of the magic diamond. If Meyer makes it that far with a team this young then it will be the best coaching job of his career.
And he doesn't turn 52 until July. Makes you think.
THROWBACK THURSDAY. Thanks to Johnnie Dixon's Instagram, we have our first hit single for the soundtrack to the 2016 season.
For this we go back to 1996. This music video features Curtis Samuel, Dontre Wilson, Torrance Gibson, K.J. Hill and A.J. Alexander; none of whom possess a memory of 1996.
Ghost Town DJ's My Boo! Who among us can't remember this classic R-B jam?
From Wikipedia.com:
"My Boo" is the only single released by the hip-hop group Ghost Town DJ's, released on Jermaine Dupri's So So Def label, on the album So So Def Bass All-Stars. The song, an invite by a female to a male, blends R&B-style vocals with a high-tempo electronic beat. The song was written by Carlton "Carl Mo" Mahone and Rodney Terry, and was included on both volumes of So So Def Bass All-Stars I & II.
As an opening single for a soundtrack, I like it. Lets you know the local ball team is loose and in good spirits. How else would you want them to be while preparing for that schedule with your only bye week coming in the fourth week of September?
Let's hope this trend continues. As it stands:
| TRACK | ARTIST | TITLE | RELEASE DATE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GHOST TOWN DJ | MY BOO | JULY 25, 1996 |
URBAN MEYER TWEAKS RECRUITING. Urban Meyer's competitive nature never lets him relax on grandma's handwritten recipe card. He's always tinkering with his spices. Meyer talked about a small tweak he's making this year during Wednesday's press conference.
From coachingsearch.com:
"For the next five weeks, the coaches will be in on Fridays,” Meyer said. “Usually it’s, ‘Gone, see ya.’ We’re not doing that. We can’t. Dre'Mont Jones has to see (defensive line coach) Larry Johnson at least once a week, or everything he was just taught for the last four weeks is out of the window.
“I made a decision, talked to (director of player personnel) Mark Pantoni about it, talked to our strength coach (Mickey Marotti), and we're going to do it. Every Friday is going to be, spend time with your players."
Regarding that evaluation of the current roster, Meyer says each player grades themselves on a 1-5 scale in various categories, the position coach does the same, and you add it up. A score from 90-100 is a national championship-quality player, and it’s a very blunt assessment.
I bet the assistants were relieved. I know they're compensated well and they have to perform to succeed, but nobody can convince me more than 10% of college coaches have a true passion for crossing the country in rental cars and red-eyes in search of talented #teens.
The grades part helps make sense of recent recruiting moves like asking 2017 Akron Hoban RB Todd Sibley to grayshirt. Meyer can talk about the importance of recruiting Ohio all he wants, but he's never going to take a lower-rated Ohio kid over a national championship-quality player. He's not wired like that, and he's won enough to know the difference.
DAYTON POLICE CRUSHED MY DREAMS. I awoke Wednesday with a dream of seeing Limp Bizkit perform in a Sunoco parking lot in Dayton. Hours later my dreams crashed into fiery rubble.
BE AWARE: There is NO Limp Bizkit concert Wed. 4/20 at Sunoco station at Keowee St. & Wayne Ave. These ads FALSE. pic.twitter.com/wMo7bYxa9p
— Dayton Police Dept. (@DaytonPolice) April 19, 2016
Does chaos reign in Dayton? Somebody needs to go to jail over this.
YOU COME AT THE KING... Les Wexner bought a 1954 Ferrari 375-Plus at a London auction in 2014 that turned out to maybe possible perhaps been stolen in the 1960s and shipped to Belgium, where it was eventually salvaged after a wreck.
This dispute has been settled, and Wexner will get his classic Ferrari, please and thanks.
From dailymail.co.uk:
He claimed he was led to believe the dispute had been settled and 'all relevant litigation' had been resolved prior to the auction.
[London auctioneer] Bonhams disputed Wexner's claims of 'deceit' and it emerged at the High Court today that the parties had settled and Mr Wexner could now take delivery of the Ferrari.
A joint statement from Bonhams and Wexner's legal team said: 'Copley Motorcars and Bonhams announce the settlement of their ongoing litigation concerning the auction of a 1954 Ferrari 375-Plus by Bonhams at its Goodwood sale in 2014.
You might think he'd do cool things like flee police around the 270 outerbelt, but the Daily Mail says he's simply he's adding it to his "very valuable" collection if 1950s and 1960s Ferraris.
This will allow him to point it out at cocktail parties while also allowing his friends the the gift of pretending to care.
THOSE WMDs. An unbelievable story of rape... Suburban mom key figure behind release of prisoner after two decades in prison... We asked 22 exterminators about the most advanced bug civilization they ever had to destroy... When Dungeons & Dragons set off a moral panic.
