It's Patriot Week at Ohio State, which means historical Presidential lessons.
Today's fact: Some say President Warren G. Harding was bad, but he was actually good. Bonus fact: He also invented the word "normalcy."
SEC = CASH KING. One thing I like about college football is the accepted regional jingoism. My football team is good, which by logic means the area of the country in which I reside is the best.
No. 2 isn't acceptable to me—in anything. This is why I shook with rage yesterday when I read of the SEC being the cash king of the sport.
From awfulannouncing.com:
As expected, the Southeastern Conference remains on top having made $527.4 million in total revenue in 2015. The Big Ten trails with $448.8 in total revenue and that is up $10 million from FY’14. And the Pac-12 took in $439 million which puts the conference in third after the SEC and Big Ten. Even further behind was the Big 12 with just $267.8 million in total revenue for that same period.
The SEC was able to distribute $32.7 million to its member schools. The Big Ten paid $32.4 million to its 11-member base while new members Maryland received $24.1 million, Nebraska was paid $19.8 million, and Rutgers got close to $10.5 million in FY’15. In addition, the additions of East Coast schools Maryland and Rutgers added TV revenue for the Big Ten.
For the Pac-12, member schools received of $25.1 million while the Big 12’s schools received $23.3 million. We do not have numbers for the ACC.
(Do you even cable network, Big 12, with that little no-defense peanut circus y'all pretend to care about?)
No money will be flowing into my pocket, but props to Jim Delany for securing the Big Ten future. He got millions of East Coasters to pay for Iowa–Nebraska broadcasts. That's hustle.
TEXAS, WHY NOT? We know Big Ten expansion is coming at some point. There's too much money at stake to not. With the Big 12 lagging in revenue, it's created another round of speculation of Texas and Oklahoma bolting for greener pastures.
If an annual Texas–Purdue banger doesn't sound right to your ears, Iowa–Nebraska probably probably didn't either. And it could happen.
From landgrantholyland.com:
We can make a few educated guesses here. First, given how important academic prestige is to conference administrators, it's a safe guess that the conference wouldn't add a team that didn't have a strong research tradition unless they had an amazing athletic program or a really good reason. So that rules out schools like West Virginia, Cincinnati, any commuter campuses, BYU, most of the Big 12, and others. Remember, it's worth pointing out that how U.S. News & World Report ranks how "good" a college is, and how a Big Ten administrator might, are two different things.
[...]
I wouldn't sleep on this. When the next TV deals are done, the idea that Texas and/or Oklahoma would want to leave the Big 12 isn't crazy. Both programs could likely get better TV revenues than they would in the Big 12, and they'd be free from the membership squabbles and competing interests of Big 12 membership.
I would expect every other conference to make strong pitches to add Texas, whose athletic department, brand, and recruiting territory would make it the most attractive program that could go on the proverbial market. Academically, the Big Ten would be the best fit, but the Pac-12 or SEC could make compelling cases as well for different reasons.
Look at the Cornhuskers. They dumped their loser boyfriend and moved into a higher tax bracket with few pen strokes. The only articles speculating about Nebraska leaving the Big Ten would be written in crayon since they'd be authored by a clown.
Delany nailed BTN. The price on the Big Ten brick has never been higher and its poised for historic broadcast deals. If he adds Texas and Oklahoma before sliding off into retirement then Chicago should bulldoze its non-crying Michael Jordan statue and replace it with one of Delany sitting on a cast-iron pile of $100 bills.
SPONGE BELL. Vonn Bell realized his NFL dream last month, and New Orleans is getting to know its new safety.
During a game from Bell's junior year in high school, he made 10 to 15 tackles, picked off pass, and recovered a fumble for a touchdown. The stat line was impressive, but it wasn't enough to earn a perfect score from his coach.
From theadvocate.com:
"I’ve been coaching for 32 years, and he was one of the best athletes I’d ever seen, but he wasn’t a great football player when he walked on campus,” former Ridgeland coach Mark Mariakis said. “There were so many little things he was doing wrong.”
Bell sat down to watch the film in shock. The numbers didn’t seem to match.
Then the Ridgeland coaches showed Bell the mistakes he’d made: Bad angles, letting his eyes drift to the wrong part of the field, blown coverages that Bell had made look good by using his freakish physical gifts to recover. Bell, only a junior at the time, took the criticism in stride.
“I tell you that story,” Mariakis said, “because from that day on, he was a sponge.”
A wild Chris Ash appeared shortly thereafter to clarify Bell wasn't known for maturity when he first arrived, but the two eventually came to an understanding.
Ash won't ever get the love Tom Herman gets, but that's understandable because Ash did not found MENSA, the organization for geniuses. Regardless, I want him out of the division as soon as possible.
LANDING BOSA. Folks, you might want to sit down for this one.
A lot of mock drafts didn't predict the San Diego Chargers for selecting Joey Bosa with the No. 3 pick in the draft. (Will this stop me from reading mock drafts next year to entertain whose life the Cleveland Browns get to ruin in its annual reaping? Of course not).
Some analysts were disappointed in Joey Bosa's 4.86 40-yard dash time, but the Chargers were actually relieved.
From chargers.com's inside look at drafting Bosa:
General Manager Tom Telesco: “There were other players besides Joey that were under consideration for our top pick. There were other guys we liked a lot as well, so we discussed a lot during that meeting. We had our top players up there, and we were still in a broad spectrum of players. But when it came to Joey, everybody that talked about him and read him spoke glowingly.”
Bosa was one of the top players under the microscope at the Combine, and his numbers were inconsistent. Even though he performed well in other metrics, he ran a disappointing 4.86 in the 40-yard dash. While the NFL world was underwhelmed by that number, it was music to the Chargers’ ears.
[...]
General Manager Tom Telesco: “I was actually happy when he ran a 4.86. I thought if he ran a 4.65 there would definitely be no way we could get him at three. I thought it was great. I was happier than everybody else, but I kept that to myself. The measurables mean a lot to us, and they are important. His get off quickness in his 10-yard split, three- cone and short shuttle; they were all really pretty elite numbers.”
Surprised no Chargers official spoke on the record about their fear of Bosa's mafioso great-grandfather rising from the dead to fix an NFL preseason game. In this day and age, you know they had that discussion even if no record of it remains.
BUCKEYES: YEAH, BUDDY. My sources, who call me on my mom's landline after 9 p.m., confirmed a big recruiting weekend for Ohio State. (The Lord of Whispers' latest report is over here.)
Baron Browning, a 2017 five-star linebacker from Texas, got what was probably his first live look at the most vicious mascot in game:
— Baron Browning (@baronbrwnng) May 21, 2016
No one #teen should have all that power.
THOSE WMDs. Missourian pays $50,000 in interest on $2,500 payday loan... Eisenhower's memo to Washington declaring defeat of Germany... Zach Lowe is America's best sportswriter... 'A Million Questions' from descendants of slaves sold to aid Georgetown... Check your browser tabs (and stop watching porn at work)... Look at all those chickens!
