R.I.P. to the Louisville Lip!
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Ohio State's baseball team is scheduled to play No. 2 Louisville in NCAA Tournament Louisville Regional. I say scheduled because Louisville's weather forecast is ominous. It will be broadcast on ESPNU if it goes down.
IF YOU MOVE WEIGHT, YOU WILL GET BIG. Ohio State football last updated us on the strength progression of former LB Joshua Perry in July of 2014. Even then, the results of training in Mickey Marotti's dojo were impressive.
Ohio State released a promotional Vine on Friday, and in those six seconds were these two clips that let us know where Perry's body stood when he exited that dojo. The before and after pictures are even more striking.
It would appear Marotti has discovered this one weird trick: If you dedicate yourself to a weight lifting regimen and don't consume food like a human dumpster, you will trim fat and build muscle.
This is why Marotti, along with Director of Player Personnel Mark Pantoni, were the first hires Urban Meyer made when he came to Columbus. You don't win championships without elite players, nor do you win them if those elite players are out of shape or carrying bad weight.
For the record: Joshua Perry's 247 prep profile listed him at 6-3, 220. The San Diego Chargers now list him at 6-4, 254.
If you GRIND here you will become ELITE here!!https://t.co/Cr6BtalSOw
— Urban Meyer (@OSUCoachMeyer) June 3, 2016
TAYLOR DECKER: STILL BALLIN'. Folks, I consume more Ohio State media than most fans on a daily basis. As such, I've been keeping an eye on former Buckeyes' pilgrimages into the NFL.
The next report I read about an Ohio State product disappointing during organized team activities will be the first.
From freep.com:
The Detroit Lions haven’t made any pronouncements about who’ll man left tackle for them this fall, but they appear to be doing everything possible to get rookie first-round pick Taylor Decker ready to play the position.
Decker played left tackle exclusively with the first-team offense at today's organized team activity practice, with incumbent left tackle Riley Reiff playing on the right side.
[...]
“He’s working,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. “That’s the thing. You know he’s smart, you know he’s athletic, he’s working at it. And I think he’s growing and developing. He’s still a long ways off yet. And we haven’t had pads on, but he’s working extremely hard, at this point, and doing well.”
Always love to see coaches speak with actions and then walk it back with words, but that's all in the game of leading young men and keeping egos in check.
BOOM. Get dumped then, John Hopkins! Your leading surgeon now belongs to Ohio State, and all credit is due to Urban Meyer, who no doubt handpicked the selection.
From bizjournals.com:
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center is hiring a leading surgeon from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with help from a new $2 million endowment spearheaded by Urban Meyer and his wife, Shelley Meyer.
The medical center plans to hire Dr. Timothy Pawlik as chairman of its Department of Surgery. Pawlik, 46, is an expert in liver cancer and will lead the medical center’s surgical and surgical oncology programs.
[...]
The school said the money comes from “fundraising efforts and donations by and from” the Meyers but didn’t immediately say how much actually came from the Ohio State football coach and his wife.
Just remember, Dr. Pawlik: Urban Meyer demands excellence of everybody, and should you not be up to the task he will find somebody who is.
P.S.: Workouts start at 6 a.m. tomorrow. (Protein shakes are included.) No pressure!
BROOKS MELCHIOR RISES FROM THE DAMNED. Brooks Melchior, an original hot take artist and former proprietor of Sports by Brooks, baffled the sports blogging industry when he closed his laptop and walked away from an empire that gave us such insight as this:
Hearing Jim Delany will push to NCAA Ohio St. losing non-conference games as way around TV ban.
— SPORTSbyBROOKS (@SPORTSbyBROOKS) June 25, 2011
Whatever happened to that Sports by Brooks guy? has become a running joke. It would appear, however, Melchior is alive despite no longer blogging:
My piece on seeking out Brooks Melchior due Saturday AM. One of the more fascinating stories I've ever worked on. @sportsbybrooks
— jeffpearlman (@jeffpearlman) June 2, 2016
If you told me 21-year-old me that I'd not only live to see 29 but also wake up on Saturday excited to read an investigation into the whereabouts and of a retired, middle-aged sports blogger, I'd have spit in your face and not felt bad about it.
Nor will I feel bad about reading this article. (I'll update this space when the piece drops.)
UPDATE (12:00 p.m.): It's noon and the day is cancelled!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Ezra9north no, it's due today. Not coming out today. (Sorry)
— jeffpearlman (@jeffpearlman) June 4, 2016
SCIENCE SAYS. One of my favorite tricks writers use is when they distil lengthy or seedy studies into headlines declaring "Science Says!" Pay attention, aspiring bloggers, as to how I cook this one up:
SCIENCE SAYS BAD FOOTBALL COACH JIM HARBAUGH IS A KOOK!
From linkedin.com:
And it's no secret that some of Harbaugh's previous players have complained about his temper - while other's have come to his defense. From a strictly nonverbal perspective, Harbaugh displays several warning signals of poor impulse control - one of which is discussed here.
When a person chronically displays widely open eyelids (barring a medical condition such as thyroid eye disease [Graves' disease], injury, botched surgery, side effects from Botox injections, etc.) - there will virtually always be accompanying behavioral problems. Jim Harbaugh's eyelids are indeed chronically opened very widely - and very significantly, in settings of where they are emotionally out of context.This disparity is a huge red flag. Although there are other associated disorders, very often this chronic "white and wide" expression indicates an impulse control disorder. There is a very high likelihood Jim Harbaugh will lose his temper in a highly significant manner. It could be tomorrow, it may be next month or five years from now. Most likely this will occur in preparation for a big game or in the midst of Michigan having a particularly bad losing season.
Jim Harbaugh was not well vetted psychologically/behaviorally. Michigan's desire to recapture the glory of their past will come back to bite them.
I failed biology twice in high school and dropped it three times at Ohio State, so if Michigan fans are looking for a scientific rebuttal to this, it won't come from me.
THOSE WMDs. The Fake Zombies, the greatest con in rock history... A gunfight in Guatemala... The real Peaky Blinders... "Werewolf" breed emerging in feral cat communities... Woman spends 2.5 years in Argentinian prison for falling victim to a romance scam.
