Hang the damn banner, Gene: The Associated Press crowned Ohio State as the No. 1 all-time college football program. I knew there was a reason I liked the AP and not those hucksters at Reuters.
Y'ALL RICH. I agree with Kevin — road games are trill. But it's easy to say that as an unmarried man with no kids. "Sure," a dad might say. "I'd love to spend $1,000 on a weekend trip to Madison, Wisconsin. Unfortunately, I need to pay my son's football bill this year."
Given the ticket prices, it'd be hard to argue with the dad I created as a vehicle to prove my point.
From bcsn.tv:
The Buckeyes’ Sept. 17 game against the Sooners at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium has an average resale price of $418, which makes it the sixth-most expensive ticket among college games this season.
What makes the non-conference meeting remarkable is its minimum price of admission. The Buckeyes-Sooners game has the highest ticket floor (lowest price for a ticket) in college football by a wide margin, far surpassing any other primetime regular-season game and even the College Football Playoff.
Oklahoma announced July 21 that the game was sold out, but the secondary ticket market remains especially active. According to SeatGeek, an online ticket price aggregator, the cheapest ticket for admission to the Ohio State-Oklahoma game was $314 as of Monday.
By comparison, a ticket to both College Football Playoff semifinals — the Peach and Fiesta Bowls — could be had for $368 total.
Even though I couldn't attend the game due to work responsibilities, this is the closest I've ever been to making a hajj to Oklahoma. Still, $314 for a bad seat isn't a players price. That could buy a lot of celebratory Jack Daniels shots for fellow Buckeye rebels who braved a Norman bar for the broadcast — and even consolatory Bud Light cans for forlorn Sooners fans who stuck around.
PANCAKES ON DECK. I'm a diehard waffle loyalist unless the pancakes we're talking are Orlando Pace highlights. Pace is one of the most beloved Buckeyes of all time, and he's set to be enshrined Saturday in his hometown state when the NFL inducts him into its Hall of Fame.
From dispatch.com:
“I wanted to set a new standard for offensive linemen,” Pace said. “I know that’s rare for an 18- or 19-year-old guy, but once I entered Ohio State I was hungry and driven to play at the next level as well. I wanted to go down as being one of the best players who ever played at Ohio State, and then ultimately have an opportunity to fulfill my dream of playing in the NFL.”
Saturday night in Canton, some 110 miles from Sandusky, the plan meets full-blown reality. Pace, who helped the St. Louis Rams win Super Bowl XXXIV and was a seven-time Pro Bowler, will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a eight-man class that includes quarterback Brett Favre.
“Canton, Sandusky — they are different cities but they are really the same when it comes to being a blue-collar town,” Pace said. “The struggles they had in Canton are the same struggles we had in Sandusky."
Mission accomplished.
I hope Brett Favre doesn't try to commandeer the celebrations with some rambling, crying-ass speech that paints him as a victim. Pace is at the head of that class, which is the same as it's always been since he picked up a football.
SPIELMAN NO RUGBY TACKLING FAN. Chris Spielman is so knowledgeable about football he effortlessly transitioned from player to venerable analyst. When he talks, I listen, even if he's disagreeing with the tackling system that resurrected the Ohio State defense after its 2013 implosion.
From xandolabs.com:
On how the rugby style emphasis trains the arms…
“If rugby tackling has done anything it has brought players back to the fundamental methods of (tacklers) wrapping up and brining their arms as opposed to running into guys full speed. Backs are too good for that now. I also believe in wrapping up because that’s where turnovers are created.”On teaching the lower contact point, synonymous with rugby style tackling…
“I get the concept about keeping the head out of the game. I would sit here and argue with anybody about this: when you talk about hitting ball carriers at the hip or below (as they do in rugby tackling methods), you tend to lower your body to strike and the natural progression is for the head and eyes to go down. Your head may now be at a more vulnerable position. They (rugby style coaches) can say your eyes are up but when you watch it on film you can see if they are tackling at the hip their head or eyes can be down. The head and neck are in a vulnerable position on the football field. Every film I’ve watched, their heads and eyes are down.”[...]
On the rugby emphasis of using a roll tackle wrap rather than conventional methods of running feet through tackle…
“In open field tackle situations, I was always taught ‘one step and wrap, two steps and squeeze and bring your feet though the target and not to the target.’ The problem I have is when defenders go to their knees on contact that’s not football. We want to run through contact. I get it. You have to lunge to make tackles at times. But if you have a clear shot (at a ball carrier), I would coach to run through the target and never drop to your knees. The guy is either going to run through you or always fall forward as opposed to the defender closing that gate in front of the ball and running through the target. I love the squeezing part, especially with a smaller corner on a bigger back but I don't like the roll part of it. Nobody teaches running backs to stop their feet on contact, it’s the same situation with linebackers.”
(For the uninitiated and curious: Here's Pete Carroll explaining rugby tackling. That video inspired Chris Ash, who brought it with him when he arrived in 2014. Kerry Coombs called it a "game-changer.")
Hard for the blogger who played one year in middle school to disagree with Spielman. However, it's also hard to argue against the results of the Silver Bullets' move to rugby tackling. I don't care what system they use, though, as long as it saves me from screaming at my television about broken tackles like it affects the game.
PROPS TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI. Miami is playing at former D1-AA powerhouse Appalachian State this September, and that's amazing. I wish more schools scheduled like this because it's collegiate football at its essence.
From appstatesports.com:
BOONE, N.C. - Demand for the historic Sept. 17 showdown against the five-time National Champion, Miami (FL), has lived up to the hype. After just an hour of being open to the general public, all seating inventory available for sale at Kidd Brewer Stadium officially sold out as of Tuesday morning.
Miami is also playing at Toledo in 2018, which keeps my dream of Ohio State playing a weeknight primetime banger at the Glass Bowl intact.
That said, you're high if you think I'm cheering for anybody but the Mountaineers (a team I like to know) and the Rockets (another team I like to know unless they're playing the team I love to know).
HARBAUGH'S NEW TAILOR. Jim Harbaugh is a millionaire who wears Wal-Mart khakis, which is one of the coolest things that can be said about him.
But Michigan is a Crying Jordan team now, which means the brand gurus plan on extracting their millions of dollars from the school one five-cent swoosh at a time.
With new deal, Nike will make Jim Harbaugh's khakis pic.twitter.com/1mfrs2hdnE
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 2, 2016
Amazing Nike tailoring. You can't even see the adult diaper bulge.
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