The next Saturday Skull Session will lay down the gauntlet on Bowling Green's sorry ass. I'll be here to write it as long as the police don't bust up my computer football league draft, which starts at 8:30 a.m. at an undisclosed location on the west side of Marion.
Speaking of the City of Kings, specific shoutouts to my new friend and longtime Skully reader Father Schmidt as well as Baires Deli. I haven't had a local steak like that since Michael's Steakhouse (R.I.P.) went out of business.
SPECIAL TEAMS BOOMING. When Urban Meyer descended from the posh ESPN studio heavens into Columbus, he knew he needed to establish a culture.
One of those cultural tenants was a dedication to special teams. Though he doesn't use punts to strangle his enemies like his predecessor, Meyer wanted his young players to perform on special teams before earning major playing time. Not only that, he wanted them to yearn to play special teams.
He succeeded.
From dispatch.com:
“They’re knocking on my door every day, and that’s exactly what you want,” [Kerry] Coombs said. “Most places, I would think, guys are like this (gesturing 'back off') when a special teams coach comes walking down the hall. Here, they’re coming down the hall to see me, and that’s what’s extraordinary about our program.”
There’s a simple reason for that enthusiasm: on a roster in which competition at almost every position is fierce, players understand that special teams are the mandated pathway to getting time on regular snaps.
In fact, some starters remained on special teams even after becoming stars. Those players are gone now. The impact of that on special teams gets lost in the concern about how those players are going to be replaced on offense and defense.
I'm not worried about special teams, because the players put on the field will bring the juice, and Coombs will handle the rest.
Still, it's a credit to Meyer. Every coach preaches special teams play, but few actually put the work in to yield dominating units. The way Meyer controls games through starting field position should be a clue to other coaches, but I won't complain if they don't pick it up.
EVEN THE BROWNS ARE LAUGHING. Joey Bosa, miraculously, remains unsigned. While some fans will always see the player (and never the team) as greedy, the consensus around the NFL seems to be the Chargers are a joke.
From bleacherreport.com:
"If Joey Bosa ended his dispute tomorrow," said one NFC general manager, "he would barely get something from his rookie year. But it won't end tomorrow. It could be weeks. So effectively, the Chargers threw away the rookie year of their own high draft pick."
"His rookie season is over," said another NFC general manager, "and he may not be a Charger."
[...]
A member of the Bosa camp told me that that possibility "is slim but growing every day." The problem Bosa has is that a worse team than the Chargers could draft him, though now that seems hard to imagine. Even the Browns are laughing at the Chargers.
This is a fascinating standoff to follow. It just sucks it's a Buckeye great at the center of it.
Regardless, the sentence "Even the Browns are laughing at you" should send chills down the Spanos family's spines. It's like the time in 2011 when a vagabond laughed at me as I puked in a trash can outside the High Street Waffle House at 8:00 a.m. on a Tuesday.
It made me realize I needed to get my life together. I gave him the $8 in my pocket for the life lesson.
The Chargers should do the same for the Browns.
ZEEEEKEEEE. Ezekiel Elliott, like most Ohio State students, was known as a partier in Columbus.
It would appear that signing a $25 million contract didn't turn him into a suburban dad overnight.
From profootballtalk.com:
Like many people on out-of-town visits to states where marijuana is legal, Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott decided to check out a pot store while he was in Seattle for last night’s preseason game. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wasn’t happy about that.
But beyond that, the Cowboys organization is apparently concerned about the way Elliott handles himself off the field. Ed Werder of ESPN reported today that there are concerns about “a pattern of disturbing behavior” from Elliott.
Werder didn’t detail what behavior was involved in that pattern, but far more concerning than entering a legal marijuana store is that there’s an investigation in Columbus, Ohio, into an allegation of domestic violence. The Columbus city attorney’s office said a month ago that there’s an “open investigation” into that allegation. There has been no update to that story since.
First of all, Jerry Jones is the same guy who literally had to be restrained by his large adult son to prevent him from drafting Johnny Manziel. Let that sink in. Perhaps Elliott just wanted to see the inner-workings of a legal pot shop. It's not like he blazed a blunt in front of a TMZ camera.
Secondly, it's hilarious how the Cowboys leaked their "concern" immediately following this incident. If they were that concerned about his partying, they should watch his debut highlights. It's obviously not affecting his work.
Third, if the Cowboys should be concerned about anything, it should be the domestic violence allegations.
The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday that Elliott's accuser was set to meet with the Columbus city attorney's office Monday, and it hoped to wrap up the investigation "this week or next."
Obviously, no news is good news for Elliott on this front, so we'll see how it shakes out.
YOU COME AT THE BEAN, YOU BEST NOT MISS. Extorting a professional athlete might sound like the stuff of which retirement packages are made. But it's harder to execute than in theory.
But don't take my word for it.
From cleveland.com:
AKRON, Ohio — Despite wanting to send a quadriplegic Akron man to prison for trying to extort former Ohio State football star Beanie Wells, a federal judge on Wednesday decided that house arrest, a forced charitable donation and a stern talking-to would have to suffice.
Patrick Griffin, 29, was placed on house arrest and electronic monitoring for one year, as well as five years' probation with frequent visits from a probation officer. U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi also ordered Griffin to give $10,000 to a charity that helps combat drug dealing and use. That donation must be fully made within the next three years, Lioi ordered.
Lioi, in coming up with what she called a "challenging sentence," imposed the unique terms because of the financial and logistical hurdles that would have to be overcome to put Griffin in a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
Maybe Griffin can raise money for his charitable donation (first I've ever seen a sentence like that) by blogging about sports. It takes a minute to get noticed, and even more time to get paid. But if I can do it, so can a recently convicted felon!
THOSE WMDs. Man pretends to be ancient emperor, scams woman out of $7 million... The Devil and John Holmes... The mountain lions of Los Angeles... Hard times in Venezuela.
