XICHIGAN WEEK
Ohio State blows out Indiana, 38-15. Now, it's time to do the same to That Team Up North.
Today is the fourth of a forecasted 10 days without the sun in Ohio. People who need sunshine in their life make me sick and cloudy skies make me as formidable as Cardale Jones holding a crossbow.
ICYMI:
- Stephen Collier retired from football.
- Science: Mike Thomas had the best rookie season since Randy Moss.
ALL ABOARD FULLER EXPRESS. Yesterday, I tabbed sophomore safety Jordan Fuller as a potential breakout star in 2017. It was no disrespect to Erick Smith then, and it's no disrespect as that discussion unintentionally trundles into today.
I knew Fuller was the son of famous singer Cindy Mizelle, but I didn't realize how deep that talent ran in the family. Fuller's father played at Texas Christian; his brother played at UCLA and currently plays for the Atlanta Falcons.
From northnewjersey.com (ignore their factual error about the team Ohio State lost to):
With older son Devin a rookie for the Atlanta Falcons, who play in Sunday’s NFC Championship game, and younger son Jordan a freshman for the Ohio State team that lost to eventual college football national champion Auburn in last month’s BCS semifinals, Mizelle has enjoyed quite a stretch of football.
For that, the Fuller brothers can thank their mom, a veteran, seasoned, hugely successful singer who has toured with acts from Bruce Springsteen to Luther Vandross, who sang on sold out stages through all three of her pregnancies, who lives a life full of proof that finding your passion, declaring a dream and pursuing it with focus can make anything possible. If so many of our best sports stories involve the bonds between fathers and sons, of shared practices and coaching ties – Devin and Jordan’s father Bart played football at TCU – there is a particularly special chapter for the bonds between mothers and sons, for understanding their impact as part of the full scope of what makes us who we are.
[...]
"They love music. Jordan to me is one of the better singers in the family. But they chose. They don’t want to do this. They love football."
And he can sing? Hell, I need a video of him singing Carmen Ohio after dumping Michigan in Ann Arbor. That would easily do 20K shares on Facebook.
I'm penciling him into a starting position due to "new" facts. People may disagree with the logic, but the beauty of the offseason is definitive rebuttals won't exist for another eight months.
SHIPS TO STARK COUNTY. Ohio will no longer hold its state football championships in Ohio Stadium. After three years in the geographical center of the state, it's moving the games back to Stark County.
But instead of Paul Brown Tiger Stadium like past years, they will be held at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton.
From ohsaa.org:
The Ohio High School Athletic Association football state championship games will be played at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton in 2017 and 2018 following approval from the OHSAA Board of Directors at its January meeting Thursday. The OHSAA staff had previously confirmed its intent to return to Canton in 2017 and 2018 and the 9-0 vote by the board of directors Thursday makes the move official.
After a 24-year stay in Stark County from 1990-2013, the football state championship games were held at Ohio Stadium in Columbus in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
“We had great hosts in Stark County before, and I know we will again,” said Dr. Dan Ross, OHSAA Commissioner. “We are blessed in Ohio to have so many outstanding playoff venues like Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton and Ohio Stadium here in Columbus, and our intent all along has been to rotate the finals between the two sites. The last three years in Columbus have been great, and the timing worked out well because Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame had major stadium renovations underway at the same time.”
Sounds like they fixed the turf issue that scuttled its annual NFL preseason game.
I hold no ill will against Stark County, but it seems unfair to hold the sport's biggest games in one geographical corner of the state. Columbus to Canton is a haul. I don't even want to contemplate Cincinnati to Canton.
GOING TO BE A LONG OFFSEASON. Are you an Ohio State fan who doesn't like basketball, despite thrilling last-second-wins over Nebraska? Well, well, well, do I have some great news about a hip new alternative for you.
From btn.com:
BTN and Riot Games, the creator of League of Legends, today announced the launch of the official BTN League of Legends season. The new pilot program, in which clubs from Big Ten Universities take part in a season-long competition, will result in one school being crowned the BTN League of Legends Champion in the most played PC video game in the world.
Clubs from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin will all play in the inaugural season, which will kick on off Jan. 30 on BTN2Go and watch.lolesports.com. The Big Ten Network will also televise the BTN League of Legends championship on March 27.
The new season-long competition follows in the footsteps of last year’s BTN Invitational, an exhibition League of Legends match featuring Michigan State and Ohio State.
Can't wait until League of Legends championships replace March Madness as March Madness.
For those still thunderstruck by the term "League of Legends," here's a seven-hour YouTube video to get you up to speed between now and Jan. 30:
TOM HERMAN SUFFERS ANOTHER P.R. LOSS. Earlier this week, a parent told a reporter that Tom Herman told parents not to talk to reporters. He also caused an alumni firestorm by naming former Baylor assistant and Art Briles defender Casey Horny as a quality control assistant.
If Herman fails at Texas, it probably won't be because he's a bad football coach.
From expressnews.com:
By the end of his first month, Tom Herman made sure to hit all of the national sports talk shows, handed out hundreds of pizzas to selfie-snapping students, and celebrated the commitment of new recruits by posting animated GIFs to his Twitter account.
[...]
As savvy as Herman might be about certain aspects of public relations, the former journalism major is not above the occasional miscalculation. Somehow, the man who has put serious thought into everything from stadium music playlists to signage graphics failed to anticipate the predictable backlash that would greet the hiring of a staffer who publicly campaigned for disgraced Baylor coach Art Briles.
Why did UT’s athletic director find himself this week issuing a press release defending the decision to hire a previously unknown man for a low-level job most fans didn’t even realize existed? The short answer is, it was because Herman did not yet realize the magnitude of the spotlight that now shines on his every move.
Hopefully, Herman takes big lessons from these small events because the spotlight will only intensify with each loss in Austin. And it's not like the Longhorns are going undefeated in 2017, either.
MAKES YOU THINK. Here's a stat college football leaders don't want you to see:
New numbers at NCAA convention: 24% of male athletes in the NCAA across all divisions say they've gambled on sports in the past year.
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) January 19, 2017
I'd love to see how they defined "gambled," but it makes me wonder about my biggest conspiracy belief: American sports are more fixed than we want to realize.
THOSE WMDs. How Iceland got its teens to say no to drugs... Landscaper gets jail time in tainted orange juice case... Fort Lauderdale beach legend Mickey Clean really was a famous punk rocker... "Stuff the bus" donation drive a bust on campus... Who killed Julian Pierce?
