Round of applause for everyone that managed to party this weekend without driving drunk at 7 a.m. on Memorial Day.
ICYMI:
- Francesca Di Lorenzo and Miho Kowase won the first women's doubles tennis championship over Alabama in three sets.
- Men's lacrosse lost to Maryland, 9-6, in the NCAA championship.
- Film Study: The proper quarterback throwing technique, as taught by Ohio State's staff.
- A way-too-early look at Oklahoma vs. Ohio State.
- Along with Oklahoma and Indiana, a look at other possible night games.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Distended.
COMPLIMENTS TO THE BAKER. As fans, we sometimes get caught up in thinking one great campaign in Columbus = future Hall of Fame status. Hey, it happens. That's why we watch sports.
And I'm not tabbing Jerome Baker for a Canton bust. Though it wouldn't surprise me, I'm still as confident in Baker as anyone on the team (other than the GOAT, Demario McCall) in taking that next step in development.
Full disclosure: I have been in Baker's corner since he made 11W's former beat reporter, Kyle Rowland, drive to Cleveland for a ceremony that ended with Baker committing to Florida and fielding zero questions.
Still, the tape speaks for itself.
From landgrantholyland.com:
One way that offenses attempt to target undersized linebackers is by running the ball directly at them. It might seem counterproductive to run the ball at an elite defensive player, but smaller and more athletic defenders often make the bulk of their plays in pursuit when they can utilize their speed. Forcing those types of linebackers to play downhill and deal with lead blockers is one way to potentially neutralize their athleticism.
Jalyn Holmes’ walk-off sack against Wisconsin was great. You know what was also great? Baker knifing through the Badgers’ blockers to tackle Corey Clement for a loss a play earlier to force a fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line.
Baker made big plays like this all season. He’s stout enough to fill an A-gap and take on an ISO, but his ability to disrupt and finish any run to either side of the field is what makes him special.
The biggest thing with me for Baker is the staff didn't bring Booker back, and he's back to starting this year. My prediction is it will be fun watching his final season as Buckeye.
COOL CAMPUS NOD TO HISTORY. Let historians tell it, and Ohio State did not always play in a 107,000-seat arena. According to them, the Buckeyes' football origins were of a much humbler nature. The local team we love to know today started at Ohio Field in 1898.
From humanity's paper of record, Wikipedia:
Ohio Field was a multipurpose stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It was built in 1898, dedicated in 1908, and served as the first on-campus home of the Ohio State Buckeyes football team as well as the track and field team through the 1921 season. Initial seating capacity was approximately 500 until 1907, when a grandstand and bleachers were added. Another renovation in 1910 saw a second grandstand added, with amenities such as brick ticket booths and iron fences, boosting capacity to 14,000.[1]
[...]
After the opening of Ohio Stadium, Ohio Field was torn down. It was located on North High Street, between 17th and Woodruff Avenues. Presently, the space is occupied by Arps Hall, Ramseyer Hall and a parking garage.
Now it looks like Ohio State is throwing some north campus nods to the original home of the football team.
From the venerable Twitter account @UDHCMH:
Really pleased to see this park taking shape on the site of old Ohio Field, where Ohio State football was born. pic.twitter.com/q22lQRoLSS
— Univ Dist History (@UDHCMH) May 29, 2017
We all know Chic Harley, but people forget about ol' John Wilce.
Also, whoever thought of this idea should get a raise. That's top class all around.
GRIMES FULLY OPERATIONAL. The rest of Ohio State's vaunted 2017 recruiting class arrives on campus next month. Five-star wide receiver Trevon Grimes, who tore his ACL last season, says he's back to 100%
Better then ever! Back running Full speed again https://t.co/4ekYblshol
— GrimeTime (@Trevongrimes8) May 27, 2017
Obviously easier to tweet than make a cut across the middle against Chris Worley in practice, but it's good to see Grimes will be healthy from the jump. He's a freshman that could contribute this fall.
THINK OF THE WEED WARRIORS. The Memorial Tournament is this weekend. I'm not a golf guy but I am always pro-Columbus propaganda, even if it is based in Dublin.
If you are watching those sweeping shots cut from a TV truck, please keep in mind the small regiment of volunteers and the ethnic cleansing they committed for those panoramic views.
From dispatch.com:
The lofty standard was constantly in the back of their minds as they led fellow Ohio State University Extension master gardeners in preparing the grounds around the clubhouse and front gates of Muirfield Village Golf Club for the influx this week of professional golfers and spectators.
“The reputation of Muirfield Village and the golf club kind of precedes me,” said Morrison, of Clinton Township. “It’s one of the best golf courses in the country; there are high expectations, and with high expectations comes a good product.”
For the past few months, as many as 50 volunteers from the Franklin County wing of the Master Gardener Program have had a hand in pruning, planting, mulching and weeding roughly 15 acres of the 220-acre club.
My Memorial dark horse: Jack Nicklaus, a local man.
THOSE WMDs. Things that carried him... Alexander Graham Bell predicted life in 2017... MBA student risks his life to bust a kidney racket in New Delhi... A candy heir sneaked into pro hockey and made his name as a savage... Why aren't Jim Thorpe's Olympic records recognized?
