Skull Session: Spielman Steps Up, 89% Chance to Beat Braska Bout Right, and Decision Time for 2018's No. 1 TE

Another week on the rock we love to know. How about that Game of Thrones season premiere, y'all?

I FU—[HOWDY. STARCAT HERE REMOVING SPOILERS SO DUDES DON'T TEAR UP IN THE COMMENTS.]

ICYMI:

• Discover Ohio: The State's Best City or Town Name. (*shoots shotgun into the air* Knock 'Em Stiff and then everybody else to the back of the line.)
• Ohio State's five most explosive players for 2017.
• Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio. 

Word of the Day: Milquetoast.

 SPIELMAN RINGS THE BELL. So, you might have heard. Our good friend Chris — whose name, again, just for the record, is Charles!? — really sued his alma mater like a boss.

What I love about this case, other than Ohio State setting legal precedent (read that link please), is Spielman is the perfect plaintiff. And God help anyone who wants to stand in the face of logic. Hope they get paid well.

From dispatch.com:

The above is financial foreshadowing to the stunning news on Friday that Spielman, the former Ohio State All-America linebacker, is suing his alma mater on behalf of all former and current Buckeyes football players. The class-action lawsuit takes issue with 64 banners that hung at Ohio Stadium last fall that featured players’ likenesses and a corporate logo for Honda, but it also mentions jerseys, photographs, signatures and more.

Spielman told Dispatch reporter Bill Rabinowitz that it pains him to sue Ohio State, but “players have a right. If somebody wanted to endorse you, don’t you think you have a right to say yes or no, or to negotiate?”

Yes, I do. Apparently, so does Griffin, the two-time Heisman Trophy winner and former president and CEO of the OSU Alumni Association who supports Spielman’s efforts to gain recompense from universities and corporations that benefit from the use of players’ names and likenesses.

What's funny is people have no problem with any professionalization of the sport until the talk switches to players controlling their images and rights.

Makes you think, for sure.

 SOUNDS BOUT RIGHT. *Scene cuts to 2050, when I'm stooped over and still shouting that Lincoln, Nebraska, is too hospitable to be intimidating. Never gone. Never will. Know those facts to be 100% true, though. (No better kinds of facts, really.)

Hate aside, Ohio State's schedule allows for a loss at Nebraska—if it should come to that (spoiler: it won't).

From cleveland.com:

Chances to beat Ohio State: 11 percent.

There aren't many college football stadiums where the Buckeyes have played but haven't won. Memorial Stadium in Lincoln is one of them, and maybe that's why we're giving Nebraska this much of a chance.

Ohio State's only visit there in 2011 was a 34-27 loss during Luke Fickell's interim season as head coach, and it's hard to forget that loss and the 21-point lead the Buckeyes blew after an injury knocked freshman quarterback Braxton Miller out of the game.

Ohio State played at Nebraska in 2011? That's weird... I don't remember that in the least. (Somebody just sprinted to the comments to make a Joe Bauserman joke.)

 READY THE GIFS. Jeremy Ruckert, the No. 1 tight end of 2018 according to 2017, was the best player at Nike's The Opening. And the guy who models his game off Gronk will likely be in the local fold before the sun sets.

From some dude named Andrew Ellis of that elevenwarriors.com:

We've long maintained that Ohio State would be the pick for Jeremy Ruckert, and nothing has happened to change our stance on that. This is a player that Michigan also covets, and while the Wolverines have put forth a solid effort, it's likely not going to be enough.

We are expecting some good news for the Buckeyes on Monday afternoon. Stay dialed into Eleven Warriors for full coverage of the Ruckert announcement and its impact on the 2018 class.  

Ruckert announces at 3 p.m. ET. For those unfamiliar with his powers:

Shoutout to the people who swear Urban Meyer "recruits off lists." Hope that keeps the trolls warm under that bridge.

 FAIR QUESTION. Look, when I travel abroad, I expect all business literature to relate to The Ohio State University. I wouldn't travel otherwise.

Second thing I do in a hotel room is open up the hotel guide and call the front desk to ask why there's nothing about Ohio State in it

— THICC KEN (@edsbs) July 16, 2017

Third thing I do in that scenario is light a ball of toilet paper on fire, throw it on the carpet, and briskly walk to the checkout counter.

 SAY WHAT YOU WANT. Is Mike Vick a good human? Some say yes. Others say no. It's tough to say. Virginia Tech says he was good at football.

Michael Vick going into Virginia Tech Sports HOF. pic.twitter.com/PbSXwHi73b

— Eric Edholm (@Eric_Edholm) July 11, 2017

Can't argue with the Hokies.

Vick remains the most lethal NCAA Football player:

 THOSE WMDs. Two 20-year-olds accused of luring four men to farm and killing them... 10 hardcore facts about Oz... Quit your job for a better one? Not in Idaho... Raptors in flight (now you see her)... NASA releases closest-ever photo of Jupiter's Great Red Spot.