Hope everybody out there is staying properly moisturized during these dry months and keeping their bedrooms at approximately 45 percent humidity. Few things worse than irritable eyes and dry skin.
ICYMI:
- 11W's best photos of 2017.
- Nick Bosa ready for expanded role in 2018.
- Video: Buckeyes visit Children's Hospital.
- Help put a life-size statue of Woody Hayes in his hometown of Newcomerstown, Ohio.
Word of the Day: Fulsome.
MORE SINBAD TALK? OH HELL YEAH. Back in October, I learned local safety Jordan Fuller was the nephew of 90's comedy icon Sinbad. I still haven't picked up all the pieces of my brain that exploded all over my kitchen in Piqua, Ohio.
While I might have killed a man to share blood with a legend like Sinbad, it seems kinship with Sinbad didn't impress the son of singer Cindy Mizelle.
From cleveland.com:
"I haven't seen him in a minute, since I was on the opposite coast, but he is definitely into it, he follows us," said Fuller, who grew up in New Jersey. "When my brother went to UCLA, he was at a lot of the games."
Fuller's brother, Devin, was a receiver and return man at UCLA who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. Sinbad could offer some more direct fandom while Devin was playing in Los Angeles. Yet there Sinbad was, dropping random tweets about Jordan this season.
"It is weird, but you have got to remember that my mom (was a singer.) My life, I was just used to it," Fuller said. "It was not like 'Oh yeah, wow, my family is famous.' It was just, that is my family."
I don't care how familiar it seems. That's Sinbad, and in this house, we respect the 1994 American motion picture classic, Jingle All The Way.
I'm also a little salty UCLA fans got to mingle with Sinbad yet he stiffed us humble midwesterners. Next year we need to start a petition to bring Sinbad to the Shoe!
BILLY PRICE: KINDA GOOD. Billy Price switched from guard to center, and after one year of playing the position, will leave Columbus as the best prospect center in a decade.
From Daniel Jeremiah of nfl.com:
Over the past 15 years, Ohio State has produced an incredible amount of talented center prospects: LeCharles Bentley (2002), Nick Mangold (2006), Corey Linsley (2014) and Pat Elflein (2017). Not a bad group.
Well, the tradition will continue in the 2018 draft.
I recently studied Buckeyes senior Billy Price and he's one of the best center prospects I've seen in the past decade. He has tremendous upper body torque, quick feet and outstanding awareness. Elflein has enjoyed an outstanding rookie campaign with the Vikings, and I think Price is a superior player on college tape. I gave Price the same grade I gave Mangold when he entered the league, and Mangold ended up being a first-round selection.
I look forward to the Browns passing on Price in attempt to draft a shittier version of him three rounds later.
TROJANS GO ALL OUT. USC plays defense like your little brother on Madden: It's sending the jailbreak blitz, every time, and is entirely content to live with the results—no matter how disastrous.
From theozone.net:
The Trojans play a man-coverage defense, and will do it quite often with “zero-man coverage”, which means no deep safety help.
As a result, no team in the Pac 12 gave up more 20-yard receptions than USC’s 52 this season. That’s four per game. Only one team gave up more than USC’s 25 30-yard receptions, which is nearly two per game. And only one team has given up more than USC’s 13 receptions of 40 or more yards, which equates to one per game.
What do they have to show for it? Well, they are second in the nation with 43 sacks.
(Good news, folks: Ohio State has six starting wide receivers who are known for their ability to consistently defeat press coverage!)
Sounds like this game will be on the offensive line, which is fine with me. As long as they can keep J.T. Barrett clean, Ohio State should be alright.
MEANWHILE... Arizona State hired Herm Edwards with designs of installing him as a figurehead. Apparently its talented coordinators didn't want to stick around while Edwards made all the money and got all the credit while they did all the work.
From azcentral.com:
But chaos offers opportunity. The loss of Billy Napier to Louisiana-Lafayette looks worse in headlines than it does in reality. The program has plenty of experience replacing short-term assistants on the fly. The ongoing debacle could be a blessing in disguise, lowering expectations to the bottom floor. And for all the ill-fated promises and words spoken by the current athletic director, only one of his statements matters going forward.
“Equally important, the head coach will be a dynamic and tireless recruiter,” Anderson said after terminating Graham’s contract.
This is the moment when Edwards must seize full ownership. His job description has changed dramatically. He is no longer just a closer, a delegator, a motivator and the central figure in a bizarre collaboration that sounds more like a corporate merger. He must assume the responsibilities he should’ve been given in the first place, rebuilding a Division I program with his vision, his voice and a staff of handpicked helpers.
Always love when easily foreseeable disasters produce humorous #content. 2018 should be a wild ride for all 13 diehard Sun Devils fans.
MEANWHILE... Early Signing Period starts tomorrow, and Michigan's director of recruiting spent some time this week bickering on Twitter with Wolverine fans about the university's 2018 class lacking stars.
I LOVE KANSAS CITY BBQ!!!!! I know A LOT of people that sleep on it because it's not 5 Stars on Yelp...but those people are idiots
— Matt Dudek (@Thee_Matty_D) December 16, 2017
You want a response so I'll give you one...I'm sure you feel better now, considering your obviously looking attention from your 26 followers...the only salt I got is for my Ruth's Chris steak tonight...5 fan
— Matt Dudek (@Thee_Matty_D) December 16, 2017
247 currently ranks Michigan's class as No. 12 in the country. (It has no five-star athletes.) For comparison, it rates Ohio State as No. 1.
THOSE WMDs. Loving acknowledgements in books... Mark Twain turned down writing for The Toledo Blade... Flushed painkillers and antidepressants contaminate Great Lakes... Anesthesia: The gift of oblivion... Instant pot, the kitchen gadget that spawned a religion.
