I finished The Only Girl in the World two days ago and can't stop thinking about it. The height of a genre.
ICYMI:
- The worst takes of 2017.
- USC HYPE TRAILER.
- Freshman CB Jeffrey Okudah standing out.
- Tee Martin: Greg Schiano would've been good for Tennessee, actually.
- New York Giants suspend Eli Apple for "a pattern of conduct detrimental to the team."
- Reserve your (or your business' spot) next to the life-size statue of Woody Hayes coming to Newcomerstown!
Word of the Day: Parson.
THE GREAT TEXAS ESCAPE. As you might know, J.K. Dobbins is from Texas. I try not to hold it against him. Texas is, uh, an okay state but it's always good to see a young man better himself by moving to Ohio.
But players of Dobbins' caliber don't escape Texas often. How did it happen? We can thank chaos at every institution outside of TCU, which doesn't consistently run the ball.
From cleveland.com:
"So I knew that was going to happen (Strong was fired after the 2016 season and replaced by Tom Herman). And Texas A&M, not my type of school. And TCU, I liked TCU, but I didn't think they were gonna run the ball. And so I just felt like that wasn't the right place for me. And Baylor, Baylor had that scandal. So I left Texas."
Dobbins committed to Ohio State in March of 2016 during his junior year of high school. He said the Texas schools stayed on him.
"I think Texas came at me the hardest, especially when Coach Herman got there," Dobbins said, noting the pressure from friends and relatives to "stay close to home so your mom can see you play." He said his mother, Mya, at first felt the same way, but came around and believed that Ohio State would be the best place for him.
No wonder Urban Meyer took a potshot at Herman back in September. Meyer probably taught Herman all he knows about recruiting through the mother. When your own business tricks get used against you, the gloves tend to come off.
BUCKEYES WANT TO PLAY. You might feel this week lacks the traditional feel of a bowl week, which is true considering Ohio State is playing before New Year's Eve for (seemingly) the first time since 1992. The Cotton Bowl is not a playoff game, either.
But don't think Ohio State is overlooking a tangle with a traditional power like USC.
From landof10.com:
During offensive player interviews on Tuesday, center Billy Price was appalled when a reporter asked him about No. 5 Ohio State’s interest level in the matchup against the No. 8 Trojans.
“I think it’s disrespectful. I really do,” Price said. “That’s why I got offended when someone asked me that just a second ago. ‘Can you get up for this game?’ Are you kidding me? It’s my final game as a fifth-year senior to cap off the 2013 recruiting class legacy, and if you think I’m not going to be excited, jacked up, juiced up, ready to go on that sideline, then don’t come to the game. It doesn’t matter what game it is. We could play on the sidewalk or we could go play in the grass and I’m going to be excited for it and ready for it."
As always, the team says the right things. But I'm old enough to remember Meyer and company saying it'd be like "an atomic bomb going off" if anybody overlooked Iowa in the lead up to Kinnick. We all remember what happened next (at least those of that that didn't black it out of our brains, Men in Black style).
THAT'S A SHAME. Playing for Michigan against Ohio State probably sounded like a dream to millions of kids growing up. Unfortunately for them, reality doesn't always mirror dreams.
Fast forward 20 years, now you're a senior exiting Ann Arbor without knowing what it's like to beat Ohio State. Such is the case of John O'Korn, who did his part to make sure Michigan lost this year.
From Kyle Rowland of The Toledo Blade:
TAMPA — In the immediate aftermath of Michigan’s sixth consecutive loss to Ohio State, quarterback John O’Korn broke down in tears during the post-game press conference.
[...]
“The game meant so much to not just me but all of us, our entire senior class,” O’Korn said Wednesday after UM’s Outback Bowl practice. “It took a few days to get over that loss. There were a lot of sleepless nights, running plays through your head. Every time you lose a game, you have moments like that. But because we put so much work into it, because it meant so much to us, because we hadn't beaten them as a senior class, that's why I responded the way I did after the game.”
Does it make me petty if I delight in O'Korn reliving the stress dreams that keep him awake at night? Absolutely. Do I care? No, or I wouldn't be using the rhetorical question to advance my agenda.
MIKE LEACH LOVES TO OPINE. Mike Leach logged on and dropped some takes yesterday, including this advice on Hawaii.
From The Player's Tribune:
Hawaii is awfully hard to beat as a vacation destination. Firstly, you’re across the ocean but there’s no border stuff or currency confusion, which gives it a big leg up. Beyond that, I’ve always thought Hawaii is more beautiful than advertised, more grand than advertised and more laid back than advertised. It definitely surpasses the hype, and there are not many places that do that. I mean, there’s visiting Disneyland for the first time as a kid, which is just an incredible experience that’s better than the build up — but that’s only if you can avoid the lines.
I've always said Hawaii is the first place you go when you're scared of international travel. (The Caribbean is No. 2.) I've also never been to Hawaii, so take that for how it's worth.
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!. Michigan and South Carolina engaged in my favorite type of fisticuffs last night at an Outback Bowl junket. The two teams milled around while acting like tough guys in a situation where nobody was ever going to throw a punch:
A fight nearly broke out between #Michigan and #SouthCarolina at Splitsville. pic.twitter.com/ghzbCVNzWA
— Isaiah Hole (@isaiahhole) December 28, 2017
Looks like those appetizers mean a lot to these two teams. Michigan football is back, baby!
THOSE WMDs. Browns losing streak takes toll on merchandise vendors...How I (almost) made millions in cryptocurrency... Tech innovation in Detroit: Connect people, not computers... Vape manufacturers following Big Tobacco's playbook... Genital crabs struggling to find partners.
