Y'all see this yesterday?
Incredible video shows a cheetah on a hunt jumping into an SUV to find a better scouting spot. The passenger stayed quiet and didnt make eye contact so the cheetah didnt see him as a threat. https://t.co/MzbSkkoKll pic.twitter.com/Ln8jKrLnWs
— ABC News (@ABC) March 29, 2018
You know that guy is a true poster because a cheetah jumped in his SUV and his third or fourth thought was, "This is great #content."
A willingness to die for the fleeting entertainment of strangers is what separates good from legend in this business. Remember these words when I perish in the flats of Cleveland next February after the Browns win the Super Bowl.
ICYMI:
- Kevin Wilson not interested in new duties, only in improving the offense.
- Brady Taylor confident in ability to become starting center.
- Breaking down Keita Bates-Diop's strengths and weaknesses before the draft.
- Reserve your (or your business’) spot next to the life-size statue of Woody Hayes coming to Newcomerstown!
Word of the Day: Solemnity.
PRYOR MAKES A MOVE. Isaiah Pryor arrived in Columbus looking like an NFL player. But there's more to seeing the field at Ohio State than a rare allotment of genes.
Though Pryor played last season, he didn't overtake Damon Webb. With Webb headed for a shot in the NFL, Pryor appears to be making his move to replace him.
From The Toledo Blade:
“He’s one of the strongest guys in our room and probably from the weight-room standpoint, kind of closer to maybe some of the [bigger players] as opposed to a skill kid,” Buckeyes defensive coordinator Alex Grinch said. “He also has the ability to run, so there’s a lot of positives when you mention Isaiah Pryor.”
...
The competition for the starting role formerly occupied by Webb has been between Pryor, sophomores Amir Riep and Brendon White, and true freshman Tyreke Johnson. So far this spring, Pryor has spent the most time next to Fuller on Ohio State’s first-team defense.
“He can do it all,” Fuller said of Pryor. “He can cover, he can play zone, he can play in the post, he’s a good tackler. I’m excited for him and all the rest of the guys, too. … All of us are making strides and I’m just excited to see what we can do this year.”
Pryor and Fuller would give Ohio State a back-end of electric athletes. With the cornerbacks and defensive line stocked with talent, the defense should be elite unless the linebackers are historically bad. This may shock you, but I don't think that will be the case.
REAL RECOGNIZES REAL. Ohio State won't let obscure bloggers or esteemed reporters watch much of spring practice. They're less restrictive on beefy teenagers capable of putting peers on skates.
Munford, like Pat Elfelin before him, made his mark during emergency spot duty in The Game.
Three-star OL Jakai Moore from Virginia observed practice earlier this week. He brings good tidings of the offfensive line.
From 247sports.com:
Well, here is what offensive lineman Jakai Moore, making an unofficial visit to Ohio State on Tuesday and Wednesday, had to say after watching the Buckeyes’ practice on Wednesday morning.
“I loved the offensive line,” Moore said. “I liked how the offensive and defensive lines really get after it in the 1-on-1’s. The right tackle, number 75 looked good. He was killing it. He was destroying people.”
Number 75 is of course Munford. And that bodes very well for the Buckeyes as proven starter Isaiah Prince is expected to play left-tackle.
Easy to see why Meyer has "penciled in" Munford as the starting right tackle. If Prince and Munford are solid, it's just a matter of locking down the center and right guard, where Branden Bowen should return from injury.
MUST GET STRONGER. When Urban Meyer arrived at Ohio State, he first hired Mickey Marotti as his strength coach, because Meyer is a smart man who understands football.
Jim Harbaugh also tapped a long-time comrade. Unfortunately for Wolverine fans, he was not as talented as Marotti—as witnessed by his sculptures crumbling in the second half the last two Games.
To rectify this, Harbaugh turned to... the guy that helped mold Bert's Akransas team into 7th place in the SEC!?
From freep.com:
Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh first alluded to a change in direction with the football strength staff in late November, after the Wolverines' loss to Ohio State. In his post-game news conference, Harbaugh mentioned three separate times the need for his team to get stronger.
Then he acted on it in December, informing Kevin Tolbert -- a long-time confidant who had been with him all three seasons at Michigan -- that his contract would not be renewed. Harbaugh followed up by hiring Herbert, the former strength and conditioning coordinator under Bret Bielema, who had lost his job at Arkansas when Bielema was fired.
...
And Gary, the all-Big Ten defensive end himself, says he's been able to put on weight. He's up eight pounds, to 288, and feeling good.
"That's the biggest I've been in a while," Gary said. "And I feel good, fast and explosive. He's putting on weight, making people fast, explosive, stronger.
"That's the biggest I've been in awhile, and I feel good and explosive" is exactly what I deluded myself into thinking yesterday when I stepped off the scale at 207 pounds after a week of eating cajun food and drinking exactly two beers.
I won't believe in Michigan's strength program until they can finish a game late in November—or any game in November for that matter.
Even if Harbaugh made the right hire, their best case is six years behind mad genius Marotti, and their coach can't recruit like Meyer.
I look forward to Harbaugh throwing his assistants under the bus when he loses for a fourth time this fall. Will be like watching somebody whose house is on fire call a plumber.
Is the problem a plumbing system installed in the 18th century or the 54-year-old landlord addicted to shoving sporks into electrical outlets? For a Wolverine fans, it's hard to tell...
ONE LAST CHANCE FOR MARCUS. Remember the 1968 Orange Bowl when Jamal Marcus replaced a suspended Noah Spence, balled out, and we all thought "Damn, those two will be monsters together next year?" Fun times indeed.
Marcus washed out of Ohio State like Spence. Unlike Spence, he hasn't found a home in the NFL yet after injury torpedoed his flier with the Cleveland Browns last year. He's taking another swing this spring.
From landgrantholyland.com:
There’s been a surge of second-chance opportunities for professional football players, and the latest sensation is The Spring League. Starting yesterday, March 28, the two-week camp is a way for potential NFL-talent to get in front of scouts and better develop their skills. All eyes are on the biggest name at this year’s event, Johnny Manziel, but the North Team will feature one former Ohio State player, Jamal Marcus.
I'm always rooting for those guys chasing the last threads of their boyhood dreams. Unless that player embezzled millions of dollars from my favorite pro football team and then played victim.
In which case, I hope that player makes an abrupt shift into obscurity.
SO IT BEGINS. Darius Bazley committed to Ohio State for like two weeks before switching to Syracuse. Thankfully, we won't have to watch a rare talent play zone defense under curmudgeon Jim Boeheim.
Bazley is the first top basketball prospect to sign with the NBA's minor league system.
From yahoo.com:
ATLANTA — McDonald’s All American and Syracuse commit Darius Bazley — a projected top-10 selection in the 2019 NBA draft — has decided to turn professional and plans to sign in the NBA G League, Bazley told Yahoo Sports.
Bazley, 17, told Yahoo Sports he has decommitted from Syracuse and will play in the G League after discussing several options with his mother, Lynnita Bazley, close family members and Princeton (Cincinnati) High School coach Steve Wright. Several players have set a trend of leaving collegiate commitments to play overseas, but Bazley’s decision to bypass the one-and-done format for the G League is unprecedented.
...
NBA executives believe he can be one of the best players in the 2019 draft. At 6-foot-9, Bazley has the potential to be a dynamic playmaker, ball-handler in the open floor and defensive force. Bazley turns 18 in June and will then be eligible to formally sign a G League contract in September and enter the league’s annual draft in October.
If Bazley succeeds, he could open the floodgates of other top players and radically alter college basketball in a way that hasn't been seen since the institution of the (shambolic) one-and-done rule.
THOSE WMDs. My Beautiful Despair: The Philosophy of Kim Kierkegaardashian... Life as an air traffic controller at LaGuardia... How a young woman lost her identity... The marketing of the Ed Oliver Heisman Trophy case... Supposably vs. Supposedly.... Why are diapers so expensive?
