My new hustle spot in Columbus: Deli Boys on the west side of High Street between Long and Spring.
Also, after reflecting on The Avengers: Infinity War for 24 hours, I am confident Thanos was the protagonist of the film while the most powerful character is Scarlet Witch.
ICYMI:
- Ramzy took on the Superfan Industrial Complex™.
- Texan 'croots should contribute in 2018 and beyond.
- Former tight end Jeff Ellis passed away at 50 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.
- 48 players on the 2014 national championship team earned a shot at the NFL, with five more to possibly come.
Word of the Day: Frog-march.
GET DUMPED THEN, PENN STATE. The toughest game on the 2018 schedule is the Sept. 29th trip to Happy Valley, a den of dark arts.
For Penn State fans, it will be the priciest ticket in Beaver Stadium history.
From yorkdispatch.com:
Penn State’s priciest ticket for its September game against Ohio State will cost $225, the most expensive football seat in Beaver Stadium history.
Penn State on Tuesday announced pricing for public single-game football tickets, with the Saturday, Sept. 29, game against the Buckeyes topping the list. Prices range from $110 to $225, with the best seats commanding the highest cost since Penn State switched to a variable-pricing model in 2014.
The model sets ticket prices based on per-game demand. Penn State’s pricing does not reflect the secondary market, where Penn State-Ohio State tickets will cost even more in September.
All the more reason for PSU to stop being bush league and making the visiting team do walk-ins in a Ramada parking lot. They couldn't line their pockets with an intrasquad scrimmage.
Hopefully this money grab has a similar soothing effect on Beaver Stadium as the one at Ohio Stadium did. I hope 80,000 wealthy octogenarians attend the game and yell at younger, more intoxicated Nittany Lions fans to sit down during a key third-down plays because they can't see the action.
MAROTTI'S INTEGRITY ON THE LINE. The NFL loves Ohio State because it produces talented football players. This much is known.
It also loves Ohio State because its scouts can depend on Urban Meyer and his strength sensei Mickey Marotti keeping it real with them while inquiring about players.
From yahoo.com:
The information comes primarily from Marotti, who has trained enough NFL players that he and Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer have combined to see their football alumni account for more than $700 million in NFL salaries.
He’s trained everyone from Tim Tebow to Aaron Hernandez to the record-setting 10 Buckeyes taken in the first three rounds of the 2016 draft. When scouts like Brockington crowd into his office during visits, Marotti prides himself as a truth-teller. Just saying someone is a “great kid” wastes both his time and the scouts. He has a list ready with draft-eligible Buckeyes and the seven underclassmen players who could declare that he said the NFL has deemed OK to talk about as potential draft picks.
“My integrity is on the line,” Marotti says. “I say a lot. I tell them the truth. If you are a good worker, I say you are a good worker. If you are not a good worker, I say you aren’t a good worker. The players know, it’s transparent.”
Hell, Meyer and Marotti don't need to lie to inflate their NFL draft numbers. It's also quite the incentive to slacking players knowing even coaches won't cover for them.
That article, which profiled Miami Dolphins scout Rob Brockington visiting Buckeye practice, is part of a behind-the-scenes deep dive into the Dolphins' scouting operation.
It also includes this gem:
He also closely studies linemen’s calves: “I’m a big calf guy too. I like certain positions to have some kind [of] calves. If you are a lineman and you have straight calves … ” He pauses to show his disgust: “Come on!”
Same with blogging. And don't give me this, "Calfs are genetic!" nonsense and get in the gym and do some damn squats!!!!!!
LOOK LIKE A PRO. The new uniform standards, which the NCAA approved last year, come into effect this year:
New #NCAA uniform rules
— College Sports Design (@CFB_Design) April 30, 2018
Entire knee must be covered
Stomach may not be exposed
Back plate may not be exposed
T shirt may not protrude below jersey@NCAAFootball pic.twitter.com/IzLQpL70Vr
It's amazing to me that anybody cares about these kind of things. I also dress like I'm homeless.
Here's one Texas DB's thoughts on the new look:
A DB go out there looking like that, Automatic CHECK fade ball https://t.co/3dNO0ku5sg
— James "PJ" Locke III (@PjLocke4) May 2, 2018
ONE MICHIGAN MAN =/= CHIP. The NCAA granted Shea Patterson immediate eligibility, which even in my Scarlet and Gray heart I know to be the correct decision.
However, hope is a helluva drug for a downtrodden people. And they don't get much more downtrodden than Michigan fans, who have used this transfer to bestow national championship expectations on a team we're not even sure can block or run consistently.
From freep.com:
That level of winning hasn't happened yet and Harbaugh has to wear it. He's doing it right now, without excuse, trying all he can to get to the spot these fans want the program at. He added another piece under center, a valuable one.
But, he knows it's not a cure-all. Michigan was not one player away from a championship in 2017, despite what some may tell you with crystal clear hindsight. Michigan was many plays and players away from a championship. It looked like an 8-5 team, played like an 8-5 team and was an 8-5 team.
Progress was made this spring. But understanding where this started puts a lot in perspective about how much work needed to be done and how much is left in front of what is a young offense.
A calm, rational take that every Michigan fan should read 10 times before Notre Dame smokes their team.
SPEAKING OF SMOKNG. Imagine being on an all-expenses paid trip to Paris and yet you still couldn't resist taking a potshot at the people that allow such luxuries to happen in the first place.
That's what happened to Michigan's director of recruiting in a tweet he let stand for at least four hours before deleting.
From Tony Gerdeman of The Ozone:
They went 8-5 last year! 8-5! It'd be different if they was already an assembly line of talent to the NFL. There just isn't. For comparison, look what Meyer recruited in three years.
That's the gap between the programs, and it warms my heart that those in charge north of the border still haven't grasped it. We'll see how those Yelp reviews look in November.
THOSE WMDs. Hobby Lobby's smuggled artifacts will return to Iraq... The spy who came home... The high school impostor... Officer in distress.... Video: Brazilian surfer sets world record.
