Ol' boy in the background of the header photo looking like a Michigan Man who just watched Curtis Samuel dagger the Wolverines in double overtime.
ICYMI:
- C.J. Barnett became a Columbus cop.
- What it would look like if Ohio State never lost again.
- Former basketballer Eli Brewster reportedly passed away.
- Have a tailgate recipe the world needs to know about? Submit it to the Official 11W Tailgate Cookbook. The author of the highest-voted recipe receives a $50 gift certificate to Eleven Warriors Dry Goods.
Word of the Day: Brobdingnagian.
DID SOMEBODY SAY PLAYOFFS? I'm envious of any fanbase the national media disrespects in the offseason. Some people get mad when their team gets slandered. Not me. Talk trash all the way until my preferred team lifts the trophy, please.
Unfortunately that doesn't happen in the Meyer Era. The experts are too wise to predict doom and gloom about the Buckeyes.
Here's CFB guru Phil Steele's prophecy for the 2018 season, via 247sports.com:
"(Ohio State's) 2016 squad had six seniors, 20 juniors and set a record having 10 players selected in the first three rounds of the 2016 draft. They were the least experienced team in the FBS, but went 11-1 and made the playoffs despite not winning their division. Last year, a more veteran team lost to Oklahoma by 15 points at home, by 31 to Iowa on the road and just missed the playoffs. They did win the Big Ten title and the Cotton Bowl.
"Ohio State road trips to TCU, Penn State and Michigan State, but are loaded with six units rate in my Top 10. Ohio State does goes from No. 34 on my experience chart to No. 97 this year. Last year Ohio State had a combined 1,053-478 yard edge in games against Penn State and Michigan State, so (it is) capable of winning those road games. I will call for them to get their third playoff berth in five years."
My body is ready for another playoff run because there's no way it could go worse than last time.
I'd volunteer to turn heel for the summer like past seasons, but I saw how y'all treated James for merely hypothesizing how a bad-break season would go for Ohio State. I'm choosing to stay on the sidelines this summer and continuing to pound this keg of koolaid. Buckeyes may not win a game by less than 50 this year.
RANKING NAMES. I love nicknames, sobriquets, nom de plumes, and monikers. In a perfect world, we'd eliminate university names and refer only to nicknames.
Which is the best? We know that answer. But it's always fun to read a foreigner's rankings.
From footballscoop.com:
| RANK | NICKNAME |
|---|---|
| 1 | RAZORBACKS |
| 2 | JAYHAWKS |
| 3 | CORNHUSKERS |
| 4 | VOLUNTEERS |
| 5 | FIGHTING IRISH |
| 6 | TAR HEELS |
| 7 | SUN DEVILS |
| 8 | SEMINOLES |
| 9 | BUCKEYES |
| 10 | LONGHORNS |
Razorbacks is bad ass, and it's a shame it's wasted on a destitute hill tribe scattered across the Ozarks. Jayhawks... meh. Cornhuskers sound like a serial killer club. Volunteers is sweet, though all they did was volunteer for an ass-whooping.
Don't even get me started on the Irish. They should be Divorced Dads Wearing Windbreakers and Drinking Alone at the End of the Bar. Tar Heels are tight.
Sun Devils should be higher. Seminoles should be lower. Buckeyes are objectively the best but I understand why they chased the dragon of objectivity and put them eight spots too low.
SWIFT SHOE INVASION. Professional noise-maker Taylor Swift will perform in the Horseshoe tonight as rumors swirl she'll invite Buck-I-Guy onto the stage after local tabloids caught them kissing during a date in Franklinton last night.
From nbc4i.com:
The production for Saturday’s Taylor Swift concert at Ohio Stadium includes 52 semi-trucks of staging and equipment, plus 30 trucks to transport the necessary steel for the show. Four cranes are being used to construct the towers and staging.
There are so many trucks, that some are being parked inside the Schottenstein Center due to limited space.
According to Columbus Arena Sports and Entertainment (CASE), Saturday’s concert is a bigger production than the Rolling Stones 2015 concert at Ohio Stadium and the Cirque Du Soleil Michael Jackson event that took place at the Schottenstein Center.
Say what you want about Swift and her penchant for dating international men of mystery. She's a walking industry, and only so many people can say that on Earth.
WEED RELAXTION. The NCAA, like America, is changing its views on a plant it once labeled "the Devil's Lettuce" and no longer throwing players in a gulag for indulging.
From cbssports.com:
That's also not an outrageous tolerance policy for college athletics these days. The NCAA and its member schools are increasingly breaking out marijuana testing from those involving sinister performance-enhancing drugs.
Some test for them separately. Some test for them less frequently. All of it reflects the fact pot is more socially acceptable than ever, and when it comes to sports, it definitely isn't performance-enhancing.
"I think in five years, [marijuana testing] is going to be gone," said Christian Dennie, a Fort Worth, Texas-based attorney who has helped negotiate, challenge and write drug policy at professional and amateur levels.
I wouldn't say it's definitely not performance enhancing. You know there are some soldiers of fortune out there with wild tales about their best performances while blazed out of their minds.
TONI COULD CATCH A BREAK. The Tarheels could get a boost for their 2018 campaign:
UNC believes they have presented a strong case to the NCAA for OSU transfer RB Antonio Williams to play immediately and are now awaiting a decision.
— Taylor Vippolis (@tvippolis) July 6, 2018
Physical, downhill, violent-type runner. His game compliments Michael Carter and Jordon Brown as a great change of pace. pic.twitter.com/V32hSP2Hyt
Do the right thing, NCAA. Watching Williams shake the ACC would be fun.
THOSE WMDs. The rise of the stressed-out urban camper... Jar-Jar Binks actor contemplated suicide after Star Wars prequal backlash... Everything about a good death I learned from my cat... Among the pyros at the world's largest fireworks shows... The essence of velocity.
