Another Saturday on the hellacious march through the offseason. Mother, please send supplies down to our subterranean fiefdom. Our Mountain Dew and Dorito rations run low.
ICYMI:
- A brief, incomplete history of flipping the bird at Ohio State.
- Dwayne Haskins embracing the spotlight of being the starting quarterback.
- 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: Weltschmerz.
B1G PREDICTION. The offseason is a place for bold predictions and spicy flavors. Is this Northwestern's year? No. But it's okay to say that online if you're willing to listen to angry men saying mean things about you on the internet.
One writer ranked the Big Ten on talent, and his prediction for the Big Ten championship won't shock you.
From Tony Gerdeman of theozone.net:
So, to the surprise of everyone I am sure, the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game is going to pit Wisconsin against Ohio State. What a twist!
And it wasn’t even all that close.
In the West, the Badgers came in with the best offense (QB, RB, REC, OL) and tied Northwestern for the best defense (DL, LB, DB). Having the best coach and the third-easiest schedule didn’t hurt matters for the Badgers.
Interestingly, or oddly, the Gophers came in with the No. 3 defense in the West and Purdue came in with the No. 2 offense.
I pay the obligatory respect to Wisconsin. They are as good as they are boring and will apparently be better than ever this year.
The reason I don't want to play them has nothing to do with that. Playing Wisconsin in Indianapolis is stale. Bring me the bones of P.J. Fleck, please!
And no, I won't be bitter if it's Wisconsin again unless Ohio State loses. We would get a rambling, monotone 15-minute victory speech from Paul Chryst that would put 60% of viewers into a coma. The economy can't afford that.
THAT TIME WOODY LISTENED. Telling people what to do is a helluva drug. A lot of bosses get to the point where they've been telling people what to do for so long they think they can't ever be wrong.
Great leaders, however, know when to take advice from subordinates. Such is what happened prior to the fabled 1968 championship season when freshman coach George Chaump had the gumption to point out the mundaneness of Hayes' offense.
From pennlive.com:
“I was in these meetings for about three days,” recalled Chaump. “Finally, I was at lunch with a bunch of the assistants and I said, ‘Is this the way Woody runs all of his meetings? Geez, we’re all treated like a bunch of elementary kids. Do we ever get a chance to ask questions?’”
…
Upon the staff returning from lunch, Hayes resumed diagramming fullback dive plays. Chaump could no longer remain still. He raised his hand, Hayes acknowledged him and he began: “Coach, is this going to be our offense this year?” Responded Hayes, “Well, unless you know something better.”
Chaump replied, “Well, I don’t know if I’ll go that far. But I have some ideas and I’d like to talk about it if we could.”
There began Chaump’s turn at the chalkboard. As Hayes commenced a slow boil, the young assistant drew up several concepts that seem elementary now: Forcing a double-team on the flank with hitch passes to the best athlete, White, to acquire a manpower advantage inside. Getting the dangerous sophomore athletes like quarterback Kern, receivers White and Bruce Jankowski and tailback Leo Hayden into space where they could stretch the defense sideline to sideline. (The sophomore class included 13 future 1971 NFL Draft choices.) But at the time, it was revolutionary stuff to someone like Hayes.
Hopefully the 2018 offense looks rejuvenated, otherwise we may need Chaump to stage a similar intervention.
For more on Chaump's influence, check out Jones' 2017 piece.
RUTGERS FEELING? "Rutgers feeling" seemed like an oxymoron at first because I have no feelings about Rutgers.
But credit to the Scarlet Knights, or more specifically head coach Chris Ash, for first spotting 2020 five-star offensive tackle Paris Johnson of Cincinnati St. Xavier. Unfortunately it ended with Johnson remembering him as the nice quaint girl he met at summer camp before returning to reality and settling down with his future wife.
From cleveland.com:
He looked for something he called "sparks in the back of his mind." Johnson felt them each time he visited Columbus, an estimated 20 times. Some were planned, others came at the spur of the moment to throw off the OSU staff and ensure nothing had been planned for his arrival.
…
His other trips provided a mixed bag of results, and he couldn't shake the feeling of peace he had last year when his football life involved only two teams, St. X and Rutgers.
"My focus was on St. X, and if it wasn't on St. X, I was communicating with Rutgers, one program," he said. "Turn around this season and it will be that with Ohio State. And that's so great because it's only two hours away. So whenever I get done with my community service, film and running on Saturdays after the game, I can go right up to The Shoe and watch all of the games. Any time I want to get up there for a visit, I can."
Credit to the coaching staff for keeping facilities "five-star ready." That's the standard to which recruiting has ascended under Meyer. Meanwhile, I struggle to keep socks off my bathroom floor.
JAMEL DEAN: STILL BALLING. Auburn cornerback Jamel Dean, a former Ohio State commit who rocked the Twitter handle @MR_Ohio[random numbers I don't remember], appeared at No. 10 on the annual CFB Freaks List.
From Bruce Feldman of The Athletic:
Ohio State had declared Dean medically ineligible in the spring of 2015 after he suffered multiple knee surgeries in high school. He transferred to Auburn, where the Tigers now have a super-fast corner with almost linebacker size who made 43 tackles in 2017 and made the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
This offseason, measuring in at 6-1, 215, Dean ran an electronically timed 4.3 40-yard dash. He also vertical jumped 38 inches and broad jumped 10-8. As fast as Dean is, he won’t be the fastest Tiger on the team. Auburn probably will have the fastest football player in the country in freshman wideout Anthony Schwartz, who finished second (10.22) in the 100 meters at the IAAF World U20 Championships this week in Tampere, Finland. The 6-0, 180-pounder from Fort Lauderdale has been clocked at 10.02 in the 100 and hopes to make the 2020 U.S. Olympic team.
Crazy to envision the athleticism the Buckeyes would have with Kendall Sheffield and Jamel Dean as the starting cornerbacks. Somehow I think they'll be okay regardless.
RELIVE THE ONE GOOD TEXAS GAME. If you're crippled with Buckeye football withdrawal, BTN has what you need Sunday night:
Sunday night, BTN will air a special replay of the 2006 Ohio StateTexas game, featuring commentary from James Laurinaitis, Ted Ginn, Malcolm Jenkins, Anthony Gonzalez and Colt McCoy. pic.twitter.com/STmkIq8yR9
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) July 13, 2018
I'll watch even though I'd trade that win for either of the two losses in that series.
THOSE WMDs. Fortnite is the Instagram of video games... The Knicks' new era is officially here... Comedy vs. Tragedy: The Legacy of Robin Williams... High school quarterback starting to suspect friendship with Nick Saban founded on ulterior motives... "Plazafication" of NYC.
