This is the last Saturday without Division I college football for quite some time. We've nearly made it. Keep pushing, and I'll keep posting.
ICYMI:
- Ryan Day provides fall camp updates, and some key takeaways from his statement.
- Ohio State announces the investigation into Urban Meyer will conclude on Sunday and a decision should be expected sometime next week.
- Weirdest stats from 2017.
- Outlook for the entire Big Ten in 2018.
- Previewing Ohio State's massive offensive line.
Word of the Day: Stupefy.
STUDENTS TALK MEYER SITUATION. I think something that's been lost in this whole situation surrounding Urban Meyer is that Meyer is the head coach of a college football team, and the core of a college is the students its educating.
Thus, somewhere near the center of this entire situation are roughly 65,000 students.
Pat Forde and Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports caught up with some of those students this week to discuss their thoughts on the matter. After all, it is their university.
From Sports.Yahoo.com:
“It’s kind of a mess,” said Christian Rivers, a junior from Pickerington, Ohio, as he walked through the Ohio State Student Union on Friday. “I don’t really know what to believe. If Urban knew [about Smith’s alleged abuse of his ex-wife, Courtney], he should be gone. I love Urban as a coach, but if he did wrong, he did wrong. Some people think this is about football, but it’s really about decent human morality.”
Although every student interviewed by Yahoo Sports acknowledged not having a full command of the case and all the facts, many of them were viewing the situation through more than just a football prism. They adored Meyer as a coach and enjoyed the benefits of his winning, but they don’t want him back if he enabled Smith.
“I think everyone is confused by what to think,” said Justin Levine, who’d just returned from his home outside New York City to what he called a “weird vibe” on campus. “You hope that he did nothing wrong, and you hope that he’s back on the field week one against Oregon State. But at the same time, if he was hiding something like that it’s inexcusable.”
I think those are all reasonable takes. Thankfully, the investigative committee was designed to eliminate that confusion. And it sounds like their job is almost done.
OFFICIALLY JUMPED THE SHARK. Guys this story gets more and more insane every day, and thanks to Brett McMurphy's latest... report(?), it's now gone extremely off the rails.
If you somehow missed it, McMurphy wrote nearly 1,000 words on Zach Smith ordering sex toys, taking nude pictures at work and the White House, and having sexual encounters with an Ohio State staffer.
Yes, that is really where we are in this story.
I have a collection of #takes on the matter, not all of which are publishable – I have standards – but here are some that made the cut:
- Reading between the lines, Brett McMurphy seems to be hinting that Urban Meyer should know that Zach Smith is ordering sex toys to his office, which is just a horrible, horrible reach. Is Meyer supposed to seize and search all packages as they come in to the WHAC? Commit a federal crime by opening a package addressed to somebody else? And even if he does, what is he supposed to do about it? Is ordering a Wildman T Ball Lifter, Red, size XL a fireable, or even punishable offense?
- Why is it a big deal that Zach Smith received those packages at the WHAC anyway? They were ordered through Amazon and presumably came in discrete, unidentifiable boxes, and were delivered at no cost to the university, the football team or the athletics department. Unless he's opening them up in front of people and giving them a test run, damn just let the dude live his private life. The only reason you would publish that is character assassination. Brett McMurphy is now effectively running PR for Courtney Smith.
- Why is Brett McMurphy even publishing any of this? What does the public gain from your reporting? I'll refer to Society of Professional Journalism's Code of Ethics: 1) Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness. 2) Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity, even if others do.
- While this was extremely unethical, low-brow tabloid bullshit and not journalism, Brett McMurphy is probably not going to be in any legal trouble for publishing this information, even if it turns out to be stolen, regardless of what Zach Smith's lawyer says. Unless McMurphy stole the information or hacked Zach Smith himself, he's in the clear. If you want precedent, read up on Bartnicki v. Vopper.
- All of that could be extremely true. Zach Smith could have had lots of sex in his office, he could have ordered a men’s spider enhancer thong triple c ring, and he could have taken dick pics at the White House – I honestly don't doubt any of that. But it's in no way relevant to the investigation into Urban Meyer, and probably isn't even relevant to the domestic violence allegations.
- I can't even imagine the College Gameday signs that will come out of this.
No matter how wild this story got, I never ever imagined I'd be blogging about Zach Smith's sex toys, yet here we are.
I'm going take a shower before I finish the rest of this Skully.
ACROSS THE SHIELD. Hi, let's talk about football now. A few Buckeyes were in preseason action last night for their respective NFL teams and they did some very good things at the sport which they play!
Here's a quick rundown of the highlights.
Carlos Hyde ruined a man using just one arm:
ELLLLLLL GUAPOpic.twitter.com/pi1qq537FD
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 17, 2018
J.T. Barrett scrambled and scored with his legs, as he's prone to do:
This looks familiar pic.twitter.com/8ZHBBe9VyI
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) August 18, 2018
Curtis Samuel caught a pass he really had no business catching:
Impressive body control from Curtis Samuel on this long catch pic.twitter.com/1XZd58Uk4C
— Josh Norris (@JoshNorris) August 18, 2018
The band got back together:
THE BUCKY BATTLE IS CRYING! Spencer Hall over at EveryDayShouldBeSaturday.com borrowed an idea from a viral Tweet to translate college fight songs into another language, translate them back into English, and enjoy the result.
Turns out, said results were extremely good and you should read them all. My personal favorite was "Boomer is shortly thereafter."
Anyway, I borrowed his borrowed concept, and ran The Buckeye Battle Cry through Google Translate, translating it from English to Hebrew and back again.
Here are the results:
Old Ohio has a crew,
It is known throughout the country
11 brave and bright warriors,
Glory you'll ever stand
And when the ball passes,
Our conversations will reach heaven,
Ohio Field will hear again
Unnamed: The Bucky battle is crying!
Drive, drive on the field,
Men of crimson and gray;
Do not let them go through this line,
We have to win this game today,
Come on Ohio!
Smash up to victory,
We encourage you as you go!
Our honor to defend and fought to the end For OHIO!
I will never sing it any other way.
NEW GREATEST NAME IN FOOTBALL. There are a lot of great nicknames in football, but I think I've just stumbled across the all-time best.
From TheAdvocate.com:
The freshman from Marshall, Texas, was wearing a new number on his white practice jersey.
After starting preseason practice two weeks ago with No. 52, he wore No. 57 Thursday at the suggestion of head athletic trainer Jack Marucci.
Hence, Chasen, instantly became Hines (sic) 57.
Give him the Heisman. Give it to him.
THOSE WMDs. Beads, booze and babies? New Orleans' French Quarter debates whether to become more family friendly... Texas Rangers turn rare triple play not seen in 106 years... Mysterious furry "sea monster" washes up on Russian shore... Teen hacks Apples "unhackable" servers... How the world is remembering Aretha Franklin...
