Football's over and the Basketbucks got embarrassed, but I do have good news, especially if you're trying to waste company time at work on this fine Monday.
The men's tennis team is playing for a natty at 1 p.m. in Chicago. It's a rematch of last year's outdoor national championship match, which Wake Forest won over the Buckeyes.
Peep the men's tennis Twitter account for streaming info.
ICYMI
- Why Gene Smith left the CFP committee.
- Gene Smith is pleased with Urban Meyer's work in his new role.
- The Buckeyes finished with the fewest points since 2009.
- Ohio State is focusing on the trenches in the 2020 recruiting class.
- Jeff Hafley reportedly turned down the Bengals.
- Ohio State desperately needs consistent production out of Kaleb Wesson.
Word of the Day: Friable.
HASKINS OVERRATED? I hate starting a Monday with negatives cause Mondays suck enough just as plain ole Mondays, but I just couldn't wait to get to this heater of a #take.
NFL Draft Knower Matt Miller spoke to some scouts and compiled a list of the most overrated prospects in the NFL Draft and Dwayne Haskins of all people made the cut.
From Matt Miller of Bleacher Report:
Dwayne Haskins, QB, Ohio State
"He's probably QB1 in this class, but that doesn't mean he's a good quarterback. This is a bad draft for passers, but he's still going top five. It's just how the league works now." — AFC scouting director
"Haskins scares me, but he has the most traits to work with. Still, he's not [Jared] Goff or anything. He would have been QB4 in last year's class." — NFC area scout
"That doesn't mean he's a good quarterback."
Good lord what a bad take. The guy is straight up surgical with a clean pocket and was the most prolific passer in Big Ten History in one season as a starter. The only real knock on him is that he often runs like a newborn giraffe, but if you're drafting a NFL quarterback because of his legs that's on you anyway.
Also, QB4 in last year's class still went in the top 10 and was a first-year starter, so even if that's your worst case scenario...
ENOUGH HASKINS SLANDER. I think Dwayne Haskins' high school head coach would choke out either scout quoted above if he heard their slander of the future New York Giant (I'm a draft prognosticator now, didn't you hear?), because he has nothing but glowing things to say about his former quarterback.
From the New York Post:
“Great person,’’ Patrick Cilento, Haskins’ head coach at Bullis, told The Post. “Great young man, he really is.
“He’s everything you want a quarterback to be. Never in trouble, loves the game of football, always looking out to make people better. That kind of stuff. He spreads the ball around and wants everybody to be better.’’
...
“I don’t think he’ll have a problem with that, being a Jersey kid growing up, coming here, being in D.C. and then seeing him in Columbus,’’ Cilento said.
“I saw him make a comeback versus Penn State in front of 111,000. I was at the Michigan game where there was 107,000 and he destroys Michigan. He doesn’t get caught up in the drama, so to speak. The kid loves football, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to be successful.’’
The Giants have much to learn about Haskins and are deep into their film-study analysis. Not everything can be gleaned from these sessions in darkened rooms, though.
“Whether he was going to a brokerage house or he was going to a football team, Dwayne is a young man who has a lot of presence. He has great tenacity, he has great patience, he’s humble but he’s smart,’’ Boarman said. “He understands the environment he’s in, whether it be Bullis or Ohio State or New York. I think he’ll do very well, and I think the fans there, just like they did at Ohio State, will love him in every way.
If Haskins does end up in New York, I just got a new favorite Madden team. Haskins slinging it to Saquon Barkley, Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram...
They just gotta get my man an offensive line before Eli dips out.
URBAN DOING RETIREMENT RIGHT. Urban Meyer's been officially retired for about a month and a half and he's already hanging with Snoop Dogg at the Super Bowl, and having a retirement party at LIV Nightclub in Miami.
Let it be known. Urban Meyer went to LIV. #GOAT
— Darron Lee (@DLeeMG8) February 15, 2019
Im crineee https://t.co/aBk7VeM2Ti
— Dwayne Haskins, Jr (@dh_simba7) February 15, 2019
I was praying for video, and the Internet came through, as it always does.
Happy Retirement @OSUCoachMeyer
— James (@MiamiJamez) February 15, 2019
Thanks for allowing me to help you celebrate @spinnershells pic.twitter.com/dxsIYXag54
While he's down there, he should visit the folks at Miami Ink to get that elusive tattoo we were promised five years ago.
PROFIT OFF THEIR LIKENESS? I've always at least understood the arguments against athletes being paid by the universities, but what's always puzzled me is why anybody thinks athletes shouldn't be able to profit off of their likeness.
If Nike wants to sign you to a shoe deal when you're a freshman in college – or high school, for that matter – you shouldn't be barred from taking it any more than I should be kept from accepting an endorsement deal from Apple during my college blogging career (full disclosure: I was never offered an endorsement deal from Apple).
Two California lawmakers are thinking the same way.
Mike Mibach of KTVU.com:
Two California state senators have introduced a bill that seeks to level the playing field for college athletes by allowing them to sign sponsorship deals and receive other compensation, much like Olympic athletes are now allowed to do.
...
“For too long, college athletes have been exploited by a deeply unfair system. Universities and the NCAA make huge amounts of money from TV deals and corporate sponsorships of their teams,” Skinner said. “Athletic talent has value, and college athletes deserve to share in that value. The Fair Pay to Play Act allows athletes to finally be compensated for their hard work — work that generates billions of dollars for their schools, corporate sponsors and media networks.”
Bradford, who used to be an athlete and coach, said this is "more than a sports issue. This is a civil rights issue about basic fairness."
...
According to a 2012 study by the National College Players Association and the Drexel University Sports Management Program, the vast majority of full scholarship college athletes live at or below the poverty level in the United States.
Under the bill, collegiate athletes at California’s 24 public and private colleges and universities that participate in Division 1 sports would be eligible to be paid directly from a private or commercial source for their name, image, and likeness. SB 206 would also make it unlawful for any organization to restrict these rights to collegiate athletes, and it would be unlawful to revoke a scholarship because of payment for name, likeness, or image.
The NCAA is absolutely going to find a way to napalm this bill before it ever reaches a vote, but the business school graduate and capitalist inside of me thinks this is only common sense and I can't believe we've just been fine with the current system for so long.
AT LEAST WE DON'T HAVE THIS. I didn't think it could get much worse than last week's loss to Illinois, but then Fred Hoiberg's son – a walk on – scored more points on a single shot than the Buckeyes did the last 8 minutes of the game.
In the 18 year history of https://t.co/ZiEacV31gv, today's Ohio State offensive efficiency rating is its worst at 69.3. Fewest points for the #Buckeyes since they had 43 in a loss at Wisconsin on Dec. 31, 2009.
— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) February 17, 2019
It was extremely bad. Words cannot really express it, really.
But at least we don't have whatever the hell this is!
This is strange pic.twitter.com/Q9MJbOdLSk
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) February 17, 2019
First off, imagine okaying a creepy ass lifelike statue of yourself in your facilities (I'm also not ruling out that Izzo commissioned it himself).
Second, you're really going to go all out with the realism on Izzo then roll with the most generic cartoon characters of players on the bench? You're telling me you couldn't convince Draymond Green or Denzel Valentine to have a statue done?
Take your 18-point win and keep your life size murder dolls. We'll be back next year.
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