I came to the realization yesterday that gold is technically a very limited resource with just 187,200 metric tons existing on Earth.
At the rate Ohio State is handing out Gold Pants these days, they might outpace the possible supply one day.
ICYMI
- Up-and-comers to watch on Saturday.
- Ohio State gets some huge rings.
- Michigan is still recovering from the 62-39 massacre.
- Five Things: Spring game edition.
- Chase Young looks to continue his dominance.
Word of the Day: Jaunty.
SAME OLD DAY. Ryan Day might be the most important person in the Great State of Ohio these days, but he'll never forget his roots, and his roots will never forget him.
Dan Murphy of ESPN penned (typed) a fantastic story of how Day went from a high school athlete with a set of close friends in Manchester, New Hampshire to the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, without sacrificing those relationships.
My main takeaway from the piece is Ryan Day is competitive as hell and is good at everything he does, and he's been that way his entire life.
Day had an ingenious and creative football mind since college, where he worked along Chip Kelly to design a cutting-edge offense:
Day started for the next three seasons. He set passing records as a willing guinea pig in the infancy of an offense that would reshape college football. Day and (Chip) Kelly sequestered themselves in front of a chalkboard or in the film room for long nights. Day and his roommates kept a dry-erase board near the kitchen door of their off-campus house. (Day's friends) Statires and Dufour, who were off to school at Colby-Sawyer and Brown, respectively, were both regular weekend visitors to the house on Young Drive and remember the dry-erase board well.
In theory it was to leave messages for each other about missed phone calls or house chores. In practice, they often found Day standing alone in the kitchen scribbling down X's and O's with a tweak to the playbook or some odd new idea. (Day's friend and high school teammate) Mallette says he missed a lot of messages.
And he's always been able to balance the many important aspects of his social and family life, mastering multitasking without diminishing either task:
Fellow coaches marvel at his ability to stay in touch with his roots while dedicating so much time to his family, his profession and his colleagues. Jay Civetti, who worked with Day at Boston College, recalls calling his old friend to ask if they could talk through an upcoming job interview Civetti had to be the head coach at Tufts. Day said he'd be happy to help and suggested Civetti meet him in the gym of a different small college in Boston. Southern New Hampshire's basketball team was in town, and Day had only a couple of hours to watch his father-in-law's team before getting back to breaking down film. They chatted in the bleachers as Day kept tabs on the basketball game. Civetti got the job.
"I don't know what it is. He was always like that," Civetti says. "He could have 12 things going on at once and be great at all of them. No one ever says that Ryan Day doesn't do anything really, really well."
The whole piece is fantastic and makes me all the more sure Ohio State hired the right guy. Entering just his fourth month as Ohio State's head coach, Day seems quite a bit different than the stereotypical major college football coach, but in all the right ways.
DRESS THE PART. I've never given much thought to what a draft prospect would wear to a meeting with a team, probably because I'm never going to be a draft prospect, but I'm not sure I could confidently rock the jersey of the guy I'm going to meet with and expect to pull it off and have it work in my favor.
But Dwayne Haskins has never lacked confidence.
From Kalyn Kahler of SI.com:
Most prospects go the business casual route—it’s a job interview after all. A smaller number err on the formal side and wear a suit and tie or blazer and slacks. (I’m told that, when Temple CB Rock Ya-Sin showed up in a suit for his visit in Pittsburgh, the only one to do so among the team’s visits, the Steelers noticed.) Others dress extremely casual, with a trendy tracksuit and sneakers.
Haskins took a different tack in Denver. The 21-year-old decided to have some fun with his outfit and, according to multiple sources, wore a throwback No. 7 John Elway jersey to his interview.
...
Wearing a jersey on a team visit is definitely out of the ordinary, and a bit of a fashion risk. I spoke to one longtime NFL agent who says his rules for dress on team visits: No jerseys (not formal enough and tacky) and no suits (too formal).
But Haskins’s boldness seems to have paid off, as multiple sources said Broncos personnel—and, according to a source who was there, Elway himself—saw the humor in it and appreciated the gesture.
I feel like this is one of those things that was either going to go over very well or crash and burn with extreme awkwardness, and there was about a 50/50 chance of each outcome. Props to Dwayne for the boldness.
Here's hoping Haskins ends up in the Hall of Fame as well.
STOCK GOING UP, ON A THURSDAY. I'll never forget Damon Arnette's description of Kendall Sheffield when he arrived in Columbus: "He looks like an action figure."
And, I mean...
Here is Ohio State's junior college transfer Kendall Sheffield. He plays cornerback. pic.twitter.com/th5HaJFjhE
— Tim Shoemaker (@TimShoemaker) March 22, 2017
He probably didn't have the Buckeye career fan's were expecting (which isn't even much of a criticism when the standard is set at "become a first-round pick"), but nobody's ever really doubted his athleticism.
It sucked that he didn't get to put it on display at the combine after a pectoral injury, but he still got his chance to impress scouts ahead of the draft.
After partially tearing his pec at the Combine, #OSU CB Kendall Sheffield worked out and did drills for 27 teams today. He impressed during his on-field drills and posted these numbers in his workout:
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 11, 2019
39" vertical
10' 8 broad jump
4.09 short shuttle
6.79 3-cone drill
NFL Draft knower and Eleven Warriors Senior Reporter (peep that fancy title, y'all) Dan Hope tells me "those are great numbers," so it looks like Sheffield could have improved his stock after all.
As a poster of online content, I feel personally victimized that Sheffield does not appear to have run the 40-yard dash, because he was absolutely going to run something in the low 4.3 or high 4.2 range.
But Sheffield is probably fine letting his Ohio State 60m dash record speak for itself. Nobody's doubting his speed.
#BOOM WATCH. Today's the day four-star safety Lejond Cavazos could become a Buckeye. Again.
My mind is made up.... see yall Friday at 6pm.
— Lej (@lejondaryy) April 10, 2019
Cavazos, if you remember, decommitted from Ohio State when Urban Meyer announced his retirement, but has still kept the Buckeyes at the top of his list since then.
I'm not going to pretend to be a spokeshuman for every Ohio State fan, but I have to imagine Buckeye Nation will take him back with open arms if he chooses to recommit tonight.
A MAN OF HIS WORD. In my line of very serious work, if you make a promise online you are absolutely bound and obligated to follow through with said promise. Failure to do so is punishable by death, as is the blogger code.
That's why I had no doubts my good pal Sam Blazer was going to put needle to ass when the Jackets pulled off their miraculous comeback on Wednesday night. But not everyone was so convinced, so Sam had to make it official.
From Sam Blazer of 1st Ohio Battery:
At the time, I thought nothing of it. The Blue Jackets are down by three, facing the NHL's best team. Like all of you, I figured we'd be moving on to Game 2 and my ass cheeks would remain an art-free space.
But then, the Blue Jackets started chipping away.
And they eventually took the lead and won the game, 4-3.
To answer your questions: yes, I am getting 1st Ohio Battery's logo tattooed on my ass. I have no idea which cheek, or if it will be a full-color tattoo. But I'm a man of my word and we're going through with this.
The Jackets have a chance to do the good things once again tonight and bring a 2-0 series lead back to Columbus against the best team in the NHL, and most importantly, make sure Sam's tattoo isn't in vain.
If you're a hockey lover, hockey liker, or even just a proud Ohioan, I implore you to follow the Jackets' run with our pals over at 1st Ohio Battery. You can follow them on Twitter as well. They're not all as stupid as Sam, I promise.
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