Yesterday, a wading pool taught me that my ground is far less level than I ever imagined. The joys of quarantine.
Song of the Day: "I Wanna Be Sedated" by The Ramones.
Word of the Day: Aggrandize.
HASKINS V. BURROW, PT. II. In November, Dwayne Haskins is going to duel with Joe Burrow for the first time since the 2018 spring game, and he's pretty stoked about the shootout, now and for the rest of their time in The League.
"I always thought Joe was going to have a good career at LSU," Haskins said on the Redskins Talk podcast Monday with NBC Sports Washington's JP Finlay. "I wished him the best of luck at Ohio State. And even his first year when he got there, he still played well."
...
The Bengals selected Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft on April 23. Last year, the Redskins selected Haskins at 15th overall. After he got his feet wet with 119 of 203 passes completed (58.6 percent) for 1,365 yards and seven touchdowns to seven interceptions, going 2-5 while starting 7 of 9 games, Haskins embraces potential matchups against Burrow and other quarterbacks that came up at the same time.
"Yeah, it's great," Haskins said. "Growing up, you always used to watch those showdowns with Peyton (Manning) and Tom (Brady), and going all the way back to that time and just the consistency that you saw every Sunday.
"And just now, you being in that new young group with the guys you mentioned, it's very exciting. Not only that, but it's also you know all of them. You've trained with them before. You've worked out with them.
"I mean, I even went to school with Joe for two years. So it's just crazy to think how far we all came since high school. Now we all get to compete against each other on the biggest stage. Looking forward to it."
And next year, you can add Justin Fields into that competition. Ohio State's about to go from no former quarterbacks starting in the NFL to almost 10 percent of the league's quarterbacks having Buckeye blood in three years.
And I've got a strong hunch Ryan Day ain't turning around.
MEYER AND HARBAUGH... AGREE? It ain't often Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer are on the same side of something football-related (particularly a win – looking at you, Jimmy), but when it comes to players having the opportunity to turn pro whenever they want, the two are in pretty much complete agreement.
This all stems from a shockingly thorough open letter Jimmy wrote while quite clearly bored off his ass while quarantined at home like everyone else– probably the most human thing he's done in years. The letter essentially says that college layers should be allowed to go pro whenever they want, and should be able to return to school if they aren't drafted.
And Meyer is all in.
"If they want to go pro, go pro."@CoachUrbanMeyer and @JoelKlatt respond to @CoachJim4UM's open letter to the NCAA concerning amateurism and address whether or not college football will return next season. pic.twitter.com/cW5T9rNTiS
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) May 12, 2020
The problem is, it's not really the NCAA you've gotta convince here, it's the NFL Players Association and the NFL teams. The players aren't going to want to lose jobs to a bunch of teens, and the coaches aren't going to want to give up what's essentially a free farm system for players still in development.
So while I sincerely appreciate the gesture and think it would be the correct way to do things, good luck convincing them to take that financial hit for moral high ground when the average person doesn't even know they're the ones causing the problem in the first place.
They'll just let people keep screaming at the NCAA for being unfair and enjoy the current system, and I can't say I blame them.
HAIL TO THE VICTORS. I neglected to mobilize the troops in yesterday's Skull Session, but I'm happy to report that it didn't matter – Ohio State won the digital board game championship.
The Final Standings
— Ohio State RISK Champions (@RiskOsu) May 12, 2020
1. Ohio State
2. Texas A&M
3. Michigan
Ohio State gained a record-shattering 572 players in ONE TURN. One week ago, we were in 5th place. Today, we claim victory! (in a giant arbitrary online board game)
Thank you all so, so much. https://t.co/fFxeuFHLAn pic.twitter.com/0ADBZnJ7Yc
Perhaps more importantly, Michigan lost a digital board game to their biggest rival that notoriously kicks their ass in everything, despite a massive resource advantage and commanding lead. And they're taking the loss exactly how they usually do – by blaming the refs and accusing Ohio State of cheating. I truly wish I were joking. There's even a second thread dedicated to it!
Needless to say, thank you to everyone who contributed. I'm happy to bring home the title in the online board game, but I'm even more delighted to steal even the slightest bit of joy from Michigan Men and put their rightful place – not even second, but third.
If you'd like to know how it was all done, my pal and former colleague Nick Jervey gave his victory address in the forums. TL;DR, Ohio State shattered records and dumped everyone, but mostly Michigan because Texas A&M was our friend and we're happy for them, as well.
CROSSOVER EPISODE! For all you Browns fans, I offer you a delightful piece of crossover #content featuring two of my current coworkers as well as two of my former coworkers – all of whom are better than I am at producing sports words.
EPISODE 23: ACTUAL FOOTBALL TALK
— FACTORY OF SADCAST (@FSadcast) May 11, 2020
@Jones answers #browns X&O questions
@djforohio talkin bout Nam
@CatulloMeats gifts beef jerky to our listeners
@ramzy & @EricSeger33 mock the Bengals
APPLE PODCASTS: https://t.co/ZNZ0ZU3Kfj
SPOTIFY: https://t.co/ZQ6novsRKi
Please note: I will not be held responsible for the things my estranged father says online.
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