The leadoff hitter sets the tone for the rest of the lineup. A strikeout means that the odds of anything notable happening that inning are significantly lower than if he gets on base.
Kevin is in the Sunshine State this week visiting Mickey and friends, so Eleven Warriors has picked up some writers off the street found some very capable substitutes to fill his role.
Why am I the leadoff hitter? Because it worked out for the schedule. Hopefully I don't strike out.
On the bright side, I expect every Skully this week to be published on time. The bad news: still no footnotes, at least not yet........
Word of the day: Bombastic.
SURVEY SAYS: THE PREDATOR. In the last two years, Chase Young has done the following things:
- College: Won the Big Ten Player of the Year, Unanimous All-American, Nagurski Trophy Winner, Bendarik Award Winner, earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Decade team
- NFL: Drafted No. 2 overall, made Pro Bowl, won Defensive Rookie of the Year
- Off the field: Appeared on Family Feud
Survey says: Defensive Rookie of the Year!@youngchase907 x @IAmSteveHarvey pic.twitter.com/KbCmWYrhHr
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) March 28, 2021
According to the astute eye of Dan "Ramblin' Man" Hope, it appears that Young's opponents on the celebrity version of the show are current and former NFL players.
I'm not sure which of those accomplishments is his favorite, but being on the second-best game show on television (Price is Right all the way) has to be a memorable experience for the big fella.
THAD MATTA STATUS: BACK. It was reported earlier last week that Thad Matta was a frontrunner for the Indiana job before failing a physical examination. While Indiana sources were split on whether or not it was true (as they were for most of this coaching search), Matta will indeed be involved with the new regime at Assembly Hall, just not as the head coach.
IU is hiring former Butler and Ohio State coach Thad Matta as associate AD for men's basketball administration. Matta will assist an IU staff that will be led by new coach Mike Woodson.
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelStar) March 28, 2021
With his health issues, this seems like the perfect job for Matta. He won't have to recruit (for which the traveling can be brutal), he gets to have significant input on a staff which features a first-time college head coach, and he is back in the Big Ten (and coaching) for the first time since parting ways with Ohio State in the summer of 2017. There are no current Ohio State players who played for Matta.
There's just one problem with the new gig: he has to live in Bloomington instead of Florida.
ONE LONG JOHN AND ONE TRADITIONAL GYRO WITH NO TOMATOES. How many of you have enjoyed Buckeye Donuts between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.?
Despite two robberies in the last year and the hardships brought on by COVID-19, the establishment will enter its 51st year still strong, as Chloe McGowan from The Lantern writes:
After the first robbery, [Buckeye Donuts owner Jimmy] Barouxis said there was a small bump in business over the summer, which is expected whenever they're featured on the news. However, he said the second robbery brought in so much business that they were busy nonstop for three days."
"We had plenty of people coming out of the woodwork that we hadn't seen in years," Barouxis said. "A lot of alumni came to see how we were doing to make sure we were OK."
...
"The student body is very conscientious," Barouxis said. "Just the students coming here and being customers is all the support we needed, morally, financially, and spiritually. It really helped us. Thank you, and we love you."
It's good to see that there are still a few local mom-and-pops left on what has turned into a very.... corporate High Street. Here's to 51 more years, Buckeye Donuts.
JUST KEEP SWIMMING. It wasn't all bad for Ohio State sports participating in postseason championships in March.
After the men's team placed seventh, following the women's seventh place finish as well, it marked the first time in school history that both programs finished inside the top ten.
BIG BUCKEYE ACCOMPLISHMENT: For the first time, Ohio States mens and womens swimming and diving teams each finished inside of the Top 10 teams in the nation, both coming in 7th at their NCAA Championships. https://t.co/hk5Z4eShKX
— Whitney Harding (@WhitneyNBC4) March 28, 2021
According to my extremely in-depth and thorough research, there were five Big Ten programs amongst the final top 25 swimming teams. Texas and Cal were the only programs to also finish inside the top ten in both men's and women's.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Chasin Rhymes" by Joomanji.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Grooms complains he can't have Star Wars themed wedding... 91-year-old cop has no plans to retire... Bomb squad detonates civil war cannonball found in Maryland... These birds flock in swarms of thousands- but why is still a mystery...
