Happy Opening Day to all who observe, specifically those who celebrating at the legendary Bier Stube with their equally legendary Opening Day drink specials and dime dogs.
It's currently a gametime decision whether or not I will make an appearance, but I sure wouldn't rule out my attendance for the Reds game at 8 p.m.
In any case, if you're in the area, stop by and scarf a dog or seven and tell them I sent you (full disclosure: they do not know who I am, but that would probably make it even more hilarious).
Word of the Day: Daedal.
PLAYING SCHOOL. The new NIL rules have made college athletes decidedly less amateur and definitely took a little bit of emphasis away from the "student" part of the term "student-athlete."
But there is another a little-known recent rule change that actually does the complete opposite – it allows schools to directly reward players monetarily for their academic success.
For many athletes, the academic year was a revolutionary one for their bank accounts. Boosters and brands spent millions of dollars in the newly formed marketplace for athlete endorsement deals. And while schools quickly invested in helping their athletes find ways to sell their name, image and likeness to outside bidders, they have been generally slow to reach for their own wallets to take advantage of a new, less-publicized rule that allows the athletic department to reward athletes directly for strong performances in the classroom.
In response to a federal judge's mandate, the NCAA changed its rules in August 2020 to allow schools to pay each of their athletes up to $5,980 per year as a reward for academic performance. The oddly specific dollar amount was calculated during the legal proceedings because it is equal to the maximum amount of financial value an athlete can receive in one year from awards related to their athletic performance, such as conference player of the year titles or the Heisman Trophy. The U.S. Supreme Court solidified the federal judge's ruling with a 9-0 decision in the NCAA v. Alston case last June.
According to information gathered by ESPN in the past several months from public records requests and a voluntary survey, only 22 of the 130 FBS-level schools say they have plans in place to provide these academic bonus payments to their athletes this year. Twenty months after the initial rule change, and nine months after any doubt about its legal permanence was removed, more than one-third of FBS respondents say they have not yet decided whether they will provide these additional benefits to athletes.
Ohio State was not one of those 22 schools. In fact, out of all the prestigious Big Ten schools, only Wisconsin said it has plans to reward its student-athletes with good grades. Frankly, that's kind of bullshit and hypocritical.
You can't tout academic prestige and pretend that the classroom matters and then blatantly balk at your one chance to prove it with your pockets. This is your chance to make your athletes professional students in a world where every other rule change is trying to make them professional athletes.
Pony up and pay the kids.
“NOT JUST COVER 1, COVER 3, OR BASE COVERAGE.” Ohio State's defense is looking different enough in practice to the point that even the Buckeye players are taking notice – and they like what they see.
Here's the juicy from C.J. Stroud quote that's been getting a lot of attention (for good reason):
“They do a lot of different things,” Stroud said of going against OSU's defense in practice. “They have different ways to get to different coverages, which is really good for my eyes to see. Not just seeing Cover 1, Cover 3 or just base coverage every day. I really appreciate coach Knowles bringing that swagger to the defense, it's really going to help our offense.”
The implication here, of course, is that previously, he *was* just seeing Cover 1, Cover 3 or just base coverage every day.
But honestly, this isn't even the most hilarious thing that came out of interviews. The best was when Steele Chambers was straight-up asked if he thought last year's defense was too predictable. He paused for like three seconds before saying "... yeah."
Understandably, the players are going to want to tiptoe around it, but I wish they'd just embrace it. The defense was cheeks last year – you're allowed to admit it! Ohio State just axed 80 percent of its defensive staff and is paying a guy $2 million a year to fix the mess. Everyone knows what you think already. Just be candid! It's fine!
TO ALL MY HATERS... When Duane Washington Jr. elected to remain in the NBA Draft and go pro, there was a sizeable portion of the Ohio State fanbase that thought he'd be playing in Lithuania right now.
Turns out, he heard you.
To all my haters...
— Duane Washington Jr. (@dwizthekid4) April 6, 2022
its only the beginning #BoomBaby#GodSpeed https://t.co/AZrgGGJN6P
I can only pray that one day I get the opportunity to sincerely begin a Tweet with "To all my haters..."
For those missing the context here, Washington's contract was upgraded to a multi-year NBA contract yesterday, meaning he's officially made it in the NBA. So understandably, he's to a few "I told you so"'s to dish out.
Enjoy it, Duane. You earned it.
DUBBERS DOING GOOD. There are two things we love supporting around these parts – our Eleven Warriors community and mental health broadly. Today, I get to do both.
Yesterday, we got an email from Eleven Warriors user "IamJoeHall" (whose IRL name happens to be "Joe Hall") who is going on a cross-country walk for mental health and suicide prevention and is seeking our support.
We're glad to give it.
Here's what Joe had to say:
Hey guys,
I made a post in the "Anything Else" forum about my ever-approaching cross country walk for mental health awareness and suicide prevention (as well as raising funds for Children's Hospital in Dayton in honor of a friend's son who took his life two years ago) and someone mentioned trying to reach out to you all to see if you'd be willing or able to help spread the message in any way.
www.hallacrossthecountry.com is our website, this is going to be a completely unsupported (solo) walk across the country. There's an intro video on the site, and I just did a two hour interview for a friends podcast that should be up in the next few days as well.
If you guys can't or don't want to help, I get it. I am sure you get inundated with requests for random stuff a lot. But it never hurts to shoot the shot.
Thanks,
Joe Hall
"IamJoeHall"
As someone who got winded on my block-long commute to Hot Chicken Takeover yesterday afternoon, Joe has my utmost respect for this.
SONG OF THE DAY. "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Why beer bottles are usually brown glass... A woman who wrote an essay titled 'How to Murder Your Husband' is on trial for the murder of her husband... Research suggests mushrooms talk to each other with a vocabulary of about 50 words... An Ohio man goes on an all-beer diet again for Lent to lose weight and gain money for charity... The guitarist who saved hundreds of people on a sinking cruise liner...
