It's Monday and I'm terribly sorry about that. But we'll get through it together!
Word of the Day: Mellifluous.
WHAT'S A "DOWN YEAR?" Everybody has down years. Ohio State just has way fewer than anybody else, and it ain't even really that close.
Ohio State has been the greatest model of consistency in the past half-century of college football.#ohiostatefootball #collegefootball pic.twitter.com/8YWt5vNcok
— The OHIO Podcast (@TheOHIOPod) June 16, 2022
And one of those losing seasons came under an interim head coach with a solid chunk of the team suspended for multiple games and looming sanctions with a true freshman quarterback who threw for less than 100 yards in a game more often than not.
And even that year was sandwiched right in between an undefeated season and a season that ended in a BCS Bowl win, each led by a different Hall of Fame head coach.
We don't really do rebuilding years around these parts.
BIA, TOO. Speaking of "we don't really do rebuilding years," Ohio State just had two receivers drafted in the first half of the first round and there's an extremely solid chance the passing game is even better this season.
But don't take my word for it.
Garrett Wilson with high praises for Ohio State receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka as well as for the wide receiver room as a whole.
— Luca Sartirana (@SartiranaLuca) June 17, 2022
@thepivot pic.twitter.com/P5IzmrFiKw
And he's talking up those two guys without even mentioning that a dude who already might be the best receiver in program history is back for another season.
Can Ohio State sustain this kind of success at the position? Check back at 1 p.m. to find out!
STANDING IN THE GAP. Tony Alford has three biological sons, but he's been a father figure to far more young men than that.
J.K. Dobbins was 15 when his father died. It wasn’t long after that Alford began recruiting the Texas running back.
“My circle, the people that I’m hanging around, I always wanted them to be like family,” Dobbins said. “But I didn’t go into college expecting to have that. Because in high school, you hear about how coaches change whenever you get to college and things like that. But Coach Alford never changed, and that’s why we are where we are now.”
...
He’s now entering his third season in the NFL with the Baltimore Ravens. And Dobbins and Alford talk at least every week.
“It’s like father-son almost. He’s good at talking about life, and he’s good at giving his perspective on things,” Dobbins said. “It’s a real, genuine relationship. It’s not conditional love. It’s unconditional.”
...
“That’s a crucial time to have a father in your life,” J.K. said. “So when you have a guy like Coach Alford that you’re with more than your own family, because I was in Ohio from Texas, so I didn’t get to see my family for months sometimes, so that’s where that comes in. He’s right, God puts people in your life for a reason. And that was to help me.”
And that's nowhere near the only example of Alford serving as a father figure for someone who no longer has one, and something tells me there will be more down the line.
Because from everything I know and have experienced about Tony Alford, it's that this sort of thing is just in his DNA – he's just a good dad, to whoever needs one. And the older I get, the more I realized that there might not be a better compliment you could give someone.
If you want to read more about Alford and his willingness to be a father to more than just those he's fathered (you do), please read the rest of Doug's story. It's extremely good, important, and gives you all the feels.
OOPS! The good news: Tyvis Powell made SportsCenter!
The bad news: it was the bad kind of making SportsCenter.
My golfing incident was that bad that it made Not Top Ten. @SportsCenter see now I have to make a comeback. #ComebackSZN
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) June 17, 2022
In case you missed it...
Warning DONT TRY THIS AT HOME! Watch at your own risk lol @nationwidekids #WoodyHayesCelebrityClassic https://t.co/Kt8gnu40jF pic.twitter.com/ou1iQZ4RT0
— Tyvis Powell (@1Tyvis) June 13, 2022
Someone needs to give him that man a web redemption.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Malibu Nights" by LANY.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Unopened wine bottles are still on board a royal ship 340 years after it sank... Gen Z would rather be anonymous online... A distillery turns invasive green crabs into whiskey... In a pinch, you may be able to breathe through your butt... How eBay turned the internet into a marketplace... My life as a stand-in dad... How Louis Theroux became a ‘Jiggle Jiggle’ sensation at age 52...
