Well, given Coach Meyer’s perspective for this season, the soundtrack for today should be pretty obvious. There’s the awesome option, and the Ah!Sum! possibility. Happy Thursday, Buck-aroos!
Heart you, Dee Dee McCall
Buckeye 411
- Health Update- According to Coach Meyer, CJ Barnett will be back in action this week against SDSU, and Corey Lindsley will see more time; although the staff will continue to be cautious with his recovery.
- Back On The Attack? Although he had a good practice today, Bradley Roby has not yet been bumped up to the starter at corner this weekend. Rod Smith, curiously left off the depth chart released on Tuesday, finds himself on several special teams this weekend, which is a pretty good sign.
- Isn’t That Special- A lot has been made of Ohio State’s practice of having players earn playing time by being a part of Coach Coombs’ charges for a time. If you want to play, prove that you’ve got the heart and passion… I like it, and am hopeful Bri’onte Dunn (who seems to have been singled out this week) will rise to the challenge.
- Hybrid No More? Coach Meyer mentioned that Dontre Wilson is more of a receiver at this point than a running back.
- Getting Defensive- San Diego State runs a 3-3-5 Stack Defense, which is a bit different than what the Buckeyes have seen in the past. However, several players mentioned that Buffalo chose a similar look on Saturday, so they feel more prepared. That being said, don’t be surprised to see quite a bit of unorthodox pressure coming from the Aztecs.
- The Chase- While Ohio State dropped in the AP poll to #3 (I guess beating an FCS school is a good idea, huh NikeU?), they stayed at the #2 slot in the Coaches’ poll. Oh, and they’re #1 on the Facebook poll… which reminds me; can we be friends?
- Recovery Is More Than Merely Physical- The Cleveland Plain Dealer had a great article about Buckeye verbal Kyle Berger and his recovery from an ACL injury during the early part of his senior season.
- Special Moments- You’re a young Buckeye fan, and you get to meet your hero; the QB for the Scarlet and Gray. Nothing makes the moment as special as getting an autograph on a card with a ton of NCAA CYA jargon all over it. Given the organization’s penchant for taking the joy out of the sport, should this decision by the University be a surprise to anyone?
- Vested Interest- Jim Tressel is teaching a class and so forth, and this is a pretty good summary of the first session. Additionally, The Vest was asked about some of the current goings-on in sports, including Johnny Football and Terrelle Pryor. As for the latter, he commented that
I thought the situation he went to was a good one, thinking that (former Oakland QB Carson Palmer) wouldn’t be there forever. I didn’t know he’d be gone in two years. I remember saying to Terrelle when they brought Matt Flynn in, ‘Here’s your chance to compete and see how you can do,’ and I’m sure the competition will be ongoing and so forth.
- As For Pryor? This is pretty telling about his level of maturity these days, or at least his ability to reflect “coach speak” that he learned from Tressel,
All I can do is speak for myself. I broke rules, and I paid for it. I don’t know if Manziel did or not – that’s not my business. But at the end of the day, I broke a rule, I learned from it, and I now understand that I can’t do that type of stuff.
When I was young … I made those mistakes when I was 18. I took it as a man, and I’m moving on. … I was greedy, taking money. I learned quite a bit about not being selfish in those terms. I was young when I made that mistake, and if I could have it back, I’d go a different route and make better decisions. It was a poor choice when I made it, but all I can speak on is myself. It was just setting forth that in terms of the NCAA, you have to do everything right.
This Week In Silverman
Ohio State’s “graphics guy” finally got some well deserved attention, first from the hometown folks and then at a national level. So, in honor- here’s this weeks triple threat of amazing designs:
Buckeye Hoops Scoops
- New Digs- If you haven’t checked it out already, take a look at the new Ohio State facilities for men’s and women’s basketball. Man, that’s nice… but it certainly seems like a lot of cash.
- Worth Every Penny- Calcium Swoon.
- Speaking Of Which- LeBron gets a locker in the new facility, but we can’t get Dennis Hopson’s number retired? C’mon, man.
- Sullied Name- Former Buckeye Jared Sullinger was in the news earlier this week after a domestic dispute required police involvement.
Banding Together
It should be no surprise to regular readers of tBBC that we’re big fans of TBDBITL hereabouts- we gave you the full halftime show on Monday, here’s how The Pride Of The Buckeyes began their season:
Commentary: BRAAAAINS
Sorry, no Walking Dead updates for you.
With last week’s announcement that the NFLPA and the League had reached a settlement in the concussions lawsuit, you knew that today’s news would be following shortly thereafter. Several former NCAA athletes are now suing the Association in a similar action; holding that their Universities did not do enough to educate them on potential risks or to provide access to research that would adapt the impact of the game.
The lead attorney for these former athletes is the same council as the current suit brought by Ed O’Bannon against the NCAA, which seeks to force the Association to compensate student athletes for using their likeness in video games and other media and publicity.
It should be noted that the two concussion related actions are unfortunately at odds with each other. One of the aspects of the NFL’s agreement is the sealing of all of the documents and research regarding the League’s knowledge of and research into this matter; which, one might expect, is pretty damning. Nonetheless, the persons bringing the NCAA suit could certainly benefit from some of this information, particularly as they attempt to show that there should have been awareness of the issue for quite some time.
Grantland’s Charles Pierce comments in an article posted Wednesday:
In a just world, this would end with the release of compiled internal documents about medical negligence, and the NFL’s complicity in it. In a just world, the full extent of the NFL’s contempt for the safety and well-being of its primary employees would be vivid, for all to see.
This would not be a just result simply on its merits. It also would be a great step forward for public health policy. School districts around the country, and the taxpayers that support them, have a moral right to the information the NFL might have concerning the medical aspects of the game, and to assess the risks to the students in their charge. Colleges have a moral right to that information for the same reasons. Every single athlete who chooses to play football has a moral right to that information in order to give his informed consent to the risks he chooses to run. The important thing, always, is to know.
This is why, for all its legal merits and for all its practical benefits to many of the plaintiffs and their families, the settlement of the concussion lawsuit is a national tragedy and a moral failure
The announcement today could not have come at a worse time for the NCAA, as it occurred simultaneous to an article in the Chronicle for Higher Education regarding the pressure that Athletic Trainers feel to fast track student athletes back onto the field. Of the 120 largest programs assessed, 101 personnel responded with 42 saying that “they had felt pressure from football coaches to return an athlete to the field even after he suffered a concussion.”
In the words of Brady Hoke, “Not… not good”.
Several quick thoughts- First, I’ve talked before regarding the fact that football as we know it will probably cease to exist in 10-15 years without some major changes. And, given that many young adults are playing in 7-v-7 “passing leagues”, don’t be surprised if this isn’t the future of the sport.
Second, I’m not sure what these suits ultimate goal will be… at some point, there’s going to be no money for anyone, if the Association loses it’s marketing dollars on top of needing to pay restitution to the thousands upon thousands of college athletes who may find themselves eligible pending the courts’ decisions. Don’t be surprised to see the next wave of legal action, if this first one is successful, target the institutions themselves- many of whom, as you should be well aware, cannot balance their budgets without support from the University’s general funds and state dollars.
Third, this may be yet another straw that pushes the D4 model, even to the point where the NFL has to assume liability for the “minor league” system that they’ve enjoyed for these many years.
At any rate, this will be interesting and perhaps difficult to watch develop.
Around The NCAA
- If Only- A) This were real and B) It was in Ann Arbor on Saturday
- Isn’t That Adorable- Some people think that… get this… you can reform the NCAA. And that University Presidents are a part of the solution! Hilarious!
- Oh, Great- Now we get to hear from all of the “Paterno Apologists” again.
- Things You Can’t Unsee, SEC Edition- From A&M’s Cuppycup:
- NCAA Investigates The Bluegrass State? Rumors and innuendos, but still.
- NCAA Investigates Texas A&M- Whoops. West Texas A&M. Silly me…
- Speaking Of Aggies- This may be the best summary/gif of the Rice game that I’ve seen:
- Oh, You Fancy- UCLA decided to turn into Black Bears against the Huskies later this season. My favorite (sarcasm) adidas decision? The palms on the palms. So, of course Nike and UW will counter….
- I Heart Stanford- We’ve discussed this before, but the team in Palo Alto is my favorite PAC12 squadron… it will be interesting to see what happens if OSU, Stanford, Clemson, and Alabama finish undefeated this year. That aside, this TED Talk from Coach Shaw is really impressive; particularly the idea that they want to challenge the rest of the teams in the country to not settle and to prove that you can excel in athletics AND academics.
And Finally
From the “show us what you did during your summer vacation” department:
