Lucky No. 7: The Buckeyes received their seventh commitment for 2009 on Tuesday.  Chris Fields, a 6'1", 180 lbs wide receiver from Harvey High School in Painesville, runs faster than you or me - 4.39 in the 40, to be exact.  It is not that I am disappointed, but I would really like to see a stud running back or the next great defensive tackle commit.  Still, the draw to play for Ohio State seems to be at an all time high.  Sure, early commitments is an increasing trend, but for a program that has been very selective, it appears the Buckeyes are getting some players they have initially targeted. 

Cut the halftime: The NCAA is at it again.  They want to shorten the length of games.  This time by changing up the play clock.  Call me Scrooge, but how about shortening halftime to the NFL length: 12 minutes?  College football and the NFL have been trending together for years (see next topic) and I do not see any reason why half time should be any different.  Hell, at NFL games you can buy beer, so there is a compelling reason to stand in the insufferable concession lines.  And, if you are not attending the game, watching Jon Saunders and crew bumble their way through meaningless first half highlights is a veritable punishment.  I know what you are thinking, "I love watching The Best Damn Band In The Land at the half."  Sure, but how many show tune medleys can you sit through?  Personally, I have seen them perform the Jon Williams Star Wars piece about 35 times.  They perform Script Ohio at the beginning of most games, anyway.  And, truth be told, most schools do not even have watchable bands.  I would rather watch those fast dogs catching Frisbees while jumping through flaming hoops for 10 minutes than sit through that nonsense.    I am probably in the minority here in central Ohio.  I get it.  I know I am in the majority around the rest of the college football landscape. 

Roy Williams back in college?: Despite having left Oklahoma a few years ago, Roy Williams is still having an effect on the college game.  (Deep breath Texas fans; Chris Simms is not involved this time.)  Rules are rules, and I usually do not feel compelled to talk at length about these types of modifications.  But, I think this rule change is overdue.  It does not change the flow of the game and attempts to prevent unnecessary injury.  On a side note, the NCAA is proposing to eliminate the incidental face mask penalty.  I like that rule and think it was typically enforced evenly.  Oh well, you cannot win 'em all. 

Gray Matters: What do Charlie Weis and Jim Tressel have in common?  Nothing, right?  Well, Yahoo Sports has come up with something and Ohio State fans may be a little nervous.  Yahoo Sports has been on a serious role recently as they ramp up their efforts to take on ESPN, breaking some key stories ahead of the "Worldwide Leader."  Far be it from me to take a serious position on this.  NCAA rules are too crazy to analyze (ham sandwich anyone?), so I will leave this one to the pros. 

The title of this cannot be more apropos in at least two ways. In any event, apologies for the recent lack of posts.

Thad Matta's squad shot 56% last night and barely won at home against Illinois (photos!). In fact, the Buckeyes were hovering around the 65% mark for much of the game until things came crashing down at about the 10 minute mark. The lead was as high as 15 points on a few occasions at which time Illinois started to chip away. It bottomed out when the lead shrunk to 3 and Illinois had the ball with a chance to tie. The Bucks got a stop and ended up padding the margin a bit by game's end. Disaster adverted.

David Lighty and Evan Turner led the way. Turner, in particular, is gaining confidence by the tanker load with each outing. His improved body control at the basket is quite impressive and it allows him to finish plays. Jamar Butler was again quiet because, for the third straight outing, the opposition is selling out to stop him. It's apparent this team will face obnoxiously long hedges at the top of the key to make Jamar work extra hard to get over the top. Our problem is we aren't yet exploiting this as well as we should.

If you were to grade Jim Tressel in 2007, what would you give? One such site has offered their grades for just about any coach in college ranks. Tressel is given a "B" and is admonished that he "can do better." Better in this case must mean win the National Championship which is a helluva measuring stick. What other coaches are held to that standard? Sure, we're all disappointed with the finish but keep in mind he took a team decimated offensively to the national title game for the second straight year. This happened in the face of multiple outlets projecting the Buckeyes to finish anywhere from 2nd to 5th...in the conference. Perspective.

The Terrelle Pryor sweepstake is starting to get ugly for reasons I'm still somewhat unclear. As far as I can tell there's a bunch of fuzzy dot connecting based on internet rumors, a Corvette, a guy named Ted Sarniak and a dinner he may or may not have attended which may or may not have also included Ohio State coaches. I'm not going to link the parties who are beating this drum on various sites but Eleven Warriors outlines and tackles a bit of the hypocrisy.

Essentially, it boils down to Ohio State must be cheating. The closer signing day comes the more the mud flies from those desperately in need of Pryor's services. And, once Pryor makes his final choice, just keep this handy, somewhat humorous tip sheet nearby for reference (HT: Sanibel Buck):

I just want to make sure I've got this straight. If Pryor commits to OSU, it's because the coaching staff paid huge sums of money to some guy in PA that makes glass and also gave TP a Corvette.

If he signs with Oregon, it's because the coaching staff paid huge sums of money to some guy in PA that makes glass and also gave TP a Corvette.

If he signs with LSU, it's because the coaching staff paid huge sums of money to some guy in PA that makes glass and also gave TP a Corvette.

If he signs with scUM, it's because it was the better fit for him and because of the awesome tradition in Ann Arbor.

Sounds about right but I'll let you be the judge.
PS: Yea, the Live Wire in the right sidebar is back functioning again, I think. Fingers crossed.

Tuesday represents the deadline for loads of college players to officially enter the NFL draft. James Laurinaitis is one of them as he contemplates returning to Ohio State for his senior season or making the jump to the league. By many accounts, Laurinaitis is a first round lock and even a Top 15 pick according to some mock drafts. I'm not sure I agree but that's an entirely different argument.

While James is still undecided, other Ohio State players have made up their mind. The only defection to date is Vernon Gholston who announced his intention to enter the draft a few days back. Gholston capped off a great junior year by setting the single season sack record. On the same day he announced, corner Malcolm Jenkins picked the opposite path shocking many as it was given he would leave early as well.

Jenkins' quick choice may have helped spur others to comeback. Marcus Freeman made it official today he's coming back. So did Alex Boone which may be the biggest of all considering we have absolutely no talent behind him at left tackle. All of the players coming back would have been first day picks and some may have jumped into the late first and middle second round. Only Laurinaitis has yet to make his decision final.

Recruiting: Ohio State has received a commitment from another Glenville HS player. Fullback Jermil Martin received an 11th hour offer from Jim Tressel and immediately backed out of his verbal commitment to Iowa. This commitment has Buckeye fans talking because it's bizarre on a few levels. First it signals current fullback heir Aram Olson isn't living up to billing. Secondly, we just accepted a fulllback in the 2009 class in Adam Homan (Ross' brother). Homan commited on the 29th. Lastly, the fullback is on the endangered species list so it's curious to have three on scholarship at a given time.

The number of the scholarships brings up another point. The 2003 class really put us behind the eight ball in terms of numbers. Each team can have 85 players on scholarship and Ohio State has about 74(ish). Four of them are kickers or punters. I've already talked about the high number of fullbacks in 2009. Unfortunately, Big Ten football programs cannot grossly oversign recruits as commonly done in the SEC and other places. Correcting the double digit shortage of scholarship players should be priority number one for the staff and apparently it is. They just offered another player at the 11th hour - Zach Domicone. It's likely he'll officially commit very soon.

Transfers: Recently demoted quarterback Robbie Schoenhoft is likely to transfer to the University of Delaware. Other transfers possibilities exist but the veracity is dubious at this point. Nevertheless, for your edification, here they are: Albert Dukes (read the whole thread), Eugene Clifford, Mark Johnson and Thaddeus Gibson. I hesitate to list Johnson and Gibson because all I've seen is message board speculation and nothing else. Actually, with Gibson it's a bit more. Two people were somehow routed to this site by searching in Google for "Thaddeus Gibson - Ball State". I don't know what it means. Probably nothing. Just making it known.

For those of us who cannot make the trip to the title game, we can live vicariously through the Bourbon Street webcam. We are t-minus 48 hours until the clash of pads begin.

Non-Title Game Related: The annual Army All-Star game was played today with eight Ohio State commitments selected for the game. There were at least two others - Terrelle Pryor and Josh Jenkins - who may become Buckeyes. Pryor was named the MVP and created a brouhaha by playing with Buckeye leaf on his helmet. He also acknowledged the leaf for the cameras which palpitated hearts across all Buckeye nation. This kid is either a Buckeye to be or setting us up for the biggest recruiting fall in years. A few thoughts on the commitments who played:

• JB Shugarts - Huge, lean and strong. Plays with a nice flat back and was positioned at guard during this game though he'll likely be a tackle at Ohio State. Seemed to have trouble with footwork on occasion.
• DeVier Posey - Didn't see many passes his way after having a stellar week in practice. Wore #85 after striking up a friendship with OchoCinco earlier this year.
• Mike Adams - Played at left tackle and dominated. He dominated all week during practices too and was named captain of the team. Unlimited potential.
• Jake Stoneburner - Played exclusively at tight end which I think will be his future position. For some reason, this rankles people. Yes, I know he's got wheels but he has legs like Ben Hartsock (read: thick) . Similar day to DeVier Posey.
• Etienne Sabino - Started and was in on a few tackles before the rotation of players began. Really nice size and speed combination.
• Lamaar Thomas - Played running back though he's being recruited mostly as a wide receiver at Ohio State. Thomas is much more built than I thought for a player with 10.3/100 speed. Reminds me an awful lot of Percy Harvin in terms of being a versatile player at both the RB and WR positions. Broke off at least two lengthy runs in the game.

A couple of the players did not play due to injury. OL Michael Brewster has a shoulder injury and K/P Ben Buchanan has a foot problem.

Youngstown Connection: The northwest part of Ohio is known for steel, blue collar and an uncanny amount of football icons - ahem, Paul Brown! This bowl season carries that legacy with Jim Tressel taking his team into the national title game for the third time in six years. What has slipped past some, including most in the mainstream media, are the other coaches with Y-Town roots. It's an uncommonly high number. A quick glance reveals in addition to Tressel, Mark Mangino at Kansas, Mark Dantonio with Michigan State and Bob Stoops at Oklahoma all have ties. Mangino and Dantonio were assistants under Tressel at Youngstown State (MD at OSU, too) and Stoops is just a good ol' fashioned Ohio boy from the rust belt. For those keeping score, of the 10 head coaches in the BCS Bowls, 3 have a Youngstown connection.

Honorary Captain Is...: Sack master Will Smith. Smith plays for the New Orleans Saints which makes the choice all the more sensible. It's also plausible Smith selection harkens back to the 2002 title game, a victory where the defensive end created all kinds of issues for the Hurricanes. There's been an avalanche of sideline pass requests from a dozen or two of past players who hope to be on the sideline for the game. How many actually get passes is another story.

Third Party Breakdowns: The ever thorough Sunday Morning Quarterback has his breakdown of the BCS Championship Game. It's a two part series (Part 1, Part 2) which relies heavily on statistical analysis. Keep in mind these aren't your boxscore-like stats but rather information that you actually have to research to compile. That alone makes it a worthy read but be warned: you need a good 20 minutes to get through both parts. At least I did. For another flavor, LSU's Dandy Don has daily updates and breakdowns.

The Orange Bowl tonight reinforces an annoying production issue I have FoxSports. And because the Ohio State/LSU tilt will be broadcast on Fox's airwaves, this is a particularly relevant gripe. So here it is: While their HD product is top shelf, their graphics package is horrendous and there is no better example than the obnoxiously gigantic scoreboard graphic. Here's a quick picture I took last night while it was bothering the hell out of me:

For the life of me, I can't reconcile why they need to take the entire horizontal width of my 16:9 screen. I cannot fathom why the scoreboard 'ribbon' isn't at the very top rather than lowered a few inches which takes up further precious screen real estate. It's the new craze apparently because ESPN does the same thing but not quite as bad.

Sure, it's a trivial bitch but I'm not kidding. In the picture above, you cannot see the far sideline coaching staff signaling in plays or maybe calling a timeout. In fact, you can barely see any of the sideline at all. You can't see the side judge in case he throws a flag. You even can't see the endzone pilons. If that weren't enough, I love graphic that's CGI'd on the field which tells me it's 2nd and 6...which is the same information I get in the scoreboard ribbon.

As we near Monday night, the speculation is building regarding what Coach Tressel may have in store for the LSU Tigers. Gadget plays, personnel switch-ups and tactical shifts are all possibilities. This speculation is a natural phenomenon mostly because we've had six weeks of idle time. Our minds wonder, various news nuggets drift to the surface and the process begins. It's sexy and fun so I decided to delve into two of the more popular new wrinkle discussions.

I focus on only two because they are both grounded in some basis of fact and/or reality We can hypothesize all day long who will have a 'coming out party' but that's more guesswork not to mention, it's really not a 'wrinkle' either. For those who crave that science, however, take a look at this BuckeyePlanet thread. For all others, the two possible new wrinkles:

• 
  
• Consistent Dose of Gibson. DE Robert Rose suffered a shoulder injury in the second half of the year. It stunted his improvement and limited his play. He had surgery after the Michigan game and will not play against LSU. This is a considerable loss that's getting very little play in media. Consider we already lost our starting defensive end - Lawrence Wilson - the beginning of the season, so the scratch of Rose is significant in terms of depth and rotation. It leaves Ohio State with two legitimate defensive ends who have seen worthy time in Cameron Heyward and Vern Gholson. Beyond them, we have players like Alex Barrow and, well, nobody.
  
  Enter Thaddeus Gibson.
  
  Gibson, when he's not walking out of practice, can be a terrifying force on the opposing offense. He plays in the old school mold of Na'il Diggs in that he has a linebacker's body but excels at rushing the quarterback from a standup position on the edge. We saw how effective he can be against Wisconsin and I see no better fit Monday night in an effort to minimize the loss of Rose. The use of Gibson is less a new wrinkle more than the a re-establishment of an effective defensive tactic and I think it's highly probable Gibson plays considerably.
  
  
• Henton is Second String! Presumably the implication here is that Henton's promotion is a signal he'll get snaps versus the Tigers. I mean, what better way to trip up the Tigers than to throw the Troy Smith clone into the game to run some spread, chew up large chunks of yardage and cause mayhem in Les Miles' mind? Won't happen.
  
  I suppose I can see JT using Henton as a decoy or maybe for a few quarterback sweeps but it stops there. Anything more than that - where he's actually throwing passes and stuff - would be Hindenburg-esque. Unmitigated disaster. Henton hasn't seen anything other than a practice field since September. His last snap was against Northwestern and to insert him into the game would throw caution to wind. Probability and sanity have to win out here, right?

Whatever the case is on Monday night, we all hope and expect success. Just because I think playing Henton would be a mistake doesn't mean I hope he fails just so I'm right. Or maybe Gibson won't play at all because the staff has another ace up their sleeve. One thing you can count on is LSU will have something prepared for us. Whether it's going for it 4th down a half dozen times or faking a punt or FG (or both), we have to be ready. By the way, on the latter part, LSU did just spend a whole practice focusing completely on special teams.

Including mine. There's the little thing I posted about last night that needs tending to...

False Alarm: Right, so Donald Washington isn't suspended for the BCS Championship game or any of the practices leading to it. Eugene Clifford is suspended though and for what, we don't know. Overall, this is welcome news indeed. Apparently all the original reporting outlets (The Dispatch, Newark Advocate, NBC4) and the various (previously) reliable insiders have the same, exact source inside the WHAC.

Bowl Game Swag: Each bowl game provides gifts to the players (in compliance w/NCAA) and fanblogs.com highlights some of the best. Think the biggest bowl of them all gives the best gifts? Think again. In fact, the Capital One bowl appears to come out on top. $400 Best Buy gift card! Sign me up. The entire swag rundown can be found at SportingNews.

I'll Take Illinois by 7, Says the Ref: By now, you've probably read this Yahoo story on the glorious background of Big Ten football official Steve Pamon. If not, it highlights the criminal activity of Pamon along with his gambling habit and eventual bankruptcy. Clean livin! Pamon's crew drew an onslaught of criticism for their awful work in both the Penn State/Purdue and Ohio State/Illinois games. Today Lonnie White of the LA Times dropped a scud (reg. req.) which includes information regarding abnormal betting in both games:

Two games from the 2007 regular season have come into question regarding Pamon, an officiating crew chief with a history of bankruptcy and gambling: Penn State's victory over Purdue on Nov. 3 and Illinois' upset win over Ohio State on Nov. 10.

"Both games had disproportionate money bet on the teams that benefited from the objectionable calls in those games in Penn State and Illinois," said RJ Bell of Pregame.com.

The Big Ten office released a statement that said they'll now begin conducting background checks each year. They also said they'll have "no further comment" on the matter. Precious.

Your Attendance Desired: Anyone finding themselves at home this Saturday, can check in here at Buckeye Commentary for live blogging of the Ohio State - Florida basketball game. Rather than the old fashioned way of publishing updates, I'll be using some fancy real-time technology from the good people at CoveritLive.com. It allows reader interactivity and, at the end of the game, the session will be archived.

I feel so behind and you probably feel slighted. My apologies. Anyway...

Soccer in Final Four: Non-revenue making waves. The Men's Soccer team made the NCAA Final Four this past weekend by upending Bradley 4-0. The team, which is riding a 14 game win streak, moves on to face unranked and unseeded UMass Friday at 7pm, ESPNU. The Bucks are undefeated on neutral fields this year.

Extra Week Added: E. Gordon Gee and the other Big Ten presidents voted to move to a 13 week football schedule beginning in 2009. This moves paves the way for teams to insert a bye week allowing squads to rest weary bodies and shorten the layoff between bowl games. It will also push back the annual Ohio State-Michigan game beyond Thanksgiving stealing our delight in talking about yet another Buckeye victory while nodding off with Tryptophan coursing through their veins.

More Honors for JL: James Laurinaitis was recognized by the Associated Press on their First Team All-America team. No other Buckeyes made the list. However, other Buckeyes including Chris Wells, Kirk Barton, Malcolm Jenkins and Vernon Gholston were selected on various other teams:

AP	Laurinaitis
AFCA	Laurinaitis, Barton
Walter Camp	Laurinaitis
FWAA	Laurinaitis
Sporting News	Laurinaitis, Barton, Wells, Gholston, Jenkins, Heyward

Thad's Streak in Jeopardy: I'm afraid it's true. While Matta has won 20 games or more each year he's been a head coach, this year may break that streak. Last night's victory over Coppin State was quintessential ugly and made some eye's bleed. The team failed to reach 50 points during a night Matta tinkered with lineups (Mr. Diebler meet Mr. Pine) and substitution patterns. I firmly believe the team will make improvement but this glaring lack of consistency and periods of frighteningly awful shooting has got to stop...or we'll be NIT bound. This was Coppin State!

Michigan Coaching Search: Day 23. Miles is still somewhat in play though he says he's only helping Michigan with their search. (wink - wink). Because, you know, this is what coaches do at opposing schools in rival conferences. I quite like the drawn out process especially since it involves LSU who already has one lame duck coach in Bo Pellini. I'll take any smidgen of distraction I can get.

Jim Tressel's team is exactly where we thought they'd be in the newest BCS Poll. Our hope is squarely on the shoulders of the Sooners as no rational person can expect, let alone think, Pitt will upset West Virginia. It should be pointed out that it's always more difficult beating an opponent twice in the same season and Missouri did hold the lead going into the 4th quarter. Then again, Missouri scored a meaningless touchdown with 12 seconds left to trim the final deficit to 10 points. As I suspected, Vegas has Oklahoma as an early favorite. The beauty in all this is we are guaranteed a fantastic bowl and matchup no matter what happens.

Ed Orgeron was fired at Ole Miss. I found this particularly ironic for me because I just finished the book Meat Market, written by Bruce Feldman. It focuses on major college football recruiting but not at a powerhouse. Feldman chose Ole Miss and (former) head coach Ed Orgeron who gave him complete access to all their recruiting meetings, evaluations, phone calls, offers, etc.

The book is recommended and there is an Ohio State angle. Both Cameron Heyward and Rob Gronkowski are mentioned along with how Orgeron feels about recruiting in the north. If that doesn't interest you, there's the in depth discussions on player evaluations and what a staff looks for (ie: ankle flexibility, "pop", stiffness or lack of, etc.) when determining whether to offer a scholarship or not.

Big Ten Wonk is no more and he's now at Basketball Prospectus, as we've mentioned before. John cranked out great stuff and, not coincidentally, soon after I started linking his stuff here - those same links started popping up on all the 'major' Ohio State sites. I'd like to think I was some small part of that. Now, I want to pass along a new college basketball site called StatSheet.com. No only does it focus on all just about every college team, it also includes cool charlets for bloggers like myself to embed in their site. Stuff like baseline stats for each game so you can compare great outings with horrific ones, such as:


While we may experience some growing pains this year, Matta is in a class by himself at Ohio State in terms of winning percentage:
Matta's boys are back in action as I type, up 43-29 at the half vs. VMI. Live play by play is here. OSU Student Radio has the call. Othello Hunter of the game it's suspected because of injury and/or cramps?

MGoBlog is reporting that Kirk Ferentz has been offered the Michigan job. UM fans are generally up in arms carrying pitch forks and torches which is puzzling to me. Ferentz is a superior choice to Les Miles in my mind simpy because, well, he knows how to coach a game and manage crucial junctures. Miles does not.

The status of big, talented running back PJ Hill is still unclear. The official diagnoses according to cheeseland newspapers is a deep bruise on a leg he previously broke. He tried to practice on Tuesday but was seen limping noticeably. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal is already on record saying barring signficant improvement, Hill 'won't be healthy enough to play' and if that's the case, his replacement is likely to be freshman Zach Brown. Quincy Landingham is another option but he's coming off an injury of his own.

They're still other alternatives. The staff could also shuffle up things and invert the attack, choosing to use fullbacks more than tailbacks. Whatever the case, Wisconsin staff is exploring all avenues. In some ways, a healthy PJ Hill would have made game planning easier for Ohio State based on fewer unknowns. But again, this is all based on Hill not playing or being limited in doing so - two scenarios I fail to accept as legitimate possibilities. Wisconsin may not be trying to dupe or hoodwink the Buckeyes but they are keeping information purposefully scarce. I just can't see Hill skipping this game - against this defense.

Elsewhere, Gonzo clone Luke Swan talks about his hamstring tear which has sidelined him for the season.

Update (10:01pm): Bielema says Hill hasn't practiced but is improving each day:

"All week he has gotten better every day, and hopefully he will continue to get that way. Saturday will be a game-time decision in his hands whether he can go or not."

There you have it.

Flag Conspiracy: Obviously said in jest but what the hell is going with the officiating of Ohio State football games? I know, I know, my good blog buddy John Gasaway, formerly of the Big Ten Wonk and now with Basketball Prospectus, taught me long ago that complaining about the refs is a tired pastime left best alone.

But, I can't help it.

The opponents of Ohio State are the least penalized of any Big Ten team...for the third straight year. Conversely, we've had the most flags against us (flags, not penalty yards). Nothin' to see here. Carry on.

Major Award: AJ Trapasso has been named a semi-finalist for the Ray Guy Award which goes to the nation's top collegiate punter. Brian Robiskie made the semi-finalist cut for the Biletnikoff Award, which is given to the top receiver.

I read this on a number of sites today so attribution is difficult and, beyond that, this needs no ramp up anyway. Let's get right to it:

Ohio State opponents have more punts (57) than points (45)!

This ri-damn-diculous stat is made even more impressive when you subtract the amusingly late garbage touchdowns (2 - Washington & Purdue) and the safety the offense allowed against Akron (Edit: plus NW kickoff return. Thanks, zb). It would be a notable statistic only one game into the season, let alone six. And, there's a good possibility it will still hold true after this weekend.

We salute the Silver Bullets...at least two of them anyway:

Edit: The blogpoll ballot below has been updated with comments.

Having a real job totally interferes sometimes on my blogging schedule. Such is the case this week when, at this minute, I'm behind on several parts of the site. I'm getting caught up slowly though and have a few interesting items pass along.

Better Late Than...: Because of time constraints, it's not my best stuff but I have the Minnesota Game Analysis up and ready for your feedback. It's a little watered down, admittingly, since I posted a fairly lengthy Minny recap earlier in the week.

Recruitnik Stuff: Lamaar Thomas, a RB/WR from Maryland, has narrowed his list to three schools: Maryland, Illinois and and Ohio State. From at least one account, Ohio State leads but it could be a situation of who's in his home last that wins. Thomas is blessed with incredible speed with times of 10.3/100 and 21.4/200. The one question remaining is what position does Thomas play in college? He may be set on running back but there are several schools that think wide receiver will be the best spot for him.

On the Mend: While we are dealing with various nicks, bruises and sprains, the Buckeyes look to get two players back this week or next. Andre Amos has been cleared to play for the first time all year after sustaining a knee injury. Amos, pre-injury, likely would have challenged for a starting job as notes ATO and 11W. Also, speedster Brandon Saine is nearing return, possibly even seeing time this weekend.

Purdue's Ohio Connections: There will be a least two Ohio connections this weekend when Ohio State travels to West Lafayette. Coach Joe Tiller is a Toledo native and one of their top wide receivers, Greg Orton, was a high school teammate of Marcus Freeman at Huber Heights Wayne HS. Purdue recently lost two other Ohio players in Ray Edwards and Andre Chattams - brother of former Buckeye WR Angelo Chattams.

Where's the Rush? BoilerStation.com has an article about the lack of sacks and pass rush from the Purdue front four this year. It's an area of focus for the staff and they hope things begin to change Saturday. To date, they've registered only nine sacks compared to Ohio State's 13 and league leader Indiana's 27. Naturally, how they plan to create more sacks isn't known but if I had to guess, get ready for new blitz packages to try to throw off Todd Boeckman.

Coverage Map: Most know by now the Ohio State - Purdue game is scheduled for 8pm (EDT) on ABC. However, the coverage map for this contest pretty much includes the entire country. The only area not covered is the west coast and a tiny dot of northern Indiana. Ouch Notre Dame fans. To make sure you will have the Buckeye's game this weekend, be sure to check your local listings.

...Antonio Henton was up to no good last night. The word on this leaked very early in the morning but I wasn't online and, as fate would have, I heard the news reports later as I was driving into work. If you're like me, you've read about fifty different articles each with a little more detail. However, if you are late to this shame, here's a quick rundown as it stands now:

Henton was arrested just before 8:30 last night for Solicitation. The third string QB allegedly pulled his car alongside a female and offered $20 for intercourse. Weirdly, he only had $19 on him. Unfortunately for Antonio, the 'prostitute' turned out to be an undercover police officer working an area that nabbed 11 people Monday night. The charge is a misdeamenor and Henton has already posted bail of $274. He did not enter a plea, contrary to various reports. There were also initial reports the charges were dropped but in actuality they were only refiled after gaining an additional signature. He faces some fairly significant penalties but generally it's reduced to a small fine. He is currently suspended indefinitely from the team but still has academic privileges. You can read JT's presser verbatim and even watch it with the accompanying video link (must be registered user). That's your reader's digest version.

The court of public opinion may be the harshest storm to weather. There are media members calling for his outright dismissal or season long suspension. Jokes are already abundant and surely will not float away any time soon. On the other side of the issue, there are those attempting to minimize the situation and/or redirect blame to Columbus Police. In reality both sides are misguided by either overreacting or refusing to acknowledge Henton's culpability. And, if there is some hot-damn misunderstanding it will come out. Until then, I have no reason to blame anyone but the young man who made a poor decision.

While the offense ranks ultra low on the egregiousness-scale, it ranks stratospheric in terms of embarrassment. Perhaps the best course of action is simply pay the fine, show contrition and somehow work yourself back into the graces of the coaching staff. Kicking him off the team isn't the answer - not for a misdemeanor - and there has been some precedent here. Notre Dame went through a similar thing earlier this year. So did Michigan 2002. (HT: MotSaG) Each player was reinstated. I can't help but think the same thing will happen with Henton.

I meant to get this up yesterday but couldn't. Alas, here you go....

Coder Fun In Bristol, CT: You're going to have to take my word on this one. ESPN has an on-going Heisman watch where they list the leading candidates. Mike Hart is listed (no, that's not the crazy part) and, earlier today, when you clicked on his name to see his statistical details it directed you to Armanti Edwards. That would be Armanti Edwards of Appalachian State. The linking 'error' has since been corrected but was it really an error? Some junior coder having a little fun in Bristol?

Call to Recruitniks: Bruce Feldman, ESPN senior writer and friend of Buckeye Commentary, has just released his latest book titled Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting. I'll let Bruce explain further:

The book details exactly how big-time college programs go from 1000 names at the beginning of the recruiting cycle down to the 25 recruits they sign at the end on National Signing Day. I had amazing access and it turned out to be even more of a roller-coaster ride than I ever imagined.

He spent two years in South doing the research and you can find it right now at Amazon. Hopefully, he detailed the SEC practice of oversigning.

Required Reading: We are all aware of the colossal struggle Notre Dame is facing right now. Their fans have it even worse but who's to blame? There are few required reads on the internets but if you're an Ohio State fan, one has to be Ramzy at BuckNuts. His latest piece has everything that makes him great - funny and he's right.

This is Reloading? 11W has an excellent article on Robo and Hartline and their somewhat surprising production to date. They even went as far as doing arithmetic to extrapolate final receiving yardage if the current pace is maintained. Robo is on pace for nearly 1400 yards which would fall only behind David Boston's single season performance. Yeah, we lost two first round receivers and have we really noticed?

Oh, the Akron Showdown is On! One Akron back took over for another when Chris Wells assumed the running back duties with the departure of Antonio Pittman. Now, Wells will meet up again this weekend with former rival Tyrell Sutton of Northwestern They're both from the Akron area with Wells prepping at Garfield HS and Sutton at Hoban. Sutton's a year older and has had a very good career at NU but of late has been injured, missing a few games including the loss to Duke. However, he is due back in the line up for the Wildcats when they come marching into the Shoe this Saturday. You just have a feeling Beanie, if he can stay away from the injury bug, is about to have a huge game. (pic shows HS photo of Sutton in center, Beanie far right)

We're heading into Akron but a few last points regarding the past few days...

Punt Formation Change: I pointed out after the Youngstown State game that our punt formation underwent a change in the offseason. Rather than letting it go and just hoping you believe me, I decided to grab a few screenshots to illustrate the point - especially since I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere but here at BC.

Below I have a screenshot taken from a random punt in the Iowa game last year (why Iowa? It was in my DVD player, easy accessibility) and then to the right of it is the formation from YSU. The YSU camera shot is different but the change is apparent. We are no longer bowing our line to create a pocket for punter AJ Trapasso. Instead, the staff has essentially created a second level of blockers, three of them, approximately ten yards beyond the line of scrimmage compared to five yards last year. It's not as radical as, say, LSU but an interesting little tweak nonetheless. (btw, sorry for the small screencaps)

Simmer Down Now: Buckeyes fans have been peppering 1460 and ESPN chats with questions about how Ohio State could drop one position in both the AP and Coaches Polls after soundly (albeit sloppily) beating Youngstown State.  After all, the Buckeyes defeated a highly ranked Football Championship Subdivision team, formerly known as D-IAA, by 32 points.  As we all know, mighty Michigan lost to a team from the same division.  

Upon closer inspection, Ohio State actually received more dap in the latest polls than it did in the preseason.  The thing is, the polls were simply more even than the preseason editions.  The same teams were more consistently ranked and, thus, many teams received more votes.  Some did not - Texas went from 1375 to 1221 in the AP Poll.  

Tressel's gang received 919 points in the preseason USA Today Coaches Poll.  After week one, they received 977.  That means, on average, the Buckeyes were voted higher than they were in the preseason by one spot because they received 58 more votes from the 60 voters.  Likewise, OSU received 64 more points in the AP Poll, which equals approximately 1 position higher per voter (there are 65 AP voters).  

What does this all mean?  It means that the voters ranking are codifying, as usual.  It means their minds are being shaped.  And, it means that more voters are voting the Buckeyes closer to the Top 10.  And, that is a good thing.  Ultimately, it means the Buckeyes are getting their love, or as Ali G says, respek.  

Don't get your Buckeyes in a bunch.  

Being that I've been away, it's probably prudent to get up to speed with news items that have come and gone. If I have missed something (100% chance of that), just chime in. I did not follow my 150+ RSS Feeds on a daily basis when I was 'away'.

Fall Practice Begins. Hello Injuries: We are a solid two weeks into fall practice and the injury bug is starting to surface. By now, you all probably know about Ray Small twisting his ankle. On top of that Curtis Terry was carted off the field the other day (HT: BuckeyePlanet), the day after The Dispatch ran a nice piece declaring him injury-free. Jinx! Elsewhere, so many folks are talking about injuries to OL Kyle Mitchum and Jon Skinner that I'm not even going to find links. I believe it to be true. Even the franchise, Beanie Wells, came down with a stinger during a recent Hoot 'n Holler drill.

On the positive side, Anderson Russell appears to be full go and showing no side-effects of his knee injury. The loss of AR last year was a critical blow to the defense. His return to the secondary will bolster a somewhat thin backfield. True frosh Devon Torrence has moved to WR from DB where most thought he'd play.

BTN = Free? The Big Ten Network (BTN) has yet to formulate an agreement with the two big dogs - Time Warner and Comcast. A recent Dispatch article, however, indicated Central Ohio Time Warner subscribers may receive the first two games of the year on a free trial basis. When asked point blank Mark Silverman, BTN head honcho, said:

"I can't comment on that specific solution, but we're trying to get this (overall deal) done. I'm open to coming up with creative ways to solve this."

Seemingly, this tactic would provide additional negotiation time while satisfying the seething and frothing Ohio State fans. I can live with that because what I'm not going to do is attach one of these to the side of my house. Then again, with just released men's basketball schedule, I made reconsider.

Kosta Koufos: No one will ever truly replace Greg Oden but Kosta Koufos is a much heralded big man who is playing exceptionally well. In the UMCOR U18 European Championship, he was named tournament MVP while playing for Greece. During tournament play, he averaged - averaged! I say - 26.5 points, 13 boards and 3.5 blocks against some of the top competition in his age bracket.

Worst. Cover. Ever: This doesn't necessary classify as old news but pertinent nonethless. The next issue of Sports Illustrated will feature Michigan RB Mike Hart on the cover. Initial reaction is one of 'whatever' but this has an interesting tie-in to James Laurinaitis. For those who aren't aware, there's been a subtle campaign to out JL as a good, but overrated player. To a point, I would agree in so much as he's no AJ Hawk. But, Mike Hart fits 'good but overrated' tag (GBO) about as well as anyone. This is a guy, after-all, who averaged less than 5 yards a carry last year...and the year before. He gets his 1500 yards by virtue of a bazillion carries. On top of that, he and Chad Henne (another who is GBO) have yet to beat Ohio State or a bowl opponent.

After several conversations with me, myself and I - it's about time I get rocking on the site again. As much time as this animal takes, the satisfaction in return is enough to keep pushing on. Plus, the timing would be just awful considering we're about to embark on a new season.

Many thanks to all the comments and emails. I read them all and I am very appreciative. I'll be back soon with business as usual.

A few of you have emailed genuinely concerned about the lack of updates. My posting has been nil in the last 10 days or so and it isn't because I'm enjoying a vacation in some tropical paradise. No, I'm home and have complete access to update the site or write new commentary and whatever else it is I think may be of interest to readers. But, alas I don't. I haven't felt much like blogging. It may change; it may not. I'm still sorting out if this is something I want to continue doing.

This may seem sudden but it's been gradually building. I'm not looking for pep talks or the like. I just wanted to give an idea of what's going on.

On the heels of The Dispatch's exclusive walk-through, the rest of the media had a chance to see the renovated Woody Hayes Athletic Center today. The $21.5 million dollar project brings the total size to nearly 90,000 sq. ft and features a new atrium, players lounge, locker-room, coaches offices, meeting rooms, media room and training facility including underwater treadmill pools and plunge tanks. Oh, and the expanded weightroom is unreal.

Just how good is it? Consider this quote a few months back from the project coordinator, Sean Perkins:

"It will be the nicest facility, college or pro, in the country. No one will have anything like this."

Sean's a little biased but we catch his drift. Players now have a weightroom that is double in size and, more importantly, football only which few other programs can say.

The player lounge features pool tables, hordes of flatscreen HDTV's, xBox's and just about any other amenity the 18-21 demographic craves. By chance, if they want to know the depth chart of the that team up north, it's posted on a large board for quick reference. This once outdated and cramped structure is now perhaps the biggest recruiting tool in JT's arsenal.

Photos of the structure can be found here and here. Video from The Palestra here. Sorry, no photos of the players lounge, it was off limits to photogs.

Sports Illustrated published its list of the Top 10 Buckeye athletes today. This is an ambitious effort considering the legends that have played for Ohio State. Whittling down a gigantic list of candidates to only 10 and then ranking them is no small feat. So for that, a tip of the cap to SI. In order to save some of you some clicking, their selections are as follows:

Rank	Buckeye Athlete	Sport
1	Archie Griffin	Football
2	Jesse Owens	Track & Field
3	Hopalong Cassady	Football
4	Blaine Wilson	Gymnastics
5	Jerry Lucas	Basketball
6	Katie Smith	W.Basketball
7	Eddie George	Football
8	Greg Oden	Basketball
9	Jack Nicklaus	Golf
10	Troy Smith	Football

Yeah, so, that represents 5 Heisman Trophies, 7 Olympic Gold Medals and a Silver (Wilson). The selections are strong and Yes, I think Oden deserves to be on the list. Opinions vary. Maybe not at #8 (more like #10) but in twenty years from now, any list without Greg will look utterly ridiculous. Certainly cases can be made for others such as John Havlicek and Orlando Pace but there'll always be arguments for inclusion.

My chief argument is the ranking of Jesse Owens. It's felonious and shameful to rank him anywhere but at the top. Whereas others figured on the national scale, Owens impacted the World. The Buckeye Bullet won prestigious awards, set world records and broke through extreme pressures to win Gold - multiple times - in the face of hatred. Consider too, he won eight individual NCAA Championships at Ohio State and at a meet in Ann Arbor, set 3 world records (tied another) in less than an hour. We love Archie. He's beloved. But Jesse is the top and the next in line isn't even close.

Pending approval from the Board of Trustees, The Dispatch is reporting E. Gordon Gee will be returning to The Ohio State University as the new President. He most recently served as chancellor of Vanderbilt, a position he'll hold until August 1st. Early reaction seems to be one of approval but lacking excitement.

Gee does, however, have the opportunity to reach deity status among the Ohio State students, alumni and faithful. How? A fifty thousand feet overview: Continue the mission of Holbrook in terms of strengthening admissions and increasing research funding. Then, clean up the endownment fund flap and get a competent folks to manage it. Finally, for the sports fans, relax the open container crackdown during football Saturdays, restructure tailgate parking and no matter what, don't think about disbanding the athletic department like he did at Vanderbilt.

Almost equal parts football and basketball...

Jay Richardson Making Enemies - When you're a fifth round draft pick, protocol would dictate to keep your trap shut, work hard and hope you make the team. On top of this, you make nice with returning players, listen to their sage advice and melt into inner workings of the clubhouse. But, whatever you do, do not air dirty laundry and question the work ethic of some returning players. That would be really bad, but it's exactly what Jay Richardson did.

"Some of the veterans reported that we were working too hard. With me coming from Ohio State, we always worked really hard there so I was kind of used to it. But the veterans complained that they 'don't always have to do all of this crap.'"

On the 'egregiousness-scale' (yes, I made that up), it doesn't rank too high. But, why mention it at all being you've been in camp for a few weeks. Word to Jay, let someone else bring this up. Take the high road next time because, in a few weeks, you're going to be the one complaining about physical practices.

Top 10 Ranking - ESPN.com, ever quick with the backhanded slap, has a ranking today of the easiest schedules in college football. Ohio State comes in at #9. According to Mark Schlabach, our non-conference slate trumps the conference road trips to Happy Valley, Ann Arbor and Purdue - plus, Wisconsin is back on the schedule. I don't like three in-state schools on the schedule either but, with the BCS, the days of scheduling extremely difficult non-conference games are slowing going extinct.

Dispatch Football Quiz - Oh, goody, a test. The Dispatch posted a 10 question quiz to see how encyclopedic your Buckeye mind may be. I will confess I butchered it to no end - barely getting half right. No excuses. No lies. See how you perform.

Block O Reappears - Greg Oden has signed on the dotted line and is already practicing with the Portland Trailblazers. Based on the collective bargaining agreement, Oden is banking roughly 3.9 million his first year and 4.2 in his second. Options exist for the third where he would make 4.5 million. He also is already making his presence felt on the court, as talented 6'11" power forward LaMarcus Aldridge explains:

"One shot I couldn't block, and he came over my shoulder and blocked it; I was amazed. And he dunked everything around the rim."

Status quo.

Official Site Gets Style Upgrade - If you haven't already noticed, the Official Site of Ohio State athletics has received a make-over. Gone is the cookie-cutter CSTV corporate look and in is a fresh new design with added features. It appears, however, some of the content is still making the transition. The site revamp was awarded to XOS Network, a Florida company that is a major player with sports websites both in the collegiate and professional ranks. Some of the cooler features soon to come are: 3-dimensional stats and branded video.

Happy Fourth!

Lazy Sunday afternoon, relatively little sports news so why not a smashing pic of the site as viewed on the iPhone. One of the features of the phone is the 'real internet' and it delivers. The page renders exactly as it does in a full scale browser. And, I can zoom in, click on links, use the dropdown menus, view in landscape, etc. Cool.

This has me thinking, however, what the site looks like on a Treo or Blackberry? I have always had special CSS for heldheld devices so I'm naturally curious if anyone has logged on remotely via a smartphone. If so, was the page a total mess or actually usable?

It's an uneventful summer when news of beebee gun shenanigans is worthy of discussion. Or maybe it isn't? Buckeye baller David Lighty is wrapping up a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from summertime immaturity dating back to last year. The victim is 55 year old James Nugent which, for me, immediately conjures up Mike Nugent's 55 yard winning FG over Marshall in 2004. I suppose I'm just weirdly programmed that way and I assume many of you are too. As far as the beebee gun itself, no word if it was a Red Ryder Carbine Action, 200-shot, range model, air rifle.

Still Obnoxious: Jim Davidson, chief photog at the OZone, has new high res pics of the new Ohio Stadium field. For me, the pics only serve to magnify the obnoxious color of the endzones and midfield logo. Other people love it. Maybe I should hold judgement until I see it in person since computer monitors have different color and gamma settings - all of which can skew photos. I promise it's the last time I bring it up...for a while.

POY: Junior Left-hander Cory Luebke today was named the Big Ten Player of the Year. I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about when it comes to baseball but the obligatory congratulations are in order. For those of you hoping for more baseball coverage, I can only point you to the best resource I know: Big Ten Hardball.

Greg Oden to Portland: It looks like Greg will be shipping out west soon, based on tonight's NBA lottery selections. There have been several articles on Oden recently touting the gentle giants skills. ESPN has video footage of Oden working out in private sessions. You can already see the added dexterity in this right wrist and the freakish dribbling skills that no one knew he had. Eleven Warriors smartly points out to be prepared for the "summertime" onslaught of Oden stories. But, we're not going to complain.

New Assistant About to be Hired? Thad Matta recently lost video coordinator Brandon Miller, who took at job at Butler. Video coordinators are usually young, recently graduated folks cutting their teeth in the world of coaching. With the departure, Matta has shuffled his staff around in such a way where he can hire a bench assistant. Supposed candidates include former all-hustle team member Chris Jent and Travis Steele; however, the likelihood Jent leaves his job as an NBA assistant is infinitesimal.

Busy weekend, but I do have these...The women's softball team just won the Big Ten and will host the first round of the NCAA tournament. Better yet, these ladies wear helmets that resemble the football ones complete with Buckeye stickers. Awesome. More non-revenue sports good stuff, men's tennis has blitz through to the Round of 16 at the NCAA's. They are currently ranked #2 in the country. OL Kyle Long, the son of Howie Long, is off the board having committed to the Seminoles...for baseball. As just witnessed with my own two eyes on Ch. 10 sports, First Lady Ellen Tressel received two puppies from JT for Mother's Day. The dog's have been named Scarlet and Gracie. Lastly, I'll have, what I think, is a nice piece on men's basketball a little later this week.

Just because we're between seasons doesn't mean there's a scarcity of relevant news, such as...

One More Shot: Craig Krenzel and Mike Kudla are gearing up for one more shot at the NFL. Krenzel was a speaker at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes event in Toledo recently, where he spoke to a Blade reporter about his plans. He is coming off an elbow injury which involved "major" reconstruction - I take that to mean "Tommy John". When he's back to strength he'll see if there is any residual NFL interest. In the same boat is DE Mike Kudla who may be best known for breaking the combine bench press record. Kudla is attempting his comeback after injuring his hamstring before his NFL season ever got started.

Barring Major Injury: A recent USAToday article by Roscoe Nance (gotta love the name), shed a little light on the workings of Mike Conley Sr's new management company. It appears Conley will roll his newfound company in with BDA Sports Management and function under their umbrella. But, perhaps the most interesting nugget was this passage from the piece...

He says only a catastrophic injury would cause Conley Jr. to pull out of the draft.

This should all but seal the deal for those wondering if Jr may change his mind and return to Ohio State. Not going to happen. I would also venture that Daequan will not return either given his rising stock (don't ask me) and the fact that his mother isn't enamored with Matta.

Harbaugh Slapping UM: How's this for good vibes. Former Michigan QB Jim Harbaugh, the new head coach at Stanford, recently had some less than kind words about his alma mater, in terms of recruiting marginal students...

Michigan is a good school and I got a good education there, but the athletic department has ways to get borderline guys in and, when they’re in, they steer them to courses in sports communications. They’re adulated when they’re playing, but when they get out, the people who adulated them won’t hire them.

Aside from the hiring part, so what? Most major programs operate similarly and there's nothing really seedy about it. They are 'borderline' for a reason; the decision for admittance is a tough one. Folks that aren't borderline are not accepted. Others are reviewed and some chances may be made. We're supposed to be critical of this? As much as I want to break out the pom-poms since he's chopping on UM, it strikes me as quite - um - stupid. NDNation (The Rock Report) jumped all over the Harbaugh quote like only they can. It's fitting the ND official site doesn't have majors listed.

Paterno Telecommuting: Goodness gracious, we all love Paterno. The coke-bottle glasses, the nose, the witty humor, the combative resolve and now the fact he works from home. It seems JoePa is more productive at home making his own coffee and not getting the way. This makes me question whether we should be ashamed to lose any head to head recruiting battles with him.

Clinton Commencement: The Student Voice of Ohio State University reported today President Bill Clinton is this year's commencement speaker. This, however, depends on the definition of "is". Clinton has the unique distinction of being Ohio State's third choice. Barack Obama and Jon Stewart both declined the offer.

Chalk Talk?: If you are a fan of arena football and the Buckeyes, you may be in luck. On May 11th (6pm), Coach Tressel and others will hold a pre-game chalk talk at Nationwide arena. Scheduled with JT are former coaches Bruce and Cooper and probably a lot of Columbus Destroyer promo material. Oddly, however, the sign-up form doesn't include Tressel's name.

Michael Redd Paying Forward: Woody would be proud and whether he knows it or not, former Buckeye Michael Redd is heeding the old coach's advice. Redd has started the Michael Redd Basketball Camps in Ohio and Wisconsin. For ages 6-15, Redd will hold camp at Olentangy HS on June 22-23 to instruct on general fundamentals. If you are a little lost on the idea of Pay Forward, Woody's 1986 Commencement address is required reading.

Today we understand why we crave the actual events of the collegiate athletics. Because, in the offseason we get bombarded with rule changes, reversals of previous rule changes and the parched subject matter of APR. APR stands for Academic Progress Rate and it's the brainchild of the NCAA and, well, that's all you need to know.

It's not a beloved system by many as pointed out here and here and, for good measure, here. If a team falls below a score of 925 - in effect, the Mendoza Line for the colleges and universities - they could face the loss of scholarships. And, that's major. Ohio State, in case you were wondering and you probably were, is doing okay but a rather nasty cloud looms for the men's basketball team.

The otherworldly recruiting success could come back to harm Thad Matta. Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr and Daequan Cook have opted to enter the NBA Draft and, in doing so, could negatively affect our basketball APR score. Provisions are in place to not penalize a school for losing players to the professional ranks, with the caveat that they are academically eligible when the leave. And when the leave is the key point. It's not when the player declares or when they are drafted, but rather the end of the academic year.

According the Dispatch, Conley Sr. says his son and Cook will be eligible. Greg Oden is more of an uncertainty. Matta has mentioned he's had discussions with each player to stay the course and act like their lives aren't about the change. Go to class. Study as if you don't really hold a lottery ticket. Advice that's dispensed mainly because of the rule and the long-lasting affects that can result if a scholarship is taken away. Of course, this could have been avoided with a higher current score which wouldn't make Oden's class attendance of paramount importance.

On the surface, APR is a noble concept. The implementation and a few unrealistic details may leave a little to be desired. The smaller schools and conferences tend to take the brunt of the force and that's okay with MGoBlog. Larger schools who have the financial wherewithal most likely will be fine, even if it means sweating out the hope the future No. 1 pick in the draft continue attending class to maintain eligibility. So Greg, go to class. For the university.

Things in the Buckeyenation are just fine, thank you. Florida is admittingly a little happier than we are but they're about the only team who can make that claim. This goes for Michigan who just hired a coach that is coming off an NIT Championship. Judging from the emails I've received, some Wolverine fans apparently feel differently. Odd.

Tressel Draws a Crowd: The annual spring preview was held today at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. A crowd of 1300 turned out to hear Coach Tressel talk a lot and say very little. This is not all that surprising but a few interesting bits of information were discussed. The preview benefits the Alzheimer’s Association Central Ohio and was originally started by John Cooper.

Chris Wells Injured?: As discussed by various boards, projected starting RB Chris Wells apparently has injured his ankle in spring workouts. His availability for the Spring Game is unknown. To my knowledge, no mainstream news service has reported this as yet, so keep this filed in the 'rumor' category. If anyone has absolutely bonafide information, be sure to let us know or send me an email.

4/29/2007: This date should be important to you because that's when college players must declare for the NBA Draft. There's been no word on Oden's status and he hasn't commented either - unless you count his reaction to Dom Tiberi's question minutes after the final on Monday night. Put yourself in his position and the answer to whether he's returning or not should be fairly clear. I post the final tally of my poll question as well (see graphic).

Conley Staying Put: With all the press on Oden, Mike Conley has cruised under the radar. With his exceptional play in the last half of the year, Conley has worked himself into an attractive draft prospect in his own right. However, he reiterated to ESPN (Page 2 article) just before the game that he will return regardless of the outcome or Greg's decision. Obviously, this validates what his father said days ago.

Eh, it could have been called a charge. It wasn't and the fact of the matter it was amazing seeing a 7'0", 280 lbs man flying through the air in Jordan-esque quality. Fortunately, there are professional photographers who are worth their weight in gold because they capture images like the one below. Amazing photo and the Sports Illustrated gallery includes others nearly as good.

In other news, Michigan has tendered an offer to West Virginia basketball coach John Beilein. Beilein is coming off an NIT championship which carries a sort of unique irony.

LeBron James is on record as saying if he would have attended college, he would have gone to Ohio State. That's little consolation but it does make one wonder, what if? Rather than play out that scenario in your mind, Sports Illustrated is asking you to voice your opinion in its Third Annual What If Tournament. They are hosting an intereactive bracket of teams based on players that either left early or decided to jump directly to the NBA. For Ohio State, SI adds LeBron to our current roster since he would technically be a senior this year. From there, you pick teams as if those players actually were on the current team. It's right up their with tooth fairies and magic pixie dust but still entertaining. I'll go record as saying we'd be 36-0 right now with King James.

Xavier Should Have Fouled!: I see this point made over and over on countless blogs and sports websites. The theory goes with Ohio State down 3, Xavier should have fouled to eliminate the possibility of, say, Ron Lewis hitting a 25 footer to force overtime. What I haven't seen mentioned by these same sites is that X coach, Sean Miller, actually does mention something about this during the game. I italicize the words something because he doesn't actually order a foul but the video evidence does show him advising his team to allow "NO THREES". It happens within the first 7 seconds of this YouTube clip. Watch closely.

Football Verbal Accepted: While the men's basketball team dominates media time, Jim Tressel is quietly putting together a very nice start to the 2008 recruiting class. Linebacker/Runningback DeVoe Torrence has decided to join his older brother at Ohio State, making him the fourth verbal commitment. Those of you aching to breakdown his video can find armchair nirvana here.

Conley's Dad= Soon-to-be-Agent: The worst secret is now public; Mike Conley, Sr. is going to be the agent for his son and Greg Oden when they decide to declare for NBA. I first read about this from Wonk, who feels this spells sayonara for the One Season Legend. I'm not ready to face that reality yet but I found it interesting that Conley, Sr. said this:

"They're definitely going to do something this year or next, so if I'm going to do it, I need to put myself in the position to be ready when the time comes."

IndyStar tries to play it off that Conley, Sr. knows "several" players who have the luxury to declare. But, I read "they're" to mean "my Son and Greg".

You Have to Like Bruce Pearl: So, we play this little game on Thursday night and I just want to find something to dislike about Tennessee. Usually you can focus on the head coach but Bruce Pearl is exempted. The guy is just a cool cat who I admire. From his full torso paint job to support the women's team to the praise heaped on OSU and Greg Oden, you can't help but like the guy. Man, that's no fun.

Work rears its ugly head and has me traveling to distant lands. As such, my blogging capabilities will be nil until the man frees me from his death grip of Powerpoint presentations and guest speakers. In the meantime, talk amongst yourselves or if you are desparate, Wonk is always a good bet especially now that he's wonking seven days a week. I will be sending all my good luck Karma to Thad and the boys from 35,000 feet on Friday.

Oh yeah, how about the new basketball unis? Judging from initial reaction across all the internets, I appear to be one of the few voices in favor of the new look. Check that. Maybe not 'in favor' but I don't mind the stylistic changes. The weird undershirt is an optional feature, thankfully.

The phrase made popular by ESPN's Scott Van Pelt is most appropriate for this archival footage of Mike Conley's pop doing his thing on the basketball court. Sure, it stands to reason he can dunk, being an Olympian and all, but the last dunk on the video is eyepopping. (HT: to ESPN Page 2 article)

I find this vid fascinating enough to give it precedence over the impending public verbal of 5-Star basketball recruit PF Luke Babbit and our newest Sports Illustrated cover. In the case of Babbit, he makes the fourth 5-Star commitment for the '08 recruiting class.

Some relatively newsworthy items slipped through the cracks the few days. Perhaps I've spent too much time watching college basketball or reading up on the rollback of insane college football clockrules. Alas, your intrepid blogger does his best but fallibility befalls us all, and when I viddied some real horrorshow news I had to share even if belated (fans of A Clockwork Orange (nadsat) will get that, hopefully). Recent news from both the football and basketball side suggest some players are going hold off on leaping to the professional ranks. Yea!

Who you say? James Laurinaitis, for one and on the basketball side, Mike Conley, Jr. and Daequan Cook. Color me flabbergasted seeing Cook's name anywhere near phrase 'coming back next year'. There is a little wiggle room to shift the decision by using the word planned instead of say, guarantee. Not that I can blame him considering, from some accounts, his family situation is less than ideal. The vicious cycle of players leaping to the professional ranks is sometimes hard to break but this is a start.

The Greg Oden Nickname contest is over and we have a winner. Through almost 100 nick submissions, the polling was whittled down to five finalists which were voted on for about two weeks. "Block O" led most of the time but was recently overtaken in a big way by a horde of unique visitors voting for "Odenator". I know what you're thinking. Sabotage! Do not despair, no sabotage was involved but some background is in order.

Last week, this site began to get a steady of flow of Facebook visitors. Facebook, for those that don't know, is a network of sites based around colleges, universities and even high schools. It's reasonable that we may get some linkage but I don't have a Facebook account to login to see what was bringing these newfound visitors my way. It was a mystery to me until today.

Eleven Warriors cued me in with this entry which demystified the situation. Apparently, Odenation is alive and well and even heartily endorsed by the big man himself! Harumph! Who am I to try to spawn a new nick when this beast already has one? Afterall, he's had it for almost a year and even has a "double thumbs down" hand-sign he occasionally uses when he Odenates someone. Yeah, this nickname has full conjugation and even symbology to accompany it. Damn impressive.

The Odenator wins the poll with 53% of vote. Block O was second and the others were also-rans. Nearly 1000 votes were cast. Thanks to all who contributed, most especially the originators of The Odenator. Now Greg, if you read this site - how about 30-20 dub-dub at Penn State on Wednesday?

Excuse my tardiness for Midweek Mierda. As you can see, it's not midweek but the weekend. I have the mierda though - in the form my own commentary hence the full title of this post. Also, hence the double entendre (weak, I know). There are several items to go over but fear not. No need for corporate world stuff like overused PowerPoint presentations or action items. So, close your brand new Franklin Covey Daily Planner, listen up and feel free to be heard.

I think...

You Should Vote: I have narrowed the Oden nickname entries and created a new poll in the right sidebar. Please absorb the disclaimer: it's all in good fun and maybe it'll actually stick. That would be cool. If that happens, my next challenge would be converting the recruiting lingo of "Silent Verbal" into "Private Verbal". Anyway, just vote. I"ll run the poll for 7-10 days.

I Ought to Show you Oden's Purdue Block: Some may not have seen it. I called it the best block in college basketball this year. In last week's game against Purdue, Oden recovered from being fouled (but no call) to swat a shot from out of no where. The video is now in the Highlights section.

Something is Brewing Recruiting: Cameron Heyward's verbal a few days was a big boost to the Ohio State efforts. It filled the need to sign at least one defensive tackle and we actually beat out some other heavyweights for his services (ie: LSU, Florida, Georgia USC, etc...). While most think we are pretty much done with this year's class, do not be surprised to see us perhaps lose one and gain one in the next few days. For instance, Brian Rolle seems to be at least entertaining the thought of Florida whereas we are not completely out of the RoJo sweepsteaks. It's still a longshot for RoJo but he hasn't closed the door completely. Also, watch Michigan State in this battle. Some are saying RoJo was at the MSU/OSU game today (SpartanTailgate thread w/pic). Signing day is February 7th.

USC Needs to Thank Us: Why is it only little old Yahoo! Sports that's reporting the USC craziness? ESPN has all but backed away from the story only to report nuggets with sympathy. Does USC have us to thank for this, considering ESPN's hatchet job on Ohio State during Clarett's stay in Columbus?

Ted Ginn is a Top 15 pick: So does John Murphy of Yahoo! Sports who projects Ginn just outside the Top 10. However, it's interesting to note that, when talking about Ginn's speed, he says he "may" be one of the "three" fastest players in the draft. I quoted and italicized the operative words that are laughable. Let me confirm, Ted Ginn is one of the three fastest players in the draft. Let me go further, Ted is the fastest player in the draft and upon entering the NFL, he'll be the fastest player there, too.

Congrats Are In Order: TJ Enright, who wrestles at 133lbs for Ohio State, beat #1 ranked Nick Simmons of Michigan State recently. Enright won the match in overtime after takedown. Photos can be found at the OZone.

Roy Hall is Working Damage Control...and Badly: In the Plain Dealer this morning, an article by Doug Lesmerises sheds light on the Roy Hall-spraining-Ted Ginn's-ankle debacle (photo evidence). To my, and I guarantee your amazement as well, Roy actually says he didn't hurt Ted. Nope. It wasn't Roy. At least that's what he wants us to believe. I mean, that's so crazy that it's not even worth debating. The problem here is that Roy has to defend himself at all in an article such as the Plain Dealer's. The celebration tackle and subsequent injury was just a freak accident. It's been done to Ted a bajillion times before without a problem. Freak. Accident. Key word: Accident.

The scarcity of interesting topics is frightening. Greg Oden celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday (okay, he's really 19). The Buckeyes are heading to Evanston to take on the Wildcats for the second time in a week. Get ready for an overdose of mind-numbing zone defenses. The Other Paper is sharpening up their newest attempt at a decent Buckeye sports article. You get the picture, nothing worth talking about.

I have found two things worthy of a paragraph. Don't say I didn't warn you:

Mike Conley, Jr. = Dime Man: I wrote about Conley's shooting improvement last week. Now, it's time to talk about what he does best and that's dish the ball. Assists are this thing and he does it just about as well as anyone in any league. You heard me right. Conley's assist to turnover ratio is 3.3:1, blowing away the coveted 2:1 ratio that is the usual barometer. In fact, in simpler terms, MCII is already +90 for the year.

Yes, Troy Smith is Still Good. Damn Good: Troy's performance in the BCS Title game altered the chemical balances of many minds. The untouchability he spent building over the last two years - via ungodly performances in ungodly huge games - was obliterated in 3 hours. How quickly they forget. The Senior Bowl preparations have started and Smith has managed to do two things to reverse his declining stock: He measured in at 6'0", proving wrong many who thought he was only 5'10" and he is throwing the ball like we know he can. He has confirmed that his right arm really is a M198 Howitzer, making coaches and scouts salivate uncontrollably. So, throw out that game in Glendale and chalk it up as an anomaly, a mutation of the highest order.

PG Prowess: Mike Conley, he of otherworldly pedigree, has raced through opposing defenses and into the hearts of Buckeye fans. This lefty is the best kept secret in college basketball and we like it that way. While others are talking about Kevin Durant and Greg Oden, Conley has performed B-2 stealthicity. Flying under the radar, he simply has become the best guard in the Big Ten. I'm not the only one who thinks that; Big Ten Wonk does too. But, if there's one deficiency in his game, it would be his perimeter shooting.

Heading into the Tennessee game last Saturday, Conley's long range shooting was non-existent. He had made only one trey in seven games. True, his attempts were low but that points to his lack of confidence in shooting the rock. Enter some special shooting drills and an edict from Thad Matta to "Shoot the ball, Son!" and we may be seeing a transformation. Conley has hit 4 of last 5 attempts from three in a short two game span. He was 2-2 tonight as he blitzed Northwestern for 17 points, 10 assists, 1 turnover and 4 steals...for good measure. That sagging defender Mike usually sees may be a lot tighter in coming games. This immediately invokes the pick your poison statute which states that closely guarding Mike Conley on perimeter means you run the risk of being blown by for an easy lay in or dime for someone else. See Pedigree. See Mike Conley, Jr.

SideBar Poll: New sidebar poll relating to recruiting. As always, mandatory voting for all readers. The results of the last poll about that game will not be talked about.

I'm a Nominee. Twice: It's award season and bloggers are not left out. The great UT blog Rocky Top Talk and MGoBlog have combined forces for the 2006 College Football Blogger Awards. This is an effort to pat ourselves on the back but also alert you of blogs that you may not have read before - but should be. Yours truly has been nominated for two awards; Prettiest Blog (yeah, design!) and Best Big Ten Blog. We get nominee badges and everything (see sidebar)! All award categories and nominees are here. Congrats are also in order for The Men of the Scarlet and Gray.

That gigantic thing in the sky governed by Helios or Apollo (or whoever) actually rose on Tuesday. And, today even! Life goes on even after sporting catastrophes the likes we saw on Monday night. No more can or should be said. In fact, I have sent a personal request to the office of Ohio State to have that game stricken from the OSU public record. Further, it shall forever be simply called "that game". This goes along nicely with "that player" from the 2002 season. Two phrases where a definition is not required.

So, yeah, other stuff...

Stinking Badgers: Those who love college basketball know that Wisconsin is nearly unbeatable at home. The Kohl Center is a kind place for the Grateful Red and that's where Ohio State found itself last night. Is it me or have we played every tough game on the road this year? Unfortunately, Thad Matta's young pups didn't break any new ground last night. But, they did fight and forced a jubilant crowd to become concerned in no time. Down 10 with 54 seconds left, the hit-a-3-then-foul-as-fast-as-you-can method damn near worked to a T. Jamar Butler had a decent look to send the game into overtime as time expired. Overtime would have resulted in an L anyway since Mike Conley had just fouled out. The Big Ten Wonk filed his thoughts and was unrelentingly brutal on Ron Lewis.

Going, Going, Gone: If you were me, you'd consider Antonio Pittman, Anthony Gonzalez and Ted Ginn Jr as players about to enter the draft. Gonzalez has a scheduled presser tomorrow at 2:30. Scheduling pressers to announce you are coming back does not strike me as something very Gonzo-like He's about as humble as they come. Ginn is gone and Pittman is a formality as well.

And now, PayPal: A few months ago, uber popular blog DeadSpin announced a fund for Adam Knox, a marine and Buckeye fan who was killed in Iraq. This incredible act of kindness was met with enthusiasm and a PayPal account was set up to make a donation easy. Unfortunately, PayPal doesn't like doing the right thing. DeadSpin followed up with an update to let readers know the account fund has been frozen by PayPal. For 6 months. Disgusting. The folks behind DeadSpin are stunned and are reaching out for us to voice our maelstrom of complaints to PayPal. Again, go here to find out what you can do and who to contact.

The decision to enter the NFL draft can be a difficult. Big money may be around the corner but deciding to leave early is often harder than you may think. Ohio State is waiting for a few players to make their intentions public. Michigan, on the other hand, is only waiting on defensive tackle Alan Branch. Chad Henne, Jake Long and Mike Hart have all announced they will return for the 2007 season.

Hart announced his return before the bowl game against USC. He promptly ripped off 47 yards on 17 carries. It may surprise you that a player who has averaged less than 5 yards a carry each of the last two seasons even has an opportunity to jump to the league. But, he does and it's deserved. He is a good back even if his yardage total is inflated from sheer number of carries. But, my main beef with Mike Hart is he likes to run his mouth more than he runs the football. For a guy that has never beaten Ohio State or bowl opponent for that matter, you'd think the chirping would be at a minimum. I need not remind you of his post game quotes following the Buckeyes win in November and I"m sure you saw his in-game declaration last night to 'beat the Buckeyes' as a reason he's returning to Ann Arbor. Good luck with that, Mike.

Ohio State beat Michigan a few weeks ago to cap an undefeated regular season. It marked the third consecutive victory over the Wolverines. Tonight, I just watched Michigan get flogged by their bowl opponent - for the third consecutive year. Ouch. November and January have not been kind months to the GoBlue faithful. For us, it seems like only a few months ago we were waiting for our match up with Notre Dame. Time flies. This season, however, this entire bowl game ramp-up has been the undercard for our main event a week from now. What a difference a year makes.

Since the Fiesta last year, a lot has happened in 2006. We hauled in a decent football recruiting class and a once-in-a-lifetime one in basketball. We won the Big Ten title in both sports - albeit different seasons but in the same calendar year. Terence Dials won Player of the Year in basketball. Troy provided the bookend in football. For a brief period of time - we even held the #1 national ranking in both football and basketball. Before moving full steam ahead into 2007, I thought it would be fun to look back in '06 one last time.

• Best Play (football): This has to go to Troy's beautiful play action to Ted Ginn vs Michigan. The UM defense is still biting on that one - a score that put us up 21-7
  
• Best Play (basketball): Matt Sylvester's game winning three against LSU. This technically happened on New Year's Eve - so I really can't count it. Unless you let me. If you don't, I choose Jamar Butler's late bomb against Michigan State in East Lansing to seal the win.
  
• Best Hire: Tom Ryan - wrestling. Oh, yes, I'm even including the non-revenue sports if it warrants. And, here you thought I was just a two trick pony.
  
• Best Asst Coach (football): Jim Heacock. Lose 9 starters and finish in the top 5 in scoring defense? End of story.
  
• Best Asst Coach (basketball): John Groce. I'll be surprised if he's still with us in two years. He is primed for a head coaching position.
  
• Best Loss: Thad Matta's basketball team at North Carolina. Didn't even feel like a loss, weirdly enough.
  
• Best 3pt Shooter: Marscilla Packer. If she is open, count it.
  
• Best Answer: Greg Oden saying he plans to play at Ohio State for four years. Do you believe it?
  
• Best Endzone Celebration: tie - Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells - both sport the A-Town symbol.
  
• Best Preparation: Anthony Gonzalez's hypoxic high-altitude chamber. Can't argue with the results nor the originality.
  
• Best Band Halftime: Michigan game
  
• Best Player...Ever: Troy Smith.

These categories could go on and on. What's some of yours? Perhaps in a few short days we can put the entire 2006 football season in its own "Best Ever" niche.

On a personal note, it's been a good year at Buckeye Commentary. Visitors and readership increase daily. We have been mentiioned on several national sites including ESPN, SI, USAToday.com and CSTV among others. Provided time allows, I have additional features planned for the site as we move forward into the new year. Here's to hoping 2007 will be our best yet. Thanks everyone.

Yeah, I realize it's past midweek...
Troy = Heisman: If you needed any more confirmation other than Saturday's official announcement, Troy Smith will win the Heisman. If you don't take my word for it, take it from HeismanPundit or StiffArmTrophy.com. It'll be Ohio State's 7th Heisman and 6th player to win. The Dispatch ran an interesting piece today titled Anatomy of a Landslide where author Ken Gordon ran down a weekly synopsis of Troy's blitzkrieg. The piece also included a graphic (and you know how I love graphics) that outlines Smith's dominance in line form. Delicious. Troy will have only the company of two others at the ceremony. Sorry, Mike Hart.

Value City No More?: Just before posting my entry tonight, I saw this article trickle across the Dispatch wire. It struck my curiosity since Ohio State basketball is played in Value City Arena which is inside The Schottenstein Center. Perhaps much ado 'bout nothin' but if this potential sell would affect a name change, Buckeye fans around the world would rejoice.

Stories of the Shoe: I don't like to promote products/intiatives/etc without an advertising fee but this is a little different. Stories of the Shoe is a collective effort to gather memories of lives and times around Ohio Stadium. The authors are asking for your help, your stories for the book. Publishing is slated for fall of 2007 so become involved if you want to learn more or have a story to share.

Irrational Exuberance: We have a long way to go to January; over a month and I don't want to expend too much energy on UF too soon. But...a Florida blogger on the AOL network (remember I passed up that opportunity this summer?) recently wrote how the Gators Can and Will Beat Ohio State. Nothing wrong with a little irrational exuberance from time to time. I know I go through periods myself.

Nothing wrong with confidence either. It's good to have.

But, there are several passages and "facts" in the piece that are just plain distortions or, more clearly defined, wrong. For instance, this propaganda:

Ohio State total offense average: 409.75 yards
Florida total offense average: 398.08 yards.

"Quarterbacks," you're thinking. "Troy Smith is better."

Ohio State passing efficiency: 66.56%, 165.93
Florida passing efficiency: 63.26%, 151.90 rating

"Rushing," you say.

Ohio State rushing offense average: 180.08 yards per game
Florida rushing offense average: 160.31 yards per game

What makes those numbers truly remarkable is that while they're essentially pretty even, Florida does it against the nation's toughest defenses, while Ohio State does it against teams like Northern Illinois, Cincinatti, Indiana and Bowling Green.

The comparative statistics are fine but saying Florida builds theirs against the "nation's toughest defenses" is odd. I make no claim that they don't face fine defenses but to parse and distill Ohio State's schedule down to NIU, Cincy, IU and BG is misleading and convenient. It's misleading for obvious reasons but convenient because when you look at both schedules ENTIRELY, the defenses faced are staggeringly similar. Using the Total Defense metric, Florida's opponents average a total defense ranking of 49. Ohio State's is 58. Go a step further and look at the difference between 49 and 58 and you'll find it's a grand total of 8 yards. Not an argument I'd be trumpeting if I were a UF fan.

**Edit: I screwed up all the links...thus no links**
I'm LLLLoyd *Expletive* Carr: Good ol' Lloyd has a temper. Most of us have witnessed it on the sideline and now ABC has witnessed it up close and personal. Seems Carr didn't like the direction of questions in pregame interviews and stormed out ranting and raving - complete with "F-Bombs". Please let their be video of this. ABC, you did keep your cameras rolling didn't you?

Roundball Notes: In case you haven't noticed, Buckeye basketball is off to a 3-0 start and already title holders. The 4th ranked Buckeyes won the BCA Classic over the weekend. Greg Oden still is sidelined but due back perhaps sooner than later. Matta has continually stated a early January timeframe, but the announcing crew (which included former Buckeye and inside man Bill Hoskett) sounded more positive - intimating a December return. Should you need to get up to speed on the basketball Bucks, I highly recommend the Big Ten Wonk's preview. Get to know the Wonk and his stats because I'll be linking him a lot.


More Battle: CSTV's Battle of the Blogs segment continues on. Pfef went yesterday and today The 614 penned his response. Keep checking CSTV.com each day as a new round is posted daily.


Bo Knows: Former Michigan coach (and Ohio State assistant) Bo Schembechler gets it. Woody got it and JT gets it. Remove all the posturing and what remains is respect. Whether you admit it or not, it's there. Bo was recently interviewed and I thought he said something particularly striking...

I coached there for six years. There are guys there that are really close friends of mine. I never brought it up when I coached, but I have close ties at Ohio State. Unfortunately I even have a graduate degree from there. They made me go to school while I was a graduate assistant. No, I have enormous, enormous respect for Ohio State, enormous. That's why I loved to play them when I was up there. There's no other team I would rather play, no other coach I would rather go against than the old man.

And, there's no other team we'd rather play either. The Shoe will be rocking.

Kirk Herbstreit has found himself in the cross-hairs of many Michigan fans. Seems Kirk has opinions on college football (the shock), specifically the football in Ann Arbor as it relates to one of their WRs. Those thoughts made it to the Detroit News and TSUN is all up in arms about using the term 'worthless' anywhere near the name Steve Breaston. Pfef breaks it down for us and comes to Kirk's defense as does MGoBlog in an odd sort of way. MGoBlog also has a excerpt of today's ESPN chat where Herbstreit clears the air and addresses the hoopla.
And, so it begins...