Ohio State in control of its own destiny after impressive win vs. Miami

So the critics will say that Ohio State should have beaten Miami by four touchdowns on Saturday, rather than the 12 point differential that was the game's actual final result.  They will say Terrelle Pryor was inefficient, completing under 50% of his passes and almost throwing a couple of picks.  And then there is the continual bashing of head coach Jim Tressel, whom they will say is directly responsible for letting Miami back in the game with his conservative gameplan.  Fact of the matter is, Ohio State was rather impressive in its win Saturday, scoring 36 points against a Miami team that was believed to have much more speed than its Buckeye counterparts.  Pryor played well for the second time against a big school opponent, throwing two touchdowns, running for another td, and accounting for more than 300 of Ohio State's 414 total yards on offense.  And that doesn't even take into account that Pryor, by the way, did not throw any interceptions.  Ohio State's defense also shined brightly Saturday, holding to Miami to only 10 points if you don't count the to special teams returns that Miami had that led to touchdowns.  And for all the bellyaching about Tressel, Ohio State has won its eighth straight game dating back to October of last season, including its second straight win against a top 15 ranked non-conference opponent.  Bottom line is that Ohio State now controls its own destiny in its pursuit of the BCS national championship game.  If the Buckeyes can win out from here on out they are in the nc game.  And based on my observations of how they played Saturday, they have a pretty good chance to do just that.

O-H-I-O!!!! Buckeyes open 2010 by stampeding over the Herd

Turns out that the only thing in doubt yesterday was whether I was going to get off work in time to see the opening kickoff of Ohio State's season opener versus Marshall.  At the end of the day (or the end of my workday, to be more precise), even that wasn't in question as the supervisors at Cardinal Health called the shift at almost exactly 5:30 pm and I made it to see opening kickoff.  It was a thing of beauty, unless you were a Marshall fan, as there happened to be one sitting in my section amongst a sea of scarlet and gray.  He spent the whole game yelling expletives at everyone, his own team, the refs, Ohio State players. But I digress.  Coach Tressel seemed to open up the playbook last night, much to the delight of the more than 105,000 fans in attendance, but such a lopsided score (45-7 was the final) begs the question: how bad was Marshall?  Certainly they're not as good as next weeks opponent, Miami(Fla), but then again they can't be as bad as the Hurricanes, opposition, Florida A&M, whom Miami also ended up routing (45-0). So the Buckeyes will have their hands full next week at the 'Shoe.  There were several good things that came out of this contest, first and foremost the evolution of Terelle Pryor: he seemed to have maintained the poise and swagger he had in the Rose Bowl, and he looked comfortable running what appeared to be more of a pro-style offense, even taking more than a few snaps from directly under center.  We all know Devier Posey has speed as well, but Dane Sanzenbacher (sp) showed he can be a downfield threat as well.  And Herron and Saine provided an effective one two punch at the running back position.  The bad: unless Herron and Saine had wide open holes to run through (and I mean wide open) neither got much on the ground.  That needs to be worked on, as I am not sure they are going to find that kind of real estate against Miami.  Additionally, while the defense was on for most of the night, let's not forget Marshall looked like it was playing scared, and I doubt Miami receivers make the drops that some of the Herd players were making.  Then there was Ohio State special teams.  Well I won't go into detail only to say they did a nice job forcing a fumble on the opening kickoff, and other than that they have a lot to work on for next week.
  All in all it was a great game, the first night game I have ever been to at the Shoe.  It was an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.  The crowd was electric from the start and did not let up, even after OSU got up 42-7; it seemed as if school was already in session, even if classes don't start until the end of this month.  And my buddy pointed out to me something I never noticed because I had never been to a night game before: near the north endzone scoreboard they had lit up all seven years that OSU had won a national championship.  And I left the game last night feeling as if I had been a part of something special, and, just maybe, that this season OSU could indeed bring home number eight.

OSU-Michigan in different divisions?!!! The Game moved to October?!!! Oh the horrors!!!

  Recently there has been much ado made regarding the potential move of "The Game", that is the OSU vs. Michigan football game to October, and the potential separation of the two schools into different divisions within the Big Ten.  There seems to be a widespread consensus among Ohio State fans that either move is sacreligious; among Michigan fans...wait, does anyone really care what Michigan fans think? Just kidding, I know you guys are actually more concerned that Rich Rod deserves a lifetime contract if he can beat Notre Dame again this year while going sub-500 in the Big Ten. I'm joking! Lighten up.  Even Hitler seems to be weighing in on the subject of the Big Ten realignment and how it will affect OSU and Michigan, albeit posthumously: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/8153883/21627589.   This is a big deal. Or is it?  Decades of tradition to go by the wayside because of the almighty dollar.  But does this necessarily have to be a bad thing? I mean c'mon people, they said the addition of Penn State would never fly, yet here they stand today as a pillar of the conference.  So while there might be many grumblings by OSU and Michigan supporters that the athletic directors of those respective schools have sold out, it might also be possible they are on to the start of something big.
    Detractors of the realignment plan will say that moving the game to October reduces its importance in the conference schedule, thereby lessening the relevance that the game has had for more than half a century.  Supporters of Ohio State would argue that the Michigan game not only has proven who is the conference champ more than any other game, but it is also an effective barometer as to how far their team has progressed(or regressed) that year. Of course Michigan fans, having had to endure their team losing five straight season finales to the Buckeyes recently, might relish the chance to play OSU at the beginning of October, as it appears the Wolverines have started a trend of peaking right around mid-October.   Even those fans might be considered in the minority, as I would have to believe that many UM fans are still fond of Bo(Schembechler) and Bo would have wanted "The Game" played as the season finale as well.  Placing Ohio State and Michigan in the same Big Ten division allows for the rivalry to remain intact as it has been for quite some time.
  Proponents of the realignment argue that, Michigan's current ineptness (sorry UM fans, haha) notwithstanding, Ohio State and Michigan have historically been the two best teams in the conference, and it is only fair that they be split in such a manner that allows them to compete for the Big Ten Title at the end of the season. The thinking here is that, if OSU and Michigan are the two best teams, then by playing each other at the end of the season one will eliminate the other, and thus the Big Ten Championship will not be decided by no.1 vs. no.2.  There is also the added bonus of a potential second matchup between the schools each year should they be in different divisions; while purists would argue once is enough I can't believe that too many OSU fans would argue beating Michigan twice a year would get boring.
  So, having heard the pros and cons of the conference realignment, where exactly does that leave us? I myself am a firm supporter of conference realignment.  There is something to be said for tradition, for sure; the potential change in the OSU-Michigan dynamic initially led me to be opposed to the thought of Big Ten expansion. However, aren't old traditions supposed to eventually give way to new ones?  When we learned that we could cover great distances faster in a fuel-injected automobile, did we still want to travel by horse and buggy? This may take some getting used to, and no one said conference expansion would be easy.  But, at the end of the day, I believe if the Big Ten does separate Ohio State and Michigan into different divisions, not only will it re-energize the rivalry it will help put the conference on equal footing with that league down south I will refrain from mentioning.

NFL's Rookie Salary Problem. It needs fixed. Now

  So you think Sam Bradford has the tools to be the next Tom Brady.  Wanna bet on it?  How about if we bet $50? No? How about $50million? What's that? You think I'm crazier than John Rocker? Every, year, however, a few NFL owners wager close to that amount that guys like Bradford will indeed turn out to be the next Peyton Manning, even before they have taken one NFL snap.  The St. Louis Rams made such a wager on Bradford himself this year, making him the highest paid rookie in history.  So what's the big deal?  The big deal is that for every Peyton Manning, there are 10 players like Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, or Akili Smith, guys who are rated as potential perennial pro bowlers who never make it more than two or three years as starters. And that can be a very risky wager indeed, especially to a team such as the Rams, who once were considered annual Super Bowl contenders, but now are regulated to the ranks of cellar dwellers.  For it only takes one torn acl to not only ruin the career of Sam Bradford, but along with that goes the 50 million dollars the Rams could have used to on other players to make themselves a legitimate playoff contender.  I would argue that guaranteed money for rookies should be eliminated altogether, and I am probably not alone in this.(Just for fun, next time you go to a job interview, if the employer decides to hire you, demand that you be given $100,000 guaranteed for your first year in addition to your base salary or you're not showing up for work. I've heard it can do wonders to jump start your career ha ha.)   Roger Goodell said during his visit to the Cleveland Browns training camp that the rookie pay scale would be revisited, but did not explain what he meant by that.  I say the first order of business the owners have in the new cba is to redo the whole rookie pay scale.  It's just not a wise decision for owners to be throwing huge sums of money in front of players who have not played a single down of pro ball.  The New York Jets have labeled Darelle Revis as selfish for holding out, but unlike the rookies that entered the league in April's draft, Revis has only been one of the top corners in the league for the last two years.  Compare that with Cleveland rookie defensive back Joe Haden of Florida, who recently signed a contract that will pay him $50 million, including $12 million of that guaranteed this season.  Haden might be the next Revis, heck, he might end up being better than Deion Sanders when it's all said and done.   However, should Cleveland really have to front 12 million dollars just to find out?  That might be a costly decision for any other business, and it is a lesson that NFL owners should take heed of now before they learn it the hard way down the road.

Columbus's Arena Problem?

On the way to the Clippers game the other day, my father brought up an interesting point as I confirmed that Huntington Park was indeed in the Arena District in Downtown Columbus.  He said that it was totally unnecessary for Columbus to have two separate arenas, Nationwide for the Columbus Blue Jackets ice hockey team, and Value City Arena for the Ohio State men's and women's basketball teams.  I explained to him that the reason this was so was that even though the state owned Value City Arena, Nationwide Arena was privately owned(I thought by the McConnell family, turns out it is actually owned by Nationwide Insurance, they did not just lend the name.)  However, is it really necessary for Columbus to have two distinct arenas, even if they are owned by two separate groups? Columbus is no more than a mid major city, and even in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Clippers share the Staples center with the Lakers.  Surely the Blue Jackets do not sell out more than the Lakers do, and even though Nationwide Arena holds events during the ice hockey offseason it is fair to say that for more than 200 (maybe 250) days per year the arena is empty.  Value City Arena, on the other hand, sells out far less, and I hate to say it, but it might not sell out at all during women's home games.  In some instances its operating costs might exceed the revenue it brings in.  But that only brings us back to the issue of ownership.  While the Schott(as it is also known) was built on taxpayer dollars for use by Ohio State, Nationwide Arena primarily serves Columbus only professional franchise.   But isn't there a way Nationwide could host both Blue Jacket and Ohio State games?  I think the answer is yes, and the state of Ohio could tear down Value City Arena and give the taxpayers some of their money back.  Until that happens though, Columbus will forever be known as the only city in America not large enough for two professional sports franchises but apparently large enough for two indoor sporting arenas.  What a dubious distinction.

Take me out to the ballgame...

This afternoon I had the distinct pleasure of attending a Columbus Clippers game in their new ballpark, Huntington Park, for the first time with my younger brother Trent, my father, Victor and my nephew, AJ, aka Victor the third.  All in all it was a great experience, and I will never forget some things that have been replaced since the Clippers used to play at Cooper Stadium: there is no longer the "Columbus Clippers ring your bell" chant, instead it's "Columbus Clippers...our team, our town(I know that's been around for a while, but bear (sp) with me as I said before, this is the first Clippers game I have been to in a while), the players have their own theme songs (I found it particularly ironic that catcher Lou Marson's was TNT by AC/DC as it appeared he had the lowest batting average of the whole team, but maybe he's just in a slump), and there were several mascot races today I found rather amusing.  The $3 hotdog and $8 cup of beer tasted like...well...any other hot dog or cup of beer I guess.  It was my nephew's second baseball game(as he continually reminded me), although his first in Columbus, Ohio, and I think he really enjoyed himself as well.  He had a hotdog, a large soda, ice cream dots, and some cotton candy, although I should have known he wasn't going to finish the cotton candy the moment I bought it for him, seeing as how at 6 years of age his stomach is a lot smaller than mine.  It really helped that the weather had cooled off somewhat before the start of the game; I had half expected us to be so hot we would have left in the second inning, but we ended up staying til the top of the eighth.
  As for the action on the field, the Clippers started as very gracious hosts to the visting Pawtucket team, spotting them an early 2-0 lead.  The turning point came in the fourth inning, when the Clippers scored 4 runs, capped by a base clearing double by designated hitter Jordan Brown.  Columbus' pitching seemed to hold up decent, but I am still puzzled as to why they pulled starter Hector Carrasco so early when he only had given up 2 runs on two hits.  Who knows, maybe the Indians are getting ready to call him up and this was just a warmup.  More interesting to me was the appearance of middle reliever Jeremy Sowers, who was the first to spell Carrasco, who just last season had been a starter for the Indians.  I guess I should follow Cleveland a little more, but lately the only team from that city I have had any interest in is the Browns.  Has always been my favortie pro team and will always be my favorite pro team.  But I digress.  The Clippers put on a valiant effort, and my first trip to the new stadium was a victory.  Maybe one day I will be reading about Jose Constanza or Luis Valbuena or Nick Welgarz making an impact for the Cleveland Indians as they battle for the playoffs, but today it was good just to see them lead the hometown Clippers to a win.  As the saying goes..Columbus Clippers...our team, our town.

Browns' Wallace Plan? Expect to see an expanded role for Seneca

As 2010 NFL training camps open this week, a big question that remains unanswered is how will the Cleveland Browns handle their quarterback situation.  Right now it appears that former Carolina Panther Jake Delhomme is entrenched as the starter (as evidenced by the 7 million dollar contract Cleveland signed him to during the offseason) with Seneca Wallace and rookie Colt McCoy nos. 2 and 3 on the depth chart, respectively.  But could there be a possibitly that Wallace is more than just a backup to Delhomme?  There has already been talk about using Wallace in the Browns' new wildcat formation, dubbed the 'cyclone' because that was the nickname of Wallace's alma mater, Iowa State.  The Browns have not openly stated how often they will use the cyclone, but one would have to assume they would at least consider it an option should the offense stall on consecutive drives.  The athleticism and accuracy of Wallace, who in five years as a backup at Seattle threw for a near 60% completion rate, also suggest that he could on occasion spell Delhomme for a series or two. Cleveland has not hinted at a quarterback platoon, although coach Eric Mangini has said he likes what both (Wallace and Delhomme) bring to the positiom, but such a move would almost be unprecedented.  There are concerns about Wallace's size(at 5-11 and 205, he's considered small for the position) but he is not really that much smaller than Drew Brees (6-0, 209).  There are several advantages to having a quarterback platoon: a)it keeps the defense guessing as to who they will have to face, b) it allows the starter two consecutive series to rest and compose himself, and c)it allows the offense to play at two different speeds.  The biggest question mark that a quarterback platoon would bring is the possible disruption of offensive chemistry, although I believe that at times the term chemistry is more a myth created by the media to scare the weak minded, sort of like a jedi-mind trick.  And while for the time being this is Eric Mangini's team to coach, we have already seen the influence team president Mike Holmgren has had on the offense, first with the drafting of Colt McCoy, and then with him bringing in his former offensive coordinator in Seattle, Gil Haskell, to serve as an advisor to Browns' OC Brian Daboll.  Holmgren hand picked Wallace to be the backup in Seattle, and now he has brought him to Cleveland to help infuse some life into an offense that was ranked almost dead last in the NFL in 2009.