Archives for September 2006

Lydell Ross fumbles sells his ring

OSU FootballLydell Ross RingIt has been brought to our attention that Lydell Ross, the former RB at OSU (2001-2004) who made everyone but Indiana’s defense look good, has decided to put his 2002 National Championship ring up for auction on eBay (auction link) (h/t: O-Zone Forums). We’re puzzled here at MotSaG as to why Lydell would sell off this beautiful piece of OSU Football memorabilia. We’re not even sure Lydell himself is selling the ring but it’s still odd to see it show up on eBay, of all places. With little more than simple guess work, we’ve assembled a handful of reasons why the ring is up for grabs:

  • It was found in a bathroom stall at Pure Platinum, under a pile of crumpled coupons that read “Pure Plantanium.”
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  • Lydell wanted to help out his buddy [HWSNBN] and decided to donate to his legal defense fund.
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  • Ex-OSU lineman Nick Mangold had a boil on his back lanced and the ring fell out.
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  • It was upsetting his body’s balance, aggravating his chronic turf toe.
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  • Being a punching bag for the Bengals and Chargers never paid very well.

Hopefully Lydell’s situation isn’t so dire that he needs to sell his hardware, but if anyone is willing to donate $6000+ to MotSaG, we’ll gladly ensure it has a safe resting place.

One final note: How cool is it that OSU put the 2002 OSU/UM score on their national championship ring? (OSU – 14, UM – 9.) Now that’s a rivalry.

Blogpoll Ballot, Week #4

Rank Team Delta
1 Ohio State
2 Auburn 1
3 Southern Cal 1
4 West Virginia
5 Florida 2
6 Michigan 3
7 Louisville 6
8 Texas
9 Georgia 3
10 Virginia Tech 1
11 Louisiana State 6
12 Iowa 2
13 Oregon 2
14 TCU 5
15 Notre Dame 9
16 Tennessee
17 Cal 5
18 Arizona State 8
19 Oklahoma 5
20 Clemson 6
21 Boston College 5
22 Michigan State 4
23 Nebraska 5
24 Rutgers
25 Penn State 4

Dropped Out: Florida State (#17), Miami (Florida) (#20), Texas Tech (#23), Alabama (#25).


Some thoughts:

There’s still a little settling going on, now that we’re three weeks into the season. LSU took a tumble out of the top 10, as did Notre Dame (falling even further) while Louisville and TCU took advantage of their fall. I found it interesting that Tennessee didn’t move in our ballot after their lost to Florida. I guess none of us were sold on them after struggling against Air Force. Florida State and Miami fell out completely and probably won’t be back for a long time. How the mighty have fallen.

MotSaG featured on CSTV’s WebWatch

It’s a couple of weeks late, but we were waiting patiently for CSTV to post the video on its website.

CSTV’s Crystal Ball featured one of our recent posts that discussed the issue of fewer stats due to the new time rules.

We were quite geeked that CSTV gave us the attention. I’ll admit, though, it’s kinda odd to have Trev Alberts making comments on things that you have written. I picture him printing out our post, making notes in the margins, preparing comments for the taped show. Then I imagine him clicking through the rest of our site, and seeing that we’ve called him Mrs. Mark May, had him embedded in a laundry cart of jockstraps, and had Tressnac use him as fodder for one of his classic insults. Makes me feel warm inside.

You can find the video here. The segment begins at the 2:35 time mark (you may have to endure a short commercial first).

[HWSNBN] has plead guilty…..

It’s 3 1/2 years for HWSNBN.

Link

Now do you get it?

FootballWhat’s wrong with this graphic?

BCS banner

Yes, it’s the banner from the BCS main site. Look closer:

bcsBannerIcons.png

Ahh.. the BCS conference icons. Don’t see the problem yet? Let’s move in closer…

bcsBannerIconsCloseup.png

By now, 99% of you know what’s wrong here. For the remaining 1% (i.e., those visiting MotSaG from ESPN domains), I’ll highlight it for you:

bcsBannerNDlarge.png

Please understand that I’m not anti-Notre Dame. I’m just anti-favoritism. As a college football fan, it disturbs me when a team gets rewarded for mediocrity, simply because they have good marketing and legal departments.

Kudos to Big Blue, not only for taking the Irish to the woodshed, but also for embarrassing the sports pundits in the major media who have been slobbering over Weis & co. Apparently, OSU’s beatdown of the same team in the Fiesta Bowl wasn’t good enough.

What I worry about now is a situation where a one-loss ND team sneaks into the championship mix over a more deserving team. For example, if OSU and West Virginia go undefeated, will the BCS find a way to bump WVA out of the championship game so it can give the Irish a shot at the title?

Or what if WVA goes undefeated, but OSU, Auburn, USC, and the Irish end up with one loss? Of course that would mean that the Irish beat USC in a high-profile game at the end of the season. Would that be enough to jump them over Auburn and OSU, even though those teams are light-years ahead of Notre Dame?

Again, to reiterate: I’m not anti-ND. But consider, for a moment, all 100-plus teams represented by these icons…

bcsBannerNoND.png

ND plays the same game as all of them, but gets to use different rules, and doesn’t even attempt to justify it by being dominant or anything.

So what’s my solution? Let’s bring ND into the Big Te(leve)n. We’ll be happy to give them Illinois’ spot (we’ll just send the Illini down to I-AA). They play UM every year anyway, and can schedule USC in the preseason. Let’s see how good Weis really is with annual matchups against Carr, Carroll, Paterno, and Tressel.

You know – make ’em earn respect, like everyone else has to do.

Thoughts from Week #3

FootballSome thoughts and reactions from Week #3 (aka Win or Die Week). The Big Ten finally flexed its muscles a little more than last week. Sure, Penn State whacked around the 1-AA Youngstown Penguins and Illinois and Indiana lost (we don’t claim them, but no one else will take them) but the rest of the Big Ten looked stronger. Thanks go to Michigan for embarassing Notre Dame and Charlie Weis on their own TV station. That sure was fun to watch.

I didn’t get to see as much of the LSU vs. Auburn but both teams looked solid. It sure seemed like there was a lot more offense than the 7-3 score.

How is Larry Coker still coaching at Miami? He was another embarassment this week. How much longer before they rehire Butch Davis? The Card Report has some words of warning for teams that disrespect the Logo.

Michigan spanks Notre Dame, the M-Zone and MGoBlog explode. Now that Weis has lost to a top team again, can we stop calling him a genius? I think it’s time to put that to bed. Manningham and the Michigan defense looked pretty darn good. Who was soft again? Unfortunately for Quinn, he didn’t do much to bolster his Heisman chances. He looked lost out there at times.

I see that Texas decided that, after getting smacked around in the deep end by the big boys, they’d go over to the kiddie pool and beat up the second grader with the arm floaties. Good job.

A lot of good football today. The Blogpoll will definitely get a serious reshuffling this week. My top 5 looks like:

1. Ohio State (duh)
2. Auburn (had them here since preseason)
3. USC (still strong)
4. West Virginia (Slaton is fast)
5. Florida

MotSaG Roundtable – Cincinnati

OSU FootballThe Bearcats gave it their best, and caught OSU a bit flat today. The game reminded me of last year’s post-Texas game, when SDSU caught the Bucks in a post-Horns haze and jumped out to an early lead.

And just like last year, after the one Cinci drive, the Bucks defense took over. Eight sacks today – that’s awesome against a team with a QB as fast and mobile as Grutza. The Little Animal was stellar again, and Pitcock finally stepped up and had his name called several times. Aside from the one drive, it was a classic OSU defensive “bend but don’t break” shutdown.

The Bucks’ offense wasn’t really threatened by Cincinnati, but kept shooting itself in the foot. Way too many penalties today. Coach Bollman said Thursday’s practice was “pathetic,” and it showed. Dropped passes, hesitation, and an overall lack of intensity in the first half may cut it against Cinci, but it better not happen now that OSU is starting Big Te(leven) play.

More analysis later.

Yankees to sever ties with the Clippers?

Columbus ClippersThe AP is reporting that the New York Yankees are planning to drop the Columbus Clippers as their farm team.

For the past several decades, most of the talent dressing in New York pinstripes came from the triple-A Clippers.

It’s interesting timing. The Clippers, once the biggest draw in the minor leagues, are building a brand new stadium in Columbus’s Arena district (near Nationwide Arena). Popularity with the triple-A club is sure to spike during and after the construction of the new $55 million stadium. This should make the search for a new MLB affiliate much easier.

Fan affiliation, however, will probably suffer. Columbus is in an odd place when it comes to MLB. It’s geographically right in between the Reds and the Indians, and the fans are split accordingly. Further complicating matters has been the rivalry between the Indians and the Yankees. Do we support the Ohio team, or do we support the Yankees because those players started on the farm team here in Columbus?

With this move, the latter issue will probably go away, and we’ll be back to splitting loyalties between the Reds and Indians. (Well, whatever little loyalty is left after Columbus’s required Buckeye obsession, that is.)

Week #3 – Cincinnati – Open Thread

OSU FootballRemember last year, after the heart-breaking lost to Texas, when San Diego State came into the ‘Shoe, took the first play 80 yards for a TD, and everyone was thinking “What just happened?” Yeah, I don’t think that’s happening this year. There will be no hangover.

Cincinnati comes into Columbus 1-1, their victory coming over 1-AA Eastern Kentucky and losing to Pitt. Not the most impressive credentials. In the past, Ohio teams have come into Columbus with in-state players that have big chips on their shoulders, having been passed over by Ohio State. This would sometimes lead to games that were closer than they should be, but this year that will not be the case. The Bearcats are going to be over-powered by the Buckeyes talent, speed, and depth. Pity the Bearcats.

This game presents the coaching staff with a good chance to get a lot of reps for a lot of players. The game should be well in hand by the middle of the second quarter, allowing for the starters to get a breather before Big Ten play starts and let some other players get somewhat meaningful game time. It should also give the defense time to work on fundamental things like tackling and stopping the run. Cinci’s rushing attack is not very good, so the Buckeyes won’t be tested by it, but they still need to work on shedding blockers, form tackling and getting penetration. This game should be an excellent opportunity to do that.

The O-Zone has a preview and prediction of 38-0. This game is going to be ugly, people. Vegas has the Buckeyes favored by 29.5. I doubt Tressel will run the score up on Dantonio, but I predict the defense will score once, as well as on special teams, so the Buckeyes could easily cover the spread.

So how bad is going to be? What’s your prediction? How about a couple more predictions to make:

How many tackles will John Kerr record? (o/u at 1)

How many rushing yards do the Buckeyes hold the Bearcats to? (o/u at 40)

Which non-starter has the best day?

How long until the game is “over” (i.e. the Buckeyes are in cruise control)?

el Kaiser’s predictions:
Final Score: Ohio State: 41 Cincinnati: 0

John Kerr’s tackles: under, 0.5 (another assist)
Cinci’s rushing yards: under, 28
Best backup: Maurice Wells (after Tressel puts it in cruise control, Maurice will eat up chunks of yards as we run the ball all over Cinci)
By the third possesion, the game will be over and the score will be 28-0 (OSU will have scored either on defense or special teams)

Zeke’s Predictions:
Final Score: Ohio State: 37 Cincinnati: 6

John Kerr’s tackles: over, 1.5

I am giving Kerr the benefit of the doubt since he is listed atop the depth chart this week and should get some playing time; however, I would completely agree with Pfef’s analysis of John Kerr’s non-existent presence so far this year.

Cinci’s rushing yards: over, 53
Best backup: Kaiser, good choice with one of the two Wells’ at running back, I predict Lawrence Wilson will have a good game. Mark it down, 1.5 sacks for Wilson.
Game “Over”: The Buckeyes will take a 21-0 lead with 3:53 left in the first quarter, cruising to a 37-6 victory. Bring on the Big Ten.

sportsMonkey’s predictions:
Final Score: Ohio State: 52 Cincinnati: 3

John Kerr’s tackles: under, 0.5 (another assist)
Cinci’s rushing yards: under, 12
Best backup: Toss-up between Beanie or Robo (Chris Wells or Bryan Robiskie – assuming Robo doesn’t start in the slot).
When is game over: When Cinci gets off the bus.

Comments: Finding it hard to get excited for this game – it’s been a tough week. The Texas hype burnt me out a bit, and this week’s practice scrimmage against the Bearcats isn’t enough to get me fired up. I’ll still watch the game, but this weekend is all about LSU/Auburn, ND/UM, and USC/Nebraska. By Monday, we should have a pretty definitive idea of which five or six teams will compete for the two slots in the BCS championship game this year.

Slow posting this week

We have had a light posting week due to a lot of reasons, but mainly because we’ve been pretty content after the big victory in Austin. That being said, we’ve got some things in the pipeline and we’re all getting excited about “Seperation Saturday” (or as I like to call it “Win or DIE Saturday”).

  • We don’t really have a an in-depth analysis from the Texas game. Keith at Buckeye Commentary has that covered.
  • Even though we won’t be analyzing the Texas game too much, I took a look at the running game and found some interesting stats. I’ll have something up on that later.
  • I know it was cathartic to watch the Buckeye’s loss to Texas be avenged in convicing fashion, but whoever made this video Jeff is just being mean.
  • Men of the Scarlet and Gray were featured on CSTV’s Web Watch last week. The sportsMonkey has a copy of it, hopefully we’ll have it online soon.
  • For some strange reason, I’ve been thinking about Kellen Winslow Jr. and his maturation lately. I’m not really sure why, as I’ve never been a big fan of his. It’s been weird. More on that later.