You most likely didn’t miss it, but just in case…

2011 NFL Draft Recap: A lot of people were saying how amazing it was that Tressel won 11 games with just one first rounder. While I think that’s a little short sighted (there will probably be 2 or 3 first rounders next season) but it does make you think. Tressel doesn’t get enough respect. (And that sentence would have been A LOT easier to type (and defend) just 3 months ago.)

It’s always bitter sweet to see a beloved Buckeye go to the Hated Pittsburgh Steelers, but it was great to see Cameron Heyward get the call in the first round, even if it was to the Steelers. It will be nice to see him get to work with former Buckeye Dick LeBeau. The next to go was Chimdi Chekwa to Oakland in the fourth round. Jermale Hines to Rams. Ross Homan to the Vikings in the sixth round is going to work out well for Minnesota and Brian Rolle is headed to the city of Brotherly Love (and Morimoto) that same round.

We’ll add our incredulous voice that Dane Sanzenbacher went undrafted and we’re beginning a letter writing campaign to the Cleveland Browns HQ up in Berea to sign his as an undrafted free agent post-haste.

OH! Almost forgot: Lawrence Wilson went in the second round of the UFL draft to Las Vegas.

Dorian Bell: When it rains, it pours. I don’t even know what else to say.

Speaking of suspended linebackers: Oregon is having their issues, too. Alonso should be fine, though. I’ve heard SEC schools have a thing for Oregon criminals.

BEE ONE GEE! BEE ONE GEE! The Big Ten is the premier player development conference going to the NFL.

Oh and Herbie leaves Twitter — he did know he could block people, right? Someone showed him that feature?

I’ve had a few days to mull on the topic (read: I was lazy in getting this post up over the weekend and then fell into a food coma on Easter Sunday) so these may seem disjointed, but maybe being a few days removed from the Spring Game will do good.

Let’s just jump right into the bullets:

• Some might not like the comparison but I thought Braxton Miller looked like a young Donovan McNabb. Very similar shape and build, with quick feet and good at changing directions. He also looks strong and compact. I think he’s going to do just fine behind center in Ohio State’s offense. He’ll be the starter by the Miami game.
• If I had to rank the QB’s base on their performance, I would say Miller, Taylor Graham, Kenny Guiton, the waterboy, Brutus, the last guy to dot the I and Joe Bauserman. Sorry, Joe. I love the guy, he has put in his time to be a Buckeye but I just can’t see him leading this team to a 4-1 or even 3-2 start.

  Which means, of course, he’ll be the starter, no questions asked.

• T. Y. Williams has to be the most intriguing new guy to me. His size has me dreaming of a 2011 version of another tall, lanky wide receiver. (I feel the Holy Spirit every time I watch that clip.)
• On defense, there weren’t a lot of surprises to me. It’s nice to know that once again Ohio State will be fielding another defensive line. That line is going to be fine, anchored by John Simon in the middle and Nathan Williams on the edge. And of course we all love Hungry Hungry Hankins. They are going to be called upon early and often to keep us in games.
• Linebackers? Yeah, we got them. We are Linebacker U, after all. While I was impressed with Etienne Sabino,
  who seemed to be around the ball everywhere the ball was, Jordan Whiting really surprised me. He seemed to have a second and third gear and was flying everywhere. Very silver-bullety.

I’ll bring the poll back for this post, with Braxton currently in the lead. What did you see in the Spring Game that has you anxious? Excited?

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(if you’re reading this in a feed reader, you’ll have to come to the site to participate in the poll)

We’ve got some late Spring Game observations, but in the meantime, a little poll: Who impressed you the most with their performance in the Spring Game?

If you don’t see your choice listed, feel free to add them in the comments.

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Luke Fickell was promotoed to Assistant Head Coach has been named the interim Head Football Coach while Jim Tressel serves his five game suspension at the beginning of the 2011 season this fall.

From Ohio State Buckeyes dot com:

Luke Fickell has been promoted to assistant head coach for Ohio State football, Gene Smith, associate vice president and director of athletics, announced today. In that role, he will serve as interim head coach for the first five games of the Buckeyes’ 2011 season. He will also retain his role as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

“Luke Fickell is a Buckeye to the core. He has earned this promotion to assistant head coach through his hard work, dedication and performance,” said Smith. “ We have great trust and belief in Luke’s ability to work with our entire coaching staff to lead our young men through the first five games this fall. I have confidence our entire football family will work together to maintain our standard of excellence.”

We have to think this is going to be a working interview for Fickell, right? I mean I know that everyone is basically pencilling in Urban Meyer to replace Tressel at the end of his run, but Luke Fickell seems to be a rising star and I don’t think too many fans would be upset with him as the head coach in waiting.

There was a lot talked about at the Spring Press Conference. Lots of Tressel Senator-speak (both from Tressel himself and from Fickell). The O-Zone has a good recap by Brandon Castel. They also have snap shot of the spring roster up at their site.

After Jon Diebler hit a three-pointer at the top of the key with about thirty seconds left to go to tie the game against the Kentucky Wildcats 60 to 60, the glimmer of hope that had only seconds before been briefly snuffed was shining brightly again. Then, as Kentucky freshman Brandon Knight floated in the air, over the challenging outstretched arm of freshman Aaron Craft, I felt like Switch in The Matrix moments before having her plugged pulled. “Not like this.”

“Not like this.”

Then, almost as if Hollywood itself had written the script, Craft, Buford and Diebler raced down the court trying to catch Kentucky on their heels. The pass went over to Buford and a he had a fairly open look right at the rim. And, just like all night long, the iron was no kind to Buford as the shot clanged off the rim and time expired. Just like that, it was over.

It’s cliche to say, but on that day, Kentucky came to play. They had a defensive game plan and it bothered the Buckeyes all game long. Literally. Their length was a distinct advantage and the hands contesting every shot were super effective. The decision to man up Jared Sullinger with Harrelson was risky but the guy they call “Jorts” played out of his mind (and occasionally all over Sully’s head) and the plan worked out. Defense was something that the Buckeyes had quietly hung their hard hats on but it was the Kentucky defense and their ability to stay out of foul trouble in the second half that did the Buckeyes in this night.

I hope no MotSaG’ers are down on Buford after this game. Yes, he struggled all night and never found his rhythm. But it’s not all on him. His body of work speaks for itself. He has been a model Buckeye for three years and a shooter’s got to keep shooting. How picture perfect and fitting it would have been if that final shot had gone in. But it didn’t and no one should blame Buford for the loss. There were multiple chances for the Buckeyes to pull away and they didn’t take advantage of them. So LEAVE BUFORD ALONE.

Finally, there is a lot to be excited about for the future. Both Aaron Craft and Jared Sullinger played great. Two solid freshmen getting that kind of tournament experience can only lead to big things for the years to come. Especially if they’re joined by Buford next season.

This team was a blast to watch, one of my favorites of all time. It’s such a shame it had to end like this.

I know we’re just a couple hours to the Buckeyes’ Sweet Sixteen battle against the University of Kentucky but I wanted to take a moment to discuss the spiraling-out-of-control story of the Jim Tressel and Tat-5 Scandal.

As I’m sure all of you know, early this morning the Dispatch reported that Jim Tressel had forwarded on the emails he received back in April on to a Pennsylvania businessman and Terrelle Pryor acquaintance Ted Sarniak.

When Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel learned last spring that some of his current players were in trouble, he shared the information with someone he thought could help his star quarterback even though he said he didn’t tell his bosses.

The businessman in question was described as a mentor to Terrelle Pryor and was Pryor’s contact during his recruitment. I’m not sure the full depth of that relationship is known beyond that.

The sports world exploded with another round of trashing Jim Tressel, making these “new” allegations gasoline to the blaze that is the destruction of Jim Tressel. You could literally hear the sounds of glee and joy from the Stewart Mandels and Dennis Dodds of their world as they banged out as much vitriol and black hate they could muster from the Ivory Punditry Towers in the Sky. I only took one slight glance before I had to look away.

Now that I’ve had a little time to mull this over and have some good chats with my MotSaG cohorts SYR and the sportsMonkey I feel like I can put some words done about my take on the situation. (Please note I’ve been mostly on a media black-out on all things Scandal related, but I saw the chatter on Twitter and I know how fans of other teams are treating this. It’s Christmas for every Buckeye hater out there. And believe me, they are Legion. I haven’t even been to my favorite Buckeye sites to see their take. I’ve taken solace in my own thoughts.) This is purely my opinion and my take on the facts of the matter. It will be clear that I fall firmly in the “Tressel Apologist” camp.

First off, let’s address the misconception that this is new “news.” Everyone thinks this is the first time the NCAA is learning about this and that this will cause the Hammer of Subjective Justice to come down harder than before on Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football Program. Nothing could be further from reality. Anyone with a half-functioning brain and a minimal grip on reality would realize that one of the first questions the NCAA would ask Jim Tressel, as soon as they were engaged in this investigation, would be “did you forward these emails to anyone?”

We have to assume there was no misdirection, no subterfuge on the part of either Tressel or Gene Smith. If they were serious about getting this all out in the open, that kind of information would have been readily made known to all parties involved.

In the Self-Report, with regard to any further dissemination of this information, it’s is specifically and carefully worded to show that he didn’t forward these emails to anyone within the Football Program, the Athletic department or the “Institution” as a whole. That is all and nothing else. It says nowhere, one way or the other, that these emails were or were not forwarded to any third parties. So to claim that the NCAA was “lied” to in the OSU Self-Report is simply as misunderstanding of the facts and wrong.

The next accusation against Tressel was his wording of his press conference speech. He said that due to the “confidential” nature of emails he did not think it was prudent to inform anyone of this information. He claimed that the nature of the investigation and his desire to not interfere guided his actions. Stated as such, it is necessary to TAKE HIM AT HIS WORD. So those pundits who are jumping all over this assertion are claiming, “How could Tressel claim confidentiality if he had sent these emails to this Pennsylvania businessman?! Where’s the confidentiality in that?!” They were outraged. Outraged! Tressel owed these mouth-breathers something and they demanded it in full.

But let’s step back for a minute and think of it this way: This Ted Sarniak guy, he obviously has a relationship with Pryor. I don’t know the extent of the relationship, but let’s assume it is on a level deeper than just “acquaintances.” Describing him as a mentor would lead an able-minded fellow to make that assumption. What if it’s on the level on a father-figure? This person factored heavily in Pryor’s recruitment and would therefore be familiar with Tressel and Tressel would be privy to the nature of their relationship. So Tressel, faced with information that could be potentially dangerous to Pryor’s well being, decided that this person, this confidant of Pryor, should be alerted to the situation. This communication would be private and confidential and we have to assume that Tressel made that known. He let Sarniak know, in confidence, that Pryor could be in some deep stuff. So he did not, in fact, breach any confidential barriers with regard to this information. He felt that someone close to Pryor needed to be made aware of it.

Now, if this Ted Sarniak guy turns out to be something more, some form of booster or someone that isn’t on the up-and-up, this looks even worse. The house of cards will definitely tumble and things will get bad, very bad, before they get better.

In the end, I am still defending Jim Tressel. I think I am in the minority here, even among Buckeye fans. But recognize I know that the things he did were wrong and his mismanaged the situation. He had information he should have acted on. He didn’t and he should be punished accordingly. But the way the media is handling this news is unacceptable and some have taken it to the level of a smear job. These people know better. They also know what gets traffic to their websites and what causes the reaction in the public. A dressing down of a former figure formerly held in high esteem seems to be something this guys live for. Lost in all of this was the mostly harmless and victimless act of a few kids selling property they thought was theirs to sell. Simple pecadillos that have grown into an ugly situation for everyone involved. No one walks away from this situation unscathed.

In the end, The Ohio State University and the Football Program in specific are bigger than one man, better than one scandal. We will move on from this scandal, this debacle, and hopefully be stronger and better for it.

There’s no reason to be ashamed to be a Buckeye.