Is this thing on…

July 21, 2009 by 4 Comments

So the burnout of another season took it’s toll on the MotSaG…or more particularly YNBA…

Surprised? Not Really. It is tough to come up with brilliant material on a weekly basis when nothing is going on in the college football landscape. Here is a quick list of 20 general happenings over the last few months:

  1. Tim Tebow did something magical…not quite sure what it was…
  2. The CBJ made the playoffs and were happy to be there for a week.
  3. Jamal Berry likes to carry the ‘sticky icky‘ in his car.
  4. FC Barcelona won the Champions League against Manchester United and an angel got it’s wings.
  5. Tim Tebow did something philanthropic…not quite sure what it was…
  6. Carlos Hyde is a poor test-taker, or he is dumb, or he doesnt care, or he just really wanted to attend Fork Union next year.
  7. Terrelle Pryor looks like he can read a defense and cleaned up his throwing motion (a little), but there are still 4 QB’s on the Penn State roster that are better than him and a few PSU trainers, as well (Source: Any Ohio State Thread on Audibles).
  8. Ole Miss and North Caolina are in the top 10 in the pre-season polls. Thus fulfilling reason #4576 why polls shouldnt be released until the sixth week of the season.
  9. EDSBS’s Digital Viking Series has won over a nation of blog readers
  10. Deadspin…something is missing over there..well..besides Leitch, “Hirshey is the Closer”, and a gentle dose of “This Week’s Apologies”, but hey, they can embed youtube music videos like no other.
  11. Real Madrid spent over 200 million euros on two players…and that is without including the player salaries for the non-soccer crowd.
  12. The Cleveland Indians bi-annual YNBA soul killing exercise is in full effect this year.
  13. We were kind of ‘witnesses’ to BronBron getting faced…in a Ferris Bueller 31-Flavors kind of way…
  14. The Cavs got Shaq Diesel. Well maybe the Bio-Diesel Version. Doesnt this make Cavs fan hate Carlos Boozer a little more each year?
  15. The US Men’s Soccer Team had a great and completely unexpected run in the Confederations Cup (Spain…really?) and Landon Donovan has been rejuvenated. Did you hear that? That was Bob Bradley getting up from sucking his thumb in the corner.
  16. The Browns continue to be the Browns, but it could be worse…they could be the Seahawks (giggle giggle).
  17. Our Honor Defend’s “Better Know a Buckeye” Series has been top notch work for a slow summer.
  18. David Beckham came back from Italy to sounds of boo’s and a simple chorus of no one really giving a flying crap about David Beckham anymore. Beckham Experiment = EPIC FAIL
  19. Rick Nash signs with the CBJ for 25 years. Oh alright…8 years. Sorry Maple Leaf Fans.
  20. South Carolina really wants Ohioans to leave. It’s like a little kid running a lemonade stand asking someone with a ten dollar bill to get lost.
Filed Under: Blogging, Blue Jackets Hockey, Cleveland Browns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cleveland Indians, College Football, Columbus Crew Soccer, Ohio State Football Tagged With: ,

Penn State’s Quad-Annual Rise to Relevance and Increased Message Board Fodder…

October 24, 2008 by 5 Comments

We see this about every 4-5 years with Penn State…the stars align…the pure talent or blind luck of a Penn State QB is able to overcome the quarterbacking developmental ineptness of Jay Paterno (Insert Zach Mills or Anthony Morelli joke here).

Regardless of the success that this PSU team is experiencing, there is a bigger problem. I understand that a lot of other schools think that OSU fans are douchebags. Actually, we are pretty much douchebags. We have been spoiled with recent success over the last 10 years. However, when Penn State starts it’s standard four-year plan to rise to the top, it’s fans are able to fast-track their ability to go from “Zero to Unabashed Jerkface in 2 games against teams like Coastal Carolina and Temple.” I commend the ability of the fans, but loathe the results.

But as an unabashed OSU homer, let me welcome PSU back to relevancy in the college football world. You guys should stick around for a while.

I am not sure if a lot of OSU fans share my vitriol, but I started my journey at OSU in 1993 at the same time as Penn State’s entrance into the league. At the time, I heard a lot about how PSU was going to dominate the B10. This couldnt be further from the truth and with the exception of the 1994..63-14 debacle, the OSU – Penn State games have sometimes been close…sometimes not so much, as the average score of an OSU – PSU game at the Horseshoe is OSU 28 Penn State 7. Granted, games at Happy valley have been much closer, but that is about as relelvant as Larry Johnson’s manners or Santonio Holmes’ partiality to the wacky weed this year.

Rather than review a bunch of stats and tell you that OSU awesome and that Penn State is even awesomer, I will leave you with a few links providing the perspective of the more “reasonable” fans representing the Pennsylvania State University and it’s football team.

Thoughts on Beanie Wells…

Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics

ESPN Bias Towards Ohio State…Wow…

Fabrication of a Rivalry

Now, I realize that message boards dont represent the entire fanbase, but this is not far from the truth as the OSU Alumni group in Seattle share space in the Sport Restaurant with the PSU Alumni on gamedays Saturdays. Needless to say, those people are effing crazy…like “I picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue” crazy. Seriously though, PSU fans really are a classy bunch of blokes that have the utmost respect for a team and it’s fans. PSU fans would never display a history of bad behavior and questionable judgment like beer can violence and urine bombing. Every time a Penn State fan shows classiness at Happy Valley, an angel gets it’s wings.

Per usual, YNBA is always here to provide a totally-level headed representation of Penn State and it’s fanbase every time it becomes the least bit relevant on the national stage. I’ll refresh this post again in 2012.

Only one prediction for this weekend….”Pain”

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

The more things change the more they stay the same…

October 14, 2008 by 2 Comments

This was an echoing statement during the course of my entire trip back to old Columbus town this past weekend.

After the standard Northwest Airlines red-eye from Seattle to Columbus (via 4-fricken-hour layover in Detroit), I spent most of the day recovering from sleep deprivation, which is odd as I slept on both flights and generally gained more sleepy time than I would in a typical evening back in the Jet City. Some red-eyes are good and some are decidedly “no bueno.”

Friday marked the arrival of one of my buddies from Washington that decided he wanted to experience the finer points of Columbus, Ohio. Believe it or not there are plenty of things to do in this city…just that most of them revolve around a combination of sports and alcohol/food consumption.

Ohio State Ice Hockey

My “ladyfriend” (she loves it when I call her this…really) my buddy, and I headed down to Value City Arena for some OSU Ice Hockey. Whoa…what a way to start off the sporting weekend. The OSU Ice Hockey (sprinkled with a bunch of youngsters) took on the #8 team in the country and fierce rival, the Miami Redhawks. It was a game of momentum swings as OSU was up on Miami most of the game, but a late call on OSU gave Miami a 5-on-3 advantage and it was able to capitalize on the power play to tie the game to go into overtime. The game ended tied through overtime at 3-3. The game went to a shootout (new rule for this year), which OSU was able to win 3-1. Good times…an exciting game and things look on the up-and-up for the Hockey Buckeyes. For Markell’s sake, I hope this a good season (regardless of the team age factor…or where they were picked to finish in the CCHA this year), as his coaching future at OSU likely depends on a good season this year. By the way, Miami hockey fans…learn some original cheers. There is a reason OSU fans don’t do them, and that is because we don’t want to copy from Michigan, which copied them from Cornell. You guys sound like idiots. At least do something cool besides the “It’s all your fault.. It’s all your fault.” Maybe pull out a Wisconsin-esque that’s debatable and go across conferences. Maybe you guys can start the O-H-I-O around the football stadium on Big Ben Appreciation Day with that capacity crowd of 2,500.

Next topic…

Saturday was the standard trip to Northstar Café for yummy breakfast goodness (Did you ever notice they never make enough Ham-and-Cheese scones at that place?). Skull Session Entrance for the band. Over to Hineygate for some liquid libations and onward to the stadium for the “band” stuff. It was interesting to bring someone out here that had no idea what a gameday was like in Columbus and the utter chaos of pre-gaming and Hineygate and the crazy fanaticism involved with the OSU Marching Band. I kept mentioning the activities that we needed to see and that involved the band, which brought the looks of ‘seriously?’ I guess some of may take for granted the greatness of the OSU Marching Band at that a lot of schools don’t have the type of love for it’s band (ahem…Washington).

OSU Football

Oh yeah..that’s right there was a little event that took place on Saturday, as well. OSU and Purdue played a game of who’s offense was more inept for 4 quarters. Purdue won, but not for a lack of OSU trying it’s best. The defense and the special teams were fantastic for the Buckeyes. The offense seemed to have a Ro-Shambo session with itself every time it got inside of the 20-yard line and field goals seemed to be the main course of the day. I would be remiss if I did not mention the blocked punt by Mr Jenkins and resulting touchdown by Etienne Sabino in the first quarter. Outside of the offense (sounds like the entire team has the flu right now…especially on the offense) and pretty solid defense, the only disappointment that I had with the game was the fake field goal that stopped by a whistle in the second quarter. From our seats, it looked like AJ had so much room to run, he probably could have “speed-walked” for a first down. Terelle Pryor looked meh on this day. You can tell that he wants to throw the ball, but the defenses are starting to take away the quick slant or at least minimizing it’s effectiveness, as there were a few times that the Purdue linebackers and D-Backs were waiting for the receiver to catch it and not allowing the OSU wide receivers to make a play. Terelle’s play is a double-edged sword right now. We all want him to become an actual Quarterback, but if he sees a lane that he can exploit from any formation…he needs to take it sometimes. The designed QB runs are awkward (even the option looked decidedly worse this week, which should improve when Beanie gets rid of the sniffles and Herron gets the cobwebs cleaned out of his head).and you just wish that a little 2005 Troy Smith would crawl into TP’s head. 2005 Troy Smith’s ad-hoc running ability is what opened up the intermediate passing routes and allowed to him exploit both the underneath and 12-17 yard route with more regularity as the season progressed. Michigan State will be a challenge…especially if this weekend’s offense shows up next weekend.

Postgame activities included a “long” stop at one of the few remaining bars that actually stills existed from my times in Columbus…The Stube. Same bathrooms…Same 12-15 songs on the jukebox….Same beer prices. Same smell…and of course…same Stube magic.

Good to be back in cowtown with family and friends…even on a limited basis…

Other weekend observations:

  • The Columbus Bluejackets started off the weekend right by spoiling the season opener for the Dallas Stars (who are pretty good…but Marty Turco is still a bag of douche) on Friday and showed signs of being on a back-to-back on Saturday when they lost to the Coyotes (who are teh suck).
  • Michigan…moving on…Amstutz was given a lifetime supply of Tony Packo’s for this accomplishment.
  • A big shout out to Wisconsin for mailing in it’s season after losing a tough one to the Buckeyes last weekend. I am not even sure why they bothered showing up for this one. At least put up a fight on your home turf…gutless.Penn State is a good team, but they are not that good..imo.
  • Talk about paper-champions. Mizzou had that deer-in-headlights look (Us Buckeye fans are familiar with that look, see BCS Championship game film from 2006 and 2007) against Okie State on Saturday evening. They got punched in the face and the plan went straight out the window. I may be the only person that thinks this way, but as soon as Mizzou was behind in the game I pretty much knew that Okie State was going to win. Call it body language…call it Chase Daniels waiting for someone to spit on him…whatevah…
  • Looks like dreams can come true. Washington State lost to Oregon State eleventy-billion to three. The “0-fer” Apple Cup to decide the Pac-10 basement is one step closer to becoming a reality.
  • It has been a few years since OSU and Texas squared off in Austin, but it was nice to see Colt McCoy get a much deserved win against Oklahoma. Cant help but feel good for that team, which was getting no press leading up until this game.
  • Finally, there have been a few articles about some of the players wanting to see Boeckman in there from time to time. I’m not against it, but not sure if it sends the right message to Pryor at this point in his development.

~YNBA~

Filed Under: Blogging, Ohio State Football, Ohio State Hockey

You know what really grinds my gears? **In-State Edition

October 2, 2008 by 8 Comments

People that went to a smaller school in Ohio and feel the need to belittle the quality of education provided at The Ohio State University.

Really? Really? Is that you Case Western? Kenyon? Dennison? John Carroll? Bluffton College? Ohio Northern? Central State? Seriously?

Honestly, I only hear this ridiculous banter from one group of students located in a tiny little slice of Americana named Oxford.

This is a serious question…and it normally takes center stage every year that OSU plays Miami in football. This was not one of those years, but I ran across a message board with a Redhawk mouthbreather pumping up his school and dogging big brother…for no apparent reason…

Is there any Miami of Ohio student in their right mind that would consider Miami(OH) to be a better school than Ohio State for any reasons other than the following:

1. The Greek system is like totally crescent fresh…brahhh

2. The campus is really really pretty

What programs of the 12-15 that are offered at Miami are better than Ohio State’s?

*crickets chirping*

I’m all ears, because there isnt a ranking system (maybe The Onion has one that I dont know about) out there that would put Miami above OSU in any academic program…to my knowledge. I know this may offend some of our readers, but let’s be realistic here. Attending Miami is like being a member at a country club for 4-5 years. The grounds are immaculate. Your level of financial well-being (ie Greek or non-Greek) will determine your social status at the club, and instead of playing golf and tennis..you go to classes…

I may be a little off base here, but…per usual…I just dont care…

Dont worry Miami fan there is one thing that Miami is considerably better than OSU in…Hockey…for now.

Filed Under: Blogging, Miscellany Tagged With: , ,

ZOMG…I can haz newtrd ofenz???

September 20, 2008 by 13 Comments

New Personnel...Same Approach...I just love it, love it, love it, love it....

Guess how many passes on first down in the second half? Not many…maybe one. I guess this is Bollman and JT’s approach to “getting better.”

If it wasnt for the pure talent of Terelle Pryor, the Troy Trojans would have won this game since T. Boeckman looked like “2004 Zwick” on his only series of the day. It was a good ride Todd…enjoy the pine, brother.

Bottom Line (excluding TP’s highlight reel playmaking ability)…

This was not enjoyable football. This was like being forced to watch New Jersey Devils game from the mid to late 90’s over and over again.

I am sure the Kaiser and SM will have some more commentary…Liverpool drew with Stoke City which is ‘teh suck.’ I am sure this will be an awesome Saturday. Somebody get Danielson an extra bib today…that much Tebow drool is borderline ridiculous.

~YNBA~

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football

Do you hear that? That is the sound of inevitability

September 18, 2008 by 2 Comments

…the sound of Columbus becoming an Indians town…

There was nothing more annoying about living in Columbus than hearing about how everyone was a Yankee fan, because the Clippers were the AAA affiliate for the club. I mean really…who wouldnt be a Yankee fan when you would get to watch Derek Jeter play in Columbus for about 12 minutes and then leave for the Bronx. Remember watching Drew Henson get booed nightly for attending UM and sucking at baseball…that was awesome. Finally and thankfully, those days could be over…

It was made “unoffically” official today, the Indians have signed up the Columbus Clippers to be the club’s top minor league team (AAA) for the next four years. This relationship will begin when the Clippers open the 2009 season in it’s new downtown ballpark “Huntington Field in the Arena District.”

I wonder if Mo Vaughn bought into this?

I wonder if Mo Vaughn bought into this?

Filed Under: Baseball, Cleveland Indians Tagged With: ,

Wednesday’s weekend reflections and meh…

September 17, 2008 by Leave a Comment

Alright…I have had a few days to take in the massacre and it’s effects

Extreme situations often call for extreme measures. These measures do not include Todd Boeckman on a QB run on 2nd and 22. My god JT, wtf was that? Then again, maybe Todd was rolling out to throw to the TE..*laughing so hard there is significant pain in my side regions*

Every team that plays OSU knows that they are damaged goods right now. I havent seen an OSU team quit like that since Iowa in 2004. No heart…no fire…ridiculous.

Positives from the weekend for OSU…ahem..let’s just move onto another topic.

  • Oh wait…Terrell Pryor gets to play a lot more this weekend…or so we are led to believe.

Positives from the weekend for YNBA and some other jottable notes…

  • Watched Oklahoma demolish Washington. Seriously Buckeye fans, thank goodness the team wasnt spending the past weekend in Norman. Sam Bradford was nothing short of incredible (18-21, 300+ yards, 5 Touchdowns). Oklahoma (Not USC) looked like a well-oiled machine this past weekend, but the hype wasnt there with the game occurring in LA. Granted, this was Washington’s defense, but OU’s performance was efficient and lethal from the beginning of the game until the very end.
  • It was nice to see one of my teams show up this weekend. Liverpool FC decided that it had seen enough of Manchester United’s shenanigans and finally beat them (2-1) for the first time in Premiership play in almost five years. With the exception of a John O’Shea OG, it had almost been the same amount of time since Liverpool had actually scored a goal of any kind against ManU. The Mascherano-Kuyt-Babel connection put the game away in the 77th minute to set the Anfield faithful into a frenzy (Cue Seven Nation army and chant ‘Jav-i-er Ma-scher-a-no‘ over and over again). For the non-soccer types, pace and momentum matter just as much in soccer and football, and Liverpool carried the play to ManU for a good portion of the first half and dominated in the second.
  • The Columbus Crew settled for a 1-1 draw in Canada against Toronto FC. This draw sealed the deal on Columbus maintaining possession of the Trillium Cup. This draw on Saturday was really a win, as there were no Columbus fans accosted by Toronto FC supporters outside of the BMO, which seems to be occurring with greater frequency as this rivalry continues to grow. Crazy Canadians…
  • Champions League Group Stage play began on Tuesday (If you dont understand how the Champions League works…ask…because it is confusing as all get out, then attempt to ponder how crazy College Football would be in this format). Liverpool took out Marseille 2-1, as ‘The Captain’ Steven Gerrard provided some magic in the form of two goals to rally the Reds from 1-0. FC Barcelona also won it’s opening match against Sporting Lisbon 3-1.
  • Seems like the media has finally started to lay off of the Buckeyes after this weekend’s performance. Even Pete Fiutak has provided some perspective (See Part III), which is refreshing in that it comes from a national media type, as even the Herbstreit’s of the world have seemed to bash or distance themselves from the Buckeyes as much as possible.
  • Painfully going back to the USC game…I am not an expert in the ways of football or schemes, but it doenst appear to me that OSU is any less athletic than other elite teams (NFL draft numbers will generally support this claim). Once you infer that OSU may actually have the same type of speed and athleticism on its squad, the question of what differentiates the teams comes into play. All I know is that from other sports that I do participate, the less you have to think the more effective you are on the field. This especially holds true on defense. If the OSU offense is as predictable as everyone believes, then most teams will be able to pin their ears back and go to town, as they will have a pretty good idea of what is coming almost every time. I am going to stop here on this topic, but think about every time the OSU offense is faced with a 3rd or 4th and short…you’ve already called the play. OSU is running a slow developing play to the tailback. It doenst matter which one it is…you just know it is going to be painful to watch and in a lot of cases it just isnt going to cut it

I think that it is safe to say that no one is giving up on the season (players or fans), but if the current trends including lack of creativity and utter lack of execution at any level continue…this will be a long season. Things dont get any easier this Saturday, as Troy comes to town and is still looking for a signature win against one of the D-I big boys. I hope the Bucks are ready for Troy’s best shot. Maybe it is time for the Buckeye faithful to start singing YNWA before every kickoff…to re-affirm thy friendship to the O-HI-O.

~YNBA~

Filed Under: College Football, Columbus Crew Soccer, Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , ,

Things that are said with a straight face…

September 12, 2008 by 2 Comments


I really dont like to link to video, but it is Friday before the USC game…and Mark May gave me little to no choice whatsoever.

Now, I am the first one to admit that Mr. T. Pryor is probably not going to be the determining factor in this weekend’s game against USC. However, there are some things that I cannot slip by the wayside.

In this craptastic video, Mayday states something that I had to listen to about three times to really make sure that he said it.

Wait for it…wait for it….

“The USC defense will be ready for the running ability of Terrelle Pryor, due to the fact that Mitch “Freakin” Mustain is an experienced quarterback that can RUN with the ball. ”

Oh Mark…there is a difference between running for your life with the football (while playing at Arkansas) and running the football in a manner that Pryor runs with the football (O hai!…with elusiveness and speed).

Let’s break that down..one more time for the SEC and USC fans that may read this…

Mitch Mustain Running Against USC Defense in practice < (that is the symbol for “less than”) Terrelle Pryor Running Against USC Defense in a game situation.

Sweet mother of god…

On a lighter note, since I am already posting videos…this one absolutely makes you wish Mark May was getting ready to “feed his snackhole.”

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football Tagged With: , ,

Most of us cant do this with two good feet…

September 11, 2008 by 4 Comments

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Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football Tagged With:

Keeping things in perspective on a Sunday..

September 7, 2008 by 18 Comments

OSU FootballWow…you would have thought that OSU lost yesterday with the negativity flying around the interwebs yeserday and this morning.

First things first…OSU won. A win is a win. I remember a certain team in 2002 knocking off win after win in an ugly fashion. It happens (See UC in 2002). In-state schools will always give OSU their best shot. It is commonplace…like girls reading the “Twilight” series of books (ZOMG…Edward Cullen is so dreamy!!!). It is going to happen and there is nothing that anyone can do about it.

Are there questions going into USC? OF COURSE….This team could have put a whoopin’ on the Ohio University Bobcats and we would all still have questions about the potential performance going into next Saturday’s tilt.

So lets look at it this way…I’ll give you guys three options and tell me which postgame emotional state you would prefer to have this Sunday.

You’ll be familiar with two of the three, but the third one happened yesterday and I was there to see the entire debacle in-person.

Option #1 – Winnarrr!!!

OSU beats OU 26-14, but it is ugly. We are talking 2008 UM Quarterbacking ugly…but Hey? A win is a win right?

Option #2 – Loooser!!!

A little ride on the “way back when” machine to 2004. OSU visits Evanston and loses to Northwestern for the first time in almost 30 years. I think that you guys can remember how Sunday morning felt after that game. I recall puking in my mouth a few times that day. OSU fans almost relived that one yesterday.

Option #3 – PAC-10 Refferrrr and The Gold Plated Plates of Provo Community College

Having tickets to all of the U-Dub Husky games this season, I was able to attend the UW – BYU game yesterday. For those of you that follow college football religiously, you already know what happened. Jake Locker scored a touchdown with :02 seconds left in the game to presumably tie the game after the extra point. Locker tossed the ball over his shoulder and cheered with his teammates (ie no taunting of other players at all…PERIOD). Needless to say Mr. Locker was happy…excruciatingly happy. Jake was so happy that the referees threw a flag on him for excessive celebration. Read that again…they threw a flag on the home team for scoring a touchdown with 2-seconds on the clock at HOME to send the game into overtime. The extra point turned into a 35-yard adventure that was eventually blocked. To make things worse and some insult to injury, a player for Washington suffered what looked to be a serious neck injury on the field after BYU converted on a 3rd and long. You could hear a pin drop in the stadium on the field as the trainers were sprinting over to aid the player. It was a very somber moment in the stadium, so what do the BYU fans do? The start chanting BYU-BYU-BYU over and over again while this kid is on the field and he cant move any of his extremities. Stay Classy BYU fans. It was a great game ruined by classless fans and inept referees. How do you think BYU fans would have been treated in Columbus after that stunt? Do you think that those referees would have made it of Columbus alive? How would Sunday feel after that helping of zebra injustiice with an appetizer of “gold-plated” BYU classiness.

So you tell me Buckeye fans, which option seems more reasonable to you going into the game against USC?

That is what I thought. All of us Buckeye fans can get a little overzealous of the “beauty pageant” that is college football. A win is a win…whether it is a 7-6 game or a Barry Switzer special where you “hang a half hundred” on your opponent.

Again…enjoy each of the games this season. No matter how ugly they get, they will still be remembered as wins…the score is of no consequence.

Filed Under: College Football, Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , ,
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