Interesting. Very interesting.

What’s that, Seantrel? Will we be playing a game in January? Why yes, yes we will. Maybe even in Pasadena. Care to join us?

Receiver Duron Carter will not play for Ohio State this fall. He has enrolled at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, Coffeyville coach Darian Dulin said this morning.

Source: The Dispatch (via SYR)

(Before this broke, Carter mentioned on Twitter he was going to “fix everything and be back!” We’ll see)

Update: The bad news keeps coming: Keith Wells has left the team and Roderick Smith has not shown up for summer quarter.

Keep in mind that today is the first day of Summer Quarter and news like this has hit because of it.

I feel like a heel saying this, but Wells’ exit will probably go largely unnoticed. Smith’s absence is troublesome, but he still has time to right his ship and be ready to join the team in the fall. Best wishes to Carter and Wells and we’ll see what happens with Rod Smith.

You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.

Because I mostly ignore the internet on Saturdays (unless I’m playing Modern Warfare 2), I didn’t hear about Jamel Turner being shot until late last night when I had been messaged by a friend on Facebook that he had been shot and was in pretty bad shape. It is never good news to hear something like this, even less when it’s someone in the extended family.

Luckily, Jamel has pulled through the night and is now in stable condition. Happy thoughts, prayers and positive energy all are sent his way.

Recruiting is not our shtick around here, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be found watching high school highlight films of future and former recruits on YouTube on a given Wednesday afternoon. We have what you might call a vested interest. We also know just enough to be dangerous but not enough to look like we knew what we’re talking about.

But anyway, recruiting. After OSU missed out on, among other recruits, Seantrel Henderson (not an Ohio boy) and Jordan Hicks (an Ohio Boy), Tressel’s recruiting prowess and stranglehold on the state was being questioned. Was he slipping? What did USC or Texas have that Ohio State didn’t (besides beautiful weather and pretty girls)? Was this a sign of things to come?

Well, that trend looks to be reversing itself. Ohio State has been adding commitments at a solid pace this year for 2011 and it looks as though Tressel will be adding the gem of the class, Braxton Miller (h/t to Josh at the OSJ). Braxton will be announcing his collegiate destination tomorrow and all signs point to OSU over Florida and Urban Meyer.

Boom. Roasted.

Via ESPN:

The 28-year-old Decker will be sentenced in August. He will pay $11,000 in restitution for Moeller’s medical bills.

That’s a start, but clearly jail time should also in the works. Even still, I don’t think jail time will be sufficient punishment to satisfy the demands of the Stiff Arm of Justice. So let’s come up with alternative punishments that Mr. Decker has to suffer in order to atone for his attack of Tyler Moeller.

I’ll start: he gets to be Cameron Heyward’s personal tackling dummy.

(PS: Miss us? We’re baaaaack)

The Ohio State Defense has been really good lately. So says Phil Steele:

Ohio St scoring defense has been dominant over the past 5 years allowing just 13.4 ppg which is more than 1 ppg lower than #2 Virginia Tech. TCU has always fielded good defenses under HC Gary Patterson and the Horned Frogs have given up just 14.74 ppg the last 5 years. USC thanks to allowing just 9.0 ppg in 2008 (lowest since Auburn in 1988!) was #6 allowing just 16.56 ppg.

Statistics make me happy.

It may seem like I spend an inordinate amount of time obsessing over Vernon Gholston’s career but I feel a certain investment in it, especially after prominently (and quite honestly, creepily) featuring his genetically superior physique while he was at Ohio State and possibly over-hyping his performances at any chance. Fans do weird things.

I mentioned a little while ago about the path his current career is taking and the outlook wasn’t particularly rosy.

But maybe now, things are actually looking up for everyone’s favorite gun show. The Jets will be making some changes to their expectations of the 2008 #6 overall draft pick. They could have cut him, effectively labeling him a bust or they could restructure his contract, load it with incentive clauses, and try to make it work.

It looks like that this really will be a make-or-break season for Vernon, who will be moved from outside linebacker to defensive end, a position he should be more comfortable in and as a player, is built for.

Let’s hope it works.

This year I’m trying not to get caught up in the spring time hype and excitement. I know it’s fun to follow the team’s practice and preparation, but there’s only so much that can really be gained from dissecting a handful of practices and half-speed scrimmages. That’s not to say I didn’t watch the spring like a giddy little schoolgirl. I did. But I’m not putting much stock in the entire experience. The only real gauge you can get is what you see based on individual performances.

Some observations:

My Quarterbacks? Let me show you them.

My assertion that we shouldn’t take stock in a lot of what we saw during the spring game holds especially true with the quarterbacks, most specifically the back ups. But, man..

Red shirt freshman Kenny Guiton certainly impressed all game long. Not exactly accurate but he certainly isn’t lacking in the arm strength department. This being a scrimmage with no repercussions, Guiton was certainly more than happy to air it out. He looks a little small to me, but he was looking to turn some heads out there. I’d say he succeeded.

Pryor, not to be outdone by some young buck looked quite good himself during his first quarter scoring drive. Sure, he was wearing the tackling flags, but he looked rather comfortable in the pocket. Clearly Stoneburner and Sanzenbacher will play a large part in the offense this season.

I believe I can fly

Who does Zach Boren think he is, Matt Keller? Certainly he knows that the coaches were just messing with his mind. Throwing to the fullback! Like that’s really ever going to happen. Pshaw. Boren’s little catch and tightrope walk down the sideline had all the grace and beauty of an elephant doing a somersault.

Still, he gave hope to all of us out of shape, big, goofy guys. Thanks, Zach.

Command, we have a Taurian Washington sighting.

Repeat: We have a Taurian Washington sighting.

Not seen since the Navy game last season, military satellites have picked up a thermal signature matching the file on record for one, “Taurian Washington.” Said signature was seen getting wide open with startlingly regularity and using its hands in a manner that has never been seen previously. Intelligence is withholding its final judgment until this happens in in September.

Bigger, Stronger, Faster

It was hard to really to get a read on the running backs during this game. I had hoped to get a better feel for some of the younger guys but that didn’t really happen. We already knew what Boom and Saine were capable of and Jordan Hall wasn’t much of a surprise. It was nice to see Carlos Hyde, but he didn’t show much yet.

It did appear that Jordan Hall looks slimmer and faster. I think he has a break-out season this year.

He’ll find you. He always does.

He has been a favorite of the Buckeye blogosphere for a while now, but soon everyone will know his name. As he proved with his tackle of James Jackson, Donnie Evege will chase you down from behind.

And you will like it.

And finally

Man, the Big Ten Network is rough around the edges with it’s D- and E-team commentators. That was painful.

Hopefully Mike Tomczak will NEVER do a Big Ten Network football game that I want to watch.

What did you think? Did you see what you wanted to? What were your impressions?

It’s been a while since we’ve had an open thread around these parts, and with all the sports-related action going on, I thought it would be great to throw up an open thread and hear from you guys.

I know most mock drafts don’t have Thaddues Maximus going very high (read: tonight) but some of us are Browns fans interested in seeing who goes where. I also know you guys are fans of other teams, as well. Who would you like to see your team pick up? Where would you like this year’s crop of Buckeyes to go?

While all of this is going on, the Cleveland Cavs will be busy stomping on the likes of Joakim Noah and the Chicago Bulls tonight and finishing them off Sunday afternoon. Should be smooth sailing for the Cavs until the Eastern Conference Finals. I haven’t mentioned the Cavs a lot this season but it has been a lot of fun watching LeBron all season long, and here’s to hoping it continues.

And let’s not forget about the crowning jewel of this weekend’s sporting extravaganza — the Ohio State Football Spring Game. Teams were drafted yesterday and the showdown begins at 1:30 on Saturday in the ‘Shoe. The Big Ten Network will be airing it live and ninety-thousand plus will be on hand to witness the next step for this year’s crew. Are you going?

Update: – The Cavs game didn’t exactly turn out well, but I’m not too worried at this point. They were down 21 and were one 40 foot shot from winning. On a game where everyone but LeBron had a bad game, this is just fine. It’s good to get everyone’s “bad game” out all at once.

As for the Browns, I think Haden is a solid pick. I would have liked to see them steal Berry, but so far the Browns haven’t screwed this draft up yet. But they still have time.