Some comments on the Ohio State basketball program, the current state of Michigan athletics, and a few other topics thrown in for good measure.
OHIO STATE BASKETBALL:
I certainly don't profess to be an expert in the X's and O's of college basketball but I have pretty much watched every televised Ohio State basketball game, men's and women's, in the last forty years. I remember all of those great games with Clark Kellogg, Jimmy Jackson, Kelvin Ramsey, Michael Redd, Jay Burson, etc. I would have to say my all time favorite play was the baseline eight footer from Treg Lee to beat Indiana in double overtime for the Big Ten championship. Then there was Jay Burson at the end of a Michigan State game. He was at the foul line with the game on the line and all of the Ohio State players dropped back to protect the basket in case he missed the shot. He missed the shot and scooped up the ball amongst four MSU giants and laid it in to win the game. I could go on and on but the point is that in thick and thin, good years and bad years, Scoony Penn or Killer Macon, it was always fun to watch Ohio State basketball.
But this might just be the most fun team to watch of them all. They start four juniors and a sophomore and those guys pretty much play the whole forty minutes. Dallas Lauderdale is 6-8 but has a wing span of 7-2 and leads the Big Ten in blocked shots and field goal percentage. He makes over 77% of his shots from the floor and takes no shit from no one. David Lighty is the best defensive player on the team and is probably the most athletic as well. When Evan Turner was out for six games Lighty stepped up his offense to help fill the gap and looked like Sky King. In one game this year he did an under the basket hook dunk that brought the house down. Jon Diebler is the designated three point shooter. He is five three-pointers short of the all time Ohio State record with the NCAA tournament and a whole year to go. He plays forty minutes every game and plays strong defense and leads the team making 86% of his free throws. Look up dagger in the dictionary and you will see a picture of Diebler hitting a three. William Buford is smoother than snail snot. He doesn't run, he glides. If he comes back next year he will be one of the top players in the league, if not the country.
"Evan Turner has more Big Ten player of the week awards than DickRod has wins at meeeshitagin."
And speaking of the best players in the country, how about Evan Turner? He set a record for Big Ten Player of the Week Awards. Hell, he has more of those than DickRod has wins at meeeshitagin. He is the poster child for why a player should stay in school. As a freshman he led the team in turnovers and fouls, as a junior he is the best player in the country.
These guys are just really, really fun to watch. You never know which one of them is going to step up and have a great game. They will be more than fun to watch in the NCAA's when they go up against teams they haven't played. They will double and triple up on Turner and then Buford, Lighty and Diebler will pretty much do whatever they want. They were 1-3 in the Big Ten and playing at #6 Purdue, down by 10 with under four minutes to go and Turner scored 12 in a row to win the game and turn the season around. They were the first team since 1957 to start 1-3 and win the conference. Just really fun to watch. Strap on the seat belts and get ready for a very cool ride.
And when it comes to fun, do not overlook the women's team. They are 30-4. Big Ten regular season champs and Big Ten tournament champs. Jantel Lavender is a three time Big Ten Player of the Year. Sammy Prahalis was last year's Freshman of the Year and this year made first team All Big Ten. Shavelle Little is the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. True freshman, Tayler Hill, stepped right into a starting role. Brittany Johnson leads the Big Ten in three point percentage. This team is loaded. Prahalis is the best point guard in OSU women's history. She has already set the OSU assist record with two years to go. Now, if she would mature a little and quit thumping her chest and screaming "bullshit" at the refs, she could be national Player of the Year before she leaves, just like her boyfriend.
The only problem with the women's team is they eventually have to play in the NCAA's where Jim Foster's teams have melted like the winter thaw. They certainly know how to win close games this year and maybe Sammy's chest thumping and screaming will make the difference. But I will believe it when I see it.
NIS & NAT & NARYTANE:
So how is meeeshitgin doing these days? Well, their football team ended up 5-7 and didn't make it to a bowl game for the second year in a row. The men's basketball team is 14-16 and won't make it to the NCAA's unless they win the Big Ten tournament.The odds are better that Obamacare will be overwhelmingly endorsed by Rush Limbaugh. The Michigan women's team is tied for fifth place in the conference and stands at 17-13, probably not quite a bubble team. The football team has had its first NCAA investigation in its history that resulted in a violation, five of the major variety to be exact. The investigation started when several players reported to the NCAA that they were required to practice longer than NCAA rules allow. So how bad will they be when they have to reduce their practice time to the rest of college football? It's not that meeeshitagin fans have a huge problem with their coaches cheating but cheating and not winning, well, that's another story. But hey, as we found out in Vancouver, they have a hell of an ice dancing team.
The Big Ten is kicking around the idea of expanding to twelve or fourteen teams. The day they called Texas to see if there was any interest Dallas received eight inches of snow.
In the Women's Big Ten Tournament Championship game Jantel Lavender scored 35 points which gave her 100 consecutive games in double figures, which leads the nation. And in three tournament games the team was 57 of 63 in free throws. The seniors have won 108 games in their four years and the record is 109 set in 2008. Two wins in the NCAA's and they will own that record until next year.
Would you like to get Tim Tebow's autograph? It will only cost you $160. If you get a picture with him it is an additional $75. And if you have him sign something "bigger" it is an additional $25.
Maryland was the only ACC basketball team to end up in the top 25 at #19. Wow, just wow.
Ohio State's football, men's basketball and women's basketball have all won Big Ten championships three times in the last five years. No other Big Ten team has ever done that.
According to the NCAA, Ohio State football led the nation in attendance in 2009. Including home and away games, 1,225,379 people came to see the Buckeyes in 13 games.
This is a head scratcher. The two biggest home crowds for the basketball teams were Purdue for the men and MSU for the women. OSU lost both of them.
A new NCAA rule is that "coaches in waiting" have the same rules apply as head coaches when it comes to recruiting which means they can only do one off campus visit. You just saw the death of that trend.
Speaking of recruiting, OSU's 2007 class only consisted of fifteen recruits and was ranked anywhere from #15 to #20 by all of the gurus. Sports Illustrated decided to see how the classes of 2007 actually turned out three years later and we moved up to #5. Of the fifteen recruits, eight of them are starters or have started. Oh, and our #20 class of 2006 moved up to #6. Our 2008 and 2009 classes were top five classes. I wonder where they will end up.
Ohio State raised its ticket prices for 2010 football by not $1 not $2 not $3 ...... but $7! Colleges understand cost cutting and cost savings about as good as our Congress. Every year they just raise their prices to meet their new expenses. Because OSU plays an eighth home game this year they would have received an additional $5.8 million without the increase. But they raised the prices anyway because they were in such dire need for new revenue. Then, after they put the increase into effect they announced it was really to build up the "rainy day fund." They must be receiving financial lessons from either the Obama administration or the West Virginia Turnpike Commission.
The Coach