Juiced Sports Blog*: Writing Enhanced by Flaxseed Oil » Ohio State Buckeyes

Terrelle Pryor shouldn’t be suspended for selling his own property

mhblatt — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 21:10:41 +0000

People should have property rights–like, you know, the right to buy and sell property with your own money.

MITCH BLATT

Terrelle Pryor and five other Ohio State Buckeyes players were suspended for the first five games of next season for selling their own property. They were suspended for selling championship rings, jerseys, awards and autographs. (Denver Post)

Okay, so its not exactly a classy move–certainly a greedy move–for a player like Pryor, who will be a top ten draft pick in a year or two, to sell such memorabilia–including a Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award. But what harm do these sales actually do to the competitiveness of college football, the integrity of the players and university, or anything else that hurts anyone? Its not as if Pryor’s parents were trying to get Mississippi State to pay him to play there… (Ahem, Cam Newton…)

The fact is, that memorabilia was Pryor’s own property. The exchange wasn’t for improper benefits. If he was selling a lawn mower on Craigslist, he’d still be playing. Professional players sell their own memorabilia all the time. I’m sure the exchanges could have been against the rules, but the NCAA rules are silly. Try keeping a sport “amateur” when the coaches are getting paid millions of dollars and agents are waiting for the players to get tens of millions of dollars in signing bonuses…

The one exchange in Pryor’s deals that has been labeled as an “improper benefit” was that he and the other players got free tattoos in exchange for their autograph. Again, this is simply an exchange of one valuable good for another. Autographs are worth money and so are tattoos, so the tattoo parlor’s owner could just as easily have exchanged money for the autographs instead of tattoos, or the players could have, and it would have been the same exchange.

Even getting paid for autographs is probably a violation of NCAA rules. My point is simple: What harm did Pryor and his teammates actually do? Did they take money from Ohio State or Ohio State boosters? Did they take money from an agent? No, they didn’t do anything to corrupt the game.

Photo: Reuters

USC Loss Means Another Rose Bowl Loss for the Big 10

mhblatt — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:18:44 +0000

After the respective Big 10 representatives to the Rose Bowl, Michigan and Illinois, have gotten destroyed by USC in the Rose Bowl two consecutive years, it looks like that will be the case again this year.

USC lost to unranked Oregon State 27-21 last night, effectively moving them out of the top two for the time being. You would have thought that after getting past their only test, Ohio State, (and some kind of test that was…), they would be on smooth sailing for a national title appearance.

But when has USC ever sailed through their cakewalk Pac 10 schedule smoothly?

Most years, you have to wait till the end of the season against UCLA for USC to screw up, so, with this early loss, the possibility is open for them to end the season with two losses.

No matter how it ends up, they probably won’t make the national title game. If Oregon losses and if the SEC champ has two losses, and if USC finishes the season with just one loss, yeah, it could happen, but they will probably have to settle for winning the Rose Bowl again.

Only this time, they will play the Big 10 champ, not the runner-up, and Ohio State might be wishing they were the runner-up.

Their combined win margins in the past two Rose Bowls have been 81-35. Their combined yardage margin was 1076-766. (633 of their yards came against Illinois.)

Well, Ohio State, it may only be USC, but I still feel sorry for you. (At least they’re not an SEC team.)

That said, Chris Wells will be back, and Terrelle Pryor has now moved into the position of starting quarterback. Pryor is 21/33 on the season with 4 TDs and 1 INT and 195 rushing yards. Against USC, he was 7/9 for 52 yards passing and gained 40 yards rushing on 11 carries. By the end of the season, his passing will be even better.

Ohio State can win the rematch. It will be a battle to be the best conference champion of a major conference that’s not very good.

#1 USC vs #5 Ohio State Live Blog

mhblatt — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:33:39 +0000

The game of the season is tonight, and JSB is going to be covering every minute of it! Join us at 7:45 EST for our live take, and contribute yourself to the ongoing comments!

Saturday Update, Part 2: …And West Virginia Falls!

mhblatt — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 04:41:24 +0000

West Virginia Lost to East Carolina 24-3. Yeah!

East Carolina over the past five years has increased his win total each year:
2003: 1-10
2004: 2-9
2005: 5-6
2006: 7-6
2007: 8-5

And for the past two years they have finished second in Conference USA.

Central Florida won Conference USA last year, and Houston won it the year before.

Ohio State About to Get Whipped By USC?

My man Neil Joshi at The Sports Lounge tells me that Ohio State has looked bad this season, especially against Ohio today.

Ohio State won 26-14, but they were down 14-12 in the fourth quarter. They were 33.5-point favorites.

Ohio State receiver Brian Hartline said, “That was pathetic; it was a pathetic performance.”

Ohio State has traditionally underpreformed against their early-season cream puffs, and Chris Wells sat out this game, but neither of those facts excuses a title favorite from being down to Ohio in the fourth quarter. Neil says they’re going to get beaten badly by USC. I can only hope he’s wrong.

Indiana is 2-0…

My school beat the great Murray State today 45-3.

Marcus Thigpen ran 7 times for 100 yards.

It gave us our fifth straight 2-0 start and fourth straight home victory. All I can say is, great scheduling.

Cuyahoga County Commissioners Office Raided by FBI; Chris Well Jersey Found

mhblatt — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:35:47 +0000

Cleveland’s corrupt local government was in chaos yesterday as the FBI raided homes and businesses related to Cuyahoga Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Auditor Frank Russo. While this may be foreshadowing the results of JSB’s Loserville contest, the bigger issue is what was found in Dimora’s house: a framed Chris Wells football jersey.

Ohio State football has had their share of corruption in the past few years, so it’s not going to help them being connected to Dimora. It all started with Maurice Clarett then Troy Smith took money from boosters, now this?

Just this April, Justin Boren transfered from Michigan to Ohio State citing a lack of family values at Michigan. Was it really about family values or about “family values”?

I’m just joking with this stuff. I don’t actually think Michigan ever had family values even when Lloyd Carr was coaching. It’s just a convenient thing to say after you lose.

Still, it’s funny that Dimora had a framed jersey of Wells. Just another funny thing to come out of this investigation.

Also, a note on the Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry: I noticed that Michigan didn’t schedule any division I-AA teams this season. Wonder why?

The BCS Picture: is there clarity in sight?

sjacobs — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 05:29:00 +0000

Scott Jacobs

With championship week approaching, BCS picture beginning to clear up; (We think*)

Okay, you hear that America. It’s clear. Almost crystal clear. West Virginia. Missouri. You guys control your own destiny. That’s it. That’s all. Win next week and a funky matchup in New Orleans is set. Lose, and well things could get crazy. Again!

First time here? Like what you see? Subscribe to JSB

After LSU and Kansas the top two teams in the BCS lost this weekend, and West Virginia and Missouri both put on very impressive performances, the envelopes are in. This shouldn’t be too complicated. If the Mountaineers beat the fighting Wannstedt’s next week (Pitt) and Mizzou avanges an early season loss to the Sooners in the Big XII title game, our BCS Championship game is set.

Of course in this college football season, where being #2 is a curse not a blessing, and clarity is a mirage this seems too simple. Both teams won’t win next week. My money is on Missouri. Not because the Tigers aren’t good enough. Nah, they’re very good. Especially Chase Daniel. I don’t like both teams to sweep because that means predictability. Not this year. Not in 2007, where the Washington Huskies could feasibly knock off Hawaii and ruin the final undefeated record left this college football season.

So what the heck happens if WV stumbles, or the Tigers falter? Well, here’s my crack at it.

If West Virginia or Missouri loses, BCS #3 to be Ohio State (Yeah, the Buckeyes!) would be in the driver’s seat to go to New Orleans. How? Well, let’s just say they’ve run out of games to play.

If both lose though (which is a wildly unlikely scenario, albeit possible), then the BCS gets downright ridiculous. Ohio State would be #1, and from there a logjam of 2 loss teams would fight for #2. Teams like Georgia and USC are still in this thing folks. Even LSU, the Tigers, could make a case if they beat the Vols of Tennessee. A two loss team in the title game? Can that happen?

Well, no disrespect to Hawaii (actually, I take that back, you guys play a garbage schedule), I’d rather see a two loss team go then you. So yeah, by failing to make the SEC title game, the Bulldogs of Georgia may actually benefit. Because they’ve got no more games left.

And in this wild season, being in the clubhouse is the best position of all.

We think. (But uh, who can be sure?)

Big 10 Network Keeps OSU Off Columbus TV

mhblatt — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:17:00 +0000

Mitchell Blatt

No New Posts This Weekend, They Will Be Appearing on the Big 10 Network

I want to appologize to my loyal reader (I know you’re out there somewhere), but I won’t be posting this weekend, becuase I’m going down to Columbus for Ohio State-Wisconsin. That’s the site news for you. As this is my last post before the dreaded weekend of my absense. I want to talk about a subject that is near and dear to the hearts of all Big 10 football fans: The Network That Must Not Be Named. AKA the Big 10 Network. They aren’t even allowing their Buckeyes games to be broadcast locally in Columbus.

According to the Big 10 Network (owned by the Big 10), many fans are not being able to watch their favorite colleges play because Comcast is keeping the Big 10 Network off their programming. I don’t know why they would do something so heartless, but I imagine it has something to do with the $1.14 per household the Big 10 Network is asking. That would be the third most expensive TV contract for any cable channel, according to The Patriot News.

I tried emailing someone from the Big 10 Network asking them why ~~they are such greedy bastards~~ they will not let local college sports fans watch their own college in their own college town, but they had all their executive’s email addresses hiden and only had a form for email correspondence. They did have this message for people who were rightly mad that they can’t watch Big 10 games:

We encourage you to continue to tell Comcast that you want the Big Ten Network and that you don’t want to pay extra for it. If Comcast can afford to spend millions of advertising dollars to campaign against the network, can’t they afford to actually carry it? And if they don’t, you now have several alternatives from which to choose. Call 1-866-WANT-B10 today.

If, on the other hand, you actually care about Big 10 sports, you can call 312-665-0700 and annoy the Big 10 Network.

Since I couldn’t reach the Big 10 Network myself, I will list what I gathered from the Big 10 Network’s FAQ section:

Q: Why was the Big Ten Network created?

A: A few years ago, Big Ten Conference executives met with ABC/ESPN executives to discuss extending the conference’s football and basketball agreements that were expiring within a few years. The Big Ten was told that as part of a renewal, the conference would need to have more games than ever before appear on ESPN platforms that ~~did not have widespread distribution~~ are available on DirecTV, Comcast, Adelphia, and almost every other television provider, most of which do not carry the Big 10 Network.

Q: Why was the Big Ten Network created when fans used to watch the games for free?

A: The notion that all Big Ten games were on free, over-the-air TV is incorrect. In ~~2005 and 2006~~ 2007, 13 41 Big Ten football games were not televised at all (to anyone with Comcast or Adelphia). During that same time, football games were moving from being regionally or locally syndicated so that they could be seen over the air stations to other ESPN platforms that were ~~not widely available~~ not paying us enough commissions.

Q: Why are cable companies saying the Big Ten Network wants me to pay extra to receive it?

A: It’s true that cable operators pay the network a fee to receive our programming. But ~~it’s their decision as to whether they pass that cost on to consumers~~ it’s our decision whether to pass the extra cost of building our own network on to the cable operators who in turn may have to pass it on to the consumers.

Q: How many people get the Big Ten Network?

A: Through distribution agreements with DIRECTV, DISH Network, AT&T U-Verse, Insight Communications, WideOpenWest, RCN, Service Electric and more than 150 cable operators across the country, However, we will not be satisfied until ~~every potential subscriber in the Big Ten’s eight-state region is receiving the network~~ every potential TV provider is giving us big bucks in exchange for a few games a week and a lot of terrible “original programming.”

Q: How will the Big Ten Network’s profits be distributed?

A: After a large sum is skimmed off for Big 10 executives, All fees and any other revenues from this venture will be shared equally among all 11 Big Ten institutions and the conference office. This increased financial support will help our schools to building ~~much-needed new facilities~~ 20,000 square-foot workout facilities for the football team.

Final question:
Q: What can I do if I want to watch Big 10 football?

A: Nothing! Our evil plan has successfully taken football away from the masses! HA HA HA! Switch to DirecTV or die!!!

College Football At It’s Best

mhblatt — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 02:15:00 +0000

Guest Blog: The Sports Diva

Upset? I’m Not!
Counterpoint:Don’t Discount the Losers

“You play to win the game!”-Herm Edwards

This weekend in college football was great. Of course I can say this being that Ohio State won their game. We’ll get into that win later.

We had loses from No. 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 13, and 21.

That’s mighty Oklahoma, Defending champs Florida (Hey Urban, I think that timeout call is just going to work in the NFL this year), Big East contender West Virginia, the other mighty Big 12 team Texas (who said the North was bad?), up and coming Big East Rutgers, upsetted ACC Clemson, and everyone’s (not mine) favorite in the Big Ten Penn State. Even LSU had their issues with Tulane leading at halftime 10-9. USC at Washington had to secure their win by recovering the onside kick after Washington scored to get within 3. USC won 27-24.

What’s the lesson here? EVERY GAME MATTERS! The teams that lost this weekend obviously didn’t learn a thing from Michigan’s loss to App State. When App State won, you had to know that this season in college football was going to be a wild one.

Now these one loss teams need help. Oh Buckeyes, please don’t help them. Two of these teams after next weekend could be out of the hunt for a national title. Either Oklahoma or Texas will be. They play each other in the Red River Shootout. And Florida is against LSU. That game will be their season.

This is why I love college football. Forget American Idol, THIS is the best reality series period!

My Commentary-Mitchell

Quick trivia question: Who was the only team to beat the 2006 BCS national champions? Answer: Auburn.

Same thing that happened last week. Auburn just seems to have their way with Florida. Doesn’t matter what team they lost to though, as long as they are an SEC team. If you don’t already consider the SEC the best conference in the nation, no amount of arguing will sway you, but the fact is, SEC teams play a tough game every week. Most teams play a few solid opponents then a few tough opponents. SEC teams have to beat Georgia (#12), Tennessee, Auburn, South Carolina (#11), and LSU (#1) just to get through the division schedule. Even Kentucky is on the rise, now ranked 8th in the nation.

Now, look at Ohio State, the team that benefitted most from Saturday’s events. Who do they play besides Northwestern (who lost to Duke)? Wisconsin? They’re so scary at #5! A solid team, all right, but their #5 ranking is in part because the media has to put some teams from each conference high, and Wisconsin happens to be one of the Big 10’s best. Penn State, another one of the Big 10’s best, dropped out of the top 25. Michigan… No need to finish that sentence.

I respect Ohio State and their title chances. I said as much in my preseason preview of Ohio State’s title chances. But, the point is, don’t tear down Florida just to raise Ohio State. Losing by 3 to Auburn doesn’t mean much.

Want to guest blog? Email mhblatt(at)gmail.com.

What do you think? Post your opinion in the comment section.

Sign Up To Recieve Free Unpublished Content.

OSU IS STILL BETTER THAN MICHIGAN

mhblatt — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 13:55:00 +0000

Mitchell Blatt

Preseason Polls Wrong on OSU

The preseason rankings were released today, and Ohio State was #10. Alright, so they lost some key offensive players. Still, I’d like to see how their opponents try to score on James Laurinaitis, Malcom Jenkins, Mike D’Andra, and company. They allowed 10.4 points per game last season. Some of that was due to a weak schedule, but most of it was due to an outstanding defense made up of no seniors and quite a few freshman. They still kept top teams like Texas (this preseason’s #4) to 7 points, Iowa to 17, and Penn State to 6.

But, the most important matchup, the one that’s going to decide which Big 10 team advances to the championship against Florida, comes as the last game of the season. And against Michigan last year, they gave up 39 points. Michigan’s offense is all returning.

Jim Tressel may be 5-1 vs Michigan, but that 1 means he can still lose. However, Ohio State’s defense has also aged one year along with Michigan’s offense. Furthermore, the gameplan last year–throwing the ball and throwing it deep–encouraged high scoring for both teams, as they scored quickly and kept the clock running slow. The Buckeyes have gone from a passing-oriented team with a young defense to a pound-the-rock, defensive dominator. And that’s just as well because Tressel’s conservative coaching strategy fits that type of team better. That’s the team that won the 2002 National Championship. When Tress was building last year’s team in the early years, he had real trouble letting Smith and Ginn do their thing. He kept trying to limit them up until last year. Now he has his kind of team again.

In 2002, the national media was surprised to see OSU undefeated at the end of the season. They had no offense. Craig Krenzel at QB? And who could have predicted Maurice Clarett? Krenzel did what he needed to to keep the Bucks in the game, and Clarett did what he needed to to win games. He put up 5.6 yards per carry that year. Chris Wells put up 5.5 last year. He won’t have Pittman to lighten the load, but the 2005 Mr. Ohio of football, is a bruiser either way.

With their gameplan and offense, the Bucks won’t need to do what they did last year–put up 36 points per game–to beat teams like Akron and Youngstown State. They don’t really have to start playing football at all until October 27th, when they go down to PA State, home to Wisconsin and Illini, then up to That State Up North, for the annual Big 10 Championship (that’s Michigan, just so you know.) National media, you better be ready.

USA Today Rankings
1. USC (45) 0-0 1,481
2. LSU (4) 0-0 1,372
3. Florida (9) 0-0 1,278
4. Texas 0-0 1,231
5. Michigan (2) 0-0 1,218
6. West Virginia 0-0 1,205
7. Wisconsin 0-0 1,114
8. Oklahoma 0-0 1,026
9. Virginia Tech 0-0 1,005
10. Ohio State 0-0 919
11. Louisville 0-0 836
12. California 0-0 763
13. Georgia 0-0 604
14. Auburn 0-0 595
15. Tennessee 0-0 583
16. Rutgers 0-0 466
17. UCLA 0-0 454
18. Penn State 0-0 440
19. Nebraska 0-0 388
20. Arkansas 0-0 360
21. Florida State 0-0 301
22. TCU 0-0 233
23. Boise State 0-0 222
24. Hawaii 0-0 214
25. Texas A&M 0-0 209

Ohio State

Ohio State Schedule
Michigan Stats
Freshman Hype: Chris Wells Profile