Silver Bullet Points

RichRod[man] is as bad as he wants to be

Rodriguez Gate continues to rage on in pages of the Detroit Free Press and Charleston Gazette. Taking important files to the shredders? Smear campaigns? Lawsuits? Is this the unmasking of a two-faced, carpetbagging politician or just another day at the office in the Michigan Athletic Department?

I could go on, but this guy digs into RodFace pretty good--and he's writing from Ann Arbor.

• Start packing for Miami now, friends. We're No. 1.
  

• Tressel and another coach, I believe Jim Bollman, were spotted in West Va. on Thursday, chatting up recruit Josh Jenkins. In this video he spits recruiting and Tresselisms, basically just use it as proof that Jenkins is one step closer to his destiny.

• Keeping with the West Virginnie theme, injury-prone OSU receiver Devon Lyons looks to transfer to WVU to be with his younger brother, Wes, whose file is locked away in RichRod's Geneva bank safe-box. Lyons and estranged WR Albert Dukes both came in with the 2004 recruiting class and, to say the least, have failed to live up to their hype.
  

Oh Devon, we hardly knew thee.
photo c/o Jim Davidson

• The courting of Terrelle Pryor by OSU: Scout.com editor thinks T.P. will be in scarlet and gray next fall. He notes that the Buckeyes are gaining the edge by playing it cool while the Weasels are clearly desperate for someone, anyone, to jump start this "new era of Michigan football" we keep hearing about.

UPDATE: As I continue to learn more about web publishing, the intimidating girth of the internet's information sharing capabilities and the like, I will try to make improvements to Old Columbus Town that will (hopefully) make it more "visible" to search engines and social bookmarking sites. Make sense? Of it doesn't. In the mean time, look for new "features" (stuff to click on, in non-web speak) and other additions/changes to the site that will help shove this life-or-death information down the throats of Buckeye faithful everywhere.

Silver Bullet Points

Catch your breath

Because we're approaching the recruiting home stretch when, like the Tri Delt semi-formal, anything goes.

Feb. 6th, National Signing Day, marks the first day that high school seniors can sign a letter of intent (LOI) to the college of their choosing. Despite marking when hundreds of minors sign binding contracts with large, powerful, usually state-funded institutions, National Signing Day has somehow managed to put an incredibly exciting spin on it's image. Lord knows I can't wait.

As of today, OSU has offered up 18 schollys and still has a few left to give (see "Freeman stays on board.") Terrelle Pryor, OL Josh Jenkins and DL Keith Wells, who recently de-committed from Florida St. and is reportedly leaning towards OSU, are all still without a date to the big show on Saturday afternoon and any one of these players would be icing on top of this class which is currently ranked 6 by Rivals and 9 by Scout.

During these remaining 20 days keep in mind that, even if OSU doesn't close the deal on any other marquee players, Tressel and his team have a knack for getting the most out of what they have. Even Scout concedes that a 3-star recruit turned All American is no longer an anomaly.

But let us not forget the most important recruits, those who became the current OSU junior class. More to come...

• Ever wonder what happened to Antonio Pittman?

• Something to drool over. CFN's 2009 top Draft prospects. No, it's not too early. Yes, 6 Buckeyes are listed.

• The final list of early entries. A once-over of this page is all the evidence needed to support the pre-season hype that will surround Beanie Wells. James Davis, Kevin Smith, Darren McFadden, Felix Jones, Steve Slaton, Jonathan Stewart, Rashard Mendenhall, Ray Rice... these are now names of running backs formally considered for the Heisman award.

Silver Bullet Points

Robby's World

Howie Mandel: High culture satirist or second banana to an animated adolescent, ostensibly a figment of his own imagination?

And then there were two. Robby Schoenhoft, tight end and former second-string QB is officially an ex-Buckeye. His departure leaves only two scholarship QBs on the roster (Moonlighting Pittsburgh Pirates minor leaguer Joe Bauserman being the third option.)

Schoenhoft, after sitting out a season, can be seen playing in a hideous uniform at Division 1-AA Delaware. Delaware is best known as the team that made it to the 2007 1-AA Championship, only to lose to Appalachian State--the team that beat Michigan.

Best of luck to Rob, who was quite the item coming out of high school at St. X, but never managed (or got the chance) to live up to his potential.

• Ryan Mallet also made it clear he'd be packing his bags. Mallet was assumed all-but gone at Michigan from the moment Rich Rod was hired but now it's official and reports as of posting say he's off to Arkansas. With Bobby Petrino, former head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and Louisville, at the wheel, Mallet may be given a real chance to shine. The #2 Qb recruit in last year's class, this kid is big and accurate, so it's best that he's down south where we don't have to worry about him.

• I would have loved to have been in the room at NBC head-quarters when they were deciding who would host their new, high stakes, top-rated game show and some guy said, "What about Howie Mandel, you know, from Bobby's World?"

Silver Bullet Points

Laurinaitis: "I am proud to represent Buckeye Nation"

The Jr. Butkus Award winner ended all speculation and announced that he will return to play a final season at The Ohio State University. In what sounded like an emotional statement given to the Plain Dealer, the Buckeye captain says:

"I think we have an opportunity to do something special," Laurinaitis said. "You can't come back and want to do this or do that. We have to go through the same process we do every year. It's going to be hard for us this year. Last year we came in under the radar. Other people didn't have much confidence in us but we knew we had a solid team. Now every big game, everyone is going to start doubting us again and we have to be mentally tough and that starts with this offseason."

Though mid-season reports hinted at this surprising decision, it was pretty much a general assumption that Laurinaitis would have left after his sophomore season if he could. Now it seems certain that the skinny freshman who was baptized by fire in the 2005 Michigan game will leave Ohio State as the most decorated--didn't say "best"--linebacker in OSU history.

Consider that lil' Animal (a nickname I personally dislike but employ because it's a lot easier to spell than Laurinaitis) has already earned the Nagurski and Butkus awards, as well as back-to-back All-American team selections; what's left but a huge National Championship-style rock on his hand?(See:Fergie)

Silver Bullet Points

Boone to stay as well

The big man's announcement comes a day earlier than expected, but he clearly made the right choice by sticking around to hone his footwork, particularly during pass protection.

Just one big fish left to reel in...

Silver Bullet Points

Freeman stays on board


Marcus Freeman, the team's second leading tackler, will return for his senior season with the Bucks.

Any talk of "jumping off a sinking ship" can end here.

"The big thing is, you can regret leaving early, but you can't regret coming back," he said. "It was a tough decision. I went back and forth. One minute, I was thinking it was time to move on. When I was sitting on the bench after the game, I was saying, 'This is my last one.'

"But you can't beat the atmosphere here. ... I just wasn't ready to move on and start another chapter in my life."

When compared to the big names like Laurinaitis and Gholston, Freeman was just as, if not more, integral to the defense's success.

The waiting game continues in regards to Laurinaitis and Alex Boone, who have until Tuesday to announce their decision.

• Tressel & Co. add 17th commit to class of '08. Jermil Martin of Glenville will be partly responsible for filling the gaping whole left in the fullback position with the departure of Dionte Johnson, Trevor Robinson an Tank Whaley.
  

• From the rumor mill: After a comparatively small and lackluster haul in '07, we knew this class would be twice as big and twice as talented to make up for it. However, with 17 tickets divvied out before closing in on the prize (Pryor) and the bonus (5-star OL Josh Jenkins), one wonders if there might be a few scholarships up Tressel's sleeve that will allow him to pick up this pair of aces at the 11th hour. Simply speaking, if a currently committed recruit suddenly looks academically or otherwise unappealing (as is the case with Devoe Torrence) OSU can still revoke its offer, hence freeing that scholarship up. ANOTHER way for a scholly to open up is for a current scholarship player to transfer, as many think Robbie Schoenhoft and WR Albert Dukes (right) are planning to do.