The Weekend Read

What's $15 million between friends?

Our traveling reporter friend, Paul, tipped me off to this the day Jenkins and Robo announced their return, but on Thursday The Dispatch picked up on this great story. The OSU juniors collectively decided to come back for a senior season ("juniors" meaning a smaller group considering red/gray shirts and I'm assuming non-starters like Jamario O'Neal were planning on sticking around regardless.)

This is a great read for any Buckeye fan but I have to recommend watching the audio slide show as well. I'll get to the meat of the post in a minute, but I can't stress enough how key it was that not once did any of the players mention anything about coming back to beat Michigan or, god forbid, win a National Championship. After the failed, albeit bad ass, "Take Home Talk" video, the last thing we needed to kick-off the 2008 campaign was a publicly mentioned mission statement (a la the boys up north.)

Anyhow...

In my opinion, this article an example of one, if maybe the largest, reason that college football will always be a more "pure" form of the game. NCAA football has its fair share of unscrupulous goings ons year in and out (Google: RichRod, Reggie Bush, Dennis Franchione) and lets not even touch on the college football profit machine, but it's the intangibles like character and loyalty that resonate the loudest.

Perhaps it's too harsh to rag on the NFL as a whole, since The League hasn't yet managed to corrupt OSU (modern) legends like A.J. Hawk, who evidently delivered a powerful senior season endorsement to protege James Laurinaitis. Though the specifics of the conversation weren't touched on, Laurinaitis and the others made it clear that pros like Hawk and Bobby Carpenter (whose perks include tagging along on Tony Romo's pre-playoff game retreats) harped on the invaluable college experience and their shaggy-haired memories of Fast Times at The 'Shoe.

Though I can't quite sympathize with the "rough" life that D-I scholarship athletes Boone, Freeman and the rest will have to "endure" next year, it's truly impressive when you consider that , as Jenkins more or less mentions, most of those kids flat-out turned down a multi-million dollar paycheck. In a few months they will watch the NFL Draft from their campus apartments and see former teammate Vernon Gholston's (where was he during this shower meeting?) name appear in the first two hours. And then they will go to class, work out, grab a burrito and read about how good USC is.

Will the money still be there in the '09 Draft? Absolutely. Barring any tragic injury, the juniors all (with the possible exception of Laurinaitis) guaranteed themselves a higher pick and more of that green. But don't let take away from the significance of last week's decisions. In a culture where "get rich" is always proceeded by "quick" and picking a suitcase with only $300,000 on Deal Or No Deal is reason for disappointment, a 21-year-old postponing his fortune to be with his friends is news worthy of The Enquirer.

Silver Bullet Points

But the good news is...

Will lil' Animal follow in Malcolm's footsteps?

I love when I'm wrong, which is almost always.

Brian Robiskie and Malcolm Jenkins announced that they will be returning for their senior season at Ohio St. Yes, Vernon Gholston is moving on to seemingly greener pastures, but getting Jenkins for another year is a real steal. Says the all-conference DB during a Mike Doss-like revelation:

"What's important to me is accomplishing more. I want to win the Thorpe. I want to be a first-team All-American," Jenkins said. "I want to win a national championship. I want to experience a senior season. You can't put a price tag on that. To be paid to play football is just a benefit. I'm not ready to transition to the next stage of my life yet."

Goal setting, optimism, a big picture perspective...these are things one looks for in a leader of a program in dire need of direction and a new identity. If James Laurinaitis (still a big 'if') and Marcus Freeman (crossing my fingers) were to forgo the draft, the 2008 defense will return 9 starters from this year's top-ranked squad.

A farewell to arms

Robo, while less of a "steal" considering his probable draft position, will begin his final season at the top of the Biletnikoff watch list and be surrounded by offensive weapons like Wells, Saine, Hartline, Ray Small and newcomers DeVier Posey ( 5-star receiver) and Lamaar Thomas (a speedster likened to Florida's Percy Harvin.)

• If you're ready to ease back into college football, CFN is a good place to start. The site has somehow found the only sports writers in America that DON'T employ Ohio St. and the Big Ten as verbal whipping boys. This Q&A section addresses the constant push to merge the SEC with the NFC Central and here you can find an unbiased, rational defense for the beleaguered conference.
  

• Will Pete Carroll finally return to the NFL? And, if so, how much of an advantage does that give the Buckeyes over USC in next fall's match-up? The Vegas oddsmakers are standing by.
  

• Purdue's Joe Tiller, on the other hand, is waiting until his welcome is good and worn out before he leaves.

• Some guy in Michigan to Pryor: "UM sucks; stick with the Bucks."

• Finally, I'd like to extend a delayed thank you to our traveling reporters and friends, Paul, Josh and JR for making Buckeye Nation a better place to be. You bore witness to scenes that will haunt your nightmares for years to come and lived to tell the story. For these model Americans it's back to selling dreams at unbeatable interest rates...until next season...
  

Silver Bullet Points

Late date with Michigan could make for an awkward Thanksgiving

Much like early reports of the would-be-epic computer crash known as the “Y2K bug,” today’s most shocking OSU news won’t effect anything until around the turn of the decade. At the discretion of Big Ten university presidents, the conference will begin playing a 13-week schedule.

The key rationale being the reinstatement of a bye-week. Math wizards and poor conversationalists alike will immediately note that this means a post-Thanksgiving date for The Game—though it won’t be the first time.

One assumes that the decision was at least partly in response to the onslaught of Big Ten criticism after idle Illinois and OSU “backed in” to their respective BCS bowls.

• A couple more post-season lists at which to gander (or completely ignore) at your discretion. Notable is Malcolm Jenkins’ deserved, albeit still under-appreciated, appearance on SI’s team after being neglected by Bruce Hooley.

• CFN gives 10 points of defense against the increasingly popular “OSU will be thoroughly embarrassed by LSU” argument.

• Dave Zirin of SI.com puts himself on the map as he rides the coattails of numerous, more successful pundits and makes this post-season’s most audacious BCS comparison. While it is uncertain whether Zirin’s extensive archive is the subject of that new Nick Cage flick, one imagines Dave-O is definitely shelling out ten bucks to see this:

(Note: As you can see, this movie will be legit and therefore is in no way meant to be a backhanded insult.)

• You know those listless conversations with friends, colleagues, and strangers on High St. about what would happen if OSU played USC or West Va. this year? Those heated debates over whether or not our front four could overpower Oklahoma’s O-line? And how, when all is said and done, someone with common sense steps in and reminds everybody that there’s no way to tell how the game would play out on the field so you’re just wasting your time? Well, ESPN has found an incredibly incredulous way to legitimize that banter. Not that posting links and embedded YouTube videos is changing lives, but it’s difficult to imagine anyone at the Worldwide Leader in Sports could read off those 7 items in the pop-up window with a straight face. Go ahead, try yourself.