Tuesday's Buckeye Bits

Good morning fellow Buckeye honks! Welcome to your Tuesday edition of the bits. There is lots going on this week so let's skip my regular "random link" and get right to it shall we?

Hey, I remember him!- All Buckeye fans, and most other fans, know Mark Titus by now. He was a benchwarmer for OSU a few years back but developed a cult-like following for his blog Club Trillion. That cult-like following quickly turned into millions of followers.

 The guy is a blog sensation at this point (if you can be such a thing). He has parlayed that success into a contributing role over at Bill Simmons' Grantland.

Whatever you think of Bill Simmons, Grantland is a good place to stop on your daily internet adventure. I stumbled upon this cool piece by Titus overviewing the first weekend of the tournament. It's pretty funny. Give it a look.


Good Overview- The tournament started out a little slow but picked up as the weekend approached. I know that thoroughly enjoyed watching Michigan go down in ball of flames. That game was quickly followed by another epic collapse as Duke went down at the hands of Lehigh. That was possibly the greatest 15 minutes of sports in the past 2 months for me. Eamonn Brennan had a great first look for this weekends games.

Friday's Buckeye Bits

Good Friday morning! We've got a good deal of news and stuff to talk about today, so let's get right to it.

Jordan Whiting headed back home. As Ian told you yesterday, the Kentucky-born linebacker is transferring to Louisville. After sitting this year, he'll have only one year of eligibility left to play.

He never got the playing time he expected as a four-star recruit, as he could never move up the depth chart. Despite being part of Tatgate, he seems to be a fine young player and gentleman, tweeting thanks to Coach Tressel and AD Gene Smith. Best of luck, Jordan.

Another DB coach? Yep, and again Ian's on top of it. I really need to quit my job so I can get these awesome breaking stories. Or not...Anyhow, Kerry Coombs comes north from the University of Cincinnati to fill Bill Sheridan and Taver Johnson's shoes. Coombs led Colerain High to a state championship in 2004, so he certainly knows his way around recruiting. However, considering he's the third guy to hold the DB job in about six weeks, chances are he'll be hired as a head coach somewhere in a few weeks...

Your All American Globetrotter.

Some retaliation for Bleacher Report.

For those of you that don't know yet, Bleacher Report came out with a post today, regarding what Mark Titus had said on the Bill Simmons show. Let's break down what he said.

I write this because I am sick of reading the trite Titus has been spewing about Turner. I read his blogs. In most every statement he demeans and insults Turner in an effort to be cheeky. Now I know kidding around when I hear it. Fun is fun; but more and more Titus insinuates negative things about Turner's character and paints him in a less than flattering light.
Let's get one thing straight Mark Titus, the only reason you have access to Mr. Turner is because you are along for the ride.

First off, let's get one thing straight. These guys are buddies, messing around with each other constantly. They have little "tweet" battles, and mess around with each other. That's what friends do..next, again and again, Titus has said that Turner is the best player in the country, and rightfully deserves the Naismith trophy. The reason Mark Titus "has access" is because he walked on, and decided to try and earn a spot playing. Just because he didn't doesn't make him less of a person. He tried, and that's what counts, because he makes the best of it every day.
 
Mark Titus tweets disparaging remarks about Turner as they ride the bus home from a game that Turner has won for them. He invades the privacy and betrays the confidences of his teammates. Let's face it, we all know his blogs are read because he blogs Turner's name in them just so people will hit his site. We all know the deal here.

As I said before, the tweets are normal fun for kids their age, and Turner does it right back to Titus. You don't see anyone getting upset over this, it's a look into superstar life by a regular individual, is that so wrong? The reason his blog is popular is because he's one of the first benchwarmers to ever try blogging in his situation. He doesn't put Turner's name in there to get hits, he started writing because he did it with 2 other guys on his team. They thought it would be a fun project, and it exploded. Not really a bad thing.

I, for one, can understand Turner throwing the ball at him. He rebounded for a guy who will never see any minutes. A guy who takes pride in that fact.

So now it's OK for a freshman to beam balls at another freshman. Titus had an opportunity to play, but he couldn't make it. Doesn't give him any right to make him feel like he is higher than Titus.

What kind of person takes advantage of a triumph he has done nothing, nothing to earn? Then, in the next moment, turns around and disses the tournament MVP in a tweet; "Evan Turner is listening to Lady Gaga..." What is that about?

I do believe that Turner turned right back at him on Twitter saying that Lady Gaga was awesome. They are poking fun at each other. Stars always need a couple of people to bring them back to earth once in awhile. If it was so bad, don't you think Turner would have asked him to stop by now?

In this story, Mark Titus is the villain. In this story the villain doesn't win. In this story the villain loses everything and learn a lesson lesson. Jerks don't prosper.
I implore the fans to boycott this Trillion club. Don't let Mark Titus believe he is bigger than the Buckeye team. Don't let anyone think that one part is greater, than the whole.

Mark has never been considered a Villain, and your the only one who seems to think so. If jerks don't prosper, why are you writing a post on a college kid poking some fun at his teammate, which by the way he said later that Turner was level-headed, and brilliant, and writes a blog with his friends help? We won't boycott Club Tril, and Titus has never thought he was bigger than the Buckeye team.

The Buckeyes won't be losing anything...nothing at all.

Except, maybe, someone that inspires the players, or a friend, but most importantly, a teammate. He has been on this team for 4 years, and no one has had a problem. If you look at your post's comments you will see almost no one agrees with you here, and that you are sadly mistaken if what you think is that this is all real things that Titus says to Turner just to make him mad. Again, Titus has said Turner is an outstanding athlete, and a great person to be around.

Quotes from: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/368607-titus-of-club-trillion-should-be-kicked-off-the-bench

/rant-over

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How deep can/will they go?

What seems to be the question on every one's mind lately is, HOW GOOD, are these Buckeyes? Truly? That's what were here to find out.

To dissect the problem of Ohio State's placement among the best in the country, we have to take a look at their bracket:

As you can plainly (well, maybe not) see, Ohio State has to deal with Kansas, Georgetown, and Georgia Tech/Oklahoma State. This is by no means an easy road. With guys like Evan Turner on the floor, though, many think they can go far. A key match-up will be early, against either Oklahoma State or Georgia Tech. If Ohio State gets Tech, things could get real interesting, as Tech is a quality basketball team. Then, Ohio State would have to deal with Georgetown, who is one heck of a team when they get going in a game.

Evan Turner can carry this team. There is little or no doubt about that. A huge problem for Ohio State is their size. First off, they have Dallas Lauderdale, who is also known as Swatterdale. He is a great player, and has the size, and athleticism to make this team go that extra mile. The only thing standing in Lauderdale's way, is himself. He fouls out just about every other game, and when he does, they call in Kyle Madsen. Let me repeat that for you, Kyle Madsen. I really love that he is a Buckeye, but I don't think I've ever seen him have more than 5 points. It is truly reDONKulous, because a back-up player should a least give some help. Madsen usually goes in and runs around, fouling every now and then. So Lauderdale is a huge step in my eyes.

Another player we need to step up is Jon Diebler. The kid is amazing from beyond the arc, almost every time he shoots, he nails a three. Sadly, it only comes when he's hot, which he needs to be for every game after UC Santa Barbara. I trust that he can, and when he does, he will be a go to guy from outside. It's up to Thad Matta and the Buckeyes to design plays for Jon that they can kick it out to him, and take a lead. Jon Diebler is Superman when it comes to threes. He can also shoot regular jumpers, and even a dunk once in awhile.

Didn't think he could, did you? Well, neither did we.

Don't get me wrong here, people. William Buford and David Lighty need to have big games as well. Ever since the West Virgina game a while back, though, Buford has played outstanding. He has been shooting well, and his defensive play is getting better as they go along. As for Lighty, the only reason he doesn't need to be on fire, is because he already is. During the whole Big Ten tournament, he had an exceptional performance, especially that Minnesota game for the Championship. If they both continue doing what they do best, expect a real good game against Georgetown, and hopefully Kansas.

Team Chemistry is important.

Finally, Evan Turner is a stud. If he hasn't earned Player of the Year, then people just don't know basketball anymore. I wouldn't mind so much if he split it with Kentucky's John Wall, though, because I've seen him change being down from 20 to up by 5 in less than 3 minutes. Evan Turner needs to play solid, no nonsense, good basketball like he always does and this team can go far. Many think the best match-up would be the Kentucky-Ohio State game for the NCAA Championship. Boy, what a match that would be. You need Turner to keep playing solidly to get there though, and I think he can do it.

Finding a way to win.

So to answer the question, How deep can they go, they can go to the National Championship. This is a team that is coached by one of the best, and they all know what they are doing, and what their assignments are at all times, but it's also that they have a lot of team chemistry, and how could you not, with a guy like this on your team. To answer the question how far WILL they go, you need to be thinking along the lines of Elite Eight. Kansas is just too powerful, and Ohio State's "big" men will have a hard time adjusting. Don't get me wrong, I would love an upset, even if it means me losing the Bracket Challenge. Go Bucks!

Planning a run, we hope.

Evan Turner wins POY for the Big Ten, Matta gets COY

It has just been announced that Evan Turner and Coach Thad Matta have been selected as Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Matta shares the title with another coach, but with Evan Turner winning Big Ten player of the week for seven straight weeks, it comes as no surprise that he got this award. David Lighty and William Buford were named to the 3rd team while Jon Diebler earned an honorable mention the Big Ten while Buford was named to the 3rd team All Big Ten with Lighty and Diebler picking up honorable mentions on that side. Also honored was Dallas Lauderdale, named to the league’s All-Defensive team, and of course Mark Titus couldn't go without having an award, right?

1 award down, 1 to go.

"It's my winning face, I swear."

We want to wish all the Ohio State players, on behalf of the staff of ITS, congrats.

Your POW.

It's time for this week's POW. This is ITS's 5th overall POW, and it comes from Club Tril night at VCA when they played the final regular season game to win the Big Ten championship. Mark Titus, the lovable bench-warmer, who got, most likely, his last trillion Wedensday, showed some heart felt emotion towards to crowd wearing the Club Tril Shirts. Known as the Trillion Man March, people in hordes came out wearing their shirts, willing Titus for one more Trillion. We wish him good luck in the future. If you would like to suggest some photos, just email us at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com or tweet @InsideTheShoe, or even fire off a message at Facebook.

Recap: Ohio State vs. Illinois

Well that was fun.

The Buckeyes came into Senior night looking to make a statement, and they did, all while taking care of buisness. Jon Diebler was just totally on fire aganist Illinois from behind the arc, hitting seven 3-pointers for 21 points, to give the Buckeyes a 73-57 victory and at least a share of the Big Ten title. The party had begun for the fans in Columbus, who after last season's dissapointing first round loss in the NCAA tourny. Ohio State has won seven of its last nine games vs. Illinois and are 17-1 at Value City Arena this season. Although the Buckeyes won't have a home court advantage, it's impossible, they will still look to play well with all cylinders firing from both ends. One thing that was pretty cool, during the game Buckeye fans were shouting "One more year!" for Evan Turner who is thinking about going to the NBA, and has a serious chance to be player of the year in college basketball. With this win, Ohio State will be a top seeded team in the Big Ten tourny. Buford and Lighty helped out, chipping in 17, and 15, respectvily. Evan Turner did not lead the team in points, but did lead them in rebounds, and was close to having a triple-double. If Illinois would like to stay in the race for the Big Ten tourny, they have to win aganist Wisconsin. If they do, they earn a first round bye. As a side note, Mark "The Shark" Titus played in his final game at Value City Arena. We would like to wish him good luck in the future. I have to admit, I was a bit disappointed that he didn't shoot a three there at the end of the game. I understand, though, and he did the classy, smart thing. In doing so, he put one final Trillion in at VCA, and we wish him congrats.

If that's not a POY kiss, then I don't know what is.

I just wanted to let everyone know, the GPC is always open for people to join, just comment on any post, and tell us if you would like to. Then comment who you think will win the next game. For those of you already in it, let me tell you that during the Big Ten Tourny, and the March Maddness tourny, we want every single game pick. If need be, send it to our email at insidetheshoe2009@hotmail.com or just post a really long comment. Good luck to all!

Mark Titus is ballin'

And he's heard the mother *******'s who have been saying he can't.