Good morning Buckeye fans! It's been a long week, but let's see if I can make it go smoother with today's Bits.
OSU v PU and Jared Sullinger. What a game two nights ago! It is rare to see the Buckeyes play a close game at home, but that Purdue game may have been just what the Buckeyes needed. Every run the Bucks had, Purdue matched, every big shot hit by Buford some guy named Byrd (nope not Larry) answered. Sully, even before his injury was not having a marquee game, in fact he just couldn’t get on track. He went 10-15 minutes (at least, I can’t find any exact numbers) between hitting shots from the field.
However, the shots I recall him making were pretty excellent, first a great 3 pointer then a powerful dunk. In my opinion that was all overshadowed by the mugging he took all over the court. Sully was being tugged, grabbed, and rocked all night capping it off by being yanked to the ground and walking off the court with a severe limp, not returning to the game. I have been checking/looking for news on his possible injury and if he will play this weekend against Sparty and I have found nothing.
The closest I have heard is a twitter response to a question I asked. The reporter who responded said Sully didn’t think it was anything serious and he would play against MSU. I see that as hopeful, because if it was serious everyone would be talking. So close games are great, but a few more blowouts would sure do me good (along with my wife and daughter, who really don’t appreciate me yelling at a television, like I actually have a shot to change the outcome).
How to beat a dead horse, or, it is Bret Bielema time. Oh my Bret Bielema is a whining little thing isn’t he. I just can’t believe this guy, he doesn’t get his way so he cries and whines to his boss, Barry Alvarez about big bad Urban Meyer and his “SEC style” recruiting. I believe Bret’s anger comes from 4-star offensive lineman Kyle Dodson flipping his verbal from Wisconsin to signing a LOI to Ohio State. Bret Bielema is fond of saying things like we are the B1G not the SEC, we don’t do things like they do in the SEC, we have unwritten rules.
I guess those unwritten rules include dropping 83 on a far inferior opponent or maybe going for 2 when you are up by 4 touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. Quoting an article at sbnation.com: Meyer has explained it simply. He contacts recruits who've committed elsewhere, asking them if they're interested in his school. If they aren't, he moves along. If they are, then game on. As we've seen, many of them are.
After two straight Rose Bowl losses, maybe Bret shouldn’t say things we don’t want to do things like the SEC (disclaimer, I thoroughly dislike the SEC), maybe there are things we could, gulp, learn from them. Bret needs to realize, while this is college sports, this is not a gentleman’s game, this is big business, and in a business like this it really is winning comes first. From what I read on Twitter from former Buckeye LB Brian Rolle, it is not like Wisconsin is clean. He stated he recalled Wisconsin recruiting him heavily even after he verbally committed to tOSU, right up to National Signing Day.
Urban Meyer knows how to win (how many of us remember 41-14). He knows how to win in the SEC, which means he knows how to beat the conference whose teams have won the last 6 National Championship games. So as long as he does it cleanly and by the express rules of the NCAA, I don’t care how hard he recruits. Go after everyone up until they put there name on the dotted line, and protect our recruits. Urban Meyer broke no rules, even Alvarez doesn’t think so.
An article on Yahoo Sports quotes an interview he gave saying he has no plans to speak to B1G commissioner Jim Delaney about Urban’s recruiting. He even goes on to state that recruiting is recruiting, right up until they sign. He goes on to say that there is no pact not to recruit, it is open season until they sign. Well, B1G fans, it looks like there is a new sheriff in town and he is ready to win now!!
