Class of 2011: Thanks For The Memories

Days, Lauderdale, Lighty and Diebler

After the loss to Kentucky in the Sweet 16, I was absolutely heartbroken for this group of seniors.  If there was ever a class that deserved a national championship, it was this group. 

Eddie Days, Jon Diebler, Dallas Lauderdale, David Lighty. The class of 2011.

For four (or five) years, these kids’ blood, sweat and tears went into making Buckeye basketball the rising power that it is today. 



For Lighty and Days, their journey began in the 2006-07 season that ended in a loss to Florida in the national championship game.  Despite making the team as a walk-on, a concern about Days’ heart kept him out of that season.  He finally made it back on the team as a walk-on before last season. 

David Lighty was a role player on that national runner-up squad, but was a starter for the remainder of his career.  Lighty suffered a foot injury in December 2008 that caused him to miss the remainder of that season.  Lighty holds the NCAA record for most appearances with 157.

Dallas Lauderdale. The ultimate team player. If the Buckeyes needed to go small for a game, he didn’t complain about his lack of playing team.  If they needed him to play 25-30 minutes, he would play like it was his last time on the court.  Despite free throw form that might make you cringe, Swatterdale came to play on a nightly basis.  And he has a mean falsetto.

Jon Diebler. Sharpshooter extraordinaire.  Diebler is the all-time 3-point shooting leader for Ohio State and the Big Ten with 374 made.  It’s scary to think how many more he would have had if he had shot better that 29 percent during his first season on campus.  If the Buckeyes needed a big 3-pointer, there was no one you’d rather have with the ball in his hands than Threebler himself (something he proved in the loss to Kentucky with an ice-cold 3-pointer to tie late in the game.)

Thank YOU, Jim Tressel

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Jim Tressel making one of the most famous speeches in Ohio State history. "In 310 days..." has been used over and over with OSU fans, and no Buckeye fan will ever forget the moment. All Ohio State fans are Tressel fans. Jim Tressel has brought Ohio State a national championship, an overall record of 106–22 at Ohio State, including seven Big Ten Conference championships, a 6–4 bowl record, a 5–3 mark in BCS bowl games, and an 9–1 record against the arch-rival Michigan Wolverines. Tressel's nine wins against Michigan place him second in school history to Woody Hayes, who had 16. Considering Hayes had a much longer tenure, Tressel may just surpass Woody at some point.

Tressel is such a big influence on the game, as a head coach should be, that constant articles are being written about him, like this, and this. He has a contract through 2014, but early speculation is that after that, he will retire after that. Honestly, I don't think he will. I'm not saying he's going to be the next Joe Paterno, but Tressel might stick around for whoever may come after the Braxton Miller era. We will see. 

For now, I'm glad we have Tress behind the sweatervest, on the sidelines with the conservative "Tresselball". He continues to win big games, and is an upstanding person off the field. His students have done mostly well, and don't get in trouble too often. He has a good grasp of these kids, and knows how to bring them together, which is why their results on the football field are fantastic. 

Happy 10th, Tress.

Should We Thank Wisconsin?

Did Watt do us a favor?

Something came to my mind earlier today. Along with the fact that some of Ohio State's best players are going to be suspended for 5 games, and maybe the Sugar Bowl (depending on what Tressel decides), maybe Buckeye fans should be thanking, yes thanking,  Wisconsin. The tatgate has hit OSU hard, and hit the legacy of Terrelle Pryor even harder. Ohio State plays in the Sugar Bowl on January 4th, but what would have happened if they were playing on the 10th, for the National Championship? The NCAA and Ohio State would be in a pickle. Say Auburn was our opponent, would the NCAA still suspend these Buckeyes after letting Cameron Newton go free with money in his pocket, simply because he "didn't know"?

If they did, maybe it's time to be gracious we aren't in a position to win a National Title this year. If we had to stick the ball into Bauserman's or Guiton's hands without our starting left tackle, without a starting wide receiver, and without the leading rusher, could they really pull out a win? The defense might be fine, other than the mind game they would be playing while trying to tackle the best player in college football in Cam Newton. The mind game would overtake their minds simply because they have no offense backing them up. Who knows, maybe they would take that into a good way, maybe they like taking the load on their shoulders, but really, you can't win with just a defense. You can come close, don't get me wrong, but you have to have some sort of an offense.

Happy Veteran's Day.

They've been there for us, now it's our time to thank them.

Happy Veteran's Day to all the Buckeyes out there today. ITS wishes all our veterans a great day, and for the soldiers currently out there right now, fighting for our lives, to be be safe, and happy. Without their sacrifice, things like this blog wouldn't even exist. Thank you.

Top 3 players (Penn State) to watch out for come Saturday :

1. Evan Royster - Royster has put together three straight games where he has averaged more than five yards a carry.Royster is now the all-time rusher in Penn State's history, passing Curt Warner against Michigan. He is their best weapon, and we have to stop him.
2. Matt McGloin - The kid is good, no doubt about it. Although Rob Bolden started the year, I thought McGloin was going to. McGloin has led Penn State to some victories, and will this team further as he matures.
3. Derek Moye - Leading PSU's receivers with 33 catches and 615 yards, Moye is the most consistent contributor in Penn State's receiving corp. Also has 4 TD's.

Random Thoughts: Blog, BCS

Happy birthday, us. Yeah, I can't believe that last Friday, the 29th, was our birthday. Inside The Shoe is now 1 year old. I'm pretty proud that we have come this far. We now have a total of 2 3 whole readers compared to 0, and we're not at .blogspot.com anymore. People are starting to take notice of our blog, thanks in large part put forth by out outstanding crew, SBB, Danny, and Brady. They continue to put up phenomanal work and are able to help me run this blog. Although we didn't get the Blogpoll for this year, next year is right around the corner, and we might just end up on that. I would first like to thank the people that helped make this blog a success, at least in my eyes, through the first year. Eleven Warriors, for giving me some advice, posting some links from our site to theirs, etc. The Buckeye Battle Cry, for becoming our first "friends" on the blog-o-sphere and giving us many, many appreciated pointers. (Some of you might remember when our blog color was bright red, don't ask me what I was thinking!) Finally, all the people at Off Tackle Empire, for listening to my irrational thoughts, and even checking out our blog from time to time. Of course, I need to thank all our readers or fans. Whether it be the conversations on Twitter or the likings on Facebook, you guys make this blog very interesting. There are plenty more years under my belt, so stick around, we plan to be the best. (No shot to any of the other Buckeye blogs, it should be their goal too.)

Alright, now that the teary thank you is over, back to some more football.

The BCS Standings came out last night and the Buckeyes stayed at 11th. 11th!! It's madness in my eyes that LSU and Nebraska could jump up that high in front of the Buckeyes after they smeared Gopher all over the road. Obviously the media has a serious problem once more, because they don't like to see the Buckeyes in the Top 10 after a loss. It's the same thing every year. Oregon got the #1 spot, which they deserved in the first place, and I'm telling you right now that Oklahoma is going to lose another game. Maybe even two!

Alabama is sitting in the damn drivers seat, they are #6 and are just waiting for a couple more teams to fall. Luckily they have LSU and Auburn (plus SECG if they make it) to stand in the way of going back to the Championship game. Overall, I'm pretty bitter about what has happened to the Buckeyes in the polls, because in both human polls, (AP, Coaches) they stand at 8th, where they should be.