Our Honor Defend

Big Ten Media Days kicked off on Monday morning.  By the end of the day, there were no shortage of topics for discussion.  I will try to mention all of these talking points below, with some added comments where appropriate.

High Expectations for Ohio State, Pryor
The day started off fairly strong for the Buckeye football program.  The Rose Bowl champion and five-time defending conference champion was again picked to win the Big Ten.  Further, Terrelle Pryor, the Rose Bowl MVP, was selected as the Big Ten Preseason Player of the Year.  You will recall that Pryor received that accolade last year at this time and faltered out of the gates.  Criticism over the selection was appropriate, if only that the freshman statistics were probably too meager to really extrapolate into a season that we could say, a priori, would be better than Darryl Clark.  This time, the selection seems fair.  Coincidentally, Greg Jones, the linebacker from Michigan State, was picked as the preseason player of the year on the other side of the ball, making this the first repeat of preseason accolades for both sides of the ball since Andy Katzenmoyer and Ron Dayne were given the mention in 1998.  This is pretty cool if just for that, but it stands to reason that Adrian Clayborn would be a better selection for defensive player of the year.

The pick to win the Big Ten title for a sixth time was met diplomatically by Jim Tressel, who responds diplomatically to questions ranging from the football program he runs to how he would like his eggs prepared for breakfast.

“I think we should be a team that’s being targeted,” Tressel said. “We have 25 seniors and I feel good about the maturity and the leadership.”

Klein, Williams May Or May Not Be In Trouble
The day took an interesting wrinkle when Columbus Ohio’s NBC affiliate reported that Storm Klein and Nathan Williams were going to be charged with a misdemeanor assault for an incident stemming from Sunday morning.  The incident apparently revolved around Klein and Williams being accosted by a 20 year old man man, bothered that the two were hanging out with his girlfriend while he was apparently incapacitated (drunk?).  The incident devolved into violence, leaving the accuser in a hospital with minor injuries that required stitches.

Importantly, that report from NBC4i has been retracted.  No such charges were filed against Klein and Williams.  The report may have been in error, but it is still worth investigating on the program’s end.  Both Klein and Williams will be very important players in the 2010 campaign.  Williams will be given the task of filling the void left by Thaddeus Gibson while Klein is almost a sure thing in the linebacker corp’s two-deep and will be a focal point on special teams.  The incident may be comparatively minor.  It may also not be a crime if nothing on the accuser’s end about an unprovoked assault or asymmetrical use of force could be corroborated.  Both Klein and Williams should probably be reminded about the enormity of the task ahead and that the clarity of decision-making (on and off the field) is vital.  This will be the first such “blip” on the radar for Klein, but will probably be weighed against Williams’ previous shoplifting incident.

Everyone Is Expected To Report.  Okay, Not Everyone
Tressel, ever the optimist, confirmed that everyone is expected to report for camp on August 5th.  This holds for both Rod Smith, the incoming freshman with a lingering transcript issue, and Marcus Hall, a very important figure in the two-deep at right tackle.  Tressel noted that Smith had paperwork to figure out, but sounded optimistic that this would eventually be resolved.  Meanwhile, Tressel gave assurances on Hall, who the internets had rumormongered was having some difficulties in summer school.

So, yes, everyone is expected to report.  Except for Jermil Martin.  He has not been working out with the team for some time and will not report for camp in August.  This has been a not-so-private issue regarding Martin for a month or two with no material change in position.

Elsewhere

• The Buckeyes were well represented on the given all-decade Big Ten team.  Troy Smith was leading the team at quarterback while AJ Hawk, James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins and Mike Doss put a very scarlet-and-gray tint on the conference’s defense.  Ted Ginn is returning kicks.  There’s even a Charles Rogers sighting on this team.  Yes, Charles Rogers.  Memba’ him?
• Tressel talked about a tackle rotation including all four usual suspects at both positions: Adams, Miller, Shugarts and Hall.  The sooner this is resolved, the better (I should think).  Brandon Castel summarizes the situation on the offensive line.
• Tyler Moeller is ready to go, full contact and everything.  This is awesome.
• The O-zone has nuggets from the other players in the Big Ten Media Days.  Apparently Ron Zook had too much to drink last night.  Water, that is.  That Zook is the fourth longest tenured coach in the conference is probably not worth saying out loud.  Pat Fitzgerald, easily my second favorite coach in the Big Ten, has some comments that are worth reading.
• Kenny Guiton and Joe Bauserman are 2A and 2B at this point.
• Tressel was broached on a variety of other topics today as well.  He is against a 9th conference game, which Delaney said may be possible by 2013, citing that a fifth road game would compromise the Buckeyes’ ability to support its other varsity sports.  Clarett came up, with Tressel reiterating what I thought to be the case.  He mentioned that Clarett is welcome to stop by and chat, but that Clarett knows that Tressel is very busy.  Indeed, I think Clarett probably knows he has got other things on his plate too.