*taps*

Ohio State fans can at least exhale that the resolution of the broader issues with the NCAA finally came.  It started almost a year ago to the day when Ohio State announced the suspension of five players on December 23rd, 2010.  It escalated when we learned that Jim Tressel knew in April 2010 of the ineligibility of the players involved, ultimately leading to his resignation.  The magnitude of the situation increased with Terrelle Pryor spilling the beans on his involvement with Bobby DiGeronimo as a ploy to gain entry into the NFL Supplemental Draft, which put Ohio State in “failure to monitor” territory.  It ends today.  However, the punishment isn’t quite what Gene Smith hinged his reputation and credentials on.  The news item of the day is that Ohio State is banned from postseason play for 2012.  In addition, the NCAA tacked on a loss of 4 scholarships over an added year of probation, also giving Jim Tressel a five year show-cause.

The postseason ban for one year would probably be neither here nor there for me and it is not over the top excessive by any means.  The only surprise is that Gene Smith might have gambled his job on not getting that particular punishment.  He had gone to great lengths to cite precedents for similar violations and how none resulted in a postseason ban.  He banked on his experience with the NCAA and handling infractions.  It may or may not have been a wedge in eventually signing Urban Meyer to a contract at Ohio State, who then has gone on the recruiting trail saying that no bowl ban would be in order for the 2012 signee’s freshman year at Ohio State.  Undaunted, the NCAA added that to the list of punishments.

Again, I don’t think it’s excessive and it’s quite possibly deserved punishment by an objective measure.  What makes this sting is the nature of Smith’s gamble.  Smith gambled that no postseason ban would be forthcoming, meaning that Smith did not preemptively institute one that would have actually affected those who were partially responsible for the entire ordeal.  We know that this season ultimately became a 6-6 Gator Bowl campaign, but instituting a bowl ban when he had knowledge of Pryor’s confessions (early October) would have come at a time when the Buckeyes had just 2 losses on the season (Miami, Michigan State) and whose fans would not have known any better.  Therein, the bowl ban for this season becomes a legit punishment.  Though conceivable the NCAA could have added one for 2012 anyways, I, personally, don’t think they would have if the timing was right.  Therefore, Dan Herron, Mike Adams, Solomon Thomas and DeVier Posey are unaffected by this particular decision, though the junior class of Jake Stoneburner, Zach Boren, Red Fragel Rock and John Simon (among others) are.  It is easy to blame the NCAA for punishing innocent student athletes, but this is standard fare for them and is no particular venom on their end.  This was those five players’ recklessness, Jim Tressel’s negligence, and, here, Gene Smith’s incompetence.  This particular punishment for 2012 was Gene Smith’s lottery he played.  He lost.

Maybe a one year bowl ban shouldn’t hurt as bad as we think it will, but these things matter on the recruiting trail.  Urban Meyer’s pitch to the 2012 recruits still on the board included an assertion that there would be no bowl ban for their true freshman years.  That doesn’t mean he lied to them, though his reputation will take a bit of a hit.  It’s nothing major, and he will definitely recover.  Still, it will be worth watching if any of Urban’s Kids are deterred by the prospect of being bowl ineligible as true freshmen, though a redshirt for any one of them makes the point moot.  Recruits really like those bowl games.  They want to play in them immediately, and this might turn them away.  Still, don’t treat it as automatic that it will turn them away.  USC signed the #1 and #4 recruiting classes nationally (per Rivals.com) in 2010 and 2011 (respectively).  Their reduced spot this year (#23) comes on the verge of severe scholarship reductions.  Meyer will have some added work to do, but I hesitate to call it a killer.  It just sucks.

The NCAA deducted four scholarships over an additional year of probation, though I think Ohio State can serve that punishment standing on its head.  It will cap Ohio State’s recruiting classes to about 22 for the next few years.  That’s fine; Urban Meyer has demonstrated an ability to get value out of limited classes before.  It makes errors in judgment in recruiting a little more costly, but this is far from what USC has to deal with for the next three years with recruiting classes capped at 15 a year.  That’s a killer.

I’m a little surprised Jim Tressel got the full five year show-cause order, though that much is immaterial for Ohio State.  I guess the rest of what follows is a plea to Ohio State fans and Ohio State football to treat 2012 the way it should be: the opportunity to just troll the B1G TEN and the rest of college football without mercy.  Ohio State will be ineligible for the B1G TEN championship as well as postseason play, which likely would have resulted in a much nicer arrangement than the Gator Bowl this year.  So, hell, get pissed.  Get angry.  Turn that rage to the gridiron and unload.  If everything goes according to plan, Ohio State can pull a page from Ric Flair’s playbook: get a pixelated Stagg Trophy and walk around the Midwest declaring itself as the “real” B1G TEN champions.  At least, I would find it amusing.

There is nothing much to do on the NCAA front, but move on and play some football.  In some holistic sense, this is debilitating only if we treat it as such.  The punishment sucks, but isn’t crippling.  Ohio State football needs the right mind set going forward.

In a signal that tougher penalties likely loom, the NCAA has notified Ohio State University that it is facing a charge of failing to monitor its violation-plagued football program.

Failure to monitor is the second-worst finding the NCAA can impose on an athletic program.

Ohio State announced the NCAA findings this afternoon and that it would cut five scholarships over a three-year period beginning next year.

The NCAA previously had notified OSU that it was not being accused of failure to monitor or the worst charge — loss of institutional control.

The NCAA’s move to invoke the charge now means that the NCAA considers the violations committed by Ohio State to stem from a central problem, rather than individual misdeed.

Incidental documents include: NCAA letter, Supplemental Notice of Allegations, Updated letter, Ohio State’s response, Exhibits.  More after the jump.

This is all DiGeronimo-related, which, in terms of punishment, will be tacked onto the original TatGate stuff but is a separate matter.  Ohio State finally got tacked with one of the stiffer charges from the NCAA.

The five scholarships Ohio State will self-deduct will be over three years, but will not be per annum.  The NCAA is free to add more punishments and likely will.  I’m guess a bowl ban of some length — likely one year — is forthcoming.

Resolution of the issue should be forthcoming.  In particular, a December 10th meeting in Fort Lauderdale will contain a hearing on the matter.  Ohio State officials will attend.  Any punishments that come from that will be in effect next year.  Think: bowl ban.

Alas, this was to be expected.  The substance of this came from Terrelle Pryor spilling the beans in order to solidify entry into the NFL’s Supplemental Draft.  It sucks, but oh well.  We’ll see what happens next.

Ohio State University football student-athlete Devier Posey must sit five games and repay benefits after receiving approximately $720 from a booster for work not performed, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff. Posey also accepted approximately $100 in golf fees from another individual, which is a preferential treatment violation.

Three additional Ohio State football student-athletes – Marcus Hall, Melvin Fellows and Daniel Herron – will miss one game and must repay benefits after receiving pay for work not performed from the booster. Herron and Fellows both accepted approximately $290 in excess pay while Hall received $230 in overpayment. In its decision, the staff noted the overpayment occurred over an extended period of time.

Alrightie then…

The Ohio State University Director of Athletics Gene Smith announced today that, as part of the university’s continued investigation with the NCAA to resolve any remaining football compliance issues, violations have been discovered and three football student-athletes have been declared ineligible for the football game this weekend against the University of Nebraska. Those players are Marcus Hall, DeVier Posey and Daniel Herron. The university has submitted a request for reinstatement on behalf of each student-athlete, but it is anticipated that each will sit out at least the game this weekend.

Some other notes:

• Etienne Sabino and Melvin Fellows’ Safari Planet were also revealed to have been improperly compensated for work not done, but Sabino has already been punished and is not affected for Saturday.  Fellows was revealed to be a medical hardship, meaning his career must apparently be over.
• This will be added to the larger, ongoing issue that led to Tressel’s resignation and the August 12th hearing in Indianapolis.  As such, this will delay resolution of that issue “into the near future.”

• Gene Smith says he is still optimistic a bigger FTM/LOIC charge is not coming because, and I’m paraphrasing somewhat, “they’re individual decisions to go off the reservation.”  Granted, these are the same players repeatedly going off the reservation, but… whatever.  Sigh… whatever.
• This is a compensation issue in that it is players being compensated for work not done.  Remember Rhett Bomar?  Something along those lines.  So we’re being told.
• The NCAA punishes in terms of dollar amounts impermissibly received.  Receiving money for work not done is an impermissible benefit.  DeVier Posey, therefore, will be a case to watch.  Herron and Hall received compensation less than $400, which usually amounts in a one or two game suspension.  Posey received a compensation just short of $800, which could mean multiple games.  And there are only six games left.
• The Cleveland area booster Bobby DiGeronimo involved has been disassociated from the program.  Whatever, I guess.  That said, it did seem to work for Alabama with respect to Tom Al-Betar and T-Town Fashions.  How many people are still talking about that?  Exactly.

If it makes you feel any better, here’s a kitty.

That's right, kitty. Size 'em up. Size 'em up REAL good.

The return of Ohio State tailback Daniel Herron and receiver DeVier Posey from their start-of-the-season NCAA suspensions could be delayed by at least one more game barring a change of heart by the NCAA, sources told The Dispatch this morning.

Left tackle Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas are expected to be cleared to rejoin the active roster for the Buckeyes’ game at Nebraska on Saturday night.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith will hold a news conference today at 3:30 p.m., the school said.

So, that’s one less receiver to run fruitlessly on a deep post while Nebrasky sends heat on the blitz, and one less tailback to try to beat unblocked backside pursuit into the hole for a 1.5 yard gain on a power play.

Three Ohio State University football student-athletes — Corey Brown, Jordan Hall and Travis Howard — have been reinstated after sitting out two games and can compete once they each repay $200 to charity before they are eligible to compete, according to a decision today by the NCAA student-athlete reinstatement staff.

The university declared all three student-athletes ineligible for violations of NCAA extra benefit rules discovered by the NCAA enforcement staff during a joint investigation. Brown, Hall and Howard did not compete in the team’s Sept. 3 game with Akron or its Sept. 10 game with Toledo.

Those violations occurred in February when the three student-athletes received envelopes with $200 in cash at a charity event. According to the facts submitted by the university, the money was provided by a university booster.

“The university appreciates the NCAA’s expeditious response in reinstating these three student athletes,” said Gene Smith, Ohio State Director of Athletics.

Corey Brown is a marginal contribution to the team, providing some depth at safety and maybe a contribution on kick/punt coverage.  Hall and Howard are the bigger additions to the fold (after they pay back the $200).  Travis Howard was slated to be a breakout performer for the 2011 squad, giving rise to the “Howard Island” phenomenon among Ohio State’s fan base.  As good of a player he is and could be this season, Dominic Clarke and Brad Roby have looked the part so far in two games.  Dominic Clarke in particular, who started the season as Howard’s backup and interregnum head of state of Howard Island, just might threaten a coup or outright secession from the boundary corner position.

Howard is welcomed back, but Hall will be the better addition.  Ohio State’s tailback depth was supposed to be a stable, but injuries and suspensions reduced it to a two-man group featuring two young’ns getting their first real playing time in college.  Carlos Hyde looks pretty good, and Smith has his moments (when he is not dribbling the football).  Hall, though, is our best tailback option with Herron suspended.  No other tailback on the roster can stretch the field horizontally, or provide the receiving option that Hall provides.  We hope he helps the offense play more coherently going forward.

We are all Captain Picard.

As if this wasn’t already the suckiest of all sucky offseasons that ever sucked, along comes more bad news less than 48 hours before the season kicks off. Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith has announced that three more Buckeyes — two of them starters — are suspended for the Akron game. Running back Jordan Hall and defensive backs Travis Howard and Corey “Pittsburgh” Brown will miss the season opener for receiving impermissible benefits worth $300 or less. The violations took place at a charity event the three players attended earlier this year.

Ohio State self-reported the violations to the NCAA and is making an immediate appeal to the NCAA for reinstatement. Most likely, the players will be forced to repay the dollar value of the impermissible benefits and that will be that. However, Smith’s statement said that the school was considering additional institutional sanctions.

“We take this matter seriously. Our commitment to institutional integrity is steadfast, and we must hold everyone associated with our athletics programs accountable for lapses in judgment. We believe in transparency with the NCAA, all regulatory bodies and all of Buckeye Nation.”

There’s really no need to remind anyone that this is a program awaiting a verdict on the previous NCAA investigation, so of course this was something nobody needed. Hall’s loss means the Buckeyes have only two healthy, unsuspended tailbacks. Carlos Hyde and Rod Smith should be on full display on Saturday. At last report, Jaamal Berry was still questionable with a hamstring injury.

What does this new round of suspensions mean? Well, very little if they last only the one game. It is conceivable that Smith could try to be tough with these three to appear strong for the NCAA. That might mean an additional game. On the field, the positions affected are among Ohio State’s deepest, especially if Berry can play. Hyde was going to play a lot anyway. Now he’ll get more carries. Smith might have seen limited action, and now he’ll get a longer look. Howard will likely be replaced by Dominic Clarke, opposite Bradley Roby, who beat out Clarke in fall practice. Brown was a backup, but there is depth with players like Zach Domicone.

There are now eight players suspended for the season opener: DeVier Posey, Boom Herron, Mike Adams, Solomon Thomas, Jordan Whiting, Jordan Hall, Travis Howard and Pitty Brown. In addition, Corey Linsley is believed to be suspended for violating team rules.

Kill this offseason. Kill it with fire. And with extreme prejudice.

I never get invited out to dinner with local businessmen and the damn fuzz

So, there’s a doins’ a-transpirin’ this week in college football.  What follows is a snapshot of as much of it as I could fit in a post, within reason.

NFL Lockout Over; Buckeye Free Agents Snatched Up

Football fans rejoiced over the conclusion of the lockout and the announcement that the 2011 NFL season is going to proceed as scheduled.  Canton, Ohio lost its cherished Hall of Fame Game, but football fans in general can at least look toward the 2011 season as a certainty.  Fantasy football will follow and fans everywhere will watch as the 2011 season unfolds.  SPOILER ALERT: it concludes when the Cleveland Browns, that fair and noble squad, finish 19-0 and win the Super Bowl.

More importantly, Ohio State’s undrafted free agents have now found homes.  Perhaps no man in America was more popular the past 24 hours than Dane Sanzenbacher.  Sanzy was contacted by nearly every team in the league before settling on the Chicago Bears over the Cincinnati Bengals (*whew*).  Dexter Larimore signed with the New Orleans Saints.  Justin Boren joins Andy Moeller in Baltimore; Moeller was Boren’s offensive line coach when both were at Michigan.  Brandon Saine and Devon Torrence head to the NFC North, being scooped by defending world champions Green Bay and Minnesota respectively.  Both Bryant Browning and Jake McQuaide were signed by the St. Louis Rams respectively, making the Rams the NFC branch of the Ohio State Buckeyes Alumni Association.

As always, we wish them all individual success, though may they fall in defeat to the hands of the venerable and mighty Cleveland Browns.

Terrelle Pryor Officially Blacklisted by Ohio State

…and it appears that Ohio State did Terrelle Pryor a solid in doing so.  Pryor was having issues of eligibility, not (just) for Ohio State, but for the supplemental draft.  Pryor’s problem was that the supplemental draft is only available for players who have an unforeseen change in eligibility that prompts them to abruptly pursue the professional route.  This follows, for example, when a player quickly becomes ineligible by way of poor academics, or ineligible for, say, being on the take.  A college football player cannot just declare for the supplemental draft, as Pryor appeared to do.  He could still have squeezed in (and probably would have), but this was becoming an issue.

Ohio State changed that when it announced that Pryor would not have been eligible for 2011, presenting the necessary condition of a “change of circumstances” that makes him eligible for the supplemental draft.  The letter cited Pryor’s unwillingness to cooperate with NCAA and Ohio State investigators, stripping him of his right to play in 2011 after the five game suspension.  The “blacklisting” makes him ineligible to be on the receiving end of tickets for home games and ineligible to use the team’s athletic facilities.  He is still allowed to make use of Ohio State’s academic facilities, also opening the door for the continuation of his education.

So, yeah…

Alabama Has Some ‘Splainin’ to Do

As many of you know, I live in Tuscaloosa.  The population of this town is about 100,000 (maybe just shy of it), but that’s only because the United States Census counts disgusting trolls w/ ridiculous looking bangs as people.¹  Yes, they’ve been total bastards about everything that’s happened to Ohio State’s program.  They’re total bastards about most things.

So, the fact that they’re now having to sweat eligibility issues for star players makes me grin ear to ear, though I don’t expect much to come of it.  For those unaware, various high profile players for the Crimson Tide have been photographed at various functions with Tom Albetar, the proprietor of a store called T-Town Menswear in University Mall in Tuscaloosa.  I can actually say I’ve been in that store, but haven’t said more than four words to the guy in question.²  Those words were “oh no thank you”, in response to a question of if I needed help looking for a tie.  I did not.  I found no tie to my liking, did not exchange goods for services there and my eligibility with the NCAA, thus, remains unaffected.

The shenanigans themselves are your standard fare, something spiritually similar to what was levied against Ohio State’s program vis-a-vis Dennis Talbott.  Players were photographed with Albetar in the store in what ostensibly appears to be a promotional activity, which is frowned upon by the NCAA.  Further, signed gear (at these same quasi-promotional activities) are displayed prominently in the store (and they are) and are even sold.  I don’t expect much to come of it.  Most of the gear (that I saw at least) are from recent alumni like Julio Jones, Terrance Cody, Javier Arenas, Greg McElroy, Mark Ingram and so on.  They’re all free to do that when they exhaust (or concede) their eligibility.

The one problem is Trent Richardson, the Heisman hopeful at tailback who the Rammer Jammers will be expecting to carry the load for the team in 2011.  The evidence against him looks far more suspicious than that against any other player that Clay Travis is trying to shoehorn into this.  This doesn’t appear to be a systematic problem for Alabama, but a case where they may want to be double or triple sure about Richardson.  I mean, that picture you see at the top of the post should not be naturally occurring for a current student-athlete.  It really shouldn’t, unless that’s at a recognized charitable fundraiser.

Alabama has issued the standard denials/taking our own action/nothing to see here, something not at all dissimilar to what Ohio State did.  If nothing else, this will mute the locals regarding Ohio State’s own difficulties.

Yours Truly, Interviewed by Penn Shtaters

The crew at Linebacker-U, my favorite Penn Sthate blog, is now the crew at Black Shoe Diaries, the most visible Penn Shtate blog on the internet.  Since we are frenemies and love to hate each other, they offered me a second interview.  If you recall, I gave a somewhat inebriated and verbose reply to their inquiries last year.³

They thought it was funny enough to invite me back again, this time for a bigger audience.  Therein, I talk about the ongoing NCAA issues and what it’s meant for recruiting and Fickell’s chances for the full time gig.  They also called me a ditzy chick of a blogger, which, yes.  Yes I am.

Last year, I also invited Tim (the interviewer for both features) into the accusing parlor, where he stood accused of various items of intrigue.  I’m trying to get him back for another go-around in the accusing parlor, but Tim might be gunshy from his first trip.  He knows that when I accuse, I accuse with prejudice.

Elsewhere…

Prep school wide receiver target Michael Thomas, who is a product of Woodland Hills (CA) Taft in the San Fernando Valley (the best valley) was profiled by Eleven Warriors… Current USC coach Lane Kiffin, and not Tennessee, will be hit with a failure to monitor charge… Larry Scott (Pac-12 commissioner) and Pat Haden (USC Athletic Director) are a bit incredulous over how Ohio State’s NCAA problems are being resolved, failing to see the beauty of the previous point…

1. You know the kind: sunglasses on a strap around the neck, fishing shorts as formal wear, a can of Skoal in one hand, a Budweiser in the other and the worst command of the English language conceivable by a native speaker.
2. At least, I think it was him.  It might have been the other guy.
3. I was in Ann Arbor for the month last year and typed my responses after a couple of beers.

Yup.

Ohio State fans beleaguered by bad news after bad news this entire calendar year instinctively hit a panic button when 10TV reported that Jim Tressel warned compliance about the Tat Five in December.  Nominally an update from “Tressel knew in April”, Tressel warning compliance in December would at least make the compliance department and the athletic director complicit in a cover-up that would allow the five players in question to be eligible for the now-vacated Sugar Bowl.  It would also mean more severe penalties for the program while simultaneously providing wank material for ESPN and various segments of the college football landscape that do not think fondly of the program.

Fortunately, that appears to be another non-story associated with the big story of Tressel’s failure to notify compliance about the tattoo parlor in question.  I didn’t think anything would follow if the only communication noted was “verbal disclosure”, as those words quickly disappear into air.  Credit Eleven Warriors (@elevenwarriors) and Ramzy (@ramzyn) for not taking the bait and actually looking at the cited material in question.  Namely, the information provided by Tressel was purposely vague and a little evasive (see: December 16, 2010).  Ohio State vehemently denied this claim by 10TV.

And, fortunately for fans, the NCAA agrees.  They announced they believe Jim Tressel was the only one who knew about what happened and that compliance and the athletic department acted to the best they could.  They additionally found no new violations.  Thus, Ohio State will not get a failure to monitor charge.

This is a big deal since it makes Ohio State exempt  from the harsher penalties that follow a failure to monitor charge or lack of institutional control. It seems certain Ohio State will avoid a bowl ban and some of the wet dreams of a TV ban thrown out there.  All told, it’s universally good news for Ohio State fans.

In related news, Ohio State also plans to create a central compliance office to oversee athletics and research, which, for the athletics perspective, would no longer make compliance a subsidiary of athletics.  If the compliance department is exempt from blame for this whole perspective, consider this, then, a means to make sure something like this never happens again.

All told, it appears we are finally near resolution of this whole unfortunate episode in the program’s illustrious history.  And that is certainly good.

Relax, y'all. Gregor Mendel's got this.

Yesterday was Gregor Johann Mendel’s 189th birthday, and I’m sure he doesn’t look a day over 188. There’s no doubt in my mind that Gregor goofed around with peas because he couldn’t stand the taste of them. Perhaps his mother never told him not to play with his food. As a result of one or both of these things, Mendel experimented meticulously with the green pod fruit and came up with the concepts of dominant and recessive traits, and a new science called genetics, which sort of helped to explain all that evolution gobbledygook that Charles Darwin was going on and on about. At the time Darwin wrote about his theory of evolution, not many people understood how something like that might work until Mendel’s research was widely recognized around the turn of the 20th century. We sure could use another Gregor Mendel today. He might be able to devise some experiments to help us figure out why the NCAA is basically going to allow ESPN to act as a street agent to promote Texas Longhorns football.

The source of great buzz on the interwebs yesterday was the issue of the gigantic and transparent recruiting advantage ESPN’s $300 million Longhorn Network will give the University of Texas. Outrage and derision should have been a constant since the original announcement of the network. Since then, many of us have been scratching our heads and wondering how ESPN was going to air high school ball games in a way that wouldn’t automatically give Texas an unfair advantage in recruiting. I wondered why the remaining members of the Big XII not named Texas were remaining members of the Big XII. By all appearances, Texas wants to be an independent in football anyway, as long as that comes with an automatic BCS berth. It stands to reason that a high school coach and/or athletic director would very much like to see his team’s games televised on the Longhorn Network. Because high school coaches have considerable influence over their players and give meaningful guidance during the recruiting process, it unquestionably incentivizes a coach to recommend Austin as a destination in an effort to wink, wink his school’s way into a TV game. Coach Eric Taylor wouldn’t be so disreputable, but many would.

The NCAA has been spending a lot of time and resources investigating many schools of late, including our own beloved university in Old Columbus Town. LSU and Georgia Tech got recent smacks, while Auburn may soon get taken to the woodshed. There’s still the whole Oregon-Will Lyles mess to deal with, too. Yet, for all its digging, investigating and sleuthing, the NCAA has yet to put the kibosh on the idea of high school football on the Longhorn Network, which is an unfair advantage hidden right there out in the open. ESPN Programming Vice President Dave Brown (head of the Longhorn Network) has recently suggested publicly that the Longhorn Network might just show some games featuring kids who have verbally committed to Texas. Keep in mind that these are not players who have signed national letters of intent. They are merely verbal commits, and we know how those can go (hi, Kyle Kalis!). Access to high school kids by the Longhorn Network is, by extension, access to high school kids by the University of Texas, which says to me, in giant neon letters, extra contact. Extra contact with recruits is an NCAA no-no, so I’m not sure how this can possibly work, while simultaneously being ethical and not giving Texas a recruiting advantage.

Understandably, the Longhorns’ in-state rivals from College Station are noticeably upset. Rumor has it that the Aggies are talking about seceding and joining That Conference Down South. Who could blame them, really? Texas A&M already has a decided disadvantage in recruiting both in and out of the Lone Star state. They are the proverbial little brother in the state of Texas and at times have been surpassed by Texas Tech and have recently been threatened by Baylor, of all schools. Joining the SEC might actually bolster the Texas A&M image. If the B1G Network had become the Wolverine Network and began showcasing high school games from the state of Michigan and neighboring states, would we not be shouting from the rooftops and talking secession?  It’s beyond the ridiculous that this whole one-school network thing has seemingly risen before being thought out by the NCAA, but that’s what has apparently happened. For Texas and ESPN, it’s a winning proposition. For college football, not so much.

The four-letter has issued its early season football broadcast team schedule: Among the horrors contained in the broadcast schedule for the WWL: Beth Mowins, Pam Ward, Jesse Palmer, Brian Griese and a weekly double dose of [#FireCraigJames]. While I may appear to be

Instead of being rewarded, we're getting Pam Warded.

misogynistic by including both Mowins and Ward in the previous sentence, I see nothing inherently wrong with a female football play-by-play broadcaster. It’s just that Beth Mowins and Pam Ward make me want to stab myself in the eye with an ice-pick. Particularly Ward. I wish it could be all Nessler/Blackledge, all the time (as Gus Johnson is not on the WWL). I like Mike Patrick, but with [#FireCraigJames] alongside, I will likely feel like lighting myself on fire. Would an announcer-free game of the week featuring background music from the Decemberists and the Black Keys be so hard to arrange in place of Pam Ward/Danny Kanell?

Bye-Bye, Little BROden: Greg Oden’s younger brother Anthony was dismissed from the Arkansas Razorbacks football squad – you know, the team that was beaten in a bowl game in January that never happened – after a second offense for driving while intoxicated. The younger Oden, who was also charged with possession of a controlled substance, was competing for a starting tackle spot this fall. I guess you could say that this opens his recruiting back up. Before signing with Arkansas, the 6-8, 260-pound Oden considered Indiana, North Carolina State, Nebrasky and Oregon State. Dismissing Oden from the football team was not the only headache for Bobby Petrino this week.

Fragel Rock Infected: Tight end Reid Fragel Rock caused some palpitations among Buckeye Nation Tuesday night with this post on Twitter. In case that doesn’t open properly for you, it reads:

Not one to ask for this kind of favor over twitter.. But please send some prayers my way. Headin to the ER

 Understandably, this was met by some of us with a good deal of concern. Fragel, by his own Twitter narrative, was a guest in the hospital overnight with an apparent staph infection in his leg. Fragel Rock tweeted that he got a tetanus shot and IV fluids, but added that the doctors caught the infection early and he’d be “ready to rock in about a week.” As Vico said so succinctly, “Whew.”

Women’s World Cup Thoughts: Those savvy enough to appreciate the beauty, elegance and tactics of soccer, and not Neanderthal enough to think only men’s sports can be interesting, might still be smarting from a horrific Team USA collapse in the Women’s World Cup Final on Sunday. I’m right there with you. Soccer is, like many other sports, a game in which you can dominate play and still not get the result. Missing scoring opportunities is fatal in all sports, and Team USA blew any number of chances to put the game away, both in regulation and extra time. Despite not doing so, Pia Sundhage’s bunch still had the better opportunity to win in penalty kicks (a ridiculous way to decide a game, but let’s not go down that road right now) with a goalkeeper widely regarded as the best in the world. Penalty kicks, when taken correctly, are virtually unstoppable. Hope Solo did stop one, and nearly a second, but her teammates let her down by missing their first three attempts. I have been watching soccer a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever seen three straight missed PKs.

I wasn’t impressed with Sundhage’s decision to start the kicks with Shannon Boxx, whose kick was shaky against Brazil. She needed the referee to award a re-kick to convert in that game. Nor was I thrilled with the inclusion of late sub Tobin Heath or Carli “Couldn’t-Find-The-Net-All-Tournament” Lloyd. Those weren’t the only decisions I questioned Sundhage for (such as not subbing in Amy Rodriguez, who wasn’t having a stellar tourney, but at least she had scored three goals against Japan this year; or taking the always-dangerous Megan Rapinoe out of the game), but those happened late and are the most easily recollected. Regardless, it was heartbreaking. It seemed the team deserved a better fate. It’s a cruel game sometimes.

Team USA can look back at some positives, despite the loss. The team simultaneously shone a spotlight on soccer and on women’s sports. For a short time, America was captivated not just by soccer, but women’s soccer. The USA vs. Brazil match was as compelling a sporting event as I’ve ever witnessed, and was an excellent example of the good (drama, exquisite execution, late-game heroics) and bad (officiating, flopping) in soccer. I hope you found it as enthralling as I did, whether you previously followed soccer or women’s sports or not. However, we didn’t need this new low by the WWL’s top news program.

And finally: Leopards, y’all.