When the Scout “Top 100” national recruiting list was
finally unveiled earlier this week, I thought, “Finally. Those guys at Scout
have shown that they really do have a sense of humor.” I laughed
hysterically over the fact that no Ohio kid made the top 70. Or that Trotwood’s
CJ Peake was considered the best player in the state. I had actual tears forming
to think that they left off Eugene Clifford completely and that there are 75
players in America better than Ben Martin.
But, wait…that wasn’t intended as a parody? That
wasn’t the “Spinal Tap” of college recruiting lists? Oh. But it really is
a joke, isn’t it? Yeah, I thought so…
Listen, we are as indignant over total crap like the Scout
100 as you are. We won’t try to defend it. Or even sugar coat it. It makes Scout
and Bucknuts look like buffoons. Not only did they totally disregard our
recruiting guys and our opinions, they even disregarded Chris Pool, their own
Midwest representative! The southern and western bias is so transparent and so
amateurish that the list should read “The Top 100 players in the west and the
south. And some others”.
And– if you didn’t attend the Scout combines? Well, you
get big deductions for that. Commerce uber alles.
Personally, I think that Scout is afraid that their
competition is going to disappear and they want to give fans a reason to
subscribe to non-Scout sites. Otherwise, I don’t see any rationale at all for
the ludicrous mess they just published. What a waste of resources and
opportunities…
* * * * *
A Bucknut by any other name…By far, the most
interesting stuff that appears in the Bucket of Bullets comes from other people
(either stolen or with begrudging attribution). People who write or e-mail me
often come up with unique stuff and often it has to do with the Bucknuts name.
One such quirky e-mail came from Scott Spencer:
Hello, Mr. Bucknuts:
Recently there was considerable
consternation at the Stanford site, The Bootleg, when one of Gary Housteau's
photos of a high school talent that appeared on that site, bearing Gary's byline
as well as that of the Bucknuts site. As you may be aware, Stanford boasts a
number of foreign born players on its roster (I believe currently there are
eight Nigerians playing for the Cardinal).
So curious names are a frequent topic of
conversation on The Bootleg. In any respect, the Cardinal faithful got quite a
kick out of the idea of a high school phenom named "Bucknuts Housteau", and were
equally interested to speculate about his sexual prowess, and perceived
toughness!
Enjoy the site! Keep up the great work!
Scott Spencer
Or an even better perspective:
Drop shots and lob-sters…Although we seldom address such “non-revenue”
sports at OSU such as tennis (or the great succession of synchronized swimming
teams…), maybe we should start taking a look. Recently in San Francisco, the
Ohio State tennis team fell to No. 3 Texas 4-3 in the quarterfinals of the 2006
NCAA Men's Tennis Team Championships Sunday. The match started on the campus of
Stanford University but was moved indoors in San Francisco because of rain.
The No. 6-ranked Buckeyes tied a school record with the elite appearance,
accomplished for the second time in the last three years. Ohio State (28-2) set
records for wins in a season and consecutive victories (19) this year.
And things are looking up for the Buckeye netsters. Next year, a local Dayton
lad, Justin Kronauge, will be matriculating at OSU, rather than be seduced by
the professional calling. Justin has been the #1 junior in the country since
early 2005 and was ranked by the USTA as the #1 18-and-under in the nation. When
we asked Justin what some of the compelling reasons were to attend OSU, he
remarked that he enjoyed the recruiting pitch from…Jim Tressel. Hey – Justin is
from Centerville. Could he be the tennis Hawk in Columbus? Or will fans chant “Kro-Nauuuuu-gee”?
* * * * *
Saturday Night’s all right for fighting… Being
somewhat on the business end of college sports, I noted with interest that ABC
seems to have replaced their Monday Night Football series with the new Saturday
Night College football series. What once were vices are now habits, indeed. The
occasionally aberrant Saturday night affair is now main viewing fare with
a complete season schedule. For those of you that might have missed it, it
breaks down like this:
Sept 2: Notre Dame at Georgia Tech
Sept 9: OSU at Texas
Sept 16: Nebraska at USC
Sept 23: Notre Dame at MSU; USC at Arizona
Sept 30: OSU at Iowa; or Michigan at Minnesota
Oct 7: Oregon at Cal; or Big 12 vs. Big East
Oct 14: Michigan at PSU; Arizona State at USC
Nov 4: UCLA at Cal; ACC/Big 12 vs. Big East
Nov 11: TBD
Nov 18: Cal at USC; other TBD
Nov 25: Notre Dame at USC
Dec 12: Big 12 championship
There are a few items that jump right off the schedule at
you. First, Notre Dame will no longer be a MNC pretender after they lose their
opener on national TV. Second. OSU will be #1 in the country after they wreak
vengeance on Texas the following week. Third, USC is becoming “America’s team”
as they will appear at least four times on some version of national TV.
And fourth, what happened to the vaunted Irish relationship
with the NotreDame Booster Company (known in media circles simply as “NBC”)?
Did ABC figure out a sneaky end run where they take away the best of the ND
games and leave NBC with the thrills and agony of such classic as Notre
Dame-Navy and Notre Dame-Air Force, and other national powers like Stanford and
North Carolina? Ahh, the wheels keep turning…
* * * * *
A Fiesta – The bowl and the offer…Bucknuts managing
editor Steve Helwagen has spent much of the last four years working on a book
covering OSU’s double overtime win over Miami at the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. He has
interviewed more than three dozen players and coaches and has comments from
those on both sides of this landmark game.
But this special book packages all of those chapters – all of which have been
revised, updated and lengthened -- into one piece. Plus, there are a ton of
great photos and other features. Here is an outline on this special book, “The
Greatest Game Ever Played:”
* In the introduction, Helwagen discusses why this Fiesta Bowl was the
greatest game ever played.
* Chapter 1 centers on Ohio State’s regular season and the push toward the
national title game. Chapter 2 has a look at Miami’s season.
* In Chapter 3, Helwagen recounts the weeks leading up to the national
championship game, including the flap over Maurice Clarett’s desire to return
home to Ohio to attend a friend’s funeral.
* Chapter 4 provides complete play-by-play coverage of the first quarter,
where Miami struck for first blood.
* In Chapter 5, Steve outlines the pivotal second quarter. OSU capitalized on
a spate of Miami turnovers to take a 14-7 halftime lead.
* Chapter 6 examines the third quarter, when Miami inched closer.
* In Chapter 7, the fourth quarter of the game is reviewed – right down to
the final play field goal that sent the national title game into overtime.
* Chapter 8 goes into great detail on the first overtime period, which was
marked by a pair of fourth-down conversions by the Buckeyes. The second of those
was the controversial pass interference penalty that gave OSU a fresh set of
downs.
* In Chapter 9, Helwagen looks at OSU’s quick scoring drive in the second
overtime as well as the defense’s amazing goal line stand that paved the way for
the school’s first national championship in 34 years.
* Chapter 10 chronicles the chaotic scene on the field at Sun Devil Stadium
after OSU’s surprising win over Miami. Helwagen also shares excerpts from
Tressel’s post-game press conference and comments from the players on their
special celebration back at the team hotel.
* In Chapter 11, the book examines the weeks and months that followed the
national championship game as the Buckeyes were honored at Ohio Stadium, an OSU
basketball game and a trip to the White House.
* In Chapter 12, Steve shares his view on the top 20 games in Ohio State
football history, plus he looks at 20 more that could have easily cracked the
list.
* Chapter 13 includes analysis from CollegeFootballNews.com’s Pete Fiutek on
the greatest college football games ever played, as well as a cool piece on the
greatest finishes in college football history.
* Chapter 14 contains all of the facts and figures from this special game,
including the final box score, the OSU roster, bowl scores from both teams,
match-ups between No. 1 and No. 2 teams and much more.
* Chapter 15 is a special chapter. Helwagen shares excerpts from some of
Tressel’s best moments from his first two years as the OSU coach. This includes
snippets from his introductory press conference, his speech at the OSU-Michigan
basketball game (the “310-day” speech), his speech to the Ohio high school
coaches association, his comments at his first Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon (“it’s
not about the ball”) and his speech to the American Football Coaches Association
in the days following the Fiesta Bowl win.
* And, yes, Mr. Bucknuts weighs in with the Epilogue. My column from the days
following the Fiesta Bowl is reprinted and I relive the emotional roller coaster
as the Buckeyes claimed the national championship.
Steve Helwagen also explains the title and premise of this one-of-a-kind OSU
keepsake. “It’s real simple,” he said. “Never has a game that meant that much
been so good.”
Check out the front page of Bucknuts for all the business details…
* * * * *
Backs to the future…In our Bucknuts mode that “I
like what I have so much that I want more”, it’s time to look forward to the
draft, I mean the recruiting for the 2007 class. I decided to start with
the running backs this year since it seems to be the position in which we need
the least help. But – not so fast, my friend…
Right now, we are in a situation that smacks of an
embarrassment of riches. The days of JaJa Riley and Sammy Maldonado hoping to
supplant the likes of Maurice Hall and Lydell Ross are – fortunately - distant
memories. We have four backs that could probably start for about 100 of the
other 116 D-I teams.
Let us start with Antonio Pittman, who will start for us.
He will be but a junior this year and is coming off a sensational 1300+ yard
season, a season in which he seemed to get better as the year wore on. Behind
him – chronologically – are Erik Haw and Maurice Wells. They will both be
sophomores in eligibility. Haw is a load – an exciting combination of speed and
power. Maurice Wells will be a situational guy – find him some space and he can
create the excitement. And behind those two? We have those giddy possibilities
of Chris Wells, which should need no disposition here.
But you can’t look at just the next couple of years – in
which we will see a 2008 season that all of the above could be playing their
final year. That’s right. Pittman will be gone, M Wells and Haw would be seniors
and C Wells will probably be looking to do a “Whitner kind of thing”, going
early for the draft. Thus, we need another running back this year to keep the
pipeline flowing. Who, you ask?
Asked and answered. His name is Brandon Saine and he
already committed. Being a big burly type (and one of the fastest high school
humans in the nation), that seems like a good start. But will he play tailback
or wide receiver? If they are recruiting him as a wide-out, then maybe they can
land another “huge hoss” back like John Clay or Chicago’s Robert Hughes.
Otherwise, we will see the Buckeyes biding their time to see how some of the
Ohio senior high school seasons of promising backs like Morgan Williams, Danny
Herron or Hosea Simpson. There are rumored offers on the table to Dale Martin,
as well.
The last offer? Could be to a combo athlete that plays
running back and a DB position.
* * * * *
Pitt-ing man against man…Speaking of future running backs, who will we be speaking of in the very near future at that crowded position? Well, we spoke with running backs coach Dick Tressel recently and asked him that same question: whose gonna be “the Man” in the Buckeye backfield in 2006? Seemed like a silly question to ask, even for me. After all, we have the returning Antonio Pittman, who seemed to improve with almost every carry last season. And he had enough carries that – on an offense loaded with firepower – he amassed over 1300 rushing yards as a mere sophomore.
With a wry smile, Coach Tressel’s answer cut right to it. "His sophomore year
rushing was the second-best in the history of Ohio State University, and the guy
before won a Heisman," he said. And that’s why Pittman will be the number one
guy next fall despite sitting out most of spring drills with a pulled hamstring,
an injury he sustained while running a 40 yard dash this winter. ‘Nuf said.
Let’s cut the guy some slack and not simply look at the po-tential of
other backs that haven’t cut it at all, yet.
* * * * *
Here’s where it all ends…An older friend of mine was
a huge Buckeye football fan. When he passed away a few weeks ago, his family
eschewed the traditional “shovel dirt on his grave”. But as the mourners were
walking away from the hole in the ground, they heard the pop-pop-popping as the
grave diggers filled it in. What was the sound? It was a sack of Buckeyes being
spread on top of his coffin.
A Buckeye forever, indeed. And, Curly, may you rest
forever in dignity and peace. And may we all say, “Amen”.
For notes or quotes or simply venting, Mr. Bucknuts is
your man. Contact him at your leisure at
MrBucknuts@yahoo.com