One. More. Day.

Celebrations all around in Northeast Ohio!

Cleveland Indians

Well, how do I say this? The Indians didn't blow this one completely.

-They took an early 3-0 lead.....Lost it and trailed 4-3 in the 7th......Retook the lead at 5-4 in the 7th.....Blew the save in the 9th......Won it in the bottom of the 9th on a bases-loaded walk.

When you're surging to get into the playoffs, you take the wins anyway you can get them, especially against teams you might face in the postseason. Tribe maintains a 4.5 game lead on the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central. The White Sox, who are 19 games under .500 come to town for a three-game set starting tomorrow night.

Cleveland Browns

Hey, nobody got hurt, and they beat the defending NFC Champions on their home field. The defense looked awesome, and they won 19-9. Josh Cribbs won himself another position. He'll be returning punts for us now after taking one back 70 yards tonight. Also, he'll probably be the #3 reciever, and still return kickoffs too.

Kent State Golden Flashes

What the F? The Big 12 took a giant step backwards tonight, as Iowa State embarrassed themselves on their home field, losing to Kent State 23-14. I couldn't watch the game, so I'm looking over the stats...nothing too remarkable stands out, except a 200-yard rushing game for KSU as a team.

Two turnovers each in the first quarter, then a back-and-forth scoring match. The deciding points came when Kent State picked off a pass and took it back to the 8-yard-line. One play later, the Flashes had a 9-point margin and it held up.

Light the fireworks, Kent State has the best record in Ohio (tied with Cincinnati, who won 59-3)

Open thread

A few things to discuss.....

Cleveland Indians

- Tonight I'm flipping channels all night long, but right now I've got the Cleveland Indians/Seattle Mariners game on. This is the final make-up game from the four-day snow-out series in early April. Looks like there's about 400 fans on hand.

- As of this moment, the Indians Magic Number is 27, and they have a below-average schedule the rest of the way (opponents have a combined .489 win percentage). This is a team with their destiny in their own hands. If they go a mere 17-13 the rest of the way, Detroit would have to go 21-7 down the stretch just to tie it up....and since Detroit is 1-8-3 in their last 12 series, I'm doubting they can pull it off)

Cleveland Browns

I HATE the final pre-season game of the year. I look at in one way....don't get hurt, guys. Play hard, but get 'em out of there quickly tonight, Romeo. Play a lot of your bubble boys and see if there's another Josh Cribbs on the team.

But I do hope Quinn gets a little game time and lights it up again.

College football begins!

- I can't see how LSU doesn't take full advantage of the big stage tonight, and they will show the country that they deserve the #1 slot that they didn't get. Two years ago this week, they were running for their lives. Tonight, they're running for the National Championship. Count on a big win for LSU.

My Big Ten picks for the weekend

Ohio State over Youngstown State
Michigan over Appalachian State
Penn State over Florida International
Northwestern over Northeastern
Michigan State over UAB
Iowa over Northern Illinois
Missouri over Illinois
Wisconsin over Washington State
Indiana over Indiana State
Purdue over Toledo
Bowling Green over Minnesota

Big Ten goes 9-2

Big Ten Bloggers

I'm proud to announce that The Buckeye Battle Cry is now officially a member of Big Ten Bloggers.

Big Ten Bloggers is designed to bring us all a little closer. People who run blogs for Big Ten schools now have a way to easily share contacts and information...and to spread that info on to our readers. Plus, it's always good to expand your horizons.

I always knew my Buckeye blogs well....Eleven Warriors was the most entertaining, Buckeye Commentary was the most insightful, MotSaG was the best all-around, etc. But I never knew how hilarious Hawkeye Compulsion was, or how Black Shoe Diaries can dissect a game. That's all changed, thanks to Big Ten Bloggers.

So check out the feed on the right side of the page, and don't be afraid to read the ramblings of our fellow conference bloggers.

Oh, and if any of you know how to alter my feed so I can actually look like everyone else's Big Ten Bloggers feed, drop me a line.

2 days to go.....

How could I possibly choose between Mike Doss and Cris Carter for Day #2?

Oh, and here's the funniest shirt of the day.....

Insight Cable sings with BTN, no other moves likely

Small-potatoes cable company Insight Cable has signed a deal with the Big Ten Network, and will give their customers what they want....Ohio State football!

Unfortunately for most people, that doesn't help much. Insight has only 65,000 homes it reaches in Ohio and Kentucky. But I won't complain....Bravo to Insight for having the brains to cut a deal! Here's hoping your customer rate improves as a result.

In the same article linked to, "OSU Director of Athletics Gene Smith said the prospect of the Big Ten Network finalizing deals with Time Warner Cable....was unlikely" before either of the first two Big Ten Network games, YSU and Akron.

Mid-day break, time to post!

Ohio State news

- It might be short notice, but at 8pm tonight, ESPN Classic is showing a re-broadcast of the Ohio State-Miami National Championship game. I can guarantee you I'll be flipping back and forth between that one and the Indians game.

Cleveland Indians news

- Heading into tonight's game, the Indians hold a 3.5 game lead over the Detroit Tigers. Of course, it's no surprise that an Ohio team is leading a Michigan team, but it's always fun to report on it.

- Tonight's game features CC Sabathia (14-7, 3.38 ERA) vs. Johan Santana (14-9, 2.97 ERA). It should be as close to a playoffgame as we'll get until October. If the Indians can beat Santana again (no team has EVER beat him 4 times in a season), it should end the Twins playoff hopes. They came into this series hoping for a sweep that would draw them to within 2.5 games of the Tribe. They might leave town 8.5 back, and it would be all but over for them.

- I don't think it's too early to count Magic Numbers for the Indians....they are at 27 to win the division.

Other stuff

- Does anybody know if Andy at My Casual Thoughts is still alive? The last time he posted was the day after the Cavaliers/Spurs Game 4.

- Here's my Saturday, in a nutshell.....

Noon - Ohio State vs. Youngstown State
330pm - Wisconsin vs. Washington State
7pm - Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago White Sox
8pm - Tennessee vs. California

It's great to be alive.

80 days left til the TTUN game!

Yeah, I went there.

Something to smile about......

The depth chart has been released (Buckeye Commentary has the official listing), and it's interesting to see who is #1 at each individual position.

But what stands out to me is the smiles we will all have for BEYOND this season.

If the depth chart stands, the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes will be returning 9 starters on offense and 10 starters on defense.

Stop and think about that for a few minutes......

Big Ten Bloggers roundtable

I'm working on getting into the Big Ten Bloggers roundtable discussions....Sean at Around The Oval has a real winner of a project with this, and I want in. Here's their latest discussion, and my responses;

1. Which player from your own team are you most looking forward to watching?

I know a lot of Buckeye fans are looking forward to seeing Beanie Wells...will he hold on to the ball more this year, can he duplicate runs like he did against Michigan, can he handle being the #1 back now that Pittman's left for the NFL?

But the player I want to see the most is Brandon Saine. Saine got a LOT of press last year (and the year before that) when he led Piqua to the Ohio State Football Championships. The kid rushed for 1,895 yards and 27 TDs as a senior. Then he went out and got two gold medals in the Ohio State Track And Field Championships. The kid can flat out burn defenders, and he's got a lot to prove. I expect to see Tressel use him like he used Teddy Ginn during his freshman year....and I am just LOVING the thought of that.

And before you think of him as a speed-merchant only, think again. The kid can break tackles. He's dangerous, and he's going to be fun to watch.

2. Which player from another Big Ten team are you most looking forward to watching?

Juice Williams and his "Lil' Troy" act at Illinois? No.
Jevon Ringer and his attempts to not get hurt at MSU? No.
Adrian Arrington and his "Bitch, gimme the keys" attitude at Michigan? No.

My pick is Penn State's Anthony Morelli. The buzz on Morelli is that he'll lead the Nittany Lions to greatness this year, and I'm not sold on that. I don't see it, but I want to give the kid a chance. He's got to be eager to get a chance to redeem himself for his game against Ohio State last year....he threw for only 106 yards and 2 TDs (both TDs were scored by Buckeyes, by the way).

3. If your team was an action movie star, who would it be?

That's simple - The 2007 Ohio State Buckeyes are going to be Han Solo. Don't laugh....there's a lot of comparisons.

- Han Solo never gets the full credit, but he ALWAYS gets the job done.
- No matter how badly the ship is damaged, Han Solo WILL make it fly and it WILL win.
- There always seems to be a bounty on Han Solo, universally.
- Occasionally, Han Solo gets frozen, but it never lasts long and he returns good as new.


Here's hoping I can get into more discussions with the boys.

In other news, water is wet

No surprise here....Todd Boeckman has been named as the starter for Ohio State at QB for Saturday's game against Youngstown State.

It's been a minor discussion amongst fans of the Buckeyes, but nobody really believed that Antonio Henton or Rob Schoenhoft would get the start.

All three QBs will see game time during the first two games, YSU and Akron University.

4 days to go.....

I know a lot of people wanted (and expected) to see Santonio Holmes in this post.....so here he is;



But how could I pass up the man....the myth....the legend!


Kirk Herbstreit will always be #4 in my heart!

Mid-day break, time to post!

News regarding The BBC

- For anyone who's visited here before, you can clearly see that I changed the template for The BBC today. I think this looks a little more professional, and I like the layout very much. Blogger.com gives a lot of options and I like it, but I wish it were better. So, until I'm able to create and maintain my own url (like those lucky bastards at MotSag and Eleven Warriors), I'll stick with this template.

New Friends

I quietly put up a new addition to the blogroll last week, and now it's time to tell you a little bit about it. Rick and John run Halftime Adjustments and they run a wonderful site....actually, they run a blog that is exactly what I want The BBC to become. Frequent updates and brilliant commentary are the order of the day, and it's all very impressive. They've only been around for about 2 months, and they could use a little love. Go check them out and leave comments.

Brady Quinn - should he start Week 1?

Ummm....no. Hell, no.

I'm VERY impressed with what I've seen from Brady thus far. He went 13-20 with 2 TDs in his first game, and four of those misses were spikes to stop the clock. Then he cut up the Denver defense for another TD (and a second almost-TD on an amazing pass, and I still believe Joe Jurevicius got his second foot down). He's looking GREAT right now, and he's almost ready.

Almost.

Quinn has shown that he will be the future QB of this team, but let's not rush it.

In 1985, the Browns drafted Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar. Hailed immediately as the savior to the Browns, Kosar sat the bench behind Gary Danielson. The plan was to gradually give Kosar more and more game time, and Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer was closing his ears to the fans' calls for Bernie. Then Schottenheimer was given no choice. Danielson was injured in the fifth game of the '85 season, and it became "Bernie Ball". Kosar won his first game at Houston, then lost four games in a row as he furiously tried to learn the NFL system. Kosar, for all his ineptness at television broadcasting, is one of the smartest NFL minds...and he struggled mightily. It was the strength of his teammates that carried him for the first season, and those two banded together for successful runs in 1986 and beyond.

Brady Quinn has the brain-power and he has the talent, but he does NOT have the supporting cast. Give him more time to develop, because if you throw him in there too soon, he will not have the success that Kosar graced us with.

Be patient, Browns fans. Quinn is the future of the team...let's not rush to get there too fast, though.

5 days to go.....

Michael Wiley, the only Buckeye ever to return the SEASON-opening kickoff for a TD.

It's bigger than we thought

This afternoon I saw an old friend. A chance meeting, but one that you will like hearing about. The topics of discussion ranged from inane banter to VERY interesting discussions about his work.

He's an installer for DirecTV.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

About a year ago, he was a cable installer for one of those local outfits that "assists" Time Warner Cable with their excess work. Then he got offered a job at DirecTV and left for somewhat greener pastures.

He tells me that about two weeks ago, a couple of old co-workers from his previous company were hired on at DirecTV. The next day, a couple more. Within a week, a total of seven cable installers were now DirecTV installers. Down to the man, each one told the tale of how the work orders were decreasing, and the work that Time Warner was turning over to them were ALL repairs or replacements. No new installations. With work dwindling, DirecTV had a pool of workers ripe for the picking...especially with their own numbers rising.

My friend is not sports-savvy, so he didn't understand the shift of workloads until last week, when he caught wind of the Big Ten Network.

Now, this is all assumptions by yours truly....but could this upstart network literally have the capability to wound the monopoly of cable television? No, of course not...but if Time Warner Cable doesn't get their heads out of their asses, they could lose a LOT more than a college sports network. They could lose an entire Conference filled with loyal fans. And their loyalty only goes as far as their schools...they'll be willing to switch a measly cable box in for a satellite dish if it means watching their one true loyalty in this whole mess.

I'm not sure if they had this in mind, but when DirecTV signed the deal with the Big Ten Network, did they know how much business it would swing their way?

And with each passing day, the board room at DirecTV cheers when the cable companies continue their resistance.

Find yourself a cool restaurant with big-screen TVs for Saturday, and GET THERE EARLY.

And remember this whole disaster the next time your cable company tells you they need to raise their rates.

6 days to go....

It's Cie Grant, the man who made the final play of Our Greatest Season.

....and then he gave us this gem shortly after winning it all for us.....

7 more days to go....

#7 has been WAY too good to us over the years, so here's a BEVY of choices....

Which one would YOU pick?

Chris Gamble?


Ted Ginn Jr?


Joey Galloway?


Cornelius Greene?


Joe Germaine?


Vinnie Clark?
Derek Ross?
Antonio Henton?

You see my dilemma....so I chose a bunch of 'em!

8 more days to go.....

I chose Roy Hall for my photo today. Let me tell you why.

#8 has a few different options.

I could have gone with Steve Bellisari, but why the hell would I do that?
I wanted to go with Stanley Jackson, but I couldn't find a really good picture of him.
I wanted to go with Bobby Olive, because he's a friend of mine....but could only find a side-angle shot.
So I went with Roy Hall....because let's face it, that is one bad-ass picture!

Oh, and wait till you see what I do with #7....

Well, isn't that special....

I woke up this morning to an e-mail from a fan of The BBC....check it out;

Jeff, do NOT apologize for your Chad Henne purse mistake. The picture was Tom Brady, but you should know that Henne actually does carry a purse! This is from an article in the New York Times -

Henne started off quiet when he was the surprise starter in the 2004 opener. Slowly, he has developed enough confidence to lead with his mouth and to carry a Louis Vuitton bag — instead of a backpack, like most of his teammates — into news conferences on game days.

So while you got the ID in the picture wrong, you were correct when you said that Henne carries a purse.

Hmmmm, have I stumbled across something accidentally??? Henne carries a Louis Vuitton?

OK, now THAT is funny!

9 Days to go....

It was an easy choice to go with Brian Hartline for this day. He's one of our starting WRs this year, he went to my old high school, and he had the best hit of the year for Ohio State last season.....take a look.

The Big Ten Network - you have three choices

With ten days left before college football begins, the Big Ten Network is looking more and more like a complete disaster. There is no contract with Time Warner Cable, and both parties are claiming the other side is to blame. Even if a contract was finalized today, I think it's too late to get the word out to the public in time for the game to get shown in every house that wants to see Opening Day.

The only widespread system that currently has a signed deal with the BTN is DirecTV.

This means that DirecTV subscribers are going to get a bevy of calls from their friends, asking if they can "stop by" for a four-hour visit next weekend.

Everybody else, you have three choices if you want to see Ohio State's first game of the 2007 season. You can.....

1) Get DirecTV
2) Find a restaurant or a bar that carries DirecTV (but first, call them and ask if they signed up for the BTN)
3) Go fuck yourself

I've got my place lined up to watch the game. Damon's Grill signed up for the BTN, and they've got massive screens to show it on. Find a Damon's near you here, and get there early enough to secure a booth for the game.

Oh, and pray it doesn't rain hard that day....the signal goes out if it rains too hard.

Thanks, Big Ten! Great setup you've got here!

10 Days to go....

I had to go with two pictures again. Troy Smith and Rex Kern are Buckeye legends, and deserve the respect.

My first press conference

About 30 minutes ago, I held a press conference regarding the post immediately below this one. Here's the transcript from it;

"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished members of the press, and college football fans worldwide. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this evening. I've called you all here to address a mistake I made earlier today on my blog, The Buckeye Battle Cry.

I posted a picture of a man holding a door open for a woman, and both people in the photo were carrying purses. I mistakenly identified the man as Michigan quarterback Chad Henne. Shortly after I posted the photo, it was brought to my attention that the photo was actually of former Michigan quarterback Tom Brady. I did not immediately correct the error on my blog, and I am now here to apologize for that lack of oversight.

In between the time that I posted the photo and the time I made the correction, massive amounts of crying broke out in the basements of 70s-style bungalow homes thoughout the state of Michigan.

I was first alerted to the mass hysteria by a phone call to my home. The person on the other end continually screamed "IT'S A SATCHEL! IT'S A SATCHEL!" over and over again. Shortly after that call ended, another call came through, but this Michigan fan just giggled into the phone, interrupted only by asking me if I had any butterscotch candy.

I went back online to see if The BBC had any clues to the mini-rash of mildly amusing calls, and I saw several postback links to my site, all from the same obsessed Michigan fan (not pictured, at least until I get a wide-angle lens to fit her in frame).

It was then that I realized my own mistake would have to be corrected. I'm here to apologize for my error, and to correct my error.

It was Tom Brady who was carrying a purse. He's the pussy-whipped bitch. Not Chad Henne. Henne is a bitch for completely different reasons, and I apologize for insinuating that he is pussy-whipped. Thank you for your time.

I'd like to add that since noticing my mistake, I went back and looked at the games Tom Brady and Chad Henne played against Ohio State.

In 2004, Chad Henne lost to Ohio State 37-21
In 2005, Chad Henne lost to Ohio State 25-21
In 2006, Chad Henne lost to Ohio State 42-39

In 1998, Tom Brady lost to Ohio State 31-16
In 1999, Tom Brady beat Ohio State 24-17

I can assure you that since Tom Brady actually managed to beat Ohio State once in his career, nobody (including the BBC) will EVER confuse Tom Brady and Chad Henne ever again.

Funniest. Picture. Ever.

To answer your two questions....

1) Yes, that's Chad Henne.
2) Yes, he's carrying a purse to class.

UPDATE -

1) No, that's Tom Brady.
2) Yes, he's still carrying a purse.
3) Yes, Chad Henne is still a bitch.

And they wonder why "Chad Henne Is A Bitch" has been viewed over 104,000 times.

11 Days to go....

Like there's any surprise which player I would use today.....

On a side note, two Iowa recievers were arrested on Sunday, charged with unauthorized use of a credit card. Within 24 hours, sophomores Dominique Douglas and Anthony Bowman were suspended from the team. Read that again....WITHIN 24 HOURS, they were suspended from the team. Douglas was Iowa's leading reciever, and he was removed without a thought.

Kirk Ferentz, Iowa head coach....much respect to you, sir. You've got class that Lloyd Carr can't touch with a ten-foot-pole.

12 Days to go.....

....and by popular demand....

13 days to go

Stealing an idea from MotSaG here.....



13 more days until kickoff 2007.

I know that images of Clarett are sometimes painful for us Buckeye fans, but I see it as such. Clarett was a great running back for us and he helped lead us to a National Championship. Then something went wrong in the guy's head and all hell broke loose. However, when the nasty stuff began to happen, Clarett was kicked off the team. THAT is what makes Jim Tressel a great coach. He saw the signs and gave the kid a ticket to the bench...and when he didn't clean up his act, Tressel gave him his walking papers. So say what you will about Maurice...but you can't say Tressel put up with his activity (unlike Llllloyd Carr does with Adrian Arrington).

Why can't I get....just one temporary restraining order?

Sorry for the non-sports news, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to use that headline.

One of my favorite bands of all-time is fighting it out in court amonst themselves. The Violent Femmes' bassist is suing the lead singer for allowing the band's reputation to be damaged by Wendy's. Long story, sad day for Femmes-fans.

But you gotta give me credit for the headline!

Ohio State to hold another open practice/autograph session

Last year's open practice was a tremendous success, and it looks like we might have the makings of a tradition here....

This coming Monday, the gates at Ohio Stadium will open at 5 p.m. You'll be allowed to get autographs on the field starting at 5:15 (enter from Gates 31 and 32).

But GET THERE EARLY!!!! This year's autograph session will be limited to the first 10,000 fans. There will be a limit of one item per person.

After the autograph signing, the team will practice until about 8 p.m.

Admission is free. Fans are asked to park in the lots adjacent to the Schottenstein Center.

Is the Big Ten Network filled with retards?

Most people will read the above question and say yes. But that answer will come quickly, based on the single fact that the BTN is the exclusive broadcast outlet for many Ohio State games, and doesn't have a contract with any cable provider....17 days before the season begins.

But now comes proof that the Big Ten Network may indeed be operating without the proverbial "full deck of cards".

Read the following article for all the new details - Campus Cable Channel To Carry Big Ten Network

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Some Ohio State football games will be available to more fans in central Ohio after the Big Ten Network reached a deal with Ohio State University.

OSU will carry the network on its campus cable channel when it launches at the end of August.

The immediate reaction is that this is a good thing....until you think about it.

The first cable contract the BTN has provided in August went to Ohio State students on the local campus cable network. What this basically means is that now the games will all be seen on TV by Ohio State students....who also get offered season-tickets to the actual games during orientation 101.

Way to go, Big Ten Network. You just signed a contract to show games on TV to a group of people who will NEVER watch them on TV, because they'll be AT THE FRIGGING GAME!

The loyalty oath at UM

If you haven't been keeping up on the latest spat amongst whiny, bitchy Wolverines, you may have missed the feud going on between the entire village of Ann Arbor vs. former Michigan quarterback Jim Harbaugh.

Harbaugh is now coaching at Stanford, working his way up the college coach's food chain. A few months back, he blasted his alma mater for recently accepting players who were "borderline guys", claiming they got into Michigan because they could play football and nothing else. Harbaugh was upset over his former school's relaxation of academic standards towards football players.

Many universities (coughMiamicough) can attest that recruitment for one reason only can lead to having unsavory characters on your team. Harbaugh's comments were brought forth once it came to light that said unsavories were not going to see punishment for unsavory activities (Adrian Arrington, you'll be the "example" in this scenario, K?)*

Whiny Michigan fans and their whiniest player, Mike Hart shot back. But rather than defend the university, they attacked the messenger. Hart moaned and complained about Harbaugh and guessed that he was "jealous" (seriously, Hart...how fifth grade are you?).

Today, ESPN analyst Pat Forde spoke up...and found that Harbaugh may be right about this one.

Amongst Forde's findings;

- There are 98 players on Michigan's roster. 68 of them have not declared a major. Only 30 players have a declared major.
- Of those 30 majors, 19 of them are in "General Studies".
- This means that 20% of the Michigan team has a "General Studies" major....less than 1% of the entire student body at UM has that qualification.
- The other 11 declared majors are in the following fields - Physical Education, Sports Management, Movement Science, English, American Culture, Economics, Communication, and Psychology.
- Nearly the entire junior class has no declared major. (How many people spend three years at college without knowing why they are there? And of those people, how many can ever claim they're "serious about their education"?)

Forde went to a great deal of trouble to give all sides a chance to speak in his article. He allowed Michigan a chance to respond to his findings (they refused until after the article was published). He contacted a director at Michigan's School of Literature, Science and Arts, who defended "general studies" as being harder than most majors. He allowed Harbaugh to reiterate his original comments. He allowed Lloyd Carr an opportunity. He allowed Mike Hart to attempt to argue his way out of a paper bag (Hart failed, as usual).

But all the bloviating and spin did not leave an impression on Forde, as evidenced by the last line in his column;

It seems as though folks in Ann Arbor are defensive for a reason these days. Even to the point of devouring one of their own.

Should make for a fun season....but I wouldn't expect to see Stanford on the UM schedule anytime soon.

* - Any use of the nickname "Adrian Unsavorrington" may not be used without the expressed written consent of the BBC.

Return to scheduled postings

Expect two things this week....

1) a return to the daily blogging now that the season is upon us

2) a new video. Oh, yeah....I've been planning a new one, and it should be done soon.

If I were a betting man....

Las Vegas has weighed in on the 2007/2008 Ohio State Buckeyes football season.

If you play the odds, it's 20-1 that Ohio State will win the BCS Championship Game. Put down 100 bucks, you could end up with a 2000 dollar payout. Beats the hell out of a Christmas Club, doesn't it?

I rarely put stock in odds like that, though.

What I do find interesting is that the same oddsmakers say that Ohio State will win 9 games this year. I'd be OK with a 9-3 campaign....but I'd be thrilled if Michigan was one of the 9 wins.

But looking at the schedule, I'm more apt to believe that we can go 10-2.

Easy wins - Youngstown State, Akron, Northwestern, Kent State, Michigan State, Illinois. They're all home games against teams that won't hold a candle to the Buckeyes.

Toughest opponents - Wisconsin, Michigan. These could be the 2 losses in the 10-2 record, but both can be knocked off. Wisconsin because it's a home game, and you should never underestimate the power of Ohio Stadium....Michigan, because you should never underestimate the power of Jim Tressel and the incompetence of Llllloyd Carr.

Above average opponents, could be dangerous;

Washington - I'm not truly worried about the Huskies, but three factors scare me. One, the game is in Washington. West coast games SHOULD scare us because we don't do them often mid-season. Two, they'll be experienced with good teams....Boise State will be at Washington one week before we will. That game will either break them or invigorate them. Three, this is the same team that came within 15 yards of shocking the world and knocking off USC at the Rose Bowl last year.

....more details later on the rest of the schedule. Minor emergency. I gotta go.

Llllloyd Carr looks the other way again

Pay no attention to the troublemaker in the Michigan uniform.

That's the message Lloyd Carr is sending to the team today. Carr reinstated WR Adrian Arrington to his team's lineup after suspending him for (gasp!) spring practice.

Carr says that Arrington was forced to miss spring practice, then he had to run the steps at Michigan Stadium for 60 days. Now, he's allowed to play again. Apparently, REAL punishment for players who have gone astray is not in Carr's vocabulary, as was evidenced last season.

If you recall, Arrington was arrested for physical assault on his girlfriend. The two had been out drinking (he's only 20, by the way), then yanked her from a car by her wrists after a heated argument. Arrington then got in the car and drove off....oh, and remember I said they had been out DRINKING? Yeah, he got in the car and drove off after that.

Carr refused to enact any punishment after that incident, so it's no surprise that he'll miss no game time after his latest foray.

But everything's OK in Michigan. Give the kid a break! After all....he ran up the steps! Show a little mercy. I mean, come on....STEPS!

100,000

100,000 - that's how many times "Chad Henne Is A Joke" has been viewed on YouTube.

We reached the milestone this afternoon. We're throwing a party to celebrate.

Our next goal - to reach 200,000 before Chad Henne becomes our bitch for the fourth time in his career. That's 105 days from now. Let's get to it!