Mixed day in Buckeye-land

As the Ohio State hoopsters prepare to start their expected deep NCAA Tournament run this afternoon, the football team suffers another setback as the five-game suspensions of the five players involved in Tattoogate are upheld by the NCAA, and Jim Tressel volunteers to sit out the same five games as punishment for knowing about their transgressions and not reporting them.

I've already expressed in this space what I think about the rule that ensnared the players, which is basically that they didn't hurt anybody, so what's the big deal. But the rules are in place, and Jim Tressel, who is supposed to be this great integrity guy, knows what they are, or at the very least SHOULD know what they are. On the one hand, I find it hard to fault him for not wanting his players to be punished for not hurting anyone; on the other hand, he knows darn well he and they are all subject to NCAA rules.

Of course, his volunteering to sit out five games doesn't mean he'll serve a five-game suspension and then show up for the Nebraska game in week six. The NCAA is still investigating, and could make his punishment more severe. All this over a few tattoos and trinkets. Crazy.

In other doings:

* The basketball Buckeyes haven't broken any NCAA rules lately, so long as anyone's aware, and are about three hours from starting play as the top overall seed in the Big Dance, against 16-seed Texas-San Antonio. They will of course cruise through this first-round matchup; the next 16 seed that beats a 1 will be the first ever, and these Buckeyes aren't going to lose to some pipsqueak upstart in their home state. That said, there are some potholes waiting for them in the later rounds. Likely opponents within the East Regional include Kentucky, Syracuse and North Carolina, all of which have won national titles in the last 15 years (albeit with different players than they currently have).

* Akron, the college I'm currently attending, is almost certainly about to be eliminated by Notre Dame, but it's nice to see a Northeast Ohio school in the tourney. It looked earlier in the season like Cleveland State might be the real deal, but they foundered right around the time I transferred from Cleveland State to Akron. Hmmm ... (By the way, don't ask me to name any players on either team. I don't want to embarrass you.)

* The Cavaliers won Wednesday night in Sacramento. That's the good news. Hey, there's been precious little of that for this team this year, so we might as well savor it. ... But the bad news is, they followed that up with a never-competitive, absolutely shameful 41-point loss in Portland. They were losing at various points by scores of 24-2, 35-6, 56-18, 74-33 ... you get the idea. It was only because the last three-eighths of the game were considered garbage time that the Blazers didn't double our score for the game. Had they kept their proverbial foot on our throat, it would have been even uglier. This is one of the worst teams in Cavaliers history, and that's not a small feat.

* The Indians' regular season starts in exactly two weeks, and while there's little reason to think they will contend this season, there are reasons to watch. I'm particularly excited about young catcher Carlos Santana, who was just mentioned on ESPN's SweetSpot blog as a potential breakout player for 2011. Some things I didn't know before I read that: Santana walked more than he struck out last year, between Columbus and Cleveland; and his combined AAA-MLB on-base percentage was .529. That's right, .529! Do you have any idea how good that is? Well, I'll tell you. The only players ever to post better OBPs over a full major-league season are named Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Barry Bonds. Obviously Santana's feat is not in the same league as theirs (both literally and figuratively), but still, this is a special player. And he's not a corner outfielder, as all three of those men were. He's a catcher! A catcher who can get on base with great regularity is a rare find indeed. Joe Mauer's about the only one I can think of, among current major leaguers, and even Mauer doesn't walk that much.

If only the Cavs could play the Knicks 82 times

I don't have time to blog much these days(1), obviously(2), but I'm home alone on a Saturday night(3), and my fingers still work(4), so here goes:

* The Cavaliers have now broken two 26-game losing streaks in the past month: A 26-game overall losing streak, and now a 26-game road losing streak. And somehow, the over-.500 New York Knicks cannot beat the NBA's worst team, even in their own building. How is this possible? As a Cleveland sports blogger, I should probably try to come up with an answer, but I don't have one. The Knicks have no obvious weaknesses that the Cavs seem particularly suited to exploiting. I'm inclined to think it's just a coincidence that the Fighting Byrons have played three of their best games of the year against the Knicks. But if our boys beat them again on April 3 ... well, it'll probably be another coincidence.

* In a somewhat related note, the Cavs are now 1-0 with Baron Davis on the floor. My friend Jeff Brown(5) had his doubts about the Baron's dedication when we acquired him, as evidenced by this e-mail from March 2:

So here are a series of questions relative to our beloved Cleveland Cavaliers, in reverse order of relevance:

Q: Will Baron Davis thrive with the Cavs, sign an extension, show leadership, play hard, and be a model citizen and role model for the other players?

Q: Will Baron Davis play out his remaining 2 1/2 years of contract with the Cavs?

Q: Will Baron Davis play at all the rest of this season?

Q: Will Baron Davis ever wear a Cavaliers uniform?

Q: Does Baron Davis really have an injury that's preventing him from playing right now?

Q: Has Baron Davis even arrived in Cleveland yet?

Q: Does Baron Davis have any intention whatsoever of playing for the Cavs?

Q: Has Baron Davis earned enough money in his career to simply tell the Cavs to shove it?

Q: Did Baron Davis get the shaft by being traded from glitzy Los Angeles, where he was having fun throwing alley oops to phenom Blake Griffin, and sent to the basketball purgatory of Cleveland, Ohio, the "mistake on the lake?"

Q: Was Baron Davis the most unhappy person in the universe on the day he found out he was traded to the team that set an all-time NBA record for most consecutive losses? (and recently found out their best player, Jamison, is out for the remainder of the season)

Do you have answers to any of my questions, Steve?

Then, today, he sent me this:

OK, Steve, maybe Baron Davis is going to a positive influence on the Cadavers after all.

(he hit a big 3 pointer to put the Cavs up)

The Cavs own the Knicks, Steve!

I have nothing to add to that.

* The Buckeyes clinched the Big Ten regular-season title today, despite not having played. Iowa somehow beat Purdue today. What does this mean in the grand scheme of things? Very little. The Buckeyes are the top seed in the Big Ten tournament. Big whoop. We all know OSU is going to get a #1 seed in the Big(6) Dance, unless they lose two or three more games, and does anyone really care what happens until then?

* Jason Donald got hit by a pitch today. That was the lead on the Associated Press' story about their 8-3 spring training win over the White Sox(7). That should give you some idea how much spring training games matter. Still, I'm pretty excited about the season starting. Yeah, the Indians are probably going to be lucky to finish about 75-87, but still, it's baseball. And no matter how badly the real-life Indians suck, I can always watch Major League(8) again.

Footnotes(n):

1. I've mentioned several times in this space how busy I am, but for any strangers who may have wandered onto this site, I am currently enrolled in a civil engineering curriculum at the University of Akron, in addition to working part-time at my dad's construction company and being married with four kids at home. I am quite pleased with this situation, regardless of the resulting posting frequency.

2. I haven't posted since February 24. That's a total of nine days. Please see footnote 1 if you think I should post more often.

3. My wife has taken our three 12-and-under kids to her cousin's in Pennsylvania for the weekend. I had to stay home to practice evaluating integrals so I can pass a calculus exam on Tuesday. The oldest "child" (at 17) has gone to a friend's house for the night. So out of six residents of our house, I'm the only one here. I should throw myself a one-person party.

4. I guess this one doesn't really need a footnote. I haven't broken my fingers or gotten terrible arthritis or anything, but that probably is taken as a given unless I say otherwise. Kind of silly to have even mentioned it in the first place.

5. Jeff has become fascinated with the Cavaliers' overwhelming crappiness this year, and has emailed me after almost every Cavs game since the Great Losing Steak of '10-11 was in its middle stages. I haven't had time to respond to him(1), but I do appreciate them all.

6. That's my fourth capitalized use of the word "big" in one paragraph, but I think they're all appropriate, and I'm not changing any of them.

7. They didn't put it in those words. It was somewhat prosaic, actually. I should probably provide a link to it. ... Nah. You can find it if you want.

8. I'll bet you want me to say something about Charlie Sheen, since I mentioned one of his movies and he's been in the news. I'm going to leave you wanting on that. Sorry.

n(o). Apparently blogger.com doesn't provide a way to make superscript. It does, however, provide small text, so I improvised. These footnote references have to be done in small type on the same line as the regular text. So I've put them in parentheses to help set them off. It looks crappy, I know. Take it up with blogger.com.

o(p). I have labeled this footnote "n" for the time being, because I don't know yet, as I'm writing this particular footnote, how many footnotes there will actually be, and "n" is the first letter in the word "number." And I probably won't feel like going back to change it, so I'm explaining it now instead.

p. I have labeled this footnote "o" since it's the next letter after "n." I probably don't have to explain why the footnote explaining the previous footnote is "p," based on the established pattern established by footnote "o."

We're number five! We're number five!

After last night's wildly entertaining national championship (I was rooting for Oregon, but not as much as I was rooting for a good game, so I went to bed happy), the pollsters rated the Ohio State Buckeyes No. 5 in the country, which is exactly where the Fighting Tressels finished last year. Obviously, a national championship is the ultimate goal every year, but finishing fifth out of the 140 FBS teams (73 in the so-called AQ conferences) is nothing to sneeze at.

With 10 seasons under his belt in Columbus, Tressel is now 106-22 at the FBS level, after going 135-57-2 in 15 seasons at Youngstown State. Under his leadership, the Buckeyes have won a national title and reached two other title games, gone 9-1 against Michigan, and gone 6-4 in bowl games -- 5-3 in BCS bowls, in which they've played more times than any other school. After ending the 2001 season 7-5 and unranked with John Cooper's players, Tressel's Buckeyes have ranked the following in the year-end AP poll: First, fourth, 20th, fourth, second, fifth, ninth, fifth, and fifth.

Tressel's OSU program has had its problems. We all remember Maurice Clarett's fall from grace after he led the Buckeyes to the national championship over Miami as a freshman, and of course five of our best players are suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season. But those could only be blamed on Tressel to the extent that he bears ultimate responsibility as head coach. His program has been cleaner than many, if not most.

Judging him purely on his on-field results, a case could be made that Tressel is the most successful head coach in Ohio State history. Woody Hayes was there for 28 years and won more national titles (one outright, two shared), but at 205-61-10, he had a lower career winning percentage at Ohio State (.764, to the sweater vest's .828). If you put a gun to my head and made me pick, I'd still give that honor to Hayes, but Tressel is off to a much better start than Woody was at this point in his Buckeye career. And I frankly wouldn't trade him for any coach in the country.

Thank you, Arkansas Razorbacks

The Buckeyes won an enormously thrilling Sugar Bowl last night. But they didn't win because they outplayed the Arkansas Razorbacks, per se -- they won because the Razorbacks out-mistaked them. (You're right, that's not a word. Sue me.)

It's not that Ohio State didn't make any mistakes, of course. Arkansas just didn't make the Buckeyes pay, or at least not enough. The obvious example is Terrelle Pryor's fumble that wound up leading to OSU's first touchdown. Two Razorbacks had their hands on the ball, but neither could corral it. When Dane Sanzenbacher came up with it in the end zone, five Arkansas players were in the shot. Ironically, had Pryor not fumbled that ball, it wouldn't have been a touchdown.

Of course, there's Boom Herron's fumble on fourth-and-1 from the OSU 38, with the score 31-26 and the Buckeyes quickly losing their grip on the game. The result was just the same as if he'd been tackled behind the line of scrimmage, but regardless, the Razorbacks were not able to turn that into points. And there was Herron getting tackled in the end zone for a safety. The initial hit came in the field of play, but Herron disengaged from that tackler in time to get swallowed up by several others. If he'd just gone down on the first hit, it would not have been a safety. That was a mental error by Herron.

But those mistakes were nothing next to the errors made by Arkansas players. Razorback "receivers" dropped five passes, including one that would have gone for a touchdown and one that looked like it would have set up at least a fourth-and-short on Arkansas's next-to-last possession of the game. And of course, Ryan Mallett made the biggest mistake of the game by throwing the ball right to Buckeye defensive lineman Solomon Thomas on what could be the last pass of his college career. Not to mention the numerous penalties the Razorbacks accumulated throughout the game. Those miscues added up to a loss for Arkansas.

The difference between the two halves was amazing. Ohio State was unstoppable in the first half. Pryor and the offense were simply toying with Arkansas. Everything they did worked. In the second half, nothing worked except Pryor's legs. He busted off a few good runs -- some on designed runs, some on scrambles -- that kept the ball in the Buckeyes' possession long enough to hold off the Razorbacks. But the offense just wasn't moving. That's in contrast to Mallett and the Arkansas offense, who didn't make many long plays, but used solid, time-consuming drives to get back in the game.

As we all know, Pryor, Thomas, Herron, Buster Posey and Mike Adams will all miss the first five games next year. I don't think anyone can deny the Buckeyes would have lost last night without those guys. Their absence will hurt. But at least they can enjoy this win. It probably put them in the top 5 in the season-ending poll. That's not too shabby.

Happy 2011

As it's been more than a week since my last post, I'll try to put together everything I've been thinking about that's sports-related. ... Nah, that's impossible. OK, here are a few thoughts:

* Eric Mangini is done in this town, win or lose against Pittsburgh on Sunday. He will have compiled a 10-22 or 11-21 record in two seasons, and that's just not going to do it. Mike Holmgren expected improvement this year. This team has improved some, but not where it counts -- wins and losses. Mangini is scheduled to meet with Holmgren on Monday, and Holmgren will fire him then. I don't know this for sure, of course, but I can't see it going any other way.

* As I said, the Browns did improve this year. They had chances to win almost every game. And I believe they would have won a few of those games that they lost if they'd just been able to punch the ball into the end zone, rather than settle for field goals. That was a key failure of the Browns' offense this year, and much of that ultimately goes back to Mangini. I haven't counted, but I know there were multiple times when the Browns had a fourth-and-goal inside the 5 and settled for three instead of going for six. Three is more than zero, but six is more than three.

* Peyton Hillis has missed practice all week and is questionable for the Steelers game. There's no reason to rush him back if he isn't ready, but he is currently 10th in the NFL in rushing yards. It would be nice to see him stay in the top 10.

* Moving on to the Buckeyes, Jim Tressel says the players who got suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season have been told they must commit to playing next year before the school will allow them to play in Tuesday's Sugar Bowl. It wouldn't be fair to the NCAA to allow them to get away without some sort of penalty, he said. But how Ohio State University can stop a Terrelle Pryor from leaving at the end of this school year, I have no idea.

* The Cavaliers are just plain awful. I can hardly believe how bad they are. On Saturday, Nov. 27, they beat Memphis to raise their record to 7-9. Since then, they've lost 15 out of 16, and at 8-24, have the NBA's second-worst record. A few of those losses have been tight, but most have been blowouts. They've become a very difficult team to watch. The best we can hope for right now is that the Cavs get a very high pick in the 2011 draft, so someone like Perry Jones, Terrence Jones or Jared Sullinger can give them a spark. Sullinger's from Ohio, so he'd definitely want to stay in Cleveland when free agency comes up. (cough)

* The Baseball Hall of Fame vote is coming up, and there are a few former Indians who have a good shot at getting elected this year. Roberto Alomar came up eight votes short last year, in his first year of eligibility, possibly because he spat on an umpire during his Baltimore years. The umpire forgave him; not sure why Hall of Fame voters can't. Anyway, I'll be shocked if he doesn't get in this time. Bert Blyleven, who pitched for the Tribe from 1981-85, missed it by five votes last year, in his 13th year of eligibility. If he doesn't get in this year, he'll have one more shot before his candidacy is turned over to the fickle Veterans Committee. I'll also be shocked if this isn't Blyleven's year. The third former Indian with a decent shot is Jack Morris, who only pitched one season in Cleveland (1994). I would not vote for Morris, if I had a vote. He was a fine pitcher for a long time, but just not up to Hall standards. And I'll never forget how he asked Mike Hargrove to change the order of the starting rotation so he could go to his farm in Montana a little earlier, with the Indians in the middle of a pennant race.

* Have a save and happy New Year, and see you in 2011!

OK, this is ridiculous

Starting with excerpts from the AP report:

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four other Buckeyes were suspended by the NCAA for the first five games of next season for selling championship rings, jerseys and awards, and receiving improper benefits from a tattoo parlor. All can still play in the Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.

Along with Pryor, running back Daniel Herron, wide receiver DeVier Posey, offensive lineman Mike Adams and defensive end Solomon Thomas must sit out and repay between $1,000 to $2,500 to charity.

---

Lennon said a game was added on to the usual four-game penalty "because these student-athletes did not immediately disclose the violations when presented with the appropriate rules education."

---

Pryor must repay $2,500 for selling his Big Ten ring, Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his 2008 gold pants, a trinket given to players who are a part of a team which beats rival Michigan.

Adams must repay $1,000 for selling his 2008 Big Ten championship ring.

Herron must repay $1,150 for selling his football jersey, pants and shoes for $1,000 and receiving discount services worth $150.

Posey sold his 2008 Big Ten ring for $1,200 and also received discount services.

OK, I understand that college football has rules for a reason. The NCAA feels the need to preserve the amateur status of its athletes, and when an athlete is caught trying to profit from his or her athletic prowess while playing a sport at an NCAA institution, the NCAA perceives this as a threat to other member institutions whose athletes do not profit thus.

But seriously, who did this really hurt? Show me the victim of the sale of Terrelle Pryor's Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award. Is it a player at Boise State? How exactly is he hurt? And does the NCAA believe that the only memorabilia sold by its athletes this year was sold by these particular football players at Ohio State? And how can players be expected to report their own violations when they know the probability is great that they will be punished so severely for them?

Here's the thing that bothers me the most about this. If these players had waited a couple of years to sell these items, they'd be out of college, and the NCAA would be unable to touch them. By then, a Terrelle Pryor or a Daniel Herron won't need the money from such a sale, because they'll be drawing NFL paychecks. Now they're expected to pay this money to charity, with very little means of raising it without drawing further penalties from the NCAA.

These suspensions will cripple the Buckeyes' chance at a national championship next year, and even seriously impact their chance at a Big Ten title. The first two games these players will miss are against Akron and Toledo, and Ohio State could win both those games with their fourth-stringers. But then they've got Colorado, Miami (Fla.) and Michigan State. Those would be tough games even at full strength. Without their quarterback and those other key players, they'll be that much tougher.

It will also cost Pryor a shot at a Heisman trophy. And for what? Other than the fact that dictators are irrational, I don't see any real lessons being taught here. I would imagine that rather than play half a season at Ohio State next year, Pryor will enter the draft and play a full season in the NFL.

Yes, rules are rules, and people are responsible for knowing and following them. But this is ridiculous.

Rounding 'em up

* OK, so it looks like the Cavaliers aren't very good after all. After last night's 20-point loss to Philadelphia, they've lost five straight, each by double-digits, and now stand at 7-14. That puts them on a pace to finish 27-55, which would be their worst record since they went 17-65 in 2002-03. That record, for those who may not remember, enabled them to get a bunch of lottery balls, one of which gave them the first pick in the 2003 draft, which they used to select some yahoo who now plays in Miami.

* These Cavs are doing fine on the offensive end of the floor, but they are just terrible on defense. Just terrible. Byron Scott made some remarks after yesterday's debacle about how the players are showing no pride in playing defense, and he's right. Nobody seems to care if he gets beaten for a layup, or if somebody makes a wide-open 3-pointer when he had a chance to get a hand in his face. Scott's got to find a way to get through to these guys that defense is important, or they'll never get better.

* The football Buckeyes are set for a Sugar Bowl matchup against Arkansas, which constitutes Ohio State's sixth straight appearance in a BCS game. You know who else has done that? Nobody, that's who. If Jim Tressel wanted to run for governor, he'd win, and you know it. But he doesn't need a demotion. Anyway, any season that ends in something other than a national championship is at least a slight disappointment, but Tressel is surely very proud of the program he's built in Columbus, and he should be.

* The basketball Buckeyes are 6-0, ranked #2 in the nation, behind Duke. I don't usually follow college basketball until March, but this is an exciting team. They've only played one game against a ranked opponent, but trounced #10 Florida in that one, 93-75. Their schedule is all cupcakes until the Big Ten schedule opens against Indiana on Dec. 31, so it'll be awhile before we see what this team is really made of, but I'm looking forward to then.

* I don't know how many people have noticed this, but Cleveland State, the university from which I am posting this blog at this very moment, is 11-0 after last night's win over West Virginia Tech (which I will admit I'd never heard of). They do have wins over Akron and Kent State, so there's reason to believe this CSU team has real potential this year. Should be interesting.

* In a non-sports-but-Cleveland-related topic, the members-elect of the Cuyahoga County Council who met in secret last week are arrogant jerks who don't deserve their positions. Because their meeting apparently didn't break any sunshine laws, they probably shouldn't be forced to resign, but they should certainly apologize. Sorry to get off sports, but I feel strongly about this.

Cavs lose again; more thoughts

* OK, so maybe the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers aren't the second coming of the Showtime Lakers. The Cavs have been very up-and-down in the early season, which I suppose can be expected of a team that is trying to find its identity after losing its all-world superstar in the offseason. After last night's not-nearly-as-close-as-the-final-score 100-89 loss to the Pacers, the Cavs are now 5-8 and in a three-way tie for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Obviously, there's still a long, long way to go, and there's still plenty of reason for hope that the Cavs will get this figured out.

* Ohio State goes into Saturday's game against Michigan with a very slim chance of taking the Big Ten's spot in the Rose Bowl, despite the fact that they've only got one loss. That loss is to Wisconsin, which also has just one loss; and Wisconsin has Northwestern this week. Michigan State, also with one loss, has a tougher game than the others, against Penn State, and also the weakest tiebreaker. The bottom line for the Buckeyes is, they need to beat Michigan and for Wisconsin to lose to Northwestern. I just don't see that happening. They might get an at-large spot in another BCS bowl, but we almost certainly won't see Terrelle Pryor clutching a rose between his teeth this year.

* Speaking of Ohio State, university President Gordon Gee has weighed in on the whole TCU-Boise State quest for a national title. As we all know, those schools come from lesser conferences, and while their undefeated (so far) seasons are impressive, they have compiled those records against decidedly inferior opponents compared to the schedule a school from the Big Ten or ACC or one of the other major conferences has to play. Gee's opinion: TCU and Boise State don't deserve a shot at the title, even if they win out. My opinion: Gee is right, at least under the current structure. Were there a 16- or even eight-team playoff, you could make the argument, but I'm sorry, going undefeated in the WAC doesn't prove you're one of the two best teams in the country.

* Happy Thanksgiving to all my wonderful Of Fair Hooker readers. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I was listening to Wills and Snyder this morning on WTAM, and they were talking about how the show's producer, Scott "Scooter" Reese would be giving his tips on deep-frying a turkey, for those who might be trying it for the first time. Bill Wills mentioned in passing the importance of keeping a fire extinguisher on hand for the job. Then they went to commercial, so I switched it over to Mike & Mike in the Morning on WKNR. Mike Golic at that very moment was talking about how if you're going to deep-fry a turkey, be sure to look at some online videos of people doing it, because you don't want to start a house fire. So let me reinforce that message: Don't start a fire deep-frying your turkey tomorrow.

Browns' loss not all that disappointing

* OK, losing to Pittsburgh is never fun. And a 28-10 loss to anybody is also never fun. So that's a bad combination. But still, who among us can say they thought we had a realistic chance to beat the Steelers this week, with Colt McCoy making his first NFL start behind center against the great Ben Roethlisberger? Big Ben, returning from his four-game suspension for bad off-field behavior, took a while to heat up, but once he did, there was no stopping him. McCoy did pretty darn well in his rookie debut, completing 23 of 33 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown. He did throw two interceptions, but in his defense, both were on tipped balls. I'm not hoping for continued ill health for Jake Delhomme and/or Seneca Wallace, but I do hope this isn't the last we've seen of McCoy this year.

* The Buckeyes fell all the way to #10 from #1 after their disappointing loss to Wisconsin on Saturday. The Ohio State offense faltered because the line couldn't protect Terrelle Pryor, who understandably had his worst game of the season. In addition to several big-time schools that could run the table, the Buckeyes have three mid-majors ahead of them who are highly likely to go undefeated, in Boise State, TCU and Utah. At this point, Michigan State (who is not on OSU's schedule) is the Big Ten's best hope for a national title. The Buckeyes are all but out of the equation. One loss just kills you in college football, because there's no playoff.

* They were talking on WTAM's Wills & Snyder this morning about a guy named Eric Barr, who recently moved to Cleveland from East Hartford, Connecticut, because he's a Browns fan. I guess the Plain Dealer did a story about him a couple of days ago. I don't read the PD anymore -- in fact, I don't even get a newspaper, which I probably should feel guilty about because I spent 14 years actually working for newspapers, but I don't. Feel guilty, that is. Anyway, this guy has no particular ties to the Cleveland area, and he quit his job to move here, where he has no job lined up. But he'll save the drive to Cleveland eight times a year, which he's been doing for every home game. This dude and I have one thing in common, in that we both love the Browns. Where we part company is that I would never in a million years move to an economically struggling town in a bad economy with no job lined up just to follow a football team. Especially not one that's 1-5 and hasn't made the playoffs since 2002. He's apparently single with no kids, so at least he's not hanging a family out to dry. Still, as much as I love sports, I think it's incredibly stupid of him. But I wish him good luck.

McCoy opens this roundup-type post

* The Browns appear ready to start Colt McCoy at quarterback Sunday against the Steelers, and I applaud that decision. The original plan was for McCoy to spend all of 2010 understudying Jake Delhomme and/or Seneca Wallace, but now that they're both out of commission, the only other options are McCoy and Brett Ratliff. Ratliff, who spent all of last season riding the pine for the Browns, is never going to be a regular starter in the NFL. So it's time to throw McCoy in there and see what he can do. His first assignment against a tough Steelers defense is going to be really, really tough, but the kid was great at Texas, and he'll be a fine NFL quarterback in time. Might as well start now.

* What the *#&@ happened to Jerome Harrison? The dude ran for 286 yards in one game last year and was a key to the Browns' season-ending four-game winning streak, but had just 91 on 31 carries this year before he was traded to Philadelphia this week. Of those 91 yards, 39 came on one carry in the opener against Tampa Bay. If you subtract that one run, he went for 52 yards on 30 carries. That's less than two yards per. That's pathetic. No wonder Peyton Hillis has been getting the ball all the time. In return, the Browns got Mike Bell, who has 28 yards on 16 carries. Um ... OK, I'm not sure why we made this trade. Especially with Hillis hurting, I'd have liked to see if Harrison could repeat his 2009 performance if given a real shot. Maybe I just contradicted myself. I can live with that.

* The Buckeyes, who just moved up to No. 1 in the poll, are facing their second real test of the season Saturday when they travel to meet No. 16 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin's only loss was to undefeated Michigan State, and they're always tough at home. Ohio State will have to slow down the Badgers' dual-threat running backs, John Clay and James White. And Terrelle Pryor will have to play mistake-free. Both of those things can happen, but they're not sure things. Should be interesting.

* As my good friend Jeff Brown recently pointed out in an e-mail, the Cavaliers are going into their first post-LeBron season with a serious size issue. Anderson Varejao is the only guy on the roster who's played much center in the NBA, and he's only 6'10" and is really more of a power forward type. They've got 7'0" Ryan Hollins, who will never make anybody forget Shaquille O'Neal -- not even the aging Shaq we saw here last year. These Cavs definitely have some talent around the perimeter -- Mo Williams, Antawn Jamison, etc. -- but they face a real risk of getting beaten up badly inside.

* As an Indians fan, it's tough to see guys like CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee carry their teams through the playoffs. Both those guys were key to their teams' success in last year's playoffs, and even though Lee has switched teams again (and again) since then, he's the number-one reason why the Rangers are into the ALCS against CC and the Yankees. It's a terrible shame the Indians couldn't afford to keep those guys. But baseball's economic structure is what it is. The Indians will have to find a way to be competitive with the money they've got. And it can be done -- look at Tampa Bay and Minnesota. They got eliminated in the first round by Sabathia, Lee and company, but they both made the playoffs with very slender payrolls. And Shapiro's Indians have done it too, back in '07. But it's hard to look at these current Indians and see the seeds of a playoff team anytime in the near future.

Buckeyes get the monkey off

Jim Tressel and the Buckeyes needed this one -- not just because it was a chance to finish strong, but for the long-term credibility of the Ohio State football program, and even the entire Big Ten. Ohio State came into the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi on Friday on a three-game bowl losing streak, and came out with an impressive 26-17 win over the #8 Oregon Ducks. And no Big Ten team had won a BCS bowl since January 2006, when the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and Penn State beat Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

Terrelle Pryor was the obvious MVP, having played the best game of his two-year collegiate career. He threw for a career-high 266 yards on 23-of-37 passing. He threw two touchdown passes and one interception. He also rushed for a Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi-high 72 yards, and got some big first downs with his feet. There were times when he seemed too quick to run, and maybe should have tried to hit a running back on a hot route or something of that nature, but these are minor quibbles. Pryor played a heck of a game.

Give the Buckeye defense a lot of credit for this victory in the Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi. They gave up some big running plays to LaMichael James and Kenjon Barner, but they held Jeremiah Masoli and the high-powered Ducks passing game in check. Masoli's numbers were terrible -- 9-for-20, 80 yards, no touchdowns, one pick. And while he did run for a touchdown, Masoli only gained nine yards on the ground, on six carries. Without an effective passing game to lean on, the Ducks only got 12 first downs in the game, to the Buckeyes' 26; and were just 2-for-11 on third down conversions. And the Buckeyes win their first Rose Bowl Game Presented by Citi since 1997, when it was just called the Rose Bowl.

The Buckeyes have become the Big Ten's standard-bearer in the Tressel era, having won or shared six conference titles in Tressel's nine years here, including each of the last five. They've won the Big Ten's only national title in that time, and have won four of the five BCS games the Big Ten has won this century. (Iowa has a chance to add to that total in Tuesday's Orange Bowl.) With Michigan down and out the last couple of years, and nobody else stepping up to challenge them, the Buckeyes have dominated this conference. That has enabled Ohio State to play in eight BCS bowls, the most of any school since the BCS' inception in 1998. May it continue into 2010 and beyond.

Countdown to The Game

Yes, Ohio State plays Michigan at noon tomorrow. Yes, in this part of the country, that's always a big game. But it's been quite a while since The Game has meant this little. In recent years, at least one of the teams has always been playing for a BCS berth, if not a spot in the National Championship game.

This year? The Buckeyes are going to the Rose Bowl, win or lose; and the Wolverines are just trying to get out of last place in the Big Ten. At 5-6 overall (1-6 in the conference), Michigan would be bowl-eligible with a win, but so the heck what? These are not the Wolverines of Bo Schembechler or Lloyd Carr. This is perhaps a slightly better Michigan team than the one that went 3-9 (2-6) last year, but Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez has probably got one more season to turn this thing around.

The Buckeyes are 13-point favorites tomorrow, but if they don't win by at least 20, they should be embarrassed. And they do at least have a national ranking to play for. They could get into the top 10 in the nation with a win tomorrow in Ann Arbor. If they then win the Rose Bowl, maybe they get into the top five. It's not a national championship, but I'd take it.

I'm not sure how I feel about Michigan being so cruddy right now. Sure, it's nice that we get a chance to whale on them, but part of being an Ohio State fan is being involved in arguably college football's biggest rivalry. If Michigan sucks, what rivalry is there?

Pryor shines in homecoming

The Buckeyes are in control of their own destiny — at least in terms of winning another Big Ten title — in large part because of Pennsylvania native Terrelle Pryor's big game in his home state. Pryor passed for two touchdowns and rushed for one in Ohio State's commanding 24-7 victory over Penn State, and while his overall numbers weren't particularly impressive (8-for-17 passing for 125 yards; five rushes for 50 yards), he made some big plays and avoided any major mistakes. He missed an opportunity for a touchdown at the end of the first half when his throw to a wide-open Dane Sanzenbacher went long, but that was probably the biggest mistake he made, and you'll take that every time.

The Buckeye defense was fantastic, particularly against the Nittany Lions' running game. Evan Royster, who had averaged 95.4 yards a game coming in, went for just 36 yards on 13 carries yesterday, his lowest total of the season. They also held Daryll Clark to 125 yards passing, which was also his lowest total of the year; and got him for one interception, Ross Homan's pick midway through the fourth quarter, which short-circuited Penn State's attempt to mount a comeback.

If the Buckeyes can beat Iowa next week in the Horseshoe, they'll go to the Rose Bowl no matter what happens the following week against Michigan; the other teams that could tie them at 6-2 in the Big Ten would be Iowa, Penn State and Wisconsin, which they would all have beaten this year under that scenario. And you have to like their chances against Iowa, as it appears Hawkeye quarterback Ricky Stanzi will miss the game after hurting his ankle in yesterday's loss to Northwestern. The Hawkeyes showed in that game that they aren't the same team without Stanzi, who probably would have led them to victory against the Mildcats.

Obviously, there will be no Big Ten team in the national championship this year, but if the Buckeyes get into the Rose Bowl and win it, they could get back into the top 10, and maybe even the top five. And if they do win the Big Ten, it would be the fifth straight year they've won or shared that title. That's definitely worth rooting for.

Disappointing weekend

I know it's Tuesday, and the Buckeyes played three days ago, and the Browns played two days ago. I wasn't eager to write about them until now. For that matter, I'm not eager to write about them now either, but I do have a few thoughts I want to get down.

First, on the subject of the Buckeyes: The fighting Tressels should be proud of their effort against one of the nation's very best teams. But they should also be disappointed that they didn't close the deal. And no doubt they are. The defense played tremendously well over the first 3 1/2 quarters, with USC's only touchdown to that point having been set up by a long interception return. Really, the OSU defense's only weak moments were at the ends of both halves. Behind freshman quarterback Matt Barkley, the Trojans put together drives of 61 and 77 yards in the second quarter (the first resulting in a missed field goal; the second in a made field goal), and of course the 86-yard drive that led to the winning score with 65 seconds to go. The Buckeyes had numerous chances to stop that drive, but USC kept pulling out clutch plays. It would have been nice if they could stop a quarterback sneak up the middle when they knew it was coming, but all in all, it was a pretty good effort by the defense.

Terrelle Pryor made some big mistakes in this game. On the Buckeyes' last possession, Pryor looked totally lost trying to operate a 2-minute offense. Of course, he threw an interception on OSU's first possession that led to USC's first touchdown, and often chose to pass when it was clear he should have run. He went 11-for-25 passing, which just won't get it done without a strong running game, which the Buckeyes never did get going.

The loss puts a serious crimp in Ohio State's national title hopes, but doesn't dash them entirely. One-loss teams do get into the national championship. They're now ranked 11th in both polls, and there's still a long, long way to go on the season.

And the Browns ... Well, they looked good in the first half, but they pretty much fell apart in the second. But at least they scored their first offensive touchdown since their 10th game of 2008.

Day of reckoning for Buckeyes?

There's some reason for optimism as the eighth-ranked Buckeyes get ready for their big showdown tonight against USC. For example, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor is a better bet to have a big game than Trojans freshman Matt Barkley. OSU is playing at home. And ... well, that's about all I can think of.

After last week's egg-laying against Navy, I'm afraid I don't have high hopes for the Buckeyes tonight. Sure, Ohio State won that game, and that's the most important thing, but it should have been a blowout. A performance like that won't get the job done against a team like the third-ranked Trojans. They'll have to win the turnover battle to have any shot. I'll watch the game, and I'll always have faith in Jim Tressel, until he gives me reason not to. But I predict the Buckeyes' national title hopes will be dashed tonight.

Heavyweight slugfest goes Penn State's way

Ohio State battled a very strong Penn State team up until the final minute last night. And a Terrelle Pryor with another year's worth or so of experience might well have pulled out that game.

Color commentator (and Buckeye alum) Kirk Herbstreit felt Pryor was trying to make too much happen on the play in which he coughed up the ball in the fourth quarter, which the Nittany Lions recovered to set up the field goal that made the final score 13-6. Herbstreit felt that Pryor should have just taken the sneak inside and picked up the first down. No disrespect to Herbie, but I disagree. Pryor thought he saw an opening to the outside and would try to pick up a few extra yards -- which I applaud. His mistake was not carrying the ball more carefully.

Pryor did make a mistake -- albeit an understandable one -- on the throw that was intercepted in the end zone in the final minute. He threw what was essentially a Hail Mary, with 20-some seconds left on the clock. Keeping in mind that in college, a first down stops the clock until the chains are moved, Pryor had time to try to find somebody underneath and then run up and spike the ball. It's likely that it wouldn't have made much difference, but regardless, a more experienced quarterback probably gives his team a little bit better chance in that situation.

It should be said that the Buckeyes couldn't get anything going on the ground, which kept the pressure on Pryor. Beanie Wells picked up just 55 yards on 22 carries, and Pryor himself only got six yards with his legs, on nine totes.

The Penn State Nittany Lions now look pretty good to get to the national title game, and I'm rooting for them. It'd be neat to see Joe Paterno win another championship at age 81.

Defense, special teams do it for Buckeyes

The Ohio State offense did very little in Saturday's 16-3 win over Purdue, but it didn't need to, thanks to Malcolm Jenkins and his defensive cohorts. Jenkins blocked a punt that Etienne Sabino (of whom I'd never heard) returned for a touchdown, and later added an interception that any one of four Buckeyes could have had.

Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeye O only gained 222 yards on the day, to Purdue's 298 yards; and only managed 14 first downs, to Purdue's 18. They didn't score an offensive touchdown, but did set up three field goals, which adds up to three times as many points as the Boilermakers' offense managed. The OSU D was impressive, keeping Purdue from getting inside the 30 until the last half-minute of the game.

Pryor, quite simply, struggled. He tried to do too much with his legs, which turned a couple of small gains into big losses. I recall one play in particular in the third quarter, in which Pryor faked a handoff to Beanie Wells and then took it off-tackle himself. First off, if he'd actually given the ball to Wells, he'd have had about a 10-foot hole to run through, and would have probably picked up at least 10 or 15 yards. I accept that if the play calls for a fake, you can't just give the back the ball, because he's not expecting it; but Pryor could have seen the soft spot in the defense and called an audible. Maybe that's too much to ask of a freshman quarterback. Anyway, once Pryor took the ball, it looked like he could have made about three or four yards if he'd cut up the field early, but instead he tried to cut it outside and wound up losing a couple of yards. But he's learning, he's obviously got a lot of talent, and the most important thing was the W.

Give me an N! Give me an I! Give me a T!

So the Ohio State Buckeyes won the derby for 66th place, otherwise known as the National Invitation Tournament. Seriously, they should be proud. Winning the NIT is a lot better than losing in the NIT.

"This is what happens when you put an NCAA Tournament team in the NIT," Jamar Butler said after the Buckeyes beat Massachusetts 92-85 in the NIT title game.

Well, Jamar, I hate to say it, but if you guys wanted to get into the NCAA, you shouldn't have lost 13 games. I did think they should have gotten in, but you know, somebody's got to win the NIT, and whoever that team is, they're probably going to think they proved they belonged in the NCAA. But the time to do that is before they make the selections.