The Sports Edition

Well, since there has been a recent flux of sports news and happenings, I have decided to make a dedicated post about the subject. First off, how about that Super Bowl? I personally wanted to take over the playcalling for the Eagles in the fourth quarter, but I bet many of you out there are Patriot fans, so I won't go into it much... Although it still remains that the only players I really don't like from that team are Tom Brady and Ty Law, because they're both scUM... But I gotta give love to Mike Vrabel, a linebacker playing tight end on the goal line, catching a poorly thrown TD pass from Brady; the Buckeye alums are versatile! It's sad, though, because I still dream of seeing my hometown Cleveland Browns making it to the big dance one day... Hell, I already know the reason why the Browns are so horrible... Not one of the players is an alum of The OSU. Especially after 14 Buckeyes were drafted on the 2004 Draft, a record, and not one was taken by Butch Davis, I knew the season was tanked. This coming April, new head coach Romeo Crennel better look at Bam Childress, Simon Fraser, Dustin Fox, Kyle Turano and maybe even Mike Nugent (if we want to upgrade from Phil Dawson). Especially with looming rumors of Anthony Henry not being re-signed, Dustin Fow would be a great fill, with or without Henry. Plus, adding Fraser would end a lot of the questions about the D-Line. But really, not having a Buckeye, much less a player from all of Ohio on the Browns is really laughable. I might decide to be a Bengals fan if things don't change playerwise.

In other Cleveland sports... The Indians are gonna get some serious heat in the Central division, because now Detroit is buying players off the free agent market. They've acquired Troy Percival, Troy Glaus, and now Magglio Ordonez. Not to mention the current talent, Carlos Guillen. The only good thing for the Tribe to bank on is that that's all that the Tigers have. Kansas City is sliding now, as is Chicago, even though they added names... The Twins are likely not going to get Johan Santana to sign a long-term deal, because the Twins can't afford it... Maybe the Tribe can trade a big prospect or two for him. Likely not. The Tribe signed my boy Kevin Millwood, and since he's my boy, many of my friends already think we're doomed... whatever. Also picked up were Jose Hernandez and Alex Cora, two decent infielders to add depth to the bench, but I'd rather have kept Lou Merloni. Plus, many are saying that these pickups mean that GM Mark Shapiro will have the flexibility to trade away Ronnie Belliard... I hope not, unless Shapiro wants to lower our scoring. Hey, a familiar face is back too! Juan Gonzalez signed a minor league deal, and if he makes the 25 man roster I'd love it because I hate to see Casey Blake in right field. He's an infielder, a 3B... Speaking of 3B men, Aaron Boone is in town! Gotta love it! AB, or as the Red Sox fans call him, Aaron "Bleeping" Boone. What a HUGE grab last year. I just thought of another familiar face coming back to the Tribe - Paul Shuey has a minor league deal. Seeing him in the bullpen again would bring me a sense of security... If Juan Gone and Shuey make the squad, look out - we're playoff bound.

Also... The Cavs are rolling, although slowly, to the playoffs. So we lost "Wild Thing" Anderson Varejao for a few weeks. And Ira Newble is still out. Thank God for 10 day contracts to fill the void. Thank God for LeBron too. He needs to be signed to a max extension ASAP. It isn't mentioned much, but he will be a free agent after next season. Zydrunas Ilgauskas needs to be re-upped too. LeBron has put in his words on wanting Z to return, and Z wants to stay here. A part of me believes he deserves it too, even though he has missed most of his early career from injury. The Cavs need one more link in the chain to be title contenders... and hopefully that link will come in the postseason free agency. Gary Payton could be a great option if Jeff McInnis isn't re-signed, and many have speculated that Michael Redd is a very possible pickup as well. Wouldn't it be great to see Redd, a Buckeye alum, also a 4 time all star, in a lineup with LeBron, Z, McInnis (or Payton), and Drew Gooden? We'd be right up there with Miami, Detroit and Indiana in the East. Plus, we can secure more depth by trading guys like DeSagana Diop, Dajuan Wagner, and Luscious Harris (even though I like having him for depth already). Diop has had no success with the team at all, but he's a big body that someone can like to have. And Wagner hasn't played much with all of the injuries he's had, but teams know he can still shoot.

Now, for the Buckeye news... We whipped the scUM on Saturday, 72-46 at home. Just WHIPPED THEM. They scored only 6 points in the first ten minutes. They had only 4 assists and 28 turnovers. Their coach Tommy Amaker couldn't even get a technical foul when he was asking for one, arguing so much with the referees. At the game were a bunch of high school junior football players here for the football coaches' Junior Day. And, a benefit from Junior Day, and I bet the game, too, was getting Running Back Chris Wells' verbal commitment to play at THE OSU! For those of you who don't know, Wells is projected to be a top 3 RB in the country for the 2006 recruiting class, and is likely a top 10 overall prospect in the nation. He's 6-1, 210, and is like Maurice Clarett without the parole officer... and probably more speed. He's the big bruiser back, the thunder we need to complement the lightning quick offense we're going to have for a few years.

Speaking of recruiting, 18 players made it official for next season by inking their names on paper on signing day earlier in the week. 18 players is somewhat a small number, but coach Tressel had to be selective since he didn't have many scholarships available to offer after going heavy last season. That doesn't mean our list is weak. Our class is ranked #7 in the nation. Highlighting the list are:
Jamario O'Neal - National Top 100 prospect, 6-1, 205, Cornerback, played alongside Ted Ginn Jr at Glenville HS in Cleveland. 4.45 sec 40 yard dash
Alex Boone - National top 100 prospect, St. Edward HS, O-Lineman, 6-8, 300, I keep claiming to be the white Orlando Pace.
Doug Worthington - National top 100 prospect, 6-7 257, D-End, St. Francis HS in Athol Springs, NY. Can be an immediate impact on the D-line

All three of these guys should see immediate playing time. There are other great players that I can list but don;t want to type so much about. DT Todd Denlinger, LB Freddie Lenix, OL Jim Cordle, QB Rob Schoencroft, WR Andre Amos, RB Maurice Wells, DE Lawrence Wilson, and WR Brian Hartline are all guys who will have a definite big impact in the future. Hell, all of them will. In this class I really see few players who will not have a big role for this team. Our defense is going to be ridiculous in the coming year. We'll have all three starting LBs back for senior seasons, and we'll get back Mike D'Andrea, who was injured early in the season. With Worthington, Denlinger and Wilson coming in, I bet two out of the three will start this season. Worthington is almost a definite to me, but I bet either Denlinger or Wilson, or maybe both of them will put up a huge effort and beat out someone for a starting job. The secondary is losing only Dustin Fox (still a big loss), and with Jamario coming in, there will be a minimal time needed to adjust. Tyler Everett, Nate Salley, Ashton Youboty, and Donte Whitner are good to go as it is. I can't wait for next season, especially the game against Texas. That's before the school year, so I hope I can score a ticket and drive down for that one. We're Rose Bowl bound this year. There are only three tough games on our schedule, and I bet Ted Ginn could win them all by himself. The season can't come faster for me.

Well, that's all for now... I think I just set a personal best for a long post, and it was all about sports... hmmmm.... maybe I have an alternate career in hand if the whole engineering thing goes awry... Anyway, I'll hit it up again later.