Keep getting this download request. I shutdown my phone and restarted and still getting it.

ESPN's Dick Vitale to call 1st game after beating cancer 4th time​

Dick Vitale, the legendary voice of college basketball, is returning to the air for the first time since 2023.

The Hall of Fame broadcaster will call the Duke-Wake Forest men's college basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston Salem, North Carolina.

Vitale, 85, has battled four different types of cancer in the past three and a half years. Most recently, he underwent surgery in the summer of 2024 after a biopsy of a lymph node in his neck showed cancer. Vitale announced on Jan. 8 that he was cancer-free.

"I am absolutely ecstatic and I can't believe this is happening after going through five major vocal cord surgeries, 65 radiation treatments and chemotherapy for six months," Vitale said. "It's been a very tough journey, but all of the prayers and messages from the beautiful fans have inspired me."

"I just hope that I can offer the people some basketball insights that can bring even more excitement to the game."
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Former NFL head coach Jack Del Rio to coach team in Paris​

Former Jacksonville Jaguars and Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio has been named the head coach of the Paris Musketeers of the European League of Football.

Del Rio, 61, went 93-94 in 12 seasons as an NFL head coach and made two postseason appearances with the Jags and one with the Raiders.

His last NFL job was as defensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders from 2020 to '23. He previously held coordinator roles with the Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos.

Del Rio's move to Paris comes after a brief tenure as a senior assistant for the Wisconsin Badgers. Hired in August 2024, he resigned from the position in November after he was arrested following a car crash in Madison, Wisconsin, and cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

The Paris Musketeers are part of the 17-team European League of Football, which played its inaugural season in 2021. The league runs from May until September and features teams from Austria, Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain and Switzerland.

OHSportsFan said:

Dawn Staley building a powerhouse. She’s got personality, fun, smart, tough and can coach. Too cool.

She should get any player she wants down to Columbia.

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South Carolina makes Dawn Staley highest-paid women's hoops coach​

South Carolina announced Friday that Dawn Staley has received a contract extension through the 2029-30 season that will make her the highest-paid coach in women's basketball.

The contract, approved by the university's board of trustees, starts with an annual salary of $4 million, includes a $500,00 signing bonus and has an annual $250,000 escalator, bringing the total value to approximately $25.25 million.

"Dawn Staley is a once-in-a-generation coach who has made a tremendous impact on the University of South Carolina," athletic director Jeremiah Donati said. "She has elevated the sport of women's basketball on the national level and here on campus, and I am excited that she will be representing our University for many years to come."
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"I came when Sawyer conquered"

Print the t-shirts and send me my royalties.

pnuts34 said:

The streets said these are the Air Offords
View attachment 59258

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It looks like if a napkin was actually shoes.

After being sued to get the info, OSU finally released the requested documents regarding the selection of Chris Pan as the commencement speaker. This guy is a nutter and they went ahead anyways.

Had a chance to get the ball down by 1 and let Wiscy rebound a missed FT with 12 seconds left.

pnuts34 said:

I mean, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Might as well ask

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true, but sounds like he might have air-balled a layup in this case.

ScriptOhio said:

Just sayin':
1) He waited his turn behind 5-Star guys like Smith-Njigba, Harrison, and Egbuka, etc.; however, then younger guys like Smith (5-Star), Tate (5-Star), and Innis (4-Star) just passed him on the depth chart. I'm sure that he just wants to play too so you really can't fault him for transferring.

Good luck to him at Colorado State.

2)

Former Ohio State Wide Receiver Kojo Antwi Signs With Colorado State

Former Ohio State wide receiver Kojo Antwi will continue his career at Colorado State after signing with the Rams out of the transfer portal.

www.elevenwarriors.com

Antwi appeared in just 13 games across his three years with the Buckeyes, making one catch for eight yards against Western Michigan in Week 2 this season for his only career reception. His trio of 2022 recruiting classmates at wide receiver have all previously found new homes over the last couple of years, with Caleb Burton now at Auburn, Kyion Grayes at Cal and Kaleb Brown at UAB after initially transferring to Iowa.
Well, I guess you can say the 2022 recruiting class for WRs was a bust (for Ohio State) and all four were 4-Stars too.

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Burton transferred from Barn to UCONN this portal season

gmen6981 said:

Obligatory.

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Was there for that one.

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The Ohio State football team had plenty of unsung heroes in its Cotton Bowl win​

The Ohio State football team has a few guys who deserve more credit for their performances in the Cotton Bowl.

Kickers

Texas has a feared return game, but placekicker Jayden Fielding and punter Joe McGuire completely nullified it. Fielding consistently put his kickoffs into the end zone and also executed a perfect pooch kick that forced a fair catch at the end of the first half.

After Silas Bolden returned McGuire’s first punt for 16 yards, the Ohio State punter used good placement and height on his kicks to limit Bolden to just one more return for zero yards. McGuire averaged 42 yards per punt and put two inside the 20-yard line. Shutting down the Texas return game meant the Longhorns’ offense continually had to play with a long field.

Mike Vrabel says Drake Maye a big reason he took Patriots' job​

Mike Vrabel, who was officially introduced Monday as the 16th head coach in New England Patriots history, said quarterback Drake Maye was one of the top reasons the job was so appealing to him.

After noting how "open dialogue" with owner Robert Kraft and president Jonathan Kraft was critical, Vrabel cited the presence of Maye as another main reason he was convinced about coming to New England, calling him a "young, dynamic quarterback."

Later, in an interview on ESPN's "SportsCenter," Vrabel elaborated on how he hopes to grow with the 22-year-old Maye.

"I think he's young, talented, willing to learn. I think there's a toughness to him. There's an amazing skillset in which to mold and to have him lead our football team and lead our offense," Vrabel said.

"There's arm talent. There's athleticism. Certainly, we have to be great around him and we're going to continue to push him as much as he lets us."

Vrabel, 49, had also interviewed with the New York Jets and Chicago Bears for their head coaching jobs. One of his most important decisions will be hiring an offensive coordinator to work with Maye, which he said is "far from solidified" at this point.

Asked how he planned to help Maye reach his potential, Vrabel said the first thing would be to "put great people around him."
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Its pronounced annahl rah pist

billmac91 said:

Sometimes you just gotta push someone’s thread forward…..by far!!!!, best punting game of evening against Tejas.

Maybe being indoors helped a bit…..but he did a great job landing ball in correct zone where we didn’t give opponent the ball on the 20 yard line because it was kicked into end zone.

Joe was great against Texas. Props.

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Agreed!

All due respect, I think the grumpy old Buckeye is a rank amateur compared to the pro's we have here.

I didn't read a single plea to fire anybody.

Ohio State vs Notre Dame: A Battle of Legends with a National Championship on the Line

Notre Dame and the Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference was formed in 1896 and by 1917 it counted as members every major football power in the upper midwest. All except one - Notre Dame.

Notre Dame began football in 1887 as an independent and it has stayed that way ever since (more or less) despite various attempts to lure them into a conference. But in the early days, before Notre Dame became a brand name in college football, the small private Catholic school in South Bend, Indiana, actually tried to join the Big Ten. Although Notre Dame fit the Big Ten profile geographically, that factor was about the only match with the other conference members, most of whom (Northwestern and Chicago being the exceptions) were large state-operated "land grant" universities. The Big Ten could ignore the "small" and "private" aspects of Notre Dame, as the conference had previously done with Northwestern and the University of Chicago, but many of the key players on the conference side of the equation had a serious problem with the "Catholic" element of that university.

The rift between Notre Dame and the Big Ten dates back to at least 1909. Back then, Notre Dame was a considered a "cupcake" opponent. From 1887 to 1908, the Fighting Irish sported an impressive overall record of 89-30-9 (.730 winning percentage), but the vast majority of those victories came against a motley crew of high schools, prep schools, medical schools, dental schools, law schools, future D-III programs, and private clubs such as the Illinois Cycling Club and the South Bend Howard Park Club. Against the relatively powerful Big Ten schools, Notre Dame had a miserable record of 10-23-4, with the Irish being outscored 518 to 189 in those 37 contests.

Led by the legendary Fielding Yost, Michigan was perhaps the most powerful program in the country during the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Yost took over the Michigan program in 1901 and during his first eight years on the job his team posted an overall record of 69-5-2 (.921 winning percentage) with four national championships. Yost was ruthless in victory (his teams would "tramp on the injured and hurdle the dead" according to one sportswriter), but petulant in defeat.

In 1909, Notre Dame faced Michigan for the ninth time. The Wolverines had won all of the previous eight games by a combined score of 121 to 16, with Yost notching two of those wins (1902 and 1908). However, Notre Dame pulled off the upset in 1909, besting Michigan by the score of 11 to 3 in Ann Arbor. After the game Yost was the typical sore loser, claiming that the contest was nothing more than an exhibition game with his team "caring little whether we won or lost."

But Yost obviously cared a lot more than he let on as he subsequently cancelled the 1910 rematch with Notre Dame, claiming that the Fighting Irish were using ineligible players. Yost then blackballed Notre Dame and refused to play them for the remainder of his tenure at Michigan, which did not end until he finally retired as athletic director in 1941.

Yost was known as a virulent anti-Catholic and he worked behind the scenes to keep Notre Dame from joining the Big Ten Conference. Under the direction of President Father Walsh, Notre Dame made an informal "goodwill tour" of the Big Ten schools during the mid-1920s to make its case to join the conference, but the tour hit a roadblock in Ann Arbor where Yost still held his grudge. At that time, Yost had a massive amount of sway within the conference and his denigration of Notre Dame's athletics, academics, and religious affiliation was enough to convince the other Big Ten members to steer clear of South Bend. Although Notre Dame would eventually end up forming rivalries with several Big Ten teams (including Michigan after 1941), the football program would remain more-or-less unaligned until the present day.

In retrospect, remaining independent was beneficial for Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish won no less than a dozen national championships from 1919 to 1988. However, that 1988 title would prove to be Notre Dame's last and by 1999 the Fighting Irish were a nonentity on the national scene. During that year, the Big Ten privately approached Notre Dame about joining the conference thinking that an affiliation would be mutually beneficial. Notre Dame's faculty senate overwhelmingly endorsed the idea by a vote of 25 to 4, the main lure being entrance into the Committee for Institutional Cooperation (CIC), which is essentially the academic and research wing of the Big Ten. But Notre Dame's board of trustees, under severe pressure from prominent boosters and alumni who had illusions (or delusions) or returning to past glory, rejected the faculty's wishes and decided to keep "King Football" independent (and the sole beneficiary of a lucrative NBC television contract) despite the numerous benefits that the academic institution would have received by virtue of CIC membership. And despite the fact that the Irish brand was clearly fading.

Since 1999 there have been numerous conference expansions and realignments, including the Big Ten adding Nebraska in 2011; Maryland and Rutgers in 2014; and USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington in 2024. During this period of instability there have been persistent rumors of Notre Dame joining the Big Ten Conference, but the stumbling blocks were the aforementioned NBC contract as well as Notre Dame's desire to retain its numerous non-conference rivals such as Southern Cal (no longer an issue), Stanford, Boston College, and Navy. In 2014 Notre Dame essentially precluded any further entrees to or from the Big Ten by joining the Atlantic Coast Conference as a partial member, playing five ACC football games a year instead of a full conference slate and not being eligible for the conference championship game.

Notre Dame Versus the Big Ten Conference

As mentioned above, Notre Dame has long-standing rivalries with several Big Ten programs, notably Michigan (44 games), Purdue (87 games), Michigan State (79 games, 59 with MSU as a Big Ten member), and Northwestern (49 games). For reasons discussed below, Ohio State never developed a rivalry with Notre Dame, despite the proximity of the two schools and the prestige of the two programs. Here's how Notre Dame has fared against the core members of the Big Ten Conference:


Ohio State versus Notre Dame All Time

Ohio State and Notre Dame have matched up only eight times over the years. Of all the schools that it has played multiple times, Notre Dame has its worst winning percentage (.250) against Ohio State (2-6 record) and Georgia (1-3 record, with its lone win coming in this year's playoffs). Notre Dame's six-game losing streak to Ohio State is the third-longest in program history, behind only Michigan (8 games from 1887 to 1908); Michigan State (8 games from 1955 to 1963); and Southern Cal (7 games from 2002 to 2009). In fact, Notre Dame has not beaten Ohio State in nearly a century. To follow is a list of every contest between the two storied programs:

Notre Dame vs Ohio State – 1935 regular season

Ohio State was the last of the "original" Big Ten schools to play Notre Dame. The first meeting between the two programs occurred on November 2, 1935, when Notre Dame was an already established football power (four national championships from 1918 to 1930 under the direction of the legendary Knute Rockne) and Ohio State was just beginning to emerge as such.

The 1935 contest was one of the first to be dubbed "The Game of the Century". The Fighting Irish traveled to Columbus with a perfect 5-0-0 record to face the Buckeyes, who sported a perfect 4-0-0 record of their own. A record-setting crowd of 81,018 packed Ohio Stadium to see the clash between national championship contenders.

The Buckeyes got off to a fast start with a 75-yard pick six in the first quarter and they cruised to a 13-0 halftime lead. After a scoreless third quarter, Notre Dame staged a furious fourth-quarter comeback. The Irish scored a touchdown early in the final quarter to cut Ohio State's lead to 13-6, and then scored another touchdown with just under two minutes left on the clock. The PAT attempt was no good and the Buckeyes still clung to a 13-12 lead with a chance to run out the clock. However, the Buckeyes fumbled the ball away near midfield and the Fighting Irish recovered. Notre Dame quickly drove down the field for their third touchdown of the quarter and took an 18-13 lead with 32 seconds remaining. The Buckeyes' final desperate drive ended with a quarterback sack as time expired.

Ohio State would rebound after the loss to Notre Dame to finish the 1935 season with a 7-1-0 record and a Big Ten co-championship (with Minnesota). On the other hand, the Irish would suffer a let down after their historic comeback, losing to Northwestern and then tying Army before beating Southern Cal to finish their campaign with a record of 7-1-1. In an unofficial season-ending UPI poll (the official UPI poll would not begin until 1950), Ohio State was ranked #5 while Notre Dame placed #8. A powerful Minnesota squad (8-0-0) took home the national title that year, but if Ohio State had managed to hold on against Notre Dame the Buckeyes might have earned their first ever national championship in 1935.

Notre Dame vs Ohio State – 1936 regular season

The two schools held a rematch in South Bend on October 31, 1936, with the Fighting Irish winning a relatively uneventful contest by the unlikely score of 7 to 2. Notre Dame would end their season at 6-2-1 and ranked #8 in the inaugural AP poll, while Ohio State would finish unranked with a record of 5-3-0.

The fledgling series then took a six-decade hiatus for reasons that remain clouded in mystery. One legend has it that Woody Hayes, who took over Ohio State's program in 1951, refused to play Notre Dame because he did not want the Catholic population of Ohio rooting against the home state school in the rivalry game. That's a nice story but it doesn't explain the gap between 1936 and 1951 before Hayes arrived in Columbus, nor why Woody's quaint policy survived another 17 years after his dismissal from Ohio State at the conclusion of the 1978 season.

On the Notre Dame side of the equation, the Irish had already established rivalries with several other Big Ten programs and adding Ohio State to their list was not a priority, especially if it would jeopardize existing rivalries with teams outside of the Midwest such as Southern Cal, Pittsburgh, Army, and Navy. In any event, Notre Dame and Ohio State would not play again until 1995.

Notre Dame vs Ohio State – 1995 regular season

John Cooper began his career at Ohio State (1988 to 1994) with a record of 54-26-4 (.667 winning percentage), which alone should have been enough to get himself fired. Add in a record of 1-5-1 against arch rival Michigan and 1-5-0 in bowl games (with no major bowl appearances), and it's easy to see why Cooper's seat was scorching hot as the 1995 season began. However, Cooper was able (very briefly) to salvage his public perception with a resounding 45 to 26 victory over Notre Dame in Columbus on September 30, 1995.

In that game Buckeye running back (and future Heisman winner) Eddie George rushed 32 times for 207 yards and two touchdowns, and wide receiver (and future Biletnikoff winner) Terry Glenn added 4 receptions for 128 yards and a pair of scores (including an 82-yard touchdown, the 5th-longest passing play in Ohio State history). In all, the offense racked up 533 total yards while the defense forced three turnovers in the rout.

In 1995, Ohio State would win eleven straight games before closing the season with losses to Michigan and Tennessee in the Florida Citrus Bowl; the Buckeyes would finish 11-2-0 and #6 in the final AP poll that year. Notre Dame would not lose another game until falling to Florida State in the Orange Bowl; the Irish ended their season with a 9-3-0 record and a #11 ranking in the AP poll.

Notre Dame vs Ohio State – 1996 regular season

Ohio State and Notre Dame finished their brief two-game series the following season with a rematch in South Bend. The Buckeyes once again won that contest handily by the score of 29 to 16. Taking over where Eddie George left off, Buckeye tailback Pepe Pearson rushed 29 times for a career-best 173 yards and two touchdowns and the defense once again forced three Irish turnovers.

Following a heartbreaking 13-9 loss to Michigan and a thrilling 20-17 victory over previously unbeaten Arizona State in the Rose Bowl, Ohio State finished the 1996 season with a record of 11-1-0 and a #2 ranking in both major polls. Notre Dame ended their 1996 campaign with a record of 8-3-0 (no bowl game) and the #19 ranking in the AP poll.

Notre Dame vs Ohio State – 2006 Fiesta Bowl

The next time that Notre Dame and Ohio State squared off was in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State finished the 2005 regular season with a record of 9-2, with the Buckeyes' only losses coming against eventual national champ Texas (25-22) and eventual #3 Penn State (17-10). Notre Dame also entered the bowl game with a 9-2 record, with losses to Michigan State (44-41) and eventual #2 Southern Cal (34-31).

The game looked to be a clash of opposites, with Ohio State playing sound defense and special teams to supplement a plodding Tresselball offense, and Notre Dame looking to light up the scoreboard under the guidance of first-year head coach Charlie Weis, a certified offensive guru (at least in his own mind). But things didn't quite work out that way. Although Weis claimed that his NFL-style offense had a "decided schematic advantage" over other college teams, the normally conservative Tressel showed him a thing or three about how to exploit an opposing defense. The Buckeye offense, which had averaged only 369.9 yards per game during the regular season, exploded for 617 yards in the Fiesta Bowl, much of it coming on huge scoring plays: a 60-yard TD run by tailback Antonio Pittman; a 68-yard TD run on a reverse by flanker Ted Ginn, Jr.; a 56-yard reception by Ginn; and an 85-yard reception by wide out Santonio Holmes, the third-longest pass play in Ohio State history. Quarterback Troy Smith orchestrated the virtuoso performance with 408 total yards (342 passing, 66 rushing), at that time the third-highest single-game total for a Buckeye player. If not for a pair of fumbles (one in the red zone) and a blocked field goal, Ohio State would have blown out Notre Dame. As it was, the Buckeyes merely won the game comfortably, 34-20.

Based on their BCS bowl victory, Ohio State moved up to #4 in both major polls, while Notre Dame dropped down to #9 in the AP poll and #11 in the coaches poll. The game propelled Troy Smith's 2006 Heisman run and tarnished Charlie Weis's largely self-generated reputation. Although Weis would have another fine season in 2006 (a 10-3 record), his career crashed and burned thereafter, and in his final six seasons as a college head coach (three more at Notre Dame and two-plus at Kansas) he would post a combined record of 22-43 (.338 winning percentage). Weis was fired from Kansas on September 28, 2014 for "lack of on-field progress" and he remains unemployed to this day.

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State – 2016 Fiesta Bowl

The next contest between Ohio State and Notre Dame came in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl at the end of the 2015 season. The Buckeyes entered the game as the #7 team with a record of 11-1, their sole loss coming against eventual Big Ten champ Michigan State by the score of 17-14 on a last-second field goal. The Domers were ranked 8th with a record of 10-2, both losses coming by two points to ranked teams (Clemson, Stanford). Ohio State got out to an early 14-0 first quarter lead with touchdowns by Ezekiel Elliott and Michael Thomas and eventually cruised to a 44-28 win. The game marked the final appearance in scarlet and grey for many stars including Elliott (149 yards, 4 TDs), Thomas (7 reception, 72 yards, TD), Braxton Miller, Darron Lee (7 tackles, 2 sacks, forced fumble), and Joey Bosa (4 tackles before an early ejection for a questionable targeting call). After the victory, Ohio State rose to #4 in both final polls while Notre Dame sank to #11 in the AP poll and #12 in the coaches poll.

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State – 2022 regular season

After avoiding each other for 25 years during the regular season, Ohio State and Notre Dame held a home-and-home series in 2022 (Columbus) and 2023 (South Bend). Although the Buckeyes versus the Fighting Irish will always be a marquee matchup, this game was particularly notable because Notre Dame's head coach was Marcus Freeman, a former star linebacker for Ohio State. Prior to the contest, Freeman made some uncharitable comments about his alma mater (including some academic smack) which added fuel to an already blazing fire.

The 2022 contest was the season opener for both teams and the offseason rust still showed – the teams combined for just 400 total yards (223 for Ohio State, 177 for Notre Dame) and 31 points (21 for Ohio State, 10 for Notre Dame). A 24-yard touchdown pass from CJ Stroud to Xavier Johnson at the end of the third quarter gave Ohio State a 14-10 lead, and a 14-play, 95-yard touchdown drive sealed the deal. Three current Buckeyes had big games: running back TreVeyon Henderson had 15 carries for 91 yards (6.1 average); wide receiver Emeka Egbuka caught 9 passes for 90 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown; and wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr hauled in a 54-yard reception (albeit for Notre Dame; he transferred to Ohio State in June of 2023). The Buckeyes would make the playoffs in 2022, their season ending with a heartbreaking one-point loss to eventual champ Georgia; despite a preseason top-5 ranking, Notre Dame would finish with a disappointing record of 9-4 (including a loss to the Marshall Thundering Herd of the Sun Belt Conference).

Notre Dame vs. Ohio State – 2023 regular season

At the time (Week 4 of the season), it seemed that this contest might portend Team of Destiny status for Ohio State. With their offense struggling (other than a 61-yard touchdown run from TreVeyon Henderson), and finding themselves down 14-10 with just 1:26 left in the game, the Buckeyes pulled off an improbable touchdown drive to win the game in the final seconds. First-year starting quarterback Kyle McCord was alternately awful and brilliant during the two-minute drill, completing just 5 of 14 passes (with an intentional grounding penalty) but somehow converting 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-19, and 4th-and-7 to keep the drive alive. The clinching touchdown was scored by running back Chip Trayanum on a 1-yard dive against a Fighting Irish defense that was playing a man short – perhaps if head coach Marcus Freeman had a degree or two from an academic powerhouse like Notre Dame he could have counted his men correctly.

In any event, Ohio State was not a team of destiny in 2023. In fact, quite the opposite – the Buckeyes' season ended in near-disastrous fashion with a loss to Michigan, the immediate transfer of McCord to Syracuse, and a virtual no-show against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl; Ohio State finished with a respectable record of 11-2 and a #10 ranking in both major bowls but the team was definitely headed in a downward direction. Notre Dame would finish 10-3 and #14 in both polls.