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LGHL Ohio State target, four-star CB announces decommitment from Georgia
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Ohio State target, four-star CB announces decommitment from Georgia
Bret Favachio via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kayin Lee | Rusty Mansell, 247Sports
One of the Buckeyes’ defensive targets prior to committing elsewhere is back on the open market.
Tuesday brought a few items of interest for the Buckeyes, as a former top target in the secondary has decided to open up his recruitment. Plus, a blue-chip pass-catcher from the west coast holds Ohio State, among others, in high regard.
Lee backs off UGA
If you rewind all the way back to July of last year, that was when 2023 four-star cornerback Kayin Lee of Cedar Grove (GA) took a key step in narrowing down his recruitment. The Ellenwood standout in the secondary released a top 10 that featured Georgia, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, among others.
Ultimately for Lee, it would be the Bulldogs that came away as the beneficiary in September when he announced his pledge to the program despite the Buckeyes’ efforts. That verbal commitment would not stop schools from pursuing though, as eight more schools have since dropped an offer to the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder.
On Tuesday, Lee took to Twitter that he was backing off of his commitment to Georgia. The news paves the way for Ohio State cornerbacks coach Tim Walton to get the program back into the conversation for the highly-touted defensive back.
I will still be evaluating UGA. All love pic.twitter.com/J2q0Vb54Ld
— Kayin Lee (@_kayinlee) February 22, 2022
Considering that the Buckeyes were a finalist the first time around and likely finished second in the race behind the Bulldogs, one would have to like their chances at making another run at him. For Lee, he currently comes in as the No. 144 prospect overall, the No. 17 cornerback in the class, and the 15th highest graded player from Georgia.
Flores down to five
On the other side of the ball, Ohio State and wide receiver coach Brian Hartline also received some welcome news on Tuesday when 2023 four-star wide receiver Rico Flores of Folsom (CA) revealed an updated list of programs still in the mix for his coveted commitment.
Ohio State, to the surprise of few, was one of the universities that made the cut for the California pass-catcher, and they now know that they will have to outlast the likes of Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, and UCLA if they hope to add him to the fold.
Flores, as recently as December, shared a top 10 list and when comparing that list to the one revealed last night, the changes were simple. Over the last two months, the blue-chip receiver has decided to eliminate Alabama, LSU, Oregon, Pittsburgh, and USC. Whoever comes out on top for Flores will have the benefit of adding a prospect just outside of the Top 150 in his class. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder also slots in as the No. 23 pass-catcher and the 13th best player from California.
Quick Hits
Continue reading...
Bret Favachio via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Kayin Lee | Rusty Mansell, 247Sports
One of the Buckeyes’ defensive targets prior to committing elsewhere is back on the open market.
Tuesday brought a few items of interest for the Buckeyes, as a former top target in the secondary has decided to open up his recruitment. Plus, a blue-chip pass-catcher from the west coast holds Ohio State, among others, in high regard.
Lee backs off UGA
If you rewind all the way back to July of last year, that was when 2023 four-star cornerback Kayin Lee of Cedar Grove (GA) took a key step in narrowing down his recruitment. The Ellenwood standout in the secondary released a top 10 that featured Georgia, Notre Dame, and Ohio State, among others.
Ultimately for Lee, it would be the Bulldogs that came away as the beneficiary in September when he announced his pledge to the program despite the Buckeyes’ efforts. That verbal commitment would not stop schools from pursuing though, as eight more schools have since dropped an offer to the 5-foot-11, 160-pounder.
On Tuesday, Lee took to Twitter that he was backing off of his commitment to Georgia. The news paves the way for Ohio State cornerbacks coach Tim Walton to get the program back into the conversation for the highly-touted defensive back.
I will still be evaluating UGA. All love pic.twitter.com/J2q0Vb54Ld
— Kayin Lee (@_kayinlee) February 22, 2022
Considering that the Buckeyes were a finalist the first time around and likely finished second in the race behind the Bulldogs, one would have to like their chances at making another run at him. For Lee, he currently comes in as the No. 144 prospect overall, the No. 17 cornerback in the class, and the 15th highest graded player from Georgia.
Flores down to five
On the other side of the ball, Ohio State and wide receiver coach Brian Hartline also received some welcome news on Tuesday when 2023 four-star wide receiver Rico Flores of Folsom (CA) revealed an updated list of programs still in the mix for his coveted commitment.
Ohio State, to the surprise of few, was one of the universities that made the cut for the California pass-catcher, and they now know that they will have to outlast the likes of Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, and UCLA if they hope to add him to the fold.
Flores, as recently as December, shared a top 10 list and when comparing that list to the one revealed last night, the changes were simple. Over the last two months, the blue-chip receiver has decided to eliminate Alabama, LSU, Oregon, Pittsburgh, and USC. Whoever comes out on top for Flores will have the benefit of adding a prospect just outside of the Top 150 in his class. The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder also slots in as the No. 23 pass-catcher and the 13th best player from California.
Quick Hits
- According to Bond Edits on Twitter and confirmed by the player himself, 2024 tight end Tayvion Galloway of Chillicothe (OH) will make a visit to Ohio State on March 22nd. While the Buckeyes have yet to offer Galloway thus far, the 6-foot-6, 215-pounder has seen programs like Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky, LSU, Michigan State, and many more offer to this point.
- Also from the same class, one target well on the radar for the Buckeyes, including an offer, is 2024 cornerback Bryce West of Glenville (OH). On Tuesday, the Cleveland native revealed that he was named the Most Valuable Player among defensive backs at the "Best of the Midwest" combine, and was spotted rocking Ohio State gloves during the event.
Continue reading...
LGHL Column: It’s time for athletic departments to abandon the antiquated ‘Lady’s’ monicker
- News
- 0 Replies
Column: It’s time for athletic departments to abandon the antiquated ‘Lady’s’ monicker
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Penn State Athletics
The Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions tip off on Thursday, but there’s something about the game that doesn’t sit right.
On Thursday, the Ohio State Buckeyes’ women’s basketball team will welcome the Penn State Nittany Lions to the Schottenstein Center. If Ohio State can continue their winning ways (11-2 since the start of 2022), they will be remain in the conversation for the Big Ten title in the regular season’s final week.
On the court, the Buckeyes are a team with strong chemistry and a pair of outstanding guards in Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell who’ve each received post season award hype, in addition to regularly adding in-season honors to their trophy cases.
For all the positives of Thursday’s game, there’s one thing that sours it, at least for me. It’s the visiting team’s nickname for their women hoopsters, the “Lady Lions.”
Now, in an effort towards full disclosure and to make sure that people realize that this isn’t coming from a place of animosity towards the Nittany Lions, I actually graduated from Penn State, and loved my experience in State College. Let’s just say I own a good amount of blue and white gear, despite the team that I now cover.
So, this isn’t an opinion piece laced with trash talk or anger towards the Nittany Lions, nor is it based off an overwhelming affection for the Buckeyes. I write about the Ohio State basketball team because I live in Central Ohio and I love of the sport.
With that out of the way, the “Lady Lions” moniker is awful. My disdain for the name isn’t even really something that impacts me directly at all; after all, I’m a 30-something male.
“Lady Lions” is a dinosaur-aged gender tag that should follow the lead of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and head into its extinct phase. I don’t know about you, but when I think of the word “Lady” ham-handedly attached to the name of a sports team, I think of the the baseball teams in “A League of Their Own.”
And for the uninitiated, the 1992 movie takes place during World War II. It’s a dramatization of the Women’s Baseball Association, a real league that was born out of the absence of Major League Baseball players who were taking up arms overseas.
In the movie, women baseball players from farms and cities across the country converge on Chicago’s Wrigley Field for a tryout to earn a spot in the league. Once players make the cut, and before they head to their new team’s cities, they’re told that “Every girl in this league is going to be a lady.”
After a few scared looks, it cuts to all the players in charm and beauty school. In it, they learn plate and utensil placement, how to walk and how to sit. All items that have no usefulness on the field whatsoever, and things that their MLB counterparts were never expected to know. It’s simply done in order to make the idea of women playing sports more palatable to a society that wasn’t used to seeing women as athletes.
Even when the play, their uniforms include skirts, which obviously does not work super well in a sport that requires sliding, as evidenced by the bloody shins seen in the movie. “A League of Their Own” took place in the 1940s, but unfortunately some things haven’t changed nearly enough.
When someone tells a person to act more lady-like (and usually the person saying it looks a lot like me), it means that they aren’t being quiet or submissive enough for that person’s liking. These are two characteristics that aren’t normally things we want in basketball players, or any athletes for that matter.
Now, Penn State isn’t the only school that uses the “Lady” qualifier. The Tennessee Volunteers are known as the “Lady Vols,” and you’ll see the phrase used unofficially to describe many teams, even the Buckeyes.
A word like “Lady” added onto a team’s nickname is just another example of how women’s sports are considered the “other,” while men’s teams and leagues are considered the standard or default.
Don’t take it from me though, here’s what the 2021 WNBA MVP has to say on the subject.
It’s all a popularity contest and politics in wbb. In mbb you just gottah be the best. In wbb you gottah be the best player, best looking, most marketable, most IG followers, just to sit at the endorsement table. Thank God for overseas because my bag would’ve been fumbled.
— Jonquel Jones (@jus242) February 18, 2022
The gap between women and men’s sports is slowly getting smaller, but it’s not moving nearly as fast as it should be, despite Tuesday’s historic agreement for the USWNT. It took until 2022 for the NCAA Basketball Tournament to distinguish between “Men’s” and “Women’s,” rather than just assuming that “Final Four” should always refer to the men’s tournament, unless otherwise indicated.
And what’s even worse is that this overdue move came not out of a recognition of their longstanding mistake, but rather from the outcry over the disparity between the men’s and women’s tournaments during last year’s the pandemic-ridden postseason.
If you’ve gotten this far and are thinking, “It’s just another name for women, it’s fine.”
Do the same thing for the men. Change the front of Penn State’s men’s jerseys to say “Gentlemen Lions.” Call Tennessee’s team the “Gentlemen Vols” or call Ohio State the “Gentlemen Bucks.”
It sounds ridiculous, but for some reason it’s widely accepted in women’s sports, especially basketball. But you want to know the good news? It doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a quick, painless, and easy way to fix it: Just stop.
Quit calling your school’s women’s team the “Lady <insert name here>.” For example, if you’re a Nittany Lion fan, call them the “Nittany Lions.” If you’re a Buckeye fan, call Sheldon, Mikesell and the other talented athletes the “Buckeyes,” because that’s their name. That’s the school where they’ve chosen to play.
Judge them on their merits on the court, not on an archaic naming convention. In fact, if you need to talk specifically about one of your favorite school’s basketball teams, throw a “women’s” or “men’s” in front to differentiate, but do it for both, because otherwise it is only slightly less patronizing than the “Lady” moniker. Heck, even the NCAA is finally doing this, and you it’s never a good look to be behind the NCAA when it comes to doing the right thing.
Thursday’s OSU vs. PSU game has the potential to be an exciting matchup. The Nittany Lions will look for their third win in as many games, while the Buckeyes will look to keep their conference title chances alive.
Continue reading...
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Penn State Athletics
The Buckeyes and the Nittany Lions tip off on Thursday, but there’s something about the game that doesn’t sit right.
On Thursday, the Ohio State Buckeyes’ women’s basketball team will welcome the Penn State Nittany Lions to the Schottenstein Center. If Ohio State can continue their winning ways (11-2 since the start of 2022), they will be remain in the conversation for the Big Ten title in the regular season’s final week.
On the court, the Buckeyes are a team with strong chemistry and a pair of outstanding guards in Jacy Sheldon and Taylor Mikesell who’ve each received post season award hype, in addition to regularly adding in-season honors to their trophy cases.
For all the positives of Thursday’s game, there’s one thing that sours it, at least for me. It’s the visiting team’s nickname for their women hoopsters, the “Lady Lions.”
Now, in an effort towards full disclosure and to make sure that people realize that this isn’t coming from a place of animosity towards the Nittany Lions, I actually graduated from Penn State, and loved my experience in State College. Let’s just say I own a good amount of blue and white gear, despite the team that I now cover.
So, this isn’t an opinion piece laced with trash talk or anger towards the Nittany Lions, nor is it based off an overwhelming affection for the Buckeyes. I write about the Ohio State basketball team because I live in Central Ohio and I love of the sport.
With that out of the way, the “Lady Lions” moniker is awful. My disdain for the name isn’t even really something that impacts me directly at all; after all, I’m a 30-something male.
“Lady Lions” is a dinosaur-aged gender tag that should follow the lead of the Tyrannosaurus Rex and head into its extinct phase. I don’t know about you, but when I think of the word “Lady” ham-handedly attached to the name of a sports team, I think of the the baseball teams in “A League of Their Own.”
And for the uninitiated, the 1992 movie takes place during World War II. It’s a dramatization of the Women’s Baseball Association, a real league that was born out of the absence of Major League Baseball players who were taking up arms overseas.
In the movie, women baseball players from farms and cities across the country converge on Chicago’s Wrigley Field for a tryout to earn a spot in the league. Once players make the cut, and before they head to their new team’s cities, they’re told that “Every girl in this league is going to be a lady.”
After a few scared looks, it cuts to all the players in charm and beauty school. In it, they learn plate and utensil placement, how to walk and how to sit. All items that have no usefulness on the field whatsoever, and things that their MLB counterparts were never expected to know. It’s simply done in order to make the idea of women playing sports more palatable to a society that wasn’t used to seeing women as athletes.
Even when the play, their uniforms include skirts, which obviously does not work super well in a sport that requires sliding, as evidenced by the bloody shins seen in the movie. “A League of Their Own” took place in the 1940s, but unfortunately some things haven’t changed nearly enough.
When someone tells a person to act more lady-like (and usually the person saying it looks a lot like me), it means that they aren’t being quiet or submissive enough for that person’s liking. These are two characteristics that aren’t normally things we want in basketball players, or any athletes for that matter.
Now, Penn State isn’t the only school that uses the “Lady” qualifier. The Tennessee Volunteers are known as the “Lady Vols,” and you’ll see the phrase used unofficially to describe many teams, even the Buckeyes.
A word like “Lady” added onto a team’s nickname is just another example of how women’s sports are considered the “other,” while men’s teams and leagues are considered the standard or default.
Don’t take it from me though, here’s what the 2021 WNBA MVP has to say on the subject.
It’s all a popularity contest and politics in wbb. In mbb you just gottah be the best. In wbb you gottah be the best player, best looking, most marketable, most IG followers, just to sit at the endorsement table. Thank God for overseas because my bag would’ve been fumbled.
— Jonquel Jones (@jus242) February 18, 2022
The gap between women and men’s sports is slowly getting smaller, but it’s not moving nearly as fast as it should be, despite Tuesday’s historic agreement for the USWNT. It took until 2022 for the NCAA Basketball Tournament to distinguish between “Men’s” and “Women’s,” rather than just assuming that “Final Four” should always refer to the men’s tournament, unless otherwise indicated.
And what’s even worse is that this overdue move came not out of a recognition of their longstanding mistake, but rather from the outcry over the disparity between the men’s and women’s tournaments during last year’s the pandemic-ridden postseason.
If you’ve gotten this far and are thinking, “It’s just another name for women, it’s fine.”
Do the same thing for the men. Change the front of Penn State’s men’s jerseys to say “Gentlemen Lions.” Call Tennessee’s team the “Gentlemen Vols” or call Ohio State the “Gentlemen Bucks.”
It sounds ridiculous, but for some reason it’s widely accepted in women’s sports, especially basketball. But you want to know the good news? It doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a quick, painless, and easy way to fix it: Just stop.
Quit calling your school’s women’s team the “Lady <insert name here>.” For example, if you’re a Nittany Lion fan, call them the “Nittany Lions.” If you’re a Buckeye fan, call Sheldon, Mikesell and the other talented athletes the “Buckeyes,” because that’s their name. That’s the school where they’ve chosen to play.
Judge them on their merits on the court, not on an archaic naming convention. In fact, if you need to talk specifically about one of your favorite school’s basketball teams, throw a “women’s” or “men’s” in front to differentiate, but do it for both, because otherwise it is only slightly less patronizing than the “Lady” moniker. Heck, even the NCAA is finally doing this, and you it’s never a good look to be behind the NCAA when it comes to doing the right thing.
Thursday’s OSU vs. PSU game has the potential to be an exciting matchup. The Nittany Lions will look for their third win in as many games, while the Buckeyes will look to keep their conference title chances alive.
Continue reading...
LGHL You’re Nuts: Which network would you like to see as home of the Big Ten?
- News
- 0 Replies
You’re Nuts: Which network would you like to see as home of the Big Ten?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Bidding wars for broadcasting rights are always fascinating to watch. Look what’s happening with the NFL when it comes to what networks get in on the action. The price to broadcast NFL football is in the billions, and it’s easy to understand why networks have no problems agreeing to the hefty price tag since football is the most popular game in the United States.
Soon it is going to be time for the Big Ten to cash in. The conference is currently in a $2.64 billion dollar television deal with FOX and ESPN that will expire in 2023. In late 2020, the SEC agreed to a 10-year deal with ABC/ESPN that will give each member of the conference $40 million annually. By comparison, currently members of the ACC receive $17 million annually, while the PAC-12 schools get $21 million each year.
The Big Ten isn’t going to get as much money as the SEC did, but they could improve on the over $30 million they get each year from their current television contracts. With more money, schools around the conference could use that money to improve facilities, pay more to coaches, or bolster other areas that could strength the quality of play.
What lies ahead for then Big Ten when it comes to broadcasting rights? Will ABC/ESPN still be interested in the conference after ponying up so much for the SEC rights? Is the Big Ten all about that Big Noon life with FOX? Does CBS look to the Big Ten to replace the hole left by the SEC? Is NBC serious about adding Big Ten football to their college football lineup?
Today’s question: Which network would you like to see as the home of Big Ten?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: NBC
Really, I just want the Big Ten to go to any network that isn’t FOX. I hate what “Big Noon Saturday” has done to marquee games around the conference, as there has been a trend towards the best games around the conference being played at noon. Also, I would be elated to never have to listen to Gus Johnson call another Ohio State football game ever again. I don’t need a broadcaster treating a 2nd-and-4 play early in the second quarter like it’s the final play of a one-score game, but I guess that is Johnson’s gimmick.
You are probably thinking I’m crazy because I want the Big Ten to head to a company that just shut down NBC Sports Network at the end of 2021. I know some of the olds of the Ohio State fan base would go nuclear if you made them watch a game on Peacock, but that’s just the route the airing of sports seems to be going. Even though Peacock is far from a perfect streaming platform, at least they have had plenty of events that have a lot of viewers, so they’ll have some time to upgrade the quality before the start of a possible deal with the Big Ten.
Say what you will about the network’s coverage of the Olympics, there are areas where NBC has been tremendous when it comes to their sports coverage. Just look at what the network has down with the English Premier League. After the EPL bounced around in the United States when it came to their broadcasting rights, the EPL found a home at NBC in 2013.
It would be great to see some of the talent that would be used by NBC when it comes to the airing of Big Ten games. I can’t stand football pregame shows, but I would most definitely watch NBC’s pregame show if they had Rebecca Lowe host it, since she has done tremendous work in the EPL studio, and with Olympics coverage. Maria Taylor would also be great for that role since she already has experience with being a part of college football broadcasts from her time with ABC/ESPN.
An area that NBC would have to improve upon would be with the depth of their broadcast crews, especially if Notre Dame football was being broadcast alongside Big Ten football. Then again, it wouldn’t take much to top what FOX currently has since dead air is better than having to listen to Tim Brando. Filling out a roster for Big Ten broadcasts might not be that hard since NBC does have guys like Dan Hicks, Terry Gannon, and Kenny Albert on their Olympics coverage, with all of them having previous football broadcasting experience.
In the end, I’m just hoping that the Big Ten goes to NBC so we get a primetime game that runs past 11:30 which results in a bunch of nerds freaking out because the airing of Saturday Night Live is delayed. In that case, give me a seven overtime game and a camera on Lorne Michaels.
Meredith’s answer: Disney
This week brought a lot of nostalgia, because the network I’d want to see take over is Disney — which means, from a channel perspective, ABC and ESPN. Ohio State was always on ABC in the 1990s and 2000s. In fact, it was rare to be on anything but ABC until the Big Ten Network came to be.
With announcers like Brad Nessler, Chris Spielman and (dare I say it?) Brent Musburger, it was always a joy to watch games on ABC from noon to the afternoon kick to the impeccably done Saturday night game. Perhaps there’s also a tinge of bias here, since every single one of Ohio State’s games from the Buckeyes’ 2002 national title season was televised on ABC or ESPN. There are plenty of good memories to go around from watching games on this network.
Even College Gameday (the old days, mind you) was another feather in the cap of the family of networks.
Of course, as Elsa from Frozen reminds us, the past is in the past. Nessler moved over to CBS. Spielman went to FOX, and is now out of the broadcast game entirely. Musburger is with the Raiders doing play-by-play on the radio.
However, there’s a reason that Disney is so magical: They can put together a darned good production (like, for example, Frozen). They already have a deep bullpen of on-air talent between the current ABC and ESPN crews, and a deal with the Big Ten might incentivize the behemoth Walt Disney Company to reach into its deep pockets to pay up for the talent that has, in recent years, been poached away from the family of networks (we miss you, Maria Taylor).
Further, there’s the consideration that, of any of the major networks, Disney has perhaps the least involvement with the NFL: There’s a much clearer delineation between the professional and collegiate sides of the house and, for Disney, a seeming preference for the college game.
Monday Night Football is the only weekly NFL game hosted on the network, and is second only to Sunday Night Football in production value (first, perhaps, if you consider the Peyton and Eli addition). ABC is not part of the Super Bowl’s yearly rotation, and instead the network capitalizes on one-off events like the NFL Draft to connect its on-air college talent with its crew of analysts. Placing the Big Ten at the epicenter of this content would only serve to benefit the conference.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
Bidding wars for broadcasting rights are always fascinating to watch. Look what’s happening with the NFL when it comes to what networks get in on the action. The price to broadcast NFL football is in the billions, and it’s easy to understand why networks have no problems agreeing to the hefty price tag since football is the most popular game in the United States.
Soon it is going to be time for the Big Ten to cash in. The conference is currently in a $2.64 billion dollar television deal with FOX and ESPN that will expire in 2023. In late 2020, the SEC agreed to a 10-year deal with ABC/ESPN that will give each member of the conference $40 million annually. By comparison, currently members of the ACC receive $17 million annually, while the PAC-12 schools get $21 million each year.
The Big Ten isn’t going to get as much money as the SEC did, but they could improve on the over $30 million they get each year from their current television contracts. With more money, schools around the conference could use that money to improve facilities, pay more to coaches, or bolster other areas that could strength the quality of play.
What lies ahead for then Big Ten when it comes to broadcasting rights? Will ABC/ESPN still be interested in the conference after ponying up so much for the SEC rights? Is the Big Ten all about that Big Noon life with FOX? Does CBS look to the Big Ten to replace the hole left by the SEC? Is NBC serious about adding Big Ten football to their college football lineup?
Today’s question: Which network would you like to see as the home of Big Ten?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: NBC
Really, I just want the Big Ten to go to any network that isn’t FOX. I hate what “Big Noon Saturday” has done to marquee games around the conference, as there has been a trend towards the best games around the conference being played at noon. Also, I would be elated to never have to listen to Gus Johnson call another Ohio State football game ever again. I don’t need a broadcaster treating a 2nd-and-4 play early in the second quarter like it’s the final play of a one-score game, but I guess that is Johnson’s gimmick.
You are probably thinking I’m crazy because I want the Big Ten to head to a company that just shut down NBC Sports Network at the end of 2021. I know some of the olds of the Ohio State fan base would go nuclear if you made them watch a game on Peacock, but that’s just the route the airing of sports seems to be going. Even though Peacock is far from a perfect streaming platform, at least they have had plenty of events that have a lot of viewers, so they’ll have some time to upgrade the quality before the start of a possible deal with the Big Ten.
Say what you will about the network’s coverage of the Olympics, there are areas where NBC has been tremendous when it comes to their sports coverage. Just look at what the network has down with the English Premier League. After the EPL bounced around in the United States when it came to their broadcasting rights, the EPL found a home at NBC in 2013.
It would be great to see some of the talent that would be used by NBC when it comes to the airing of Big Ten games. I can’t stand football pregame shows, but I would most definitely watch NBC’s pregame show if they had Rebecca Lowe host it, since she has done tremendous work in the EPL studio, and with Olympics coverage. Maria Taylor would also be great for that role since she already has experience with being a part of college football broadcasts from her time with ABC/ESPN.
An area that NBC would have to improve upon would be with the depth of their broadcast crews, especially if Notre Dame football was being broadcast alongside Big Ten football. Then again, it wouldn’t take much to top what FOX currently has since dead air is better than having to listen to Tim Brando. Filling out a roster for Big Ten broadcasts might not be that hard since NBC does have guys like Dan Hicks, Terry Gannon, and Kenny Albert on their Olympics coverage, with all of them having previous football broadcasting experience.
In the end, I’m just hoping that the Big Ten goes to NBC so we get a primetime game that runs past 11:30 which results in a bunch of nerds freaking out because the airing of Saturday Night Live is delayed. In that case, give me a seven overtime game and a camera on Lorne Michaels.
Meredith’s answer: Disney
This week brought a lot of nostalgia, because the network I’d want to see take over is Disney — which means, from a channel perspective, ABC and ESPN. Ohio State was always on ABC in the 1990s and 2000s. In fact, it was rare to be on anything but ABC until the Big Ten Network came to be.
With announcers like Brad Nessler, Chris Spielman and (dare I say it?) Brent Musburger, it was always a joy to watch games on ABC from noon to the afternoon kick to the impeccably done Saturday night game. Perhaps there’s also a tinge of bias here, since every single one of Ohio State’s games from the Buckeyes’ 2002 national title season was televised on ABC or ESPN. There are plenty of good memories to go around from watching games on this network.
Even College Gameday (the old days, mind you) was another feather in the cap of the family of networks.
Of course, as Elsa from Frozen reminds us, the past is in the past. Nessler moved over to CBS. Spielman went to FOX, and is now out of the broadcast game entirely. Musburger is with the Raiders doing play-by-play on the radio.
However, there’s a reason that Disney is so magical: They can put together a darned good production (like, for example, Frozen). They already have a deep bullpen of on-air talent between the current ABC and ESPN crews, and a deal with the Big Ten might incentivize the behemoth Walt Disney Company to reach into its deep pockets to pay up for the talent that has, in recent years, been poached away from the family of networks (we miss you, Maria Taylor).
Further, there’s the consideration that, of any of the major networks, Disney has perhaps the least involvement with the NFL: There’s a much clearer delineation between the professional and collegiate sides of the house and, for Disney, a seeming preference for the college game.
Monday Night Football is the only weekly NFL game hosted on the network, and is second only to Sunday Night Football in production value (first, perhaps, if you consider the Peyton and Eli addition). ABC is not part of the Super Bowl’s yearly rotation, and instead the network capitalizes on one-off events like the NFL Draft to connect its on-air college talent with its crew of analysts. Placing the Big Ten at the epicenter of this content would only serve to benefit the conference.
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LGHL LGHL Uncut Podcast: E.J. Liddell, Malaki Branham, both coaches discuss Ohio State’s OT victory
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LGHL Uncut Podcast: E.J. Liddell, Malaki Branham, both coaches discuss Ohio State’s OT victory
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State handed the Hoosiers their fifth consecutive loss.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conference, but also from individual interview sessions.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
On this episode, E.J. Liddell, Malaki Branham, Chris Holtmann, and Mike Woodson discuss Ohio State’s most heart-stopping victory of the year, an 80-69 overtime win over Woodson’s Hoosiers. After leading by 11, Ohio State trailed by four points with a minute remaining before forcing overtime and ultimately winning in OT.
Branham discussed the huge play involving himself and Liddell at the end of regulation that ultimately sent the game to overtime. He also talked about his conditioning during his first season of college basketball. Liddell gave the home crowd credit for “giving them some juice” down the stretch.
Head coach Chris Holtmann called it a “gritty” win and acknowledged there were facets of this game that the Buckeyes simply did not do well — including rebounding. He talked about Branham’s transformation as a player, saying that his freshman star is “Not at all the same player he was against Seton Hall and Florida earlier this season.”
Connect with the Podcast:
Twitter: @BucketheadsLGHL
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
Theme music provided by www.bensound.com
Continue reading...
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK
Ohio State handed the Hoosiers their fifth consecutive loss.
Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conference, but also from individual interview sessions.
Listen to the episode and subscribe:
Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
On this episode, E.J. Liddell, Malaki Branham, Chris Holtmann, and Mike Woodson discuss Ohio State’s most heart-stopping victory of the year, an 80-69 overtime win over Woodson’s Hoosiers. After leading by 11, Ohio State trailed by four points with a minute remaining before forcing overtime and ultimately winning in OT.
Branham discussed the huge play involving himself and Liddell at the end of regulation that ultimately sent the game to overtime. He also talked about his conditioning during his first season of college basketball. Liddell gave the home crowd credit for “giving them some juice” down the stretch.
Head coach Chris Holtmann called it a “gritty” win and acknowledged there were facets of this game that the Buckeyes simply did not do well — including rebounding. He talked about Branham’s transformation as a player, saying that his freshman star is “Not at all the same player he was against Seton Hall and Florida earlier this season.”
Connect with the Podcast:
Twitter: @BucketheadsLGHL
Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor
Theme music provided by www.bensound.com
Continue reading...
LGHL The next in-state prospect most likely to commit to Ohio State
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The next in-state prospect most likely to commit to Ohio State
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Malik Hartford | 247sports
Dynamic safety Malik Hartford looks to be the next big in-state priority for the Buckeyes.
Thanks to the Luke Montgomery’s commitment to the Buckeyes just last week, it looks like Ohio State’s 2023 class is ready to take off. Landing the top in-state player at a position of importance is always a key priority for the staff, but getting Montgomery in the fold as both a local and vocal player gives the Buckeyes another peer recruiter that can help build this class into a national power. As seen last year with the likes of C.J. Hicks, the Buckeyes lean on these guys to communicate to other top players on their board, and now it’s Luke’s turn.
Ohio State’s recruiting strategy is always going to be nationwide. Thanks to their brand, success, and other endless reasons, the coaching staff is always going to be able to bring in elite national targets, and that of course is going to be the same in the 2023 class as well.
On the flipside, what Ryan Day and the rest of the staff wants to do is continue keeping their best players at home. Every year under Day, the Buckeyes have been able to keep the top player in Ohio for their college career, and that’s a must. Landing that top player as well as surrounding them with multiple other top in-state guys has been the strategy all along, and when the recruiting ground is as fertile as it is within the Ohio border, it just makes sense.
At five commitments right now for the 2023 class, it’s only a matter of time before the numbers start to climb. As seen before, the Buckeyes have a tendency to land commitments in spurts, and with spring football coming up and the chance for high profile recruits to get to campus, it could very well be sooner rather than later for who will be next in line. The only question of course is who that will be.
Whether it will be a more national name or an in-state player, that’s anybody’s guess, but if the next commitment does come from Ohio, in this respect, the sights are set on Malik Hartford.
Hartford likely next in line for OSU in-state commitment
Simply put, you’d think that the obvious choice for the next in-state player to commit to Ohio State would be the top remaining player on the board. Currently, Malik Hartford is Ohio’s fourth ranked player, and with the Buckeyes having two of the top three ranked in-state players already committed, Hartford is the next priority for the coaching staff.
A 6-foot-3, 175 pound athlete out of Lakota West, Malik is the No. 17 safety in the country and the No. 167 player nationally per the 247Sports Composite. Perfect timing really, Ohio State really needs to improve in the defensive secondary, especially at safety. Having an in-state player that is this highly ranked at the position bodes well for the Buckeyes, and certainly makes Hartford that much more important to the class overall.
What may be the most impressive aspect of Hartford is the last couple of months of his recruiting process. In just a month’s timespan, Hartford received big time offers from Northwestern, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, and of course Ohio State to go along with the other nearly 25 schools that have offered. On his offer list alone, it shows the caliber of player he is and how fast his recruitment blew up.
Predicting a timeline for a decision
With Jim Knowles taking over the defense, there may not be a position more important than safety for Ohio State. Knowing coach Knowles likes to use three-safety looks in his scheme, the Buckeyes need a bevy of players at that spot even though each safety may play a different role and have a different body type for what they’ll be asked to do. In Malik’s case, a 6-foot-3 frame is going to do wonders defending the pass game, and obviously the Buckeyes could improve in that sense.
Recruiting followers are always going to want to know when the next commitment will come, and in regard to Hartford it’s not set in stone. On Feb. 11, Malik took to his twitter account to release a list of seven schools he was still considering. Making the cut included Ohio State, Cincinnati, Michigan State, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Kentucky, and Michigan. More importantly, Hartford listing that top seven also pointed out that he’d be narrowing it down even further with a top three schools list as he put it, “soon”.
While a commitment date hasn’t been set, seeing Hartford get down to a top seven and then share that he’d be down to a top three soon enough shows that he’s quickly going through the process and getting closer to making the final decision.
Odds are Ohio State will be in that top three, and if we’re being honest, with how crucial safety is to the class and Hartford being an in-state player that’s seeing his stock really start to raise, the Buckeyes will make him a top priority until he’s in the fold. It’s not a done deal, but if the next commitment is an in-state product, the momentum looks to be in favor of that pledge coming from Malik Hartford.
To see what Hartford could bring to the table, take a look at his latest highlight film below.
Continue reading...
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Malik Hartford | 247sports
Dynamic safety Malik Hartford looks to be the next big in-state priority for the Buckeyes.
Thanks to the Luke Montgomery’s commitment to the Buckeyes just last week, it looks like Ohio State’s 2023 class is ready to take off. Landing the top in-state player at a position of importance is always a key priority for the staff, but getting Montgomery in the fold as both a local and vocal player gives the Buckeyes another peer recruiter that can help build this class into a national power. As seen last year with the likes of C.J. Hicks, the Buckeyes lean on these guys to communicate to other top players on their board, and now it’s Luke’s turn.
Ohio State’s recruiting strategy is always going to be nationwide. Thanks to their brand, success, and other endless reasons, the coaching staff is always going to be able to bring in elite national targets, and that of course is going to be the same in the 2023 class as well.
On the flipside, what Ryan Day and the rest of the staff wants to do is continue keeping their best players at home. Every year under Day, the Buckeyes have been able to keep the top player in Ohio for their college career, and that’s a must. Landing that top player as well as surrounding them with multiple other top in-state guys has been the strategy all along, and when the recruiting ground is as fertile as it is within the Ohio border, it just makes sense.
At five commitments right now for the 2023 class, it’s only a matter of time before the numbers start to climb. As seen before, the Buckeyes have a tendency to land commitments in spurts, and with spring football coming up and the chance for high profile recruits to get to campus, it could very well be sooner rather than later for who will be next in line. The only question of course is who that will be.
Whether it will be a more national name or an in-state player, that’s anybody’s guess, but if the next commitment does come from Ohio, in this respect, the sights are set on Malik Hartford.
Hartford likely next in line for OSU in-state commitment
Simply put, you’d think that the obvious choice for the next in-state player to commit to Ohio State would be the top remaining player on the board. Currently, Malik Hartford is Ohio’s fourth ranked player, and with the Buckeyes having two of the top three ranked in-state players already committed, Hartford is the next priority for the coaching staff.
A 6-foot-3, 175 pound athlete out of Lakota West, Malik is the No. 17 safety in the country and the No. 167 player nationally per the 247Sports Composite. Perfect timing really, Ohio State really needs to improve in the defensive secondary, especially at safety. Having an in-state player that is this highly ranked at the position bodes well for the Buckeyes, and certainly makes Hartford that much more important to the class overall.
What may be the most impressive aspect of Hartford is the last couple of months of his recruiting process. In just a month’s timespan, Hartford received big time offers from Northwestern, Notre Dame, Michigan, Michigan State, Tennessee, and of course Ohio State to go along with the other nearly 25 schools that have offered. On his offer list alone, it shows the caliber of player he is and how fast his recruitment blew up.
Predicting a timeline for a decision
With Jim Knowles taking over the defense, there may not be a position more important than safety for Ohio State. Knowing coach Knowles likes to use three-safety looks in his scheme, the Buckeyes need a bevy of players at that spot even though each safety may play a different role and have a different body type for what they’ll be asked to do. In Malik’s case, a 6-foot-3 frame is going to do wonders defending the pass game, and obviously the Buckeyes could improve in that sense.
Recruiting followers are always going to want to know when the next commitment will come, and in regard to Hartford it’s not set in stone. On Feb. 11, Malik took to his twitter account to release a list of seven schools he was still considering. Making the cut included Ohio State, Cincinnati, Michigan State, West Virginia, Notre Dame, Kentucky, and Michigan. More importantly, Hartford listing that top seven also pointed out that he’d be narrowing it down even further with a top three schools list as he put it, “soon”.
While a commitment date hasn’t been set, seeing Hartford get down to a top seven and then share that he’d be down to a top three soon enough shows that he’s quickly going through the process and getting closer to making the final decision.
Odds are Ohio State will be in that top three, and if we’re being honest, with how crucial safety is to the class and Hartford being an in-state player that’s seeing his stock really start to raise, the Buckeyes will make him a top priority until he’s in the fold. It’s not a done deal, but if the next commitment is an in-state product, the momentum looks to be in favor of that pledge coming from Malik Hartford.
To see what Hartford could bring to the table, take a look at his latest highlight film below.
Continue reading...
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