ohio state buckeyes football
september 2003 archive

09-30-03 (4:20pm) not much going on in the buckeye nation today as the buckeyes prepare for their second bye week in a row after toying with the northwestern mildcats last weekend. oh well. coach tressel did have his press conference today and here is the link to that. the big news out of the press conference would have to be the injury report. craig krenzel is cleared and ready to go for wisconsin as is alex stepanovich. both have been missed a bunch despite strong performances from scotty mcmullen and nick mangold in their place. darrion scott will still be sitting out practice this bye week but it is looking like he will be ready to go for wisconsin too if all goes well. sounds like a bunch of great news to me. the big question now is on the offensive line. if stepanovich is back does he go back to center or does mangold earn the promotion to first team full time and have stepanovich slide out to replace an underperforming lineman? who knows honestly but it should be interesting. as for me, i am taking it way too easy today and i plan on doing some more of the same here shortly. enjoy.
09-30-03 (8:45am) just a couple of quick links for the morning. the dayton daily news has an osu notebook on aj hawk among other things. last link for the morning is from 1460 the fan on fullback branden joe. more later for sure. enjoy tuesday as it happens.
09-29-03 (3:45pm) just relaxing in the friendly confines and decided to check out the net for a little buckeye action. honestly there isn't much in the form of news out there and with are second bye week in a row this saturday i wouldn't expect any news honestly either. oh well.

i saw antonio pittman play friday. he is talented and quick but he is not an instant impact player in college. he is a little small for my personal taste in tailbacks. give him a few years in the strength and conditioning program and he may turn out to be a really good college back with his speed but right now my money is on erik haw coming in ahead of pittman just because of the thickness in haw's legs. pittman isn't skinny or anything and he isn't a pepe pearson clone either but he lacks the lower body size and strength to carry the mail in the big10 right now. fortunately for him he is playing high school ball and has plenty of time to work on the leg strength. i really doubt either pittman or haw make an instant impact in college and the only way i see either avoiding the redshirt is if the coaches really want to get ira guilford back to defense and go with one of the true frosh as the third stringer behind seniors lydell ross and maurice hall.

maybe it was just the game i saw, but i didn't even think pittman was the best player on his team. the best player on the field was buchtel qb steve walker. walker is a little short for the prototype NFL prospect college qb but he could definitely win a program a lot of games in college as a qb with his arm and speed. walker also looked dominant as a corner. he has already made a verbal commit to walt harris and pitt and man is he going to be good out there.

so far out of all the buckeyes current commits that i have seen play high school football in person (chad hoobler, sirjo welch, erik haw, jamario o'neal, marcus freeman, and antonio pittman; i saw miles williams but he didn't play due to a hamstring issue) here is how i would rate them relative to each other for instant impact value. jamario o'neal would be contributing on special teams and probably would have busted a kick return for a touchdown already this season so he is easily the best commit we have and he is still only a junior in high school. everyone else is a serious notch below jamario honestly. since i am making this list up based on instant impact the depth chart at the position becomes critical and it knocks marcus freeman down a couple of spots. nothing against his talent or game at all but we are loaded at linebacker. i would have to list erik haw as the second most likely to make an instant impact honestly. just a paragraph of so ago i thought he wouldn't be an instant impact player and i stick with that. i honestly don't see any of the seniors (at least the ones i have seen play that is) that are buckeye verbals making an instant impact in 2004. they all either need to add size or wait their turn behind some serious depth. anyways i would put tony pittman next on the impact list due to the lack of depth at tailback. then i slide in marcus freeman based on raw talent despite the logjam that is aj hawk, bobby carpenter, mike d'andrea, curt lukens, anthony schlegel, john kerr, and reggie smith ahead of him. next up i would slide in sirjo welch here. he may even deserve to be a little higher honestly because he could make an impact covering kicks with his size and speed combination and love of contact. last on this list but not least is chad hoobler. ben hartsock will be gone but ryan hamby and louis irizarry will both be far ahead of him on the depth chart by the time the hoob gets to columbus. also the hoob will be facing a massive step up in level of competition due to the piss poor quality of football played around carrollton.

on a talent ranking i would rank the same guys like this. jamario o'neal is still a clear cut top player. no doubt about it. the only guy we may get that could bump him from that spot is his high school friend and coaches son ted ginn jr. marcus freeman is a clear cut number two on the talent list. after that it is really a crap shoot so here are my crappy guesses. on talent i probably throw erik haw up next. he has the best speed of all our verbals and has the nice thickness that you want to see in a tailback. up next i liked sirjo welch a bunch. he had all the physicals you would want and that good football sense to meet the ballcarrier at a high velocity. the bucks are loaded in the secondary and sirjo is another silver bullet in the chamber. next up on the talent list i would put chad hoobler. the hoob has good size and speed and decent football instincts he just needs to pick a position (tight end it seems) and make it work. last on this list i would put antonio pittman. he is still supremely talented like all these guys but someone has to finish last and that is where i put pittman. he has the good speed (i would peg him at 4.45 at best but it was a wet field i saw him on) and i doubt he weighs much more than 185 at best. the size is what i downgrade pittman for. i am highly biased against small backs i must admit. i guess i just prefer a raymont harris, eddie george, jonathon wells, or maurice clarett type to the pepe pearson, michael wiley, or derek combs type of back.

of course there are talents out there that aren't yet buckeyes but will be in the near term so i might as well discuss them a little too. ted ginn jr has phenomenal speed and got thicker since i saw him as a junior. as a senior ginn has better size and seems to be a better tackler. his speed is still blazing, that hasn't changed a bit. fred davis is widely listed as the next best big time prospect but i honestly didn't see it the game i saw him play. i personally thought mike massey and brian hoyer both of cleveland st ignatius looked more big time than davis. fred davis still looked really good but i don't see how he sees the field as a true frosh. davis didn't have the burner speed that i expected to see and with him not playing much receiver in high school he probably needs to polish the skills up a little before he is ready for the big time. last note here, NW ohio football kind of sucks honestly (though not as much as SE ohio football). the level of competition just isn't there and either is the intensity. it is a much more relaxed game in NW ohio than it is NE ohio for example. in NE ohio it gets ugly early and often and man is it entertaining, the rest of the state just doesn't stack up. on a side note here NE ohio (cleveland, youngstown, canton, and akron) is the best, SW (dayton and cincinnatti) ohio is next best, central ohio (columbus) is third, NW (toledo) ohio is fourth, and SE ohio (woods and hills) is a distant last. sure this is probably the order of population in these areas too but that is definitely the order of the areas in terms of producing talent. anyways i would put both massey and hoyer up before fred davis like i said. massey looks quicker (and healthier) this year and he is a disruptive force coming off the edge as a pass rusher and he is breaking way too long of catches for a tight end. i hope he becomes a buckeye big time. as for hoyer, he has already pulled the string on an offer from john l smith and michigan state. i don't know if he would reconsider if the buckeyes came calling late but god i hope so. i saw hoyer once as a junior against massillon and he struggled but still showed promise. since then i acquired a copy of all of his snaps as a junior and then saw him scrimmage glen oak and a regular season game against canton mckinley and he is a totally different qb. he is sharp and accurate with his throws and he even made some good checkoffs against mckinley that i am sure gave coach kyle a heart attack (i was stunned when they threw on fourth and short that game). hoyer is going to be a good one up in east lansing. another talent that is widely listed as one of the best four or five players in the state is youngstown ursuline's brandon braxton. brandon has all the physical tools you want for a prototype tackle prospect but he is new to football relatively and somewhat raw with the technique. i also question the coaching he is getting at ursuline somewhat. still though you can't teach size and brandon has plenty of it. hopefully the buckeye coaches will get a chance to coach him up on the rest of the game. the next best player i have seen in ohio is delbert ferguson. delbert has more than adequate speed and bruising size to be a dominant college tailback. he has slipped for whatever reason since his junior year but i still expect the buckeyes to make a push for delbert and he gets healthier this year and starts to dominate again. over the last two years of filming high school football delbert put on a show that only a few select guys could compete with (jamario, javon ringer, ryan brinson, ted ginn jr, and donte whitner).

anyways that is all i have for today. the next three days should be good days for me and the website as i have tons of free time. speaking of free time in the middle of the day, i think i am going to grab another bite to eat and then stretch out and watch some tube. enjoy, i sure am.
09-29-03 (8:25am) just a few links to get you started this morning. the dayton daily news has an osu notebook on justin zwick among other things. the cleveland plain dealer has articles on tressel expecting krenzel back for wisconsin and a big ten notebook. final link for the morning is from 1460 the fan on deja buu all over again.

notice the time of day. my current job doesn't allow me to work on the website during normal business hours but this week will be a little different. my specialty at work is compounding plastics and since we hired a new compounder for our midnights crew and that means i get to train him the vg way of making plastics. i worked last night with the new guy and will again the next two nights before taking off all day wednesday and resuming my normal job thursday morning. it will be rough on the body and my sleep but it will be good for work and the website since i haven't been able to update during the day in quite some time now. anyways, i am going to grab some dinner and perhaps take a small nap before i get back online to feed my buckeye addiction a little more. expect some more later today, perhaps even some pics and film if i get busy enough and don't hit the tired wall too hard. enjoy work if at all possible, i already have.
09-28-03 (1:10pm) rough weekend for the vg. friday night me and the cbg watched buckeye verbal tailback antonio pittman play in the rubber bowl. the game was a snoozer but i got a few pittman highlights for the net. saturday morning i knocked a small chunk out of the back of my head and had to miss gameday while i was in the emergency room. mild head trauma, no big deal honestly. long story short i was at work in the early morning and we had serious machine issues. i was taking care of business and stood up underneath a platform that is maybe 6 foot tall and my 6'4" ass slammed into a bolt holding a motor in place and took a small chunck out of my head and knocked me down and out. good news here is that i was released from the hospital and home by 11:30am and ready for kickoff. bad news here is that i have a serious knot on the back of my head and despite not drinking any alcohol at all yesterday (it thins the blood) i got a massive hangover. it feels like i broke into a liquor store and drank it. oh well, at least the buckeyes are undefeated.

the bucks played fairly good yesterday. scott mcmullen looked sharp to me and i want to see more of him in the future if craig krenzel is either not 100% healthy or at the top of his game. mcmullen seemed to have a real good grasp of the short passing game and may bring something to the table that no other qb on the roster can, a chance to win when krenzel isn't playing his typical championship caliber football. mcmullen even showed some krenzelesque moves running the ball which was totally unexpected. good game for mcmullen. sadly i still can't say the same for any of the osu running backs. lydell had the only good run play honestly (though ira guilford did have a decent run late now that i think about it) with his bounce off the pile and sprint to the pylon. if we can't run on the mildcats we can't run on anybody. that northwestern team is basically just a bunch of ball punching pussies and it is sad they stuffed our ground game like they stuff their bras. oh well. undefeated is undefeated.

speaking of undefeated, only the buckeyes and minnesota are undefeated in the big10 conference and suprise suprise they don't play each other this year. i can just hear trev alberts getting the 'minnesota is the best team in the big10' crap going along with the 'the buckeyes are lucky they don't play the golden gophers' nonsense. minnesota is a solid offensive team and a vastly improved defensive team this year but they aren't world beaters either (at least they aren't wife beaters like nebraska though i guess). i hope like hell minnesota keeps winning and keeps the pressure on the buckeyes. it seems like we rise to the occasion and i like the idea of the team thinking they have no margin for error to win the conference and possibly much much more.

anyways my head really really hurts and i am going to sprawl out in bed and watch some NFL. before i do though here are a bunch of links lazy man style. enjoy.
09-26-03 (5pm) another long week of work is coming to an end and the vg and cbg are ready to hit the road and watch some high school football tonight. tonight we will be in the rubber bowl to watch osu verbal tailback antonio pittman. i have never had the opportunity to see him in person so it should be fun tonight. anyways it is a 7pm kickoff and i need to gas up the guzzler and get road worthy. quick prediction for the mildcats saturday, buckeyes 71-0 in honor of the last year the buckeyes lost to the mildcats (1971). it may just be a coincedence but the mildcats have never beaten the buckeyes while i have been alive and god willing they never will. they haven't beat us since i was a fetus and i just hope i don't have to assume the fetal position after the game saturday. enjoy.
the latest buckeye verbal linebacker marcus freeman out of huber heights wayne high school. 09-25-03 (6:10am) it was another rough tuesday and wednesday at work for the vg as i try to help pick up some slack but it is over again and i am ready to catch up on my sleep and the site a little bit. the big news yesterday of course was the verbal of marcus freeman to the buckeyes. freeman is about 6'2" and maybe 240 pounds of thunder. i saw him once last season and would estimate his speed at 4.65 in the forty. good tackler that takes great angles to the ball. he also gets penetration at will which is a skill all high school boys wish they had. i know osu is loaded with linebacker talent but i still see freeman avoiding the redshirt and contributing on special teams (kick and punt block most likely) in 2004. don't take my word on it though watch some of the film i shot on him last season in the video archive (think upper left corner) and see for yourself what type of talent he is. as for me, i need to get my ass ready for work and get my earn on. enjoy.
09-22-03 (5:35pm) i have heard much about the osu running game being back after this weekend against BG. the reasoning is that osu finally had a 100 yard game from a back (maurice hall with 107 and lydell ross had over a hundred until his fumble). my thinking here is that it is bowling green and only running for 200 yards is not enough. i know the MAC is better than most people think and that BG has beaten the last six BCS conference teams they played, but you know what, we aren't just some BCS conference team. hell indiana is a BCS conference team as is northwestern and they are laughingstocks of football across the nation. northwestern for example hasn't beat us since i was a fetus (1971). we are the defending BCS national champions and we aren't running the ball like champions. against a bunch of pussies like the northwestern mildcats anything less than 250 yards on the ground sucks in my opinion.

there were a bunch of links today and i imagine most fans have already read them by now so why bother i figure. time for some more original thoughts instead.

it looks like the nice guy / scapegoat in the maurice clarett situation is warren harding booster bobby dellimutti. he has been supportive of all of warren harding football for a long time now and of maurice in particular since ninth grade. too bad that a nice guy's generosity blew up in his and our face. oh well. maybe something good can come of this maurice thing. if dellimutti is a long time booster of all warren football maybe he has given money to michigan thugs like prescott burgess and carl diggs too. perhaps our misfortune here is contaigous and can help bring down the evil empire up north too. maybe i am just talking out my ass but i think the NCAA should at least look into dellimutti's relationship with other college eligible athletes and not just the highest profile athlete from warren harding in recent history.

me and the cbg hit two high school games this weekend. friday night we saw austintown fitch in action minus osu verbal miles williams. that kind of sucked and we have obviously no film on him and i suspect no pics too. oh well. my only impression from that game is about his height. williams is widely listed at 6'4" i believe but i didn't believe it when my 6'4" ass stood about 15 feet from him. i had an inch or maybe an inch an a half on him i thought but then again i wasn't right next to him either.

the mckinley - ignatius game was highly entertaining. it was tight early and then the talent and the coaching took over and ignatius rolled to the victory. brian hoyer was very very sharp throwing the ball. michigan state is getting themselves a good prospect here for sure. mike massey had a few sacks and a few catches. both wildcat seniors look much improved from their junior season. canton mckinley features top shelf junior tailback ryan brinson. after last season i was nearly certain that ryan brinson was the best junior to be tailback in the state that i saw (basically over javon ringer of dayton c-j). i haven't seen ringer yet this year so i can't compare them as juniors right now, give me a few weeks and i will be able to pass along an opinion. as for brinson he still looked lighting quick and tougher than you would expect for a little guy, but he didn't look any bigger at all this year and that is a concern. if he doesn't get any bigger over the next two years you can probably write him off as a major college tailback and start to look at him as a bam childress type of prospect (bam was mr ohio in football remind you). if, and a big if, brinson doesn't get any bigger he will still get looks as a slot type of receiver or possibly a defensive back. who knows, it isn't like i am a certified recruiting expert or anything. you have to give lots of credit to the ignatius defense too. they were really geared up to stop brinson and they generally did. ryan still had a few nice runs here and there but he never was able to get loose and into the secondary for big yardage. anyways i have all the film from this game and eventually i will get off of my lazy ass and compress it down and get it ready for the net. maybe this week if i don't get stuck working late i will get with the cbg and do some work in the studio.

it sucked seeing darrion scott go down with injury. will smith and tim anderson seem to get more pub than big darrion but scott seems to make all the big plays and the big hits and he will be missed. in his place we will be seeing more marcus green and quinn pitcock i imagine. i am especially pumped to see pitcock play though for reasons probably very few buckeye fans are.

i just can't wait for the national championship this year most likely with the team of keith jackson and dan fouts doing the announcing again. jackson was great in his time but that time has passed and this senile old man needs to hang up the microphone for good. last year keith jackson had a few memorable mistakes in the fiesta bowl such as 'when was the last team a team had two fullbacks named branden joe and brandon schnittker', 'craig kressel', and everybodies favorite 'barn childress'. me and the cbg were talking recently about keith jackson and other likely mistakes he will make this year while announcing another buckeye championship. i can just hear keith jackson announcing off classics like 'that is a huge sack by quinn bigcock' or 'did you see that catch by ben hardcock'. it's just a shame we don't someone like curtis enis on the team, if we did poor keith would have no chance.

the marcus freeman countdown is on. he will be making his choice between the buckeyes and notre dame this wednesday. the smart money is on the buckeyes but who knows. me and the cbg may be in the dayton area to check out marcus freeman and osu verbal ben person in action friday but i am not sure. if the cbg doesn't get off work early enough we will probably see a more local game in the canton akron area. who knows. anyways keep the fingers crossed wednesday.

as for me, i am offline for the rest of the night and eagerly awaiting the season premiere of fear factor. more tuesday.
09-20-03 (4:10pm) no team in the country has more heart than the buckeyes. call us the luckeyes or any other combination of a letter and uckeyes, i don't care. a win is a win and losses are for losers and outback bowl champions (ain't that right michigan). could the buckeyes have played better than the 24 - 17 score sure they could have but the thing is they didn't have to play better. coach tressel's teams seem to play well enough every week to have a chance to win and that is all that matters. i don't care if we ever blow out some loser team like the pitt panthers by 70 some points ever again just as long as we win the clutch games like we have been.

scott mcmullen seemed to have a short leash on him this afternoon but i think he showed the type of potential that he has. obviously i want krenzel back and healthy but if he can't come back for whatever reason i am totally confident in scott mcmullen. he isn't the leader or runner that craig krenzel is but he may be the better passer and i don't see why he couldn't add his name to the list of unlikely national championship qb's in recent history like jay barker, tee martin, and craig krenzel.

last night the vg and the cbg travelled to massillon perry to watch them take on austintown fitch and osu verbal miles williams. the game was entertaining but miles williams did not play due to a hamstring injury. oh well. i guess i will get film on him when he plays in the ohio north south game down in columbus instead. speaking of film and high school football, me and the cbg will be in fawcett stadium tonight to watch a classic match up between cleveland st ignatius and canton mckinley. i should be able to get some nice film on guys like brian hoyer, mike massey, jim ramella, and ryan brinson for the site. i am getting behind in posting film like i am in everything else with the site but it will get done in due time. it isn't like the film is going to go bad or anything.

anyways i need to get motivated and packed up for the ignatius mckinley game tonight. more either tonight or sunday. go bucks and damn do i believe in jim tressel. is there a better close game coach out there than jimmy T?
09-19-03 (4:45pm) the vg is back online after a few days off celebrating my birthday. i got exactly what i wanted this year (like every year), the buckeyes are undefeated. it wasn't easy, it wasn't pretty, and we didn't get any action for the backups but undefeated is undefeated and who am i to bitch about that.

anyways the last two days have been all about work, celebration, and sleep. i did finally get to watch my game tape of the nc state game and hear what everyone was bitching about with the announcer ed cunningham. what a tool. otherwise the game was about right from my recollection. it was nice to see the interception and fumble call up close and in slow mo finally but otherwise i really didn't have any observations from watching the tape that i didn't get from the cheap seats but i enjoyed watching the game again all the same.

last friday was a non high school football day for the vg and the cbg as we travelled to columbus for the buckeye game the next day. this friday we are back on the high school football thing and we will be seeing another verbal in action tonight. austintown fitch is travelling to massillon perry and so are we. i have never had the opportunity to see fitch and miles williams play ball so it should be a fun game for us. i bought a new zoom lens last night and i am eager to see what type of improvement i am going to get with my film and stills with it.

anyways i need to get packed up and get ready to ride. me and the cbg are probably going to go to the outback steakhouse or something like that pregame, hopefully the buckeyes don't follow our lead and go to the outback bowl this year. enjoy.
09-16-03 (5:45pm) the vg actually saw the sun for a little today for the first time on a tuesday in over a month. no late night working for me finally.

the big news of the day came from coach tressel's press conference today, here is the transcript if you want to read it for yourself. anyways the big news is that craig krenzel is not practicing right now due to a bruise on the elbow that he got in the second quarter of the nc state game. he will be resting the arm this week it looks like while scott mcmullen will be getting 40% of the practice snaps while troy smith and justin zwick will each get 30% of the snaps. with any luck krenzel will be fully rested and ready for the big in state game against bowling green this weekend.

speaking of bowling green, i am concerned here. bg has a decent offense and an unappreciated defense that overachieves. they have beaten bigger schools from power conferences the past few seasons including a very solid purdue team at purdue this year. their qb is big, mobile, and has a good arm. they got a decent tailback (pj pope is his name i believe) too. if the buckeye offense can't run the ball again for whatever reason and bg puts up a few points on the board we could be in for a shocker (yeah that never happens). i see the buckeyes probably improving this week after another tough game last week and i hope that improvement shows up on the scoreboard finally.

the big recruiting news lately is marcus freeman related. it sounds like he is going to make his decision on the 24th though he may still take some official visits to other schools to check them out. all things point to the buckeyes signing this top shelf linebacker prospect but you never know either. what i do know is marcus freeman is a really good tackler that takes good pursuit angles to the ball and can get penetration at will (which is a skill any high school boy would love to have). don't take my word on it though check out some of the film i shot on freeman last season in the video archive and see for yourself what kind of player he is. you don't need to shell out a monthly fee to have self proclaimed experts tell you who is a good player or not, watch some free film and make up your own mind.

speaking of the video archive, i still have tons of film from the glenville game ready to post on the net. i hope to post some of that this week along with some fred davis footage if i ever get into the studio and so some work with the cbg. final note about the video archive. i am up to my limit on film i can store there so every new video i post means an older one is being deleted so if you want to save them for yourself you should get busy with that.

anyways that is all for me for right now. i got some free time tonight and i am not sure what to do with it but i got a feeling it is going to be something fun that doesn't involve this damned computer at all. enjoy.
09-15-03 (6:10am) just a few links to get you started this monday morning. the dayton daily news has an osu notebook, a piece on maurice clarett intending to challenge the NFL rule against early entry, and a piece on the polls. next up in linkage i have another notebook from the canton repository on the buckeyes with thoughts on native son dustin fox amongst other topics. solid article. last link before the sun rises is from the cleveland plain dealer on the lack of a running game.

as for me, i need to go get me a shower and then go get my earn on. i have been working late a bunch lately to get away early for high school football and the buckeyes on the weekends and i imagine i will be doing more of the same at least a few nights this week. if i do leave at a normal hour sometime i hope to get over on the cbg's computer and do some fred davis highlights for the website to post this week. anyways, enjoy monday if at all possible.
09-14-03 (10:40pm) the vg is back in the friendly confines and is still celebrating the big win yesterday in style. that may have been one of the better buckeye games i have ever attended (my experience is limited to 15 years). i didn't get to attend the fiesta bowl or the 1997 rose bowl (1996 season) but this game was right up there with those classics for the drama.

much like most of the buckeye fans in attendance i thought the game was over when it was 24 - 7 in the fourth quarter but unlike some of the weaker fans me and the cbg stayed to see the end and man were we glad. i remember saying to the cbg why the hell is santonio holmes back fielding a punt late in the game only to see him fumble it and give nc state a chance. holmes looks like a player still but the fumbling needs to be corrected if he is going to get any minutes other than garbage time. that was the key turning point in the game we thought though. holmes fumbled, nc state got the score and the momentum had changed sides.

the lack of a buckeye running game is troubling me like the rest of the buckeye nation. i personally think maurice hall is bailing on the hole way too early (which i assume is the where he is supposed to run per the play call) and trying to make something happen with his speed all too often. the shortest (and fastest) path to the endzone is a straight line. be patient and follow the damn blocks and i doubt we will be having this lack of a running game conversation again. some of the blame here is being placed on the offensive line (and rightfully so) but i think the o-line is playing better than the tailbacks at this point in the season. sure they are missing some assignments and getting our backs hit in the backfield from time to time, but they have been somewhat solid in pass protection (suprisingly) and they are opening the same holes that they did for maurice clarett last year (other than the mike stafford pull plays from early last season).

as for the defense, you have to love the way we are playing. guys who were overlooked by nearly all of the media and fans when they were recruited are just dominating right now. aj hawk was a 'reach' most thought when he signed now most think of him as the next sure fire buckeye all american linebacker. will allen was basically a nobody when we recruited him and all he did was work hard and back up mike doss year after year and patiently wait for his chance to show he is all big10 caliber as well. i love following recruiting as much as the rest of the buckeye addicts out there but this really goes to show how inexact of a science it is when you get guys like aj hawk and will allen stepping up and leading the defense replacing the leadership of buckeye legends and fellow no name recruits matt wilhelm and cie grant. maybe we should all just chill out next time the bucks 'lose out' on a stud recruit.

anyways, i need to get some sleep finally this weekend before i get my earn on in the morning. enjoy what is left of the weekend as much as i am enjoying being 3 - 0.
09-14-03 (9:55am) the vg is still in columbus celebrating the big win in the shoe yesterday. a couple of observations from the game before i go out and get some food. the buckeye running game sucks. we can run and it honestly doesn't matter who we are playing. teams are selling out to stuff the run and we can't do a damn thing about it other than pass. this isn't like last year where we had a tailback good enough to cover up a mediocre offensive line by dodging a tackler in the backfield before finding a half a hole to run through. offensive line recruits are taking notice i hope.

another observation from saturday is north carolina chicks. man do they like to drink and man do they have some sweet ass titties. enough said there.

another football observation is the passing game. it looked really sharp at times yesterday, especially in the overtime periods. drew carter and ben hartsock emerged saturday as weapons that other teams must at least think about before doubling up jenkins now. carter showed hands that we never knew he had before and hartsock wasn't the invisible man. all day long krenzel found hartsock for big catches. i really enjoyed the underneath stuff we ran in the passing game. we would clear out a side of the field by sending the receivers out long and then a guy crossing over the middle underneath it into the open field. nc state couldn't stop that play all day long.

as for the buckeye defense, you have to be proud depsite giving up all the points and the 17 point fourth quarter lead. the offense and special teams put the defense in some bad positions to give up those points but the D didn't give up and made the triple OT goal line stand when it counted. darrion scott looked like a huge factor from my cheap seats in the shoe and nobody played as good as aj hawk. his pick just killed all the nc state fans around us and his dozen or so tackles all came at key moments. will allen was again huge recovering a fumble and making the final tackle of the game to seal the victory. i never thought it was possible to replace a guy like mike doss now i am starting to wonder how the hell are we going to replace will allen. excellent game for dayton's favorite son.

final observation for right now is the officiating. let me say what the coaches can't say without getting fined. these refs sucked like lloyd carr on his recruiting trips in search of oral commits. they couldn't make a call without huddling up first. a few times a ref nowhere near in the right position to make the call dropped the flag. then of course there was the pass interference call where the ball wasn't catchable by anyone on the field. oh well. nc state got screwed by these ACC officials too i guess. brandon mitchell had a pick that wasn't for starters. one question here is why do we not use neutral refs in a game like this. we couldn't get some MAC officials or something. why even create the appearance of impropriety. i don't get it.

anyways, i am still in columbus hanging out with the cbg and the ipa until we get some lunch and get packed up and ready to head back north. ideally i will have much much more later in the day including some links and possibly some stories of my friday night where i did my best frank the tank imitation without even trying. no streaking for the vg but i guess i was in classic form the guys told me. anyways, my hungover and sunburnt ass needs to get some chow and head up north. more tonight. three and zero is all you can ask for guys remember that.
09-10-03 (9:30pm) after two long ass days of work the vg is back in the friendly confines and starting to unwind. i was hoping to go out to the bar tonight with the cbg and guitar man but they aren't drinking tonight so i, like george thorogood, i drink alone. tonights beverage of choice is absolut vanilla vodka and diet coke again (i am out of my standard seagram's seven). i got my nc state tickets in the mail this week and despite the lackluster performance by the buckeyes saturday and the choke job by the wolfpack against wake forest i am still jacked for this game. i haven't been to the shoe yet this season and i have some pent up tailgaiting to do. i see the bucks coming out motivated and focused and looking nothing like the team that struggled with the aztecs this past weekend but what the hell do i know really. i did think the bucks would win it all last year but then again i think that every year, even 1999. call me an optimist when it comes to buckeye football.

i still need to compress the fred davis footage down into a file size that will fit over a phone line and that ain't happening tonight. i also need to delete some older videos from the archive to make room for more film. i am going to delete the videos of ryan brinson, javon ringer, and anthony turner here soon since i have issues with this film not working on all computers. i will also be deleting more current buckeye film (guys like donte whitner, dareus hiley, and curt lukens for example) in an effort to make more room for new film. i have no clue where i am going this friday or if me and the cbg will see high school football at all even. i don't have a good game scheduled and there isn't anything interesting in columbus (where we will be for the bucks saturday) or dayton (which makes columbus a nice stopping point on the way home from hs football cutting out some driving). there really aren't any big games in the stark county area either. i may blow off high school football or i may just see a game in stark county. who knows. two weeks ago i met some readers of the site at a high school game and it was pretty cool. in hindsight i wish i brought a copy of my 2002 season recruiting dvd (not for sale but free for friends and fans) with me to give to these guys. i think i am going to start carrying a copy or two in the camcorder case just in case this happens again. if you i.d. me or the cbg at a high school game (hint we are huge and we are avidly filming and taking pics and we always have good seats) stop by and say hi. if i have a copy of the dvd on me it is yours. the dvd sucks in production quality (especially my drunken unscripted voiceovers) but the highlights are decent and the price is right. i hope to make up some more film thursday night for posting this weekend (think fred davis). updating the website has been rough lately with work picking up, high school football friday, and then preparing the film with the cbg but damnit it it football season and i need to step it up.

one big link today and that is the transcript from coach tressel's press conference today. sure i could comment on tressel's comments but i would rather the readers just read tressels words and make up their own minds. i don't want to put words in coach tressel's mouth about as much as recruits want lloyd carr putting things in their mouths (you know lloyd, always in search of those elusive oral commits; he will tell you anything to get that sweet oral and then just do as he wants with you after you give it up; recruiting promises mean nothing to lloyd).

anyways, i am tired and not drunk enough. do what i am doing and get off the damn net and enjoy life a little while you can. enjoy. soon to be buckeye fred davis out of toledo rogers high. 09-09-03 (6:10am) channel 8 (fox) out of cleveland reported last night that maurice clarett is done for good as a buckeye. i honestly don't know if this is actual fact or a kenyon buford commit type of fact but it was reported all the same. the cleveland plain dealer has an article on this tv report if you are interested. the canton repository has a much more in depth article on this topic that doesn't speculate as much on the outcome as it does lay out the facts. excellent job as always todd porter. final link for the morning is from the dayton daily news on this and that in the buckeye nation.

as for the vg it is going to be another one of those really really long days at work today so i wouldn't expect much out of me until much later tonight at the earliest and either before work or after it wednesday more realistically. of course the MC news could be so huge that i have to say something i guess, but i am planning on taking it easy after work tonight so i doubt it.

last item before i head into the shower is that picture on the right. that is toledo rogers star athlete fred davis. i will have much much more on fred davis including some film later in the week but for now all i have is that damn pic for you to look at and get an idea of how big he is. i would say he is a legit 6'3" or so but i didn't get on the field so i could be off an inch either way honestly. anyways enjoy the day as it happens. time for me to go get my earn on.
09-08-03 (5:55pm) the vg is back from a regular work day. it looks like i will be working rather late the next few days so i can get off early friday for high school football (and of course make my first trip to the shoe this saturday for NC state). i was checking out my video archive when i noticed something wrong today. the last three videos i uploaded (glenville's ted ginn jr, freddie lennix, and curtis smith) weren't available. i guess i ran into my 15 minutes of film limit and it rejected all three vids. anyways i am going to wholesale clean house and delete a bunch of old videos to make room for more film from glenville this year and my fred davis film from last weekend (which i haven't compressed yet but hope to tonight). so if you are wanting to save any of the old videos you might want to download them as soon as possible because they aren't going to be there much longer.

lately i have either been working too long of days or too tired from those long days to post any links or much of an update. i feel good today and have a few links while i am at it. the dayton daily news has a notebook on the the buckeyes. 1460 the fan has a piece on the osu nc state game. the canton repository has an article on osu going back to the drawing board on offense and another article on mike doss making his NFL debut. final link for the day is from the plain dealer and bruce hooley, you were warned.

i am really pumped to be going to the game saturday. i have one big concern though (other than the wolfpack) and that is where do i tailgate? i guess i could do the hineygate thing but that gets expensive and old after a little while. i prefer to just buy some beer set it down and sit on the case as i pound them before they get warm. i got the strange feeling though that i am going to get an open container violation if i go with my normal routine. i honestly don't know what me and the cbg are going to do for tailgating though. i guess we could pour our beverages into a non-alcoholic empty and make them prove that it isn't NA beer but i don't see the need to poke the bear. absolut vanilla vodka is nearly odorous other than the vanilla and maybe i will just pour some of that into a vanilla coke bottle and take my chances. i do think it is crap that us alums and die hards are being cracked down on when the real problem is with the ghetto next to campus going nuts because they can (and the fact that there are hardly any bars open anymore and as a result there are even more massive parties than there used to be). holbrook needs to go get her bitch ass a new job and get off of my campus. if you are as pissed off as i am about the crackdown on those of us that support the university feel free to contact any of these punks responsible for the crackdown and let them know how you feel. if you want to call what is possibly a doctor and possibly a woman karen holbrook try her at (614) 292-2424. if you want to call the board of trustees at osu try calling (614) 292-6359. if you want to get in touch with the mayor try him at (614) 645-7671. remember friends the squeaky wheel gets the grease. bitch at these bitches and let them know how you feel. speaking of this crackdown, why don't they just close down all of lane avenue (as if it isn't already) and make all of lane a public intoxication party zone. osu football should be the biggest party in the state and osu and the city of columbus should be down on their knees and slobbering on our knobs for all the money and support we pour in 8 or 9 saturdays a month. to punish us for what we have all done for years because of some stupid hick like holbrook sees us as a problem is insane. another thing here, she hates the much fichigan shirts and other crude shirts, i say F her and wear an F holbrook shirt with a cartoon graphic of her taking it in the backside is ready to become really popular on campus. some art student should whip this up and make a fortune off of this (and with the money he makes throw the biggest damn tailgate he can of course).

anyways, i need to grab a bit to eat and relax a little. i hope to get on the cbg's computer and do some video work tonight to get ready some fred davis highlights for posting later this week. i may be back online a little later tonight if i get some pics or vids ready. enjoy.
09-07-03 (11:25am) the vg is back from the toledo area (with some nice film on fred davis as well as a few useable pics for the site) and ready to talk some buckeyes. like any true buckeye fan the vg is very disappointed with the win yesterday. sure we won but we were sloppy in doing it. the penalties just wouldn't stop and craig krenzel never even got started. if we didn't have a championship caliber defense we would have been blown out by the aztecs yesterday.

sure the game was bad and we still won so all isn't bad or is it. i don't know the extent of the injury to alex stepanovich but it didn't look good to me. if we lose alex for any period of time we are just screwed. step is our best offensive lineman and we need all the holes opened we can get without maurice clarett. maurice hall did put up good numbers yesterday but it was mostly one long run and one long run doesn't sustain drives just like the buckeyes didn't sustain drives yesterday. i still have high hopes for little mo (or should it be only mo now) and lydell ross but they need to get it rolling before the big10 comes to town. i can't believe we haven't had a 100 yard back yet this season. i wonder how long it will be before we do have one.

one observation i took from the game was the safety play. obviously will allen is playing really good right now so why even discuss him. the real question is at the other safety position where brandon mitchell and nate salley are locked in the battle to drop the 'co' from their number one. i personally think brandon mitchell took a big step at taking the job for himself. nate salley missed a tackle on the aztecs first touchdown that he should have made and brandon mitchell made his tackles (including one that saved a touchdown). speaking of missed tackles, fred pagac missed a pretty big tackle later in the game where he didn't even think about wrapping up. mike d'andrea on the other hand caused a fumble.

anyways i have a bunch of thoughts on this game but me and the cbg are on the way out to pick up a sweet ass exercise bike (the kind you see on the sidelines in football games is what the cbg is looking for) and we want to get back before a noon kickoff for the NFL. more later. enjoy if you can.
super junior freddie lennix of cleveland glenville. 09-04-03 (9:35pm) another long day for the vg. i have spent over 25 of the past 36 hours in my little plastic world and i am glad to be out for a little while. it was all worth it though. the vg will be leaving work nice and early friday and will be itching for some high school football action. personally i want to travel all the way to toledo to see wide out fred davis in action but i am not sure if the cbg will be off of work early enough to go so i am not sure if i will be in toledo or not. looking at my master schedule i honestly don't see any games in my local area that are of an interest to me. if toledo doesn't happen, i am sure i will find a decent prospect to check out but honestly i have no clue right now. i guess i will have to add that to my to do list at work friday.

speaking of friday, i still have a bunch of film to post from the glenville game last friday and i am posting it tonight after i get done with this update. included will be a qb sack by freddie lennix and some more ted ginn jr of course. you know the usual crap i disclaim and where the link is so i am not going to bother at this late hour. if you don't here is a hint, it is in the upper left corner.

i got up this morning early somehow after a long wednesday and i was ready to update. i pulled up a half dozen articles all about maurice and i just stared at the computer. i am so sick of this damn thing it left me speechless. i have nothing more to add to the topic nor do i desire to add anything at all to the discussion. i just want it to be over and to move on. go pro, wait out 8 - 10 games and stomp on michigan and win another national championship, transfer to a 1AA school and play now, or sue the NFL for the next three years i honestly don't care anymore just do something besides talk to the damn media. it is time to grow up and be a man and make your decision and just live with it. i know it sucks but it is the way of the world for us men and you just got to deal with it maurice. despite the millions you will earn over the next five years i would never trade places with you maurice, you are in a bad position right now and i know it sucks. as a true buckeye i will always be behind you and i understand if you need to take care of yourself right now. you gotta take care of yourself becuase nobody else ever will (other than your mom and maybe coach mcdaniels and coach tressel to a lesser degree than mom). good luck with whatever you gotta do man, you were one of the greatest buckeyes i ever remember seeing on the playing field.

as for this weekend we are paying san diego state around a quarter of a million bucks for the right to whip their ass in the shoe. i doubt anyone but the aztecs and their moms think it will be a close game but i am pumped for this game big time. i love the seventysomething to nothing blowouts like we use to do to laughingstock teams like rice or pitt. of course i like to see all the great buckeye offense and defense do their thing but i really love seeing the young backups get their first significant action. i can't wait to see troy smith and justin zwick actually throw a ball in a game situation. i am pumped to see donte whitner hammer on some aztec like a nail (or he is larry ned [the aztec mike doss just crushed last time we played them]). david patterson will probably pick up career sack two and three saturday and perhaps a guy like louis irizarry will snag his first of many buckeye touchdowns. speaking of touchdowns wouldn't it be great to see zwick / smith hook up with santonio holmes / roy hall for a bomb or two. it can't be worse than reading about the never ending maurice saga.

anyways, friday is a travel day for the vg as usual so i wouldn't expect any action on the website after the sun rises. i am going to do my damndest to actually post the 198 links about maurice in the morning that all say the same thing, nothing. also check out the video archive for some more glenville footage, it is worth the free click for sure. enjoy.
soon to be buckeye ted ginn jr. 09-02-03 (11:40pm) i just got off of the cbg's sweet ass computer and finished up all the glenville highlights from this past week. i am only posting one tonight but it is a jaw dropper. as always it is the last video in the archive (linked in the upper left corner) and as always if you have any problems with sony imagestation check out the video faq in the upper left corner.

in big news maurice's family said that he may look into transferring or challenging the NFL rule now that he is barred from practice again and andy geiger basically said today that maurice may not play this entire season. oh well, thanks for the memories if this is true maurice. i will still always remember last season like no other.

enjoy the ted ginn running wild highlight. the video should be uploaded and processed by sony pretty much shortly after i post this. definitely nothing wednesday until later at night.
09-02-03 (6:15pm) urgent news. nc state tix are on sale for face value right now at www.hangonsloopy.com. i just picked up four tix and me and the cbg will be there in the cheap seats rooting on the buckeyes, perhaps you will be lucky enough to get tix there too.

sorry about the lack of updates the last day and a half. the poker tournament went into serious overtime sunday and i was just wiped out monday and this morning too. i didn't get into the cbg's editing computer and compress any ted ginn footage yet but i hope to tonight. me and the cbg are going to celebrate our ticket acquisition tonight by rewatching the washington game with a few frosty cold fermented beverages. maybe after that i will work on the computer a little and have some video ready for late night tonight.

the big news today other than the tix sale is maurice clarett related of course. jim tressel has made a coaching decision that maurice will not be allowed to practice with the team anymore until his matter is cleared up. basically he didn't want to comment on why it seemed and didn't want any speculation either. most of the popular speculation is that maurice pissed off the coaches by not being with his team before the game and being on gameday. sounds reasonable to me, but from my understanding of gameday maurice was out signing autographs and gameday asked him to come up on stage spontaneously. still though if maurice has a gag order on him maybe that pissed off the coaches. who knows. anyways i need a little food and to start watching washington and celebrating my tix. good luck if you are trying to get some yourself (tix or otherwise). enjoy.

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