NCAA Basketball Ohio State Football

Not a good omen for the upcoming year for Ohio State athletics. According to the American Forests, the largest Ohio Buckeye tree resides in Oak Brook, Illinois, not Ohio. If that wasn't bad enough, it is controlled by a clown.

And Ohio lost the title to its state tree -- the Ohio buckeye -- to Illinois, whose new national champ stands at McDonald's corporate headquarters, Hamburger U.

They apparently track and score these things. The Ohio entrant that held the title for 11 years and is actually taller by 4 feet. Girth matters, though, as the McDonald's/Illinois competitor is thicker and wider overall. It outscored the Ohio based tree 266-233.

Has Memphis basketball coach John Calipari dramatically changed the college football recruiting landscape by convincing the top high school quarterback in the country to concentrate on basketball?

That's the suggestion of Phil Fritz of the Capital Times, who cites "very reliable sources in Memphis" who say that Terrelle Pryor, a Pennsylvania high schooler who has fans of Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State drooling at his ability to run the spread offense, may very well end up at Memphis. Fritz writes that Pryor, who is listed by Rivals as the third-best small forward in the country, is being recruited by Calipari to play basketball.

I don't know Phil Fritz and have no idea who his very reliable sources in Memphis are, but I'm skeptical of this report. Earlier this week, Pryor was asked if basketball would play a part in his college choice, and he said:

"No, it won't," Pryor said. "I really like playing basketball and I'm still considering playing both football and basketball in college, but I'm not sure. I'm leaning toward just football, but I haven't decided for sure."

So, I'll take the word of Pryor over the word of anonymous sources at Memphis, even if they are "very reliable." Having said that, though, if Pryor is interested mostly in his long-term earning potential, as Fritz's report suggests, I do think basketball might be a better sport for him. Until the spread offense catches on in the NFL, I'll have more confidence that a very good high school small forward will make it in the NBA some day than I will that a great high school spread option quarterback will make it in the NFL some day. Maybe that's what Calipari has been telling Pryor.

In the midst of an article about an Indiana University Trustee impotently complaining about the Big Ten Network stalemate, there's an interesting little nugget. Few people at the Big Ten schools actually have seen or read the contract with the Big Ten Network.

Eskew said he's also concerned that a year and a half after the contract between the Big Ten Conference and Fox was announced, not enough people know the details. He said he believes nobody at IU has read it other than Adam Herbert, IU's president in 2006. Eskew wonders if IU could get out of the deal if the cable issue isn't resolved.
...

[Neil] Theobald[, IU's vice president and chief financial officer,] said because IU has already used the money to issue $45 million in bonds for athletic facilities, there won't be any desire to pull out of the contract. School spokesman Larry MacIntyre agreed, saying that would be tantamount to pulling out of the Big Ten.

As for the Big Ten Network contract, Theobald said it's at the conference office in Park Ridge, Ill. He said he hasn't seen it, but that trustees "have access to it if they choose to read it."

In response to a public records request by The Star, MacIntyre said nobody at the school has the contract or a "definitive" description of its contents. But he said current school president Michael McRobbie and athletic director Rick Greenspan have been "intimately briefed on every detail."

And yes, they also checked to see if Purdue had a copy.