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.
Mike Conley, Jr. should be the first point guard taken next week, and scouts are saying he could be the next Chris Paul. Very, very soon, his life be changed forever, and he'll start down a path most athletes only dream of.
On his Yardbarker blog, Conley tells us that one of those life-changing moments has happened already:
I was listening to this song called "Joke's on You" which is on the new cd by "Fabolous," when out of no where it sounded like he said my name. I sat there for a minute and thought to myself that i didn't just hear what I thought I heard. . . I never thought that my name would ever be used in a song, especially not one by Fabolous.
He then promptly called Oden to brag--since presumably, this is the one honor that hasn't already been handed to Big Greg. Henry at True Hoop was kind of enough to track down audio of "Joke's on You", which is definitely NSFW. Oh, and if anyone cares, that's Pusha T of Clipse with the putative Conley namedrop.
Lighty fired the shot that pelted another high-school alumnus, 55-year-old James Nugent, in the lower back as Nugent ran laps on VA-SJ's track on July 7, 2006. Nugent yelped. Perched in bleachers scores of feet away, Lighty, McLeod and Rushton cracked up.
Nugent told [Judge] Callahan he felt a sting, then heard, "I hit him! I hit him!"
"They laughed - they just thought it was a joke," Nugent recalled.
Nugent called Cleveland police, who arrived two minutes later to capture the three youths and their arsenal of three colorful plastic guns and rubbery, spring-propelled ammo.
Nugent accepted the defendants' apologies as well as their punishment. Said Nugent afterward: "It was kind of a dumb thing to do. But 18-year-old boys do that."
Yes, this case was finally decided this week. The wheels of justice don't exactly move quickly in Ohio. It was dumb more than anything else. Stupid and ridiculous. Not to mention downright embarrassing to get picked up by the police and being held for possession of toy guns. Clearly, David Lighty would never make it in Florida where the student athletes have bigger toys.
One of the refreshing things about Greg Oden, who will almost certainly be the first pick in the NBA draft no matter who wins the lottery, is that he doesn't seem particularly impressed with himself. He seems to view his basketball skills as just an accident of genetics, not a trait that makes him a superior human being.
And that is most evident when he talks about his NBA future, as he did in an ESPN interview this morning. Without fail, when he's asked whether being a professional basketball player is a lifelong dream, Oden explains that his actual dream is to become a dentist. That's what he wanted to be as a child, and his physical size is actually a hindrance toward that dream: His hands are so big that he'd have a hard time getting them in a patient's mouth.
Oden's devotion to fighting tooth decay has been on display for as long as he's been a public figure. "I like dentistry," Oden said at the Final Four. "I just went to the dentist. It was nice." "I wanted to be a dentist back in the day," he told Men's Fitness. "I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he said a dentist," his agent Mike Conley Sr. says.
I hope Oden plays 15 years or so in the NBA, until he's 60 35. And then I hope he goes back to school, gets the undergrad degree, and moves on to dental school. Yeah, his hands are bigger than most, but a man as devoted to teeth as Oden is shouldn't miss his true calling in life.
I thought during the last college basketball season that Mike Conley Jr. was the third-best freshman in the country, behind only teammate Greg Oden and Texas's Kevin Durant. But I never thought he was the third-best player in the country, or really even close to that.
But as we get closer to the NBA draft, we're hearing more and more that Oden and Durant are the only prospects who are clearly ahead of Conley. Here's what one scout had to say:
"When it's all said and done -- after the workouts are finished -- I think Conley could go as high as number 4 or 5. He's the real deal."
That sounds awfully high to me, but I do think Conley will be a better pro than the other top point guard prospect, Texas A&M's Acie Law. Still, Conley strikes me as the type of player who's going to need some time to adjust to the NBA. He might be a great player some day, but not as soon as Oden or Durant.
"Why not, as long as he finishes school in the offseason?" the elder Oden said. "He's the kind of kid that, even though he'll have a lot of money, he needs to do more than just basketball. "They had an exciting season, but why take the chance on him getting hurt?"
That last part is the key, but as for the first part, I really see no reason that Oden needs to finish school in the offseason. Why not spend his NBA offseasons working out and enjoying his millions?
Oden's dad also confirmed that Mike Conley Sr., Oden's AAU coach and a former Olympic track and field star who was recently certified as an agent, will represent Oden. And he said that two other Ohio State players, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook, intend to enter the draft but not hire an agent to leave open the possibility of returning to school. Of course, when your dad's an agent, it kind of gives you a loophole through the whole "not hiring an agent" thing.
On ESPN Radio this morning, ESPN basketball analyst Bill Walton bashed Ohio State coach Thad Matta, saying Matta had access to one of the most talented big men the game has ever seen -- Greg Oden -- and that he let that talent go to waste.
"I'm seeing Oden out there sort of standing around," Walton said. "You win in basketball when you attack."
Walton added that he was "wholly disappointed" that Matta often ran a slow-down offense and a zone defense, which Walton said did not adequately use Oden's skills. Walton called Oden "the most under-utilized talent that I have ever seen in the college ranks."
Walton knows far more than I do about how to use a talented big man, but I have to disagree with him here. Oden was great in the tournament except when he got into foul trouble. If Matta had told Oden to play a more aggressive game, wouldn't he have been more likely to foul out?
On the other hand, I like the fact that Walton isn't shy about expressing his opinions. I think too many analysts are timid when it comes to questioning coaches' strategic decisions. No one can say that about Walton.
I think everyone just assumes we just watched the last game of the amateur portion of Greg Oden's basketball career. At least, I thought that until I heard ESPN commentator Jay Bilas after the game. Bilas said he thinks Oden is seriously considering a return to Columbus for his sophomore season and added, "He really loves college."
I really loved college, too. I wouldn't have turned down a multimillion-dollar job offer to stay in college, though.
Assuming this was Oden's last game, it was a great one -- perhaps his best in a Buckeyes uniform. He had 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks against that outstanding Florida front line. Thanks to his teammates' horrendous three-point shooting, Oden didn't go out a winner. But he went out on top.
America is finally getting to see what Greg Oden is like when he's not in foul trouble, and he's great. At halftime, Oden has 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting, with seven rebounds. He's the best player on the floor.
And yet Florida leads by 11, and that's what makes this Florida team so special. No matter how they do it, a win over Ohio State would make this Gators team one of the all-time great college basketball teams, but if they had done it with Oden spending most of his time on the bench in foul trouble, that might have put a bit of an asterisk next to their victory. There's no chance of that now.
As good a front line as Florida has, Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Chris Richard are clearly not in the same class as Oden. But Florida is such a complete team that it's 20 minutes away from winning anyway.
I mentioned earlier that the biggest question facing tonight's Ohio State-Florida national championship game is how many minutes Greg Oden will play. In part that's a question of what kind of game the referees call.
But it's also, in part, a question of what kind of strategy Ohio State coach Thad Matta uses. When Oden picked up his second foul just a couple minutes into Saturday's Ohio State-Georgetown game, I was shocked when CBS commentator Billy Packer suggested that Oden would sit out the rest of the half. But I was even more shocked when Matta proved him right, keeping him on the bench until after halftime.
Matta [sat] Oden on the bench for nearly half the game -- nearly half the game! -- to try to keep him from fouling out. What happens if he fouls out? He has to sit on the bench. It's kind of like never driving your car so you don't get a flat tire, because if you get a flat tire, you can't drive your car.
I really hope Matta isn't so cautious tonight. Ohio State needs Oden on the floor, not the bench, and if Matta puts him on the bench to keep him from fouling out, he's outsmarting himself.
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.
Mike Conley, Jr. should be 
One of Ohio State's forgotten members of the Thad Five, David 
One of the refreshing things about Greg Oden, who will almost certainly be the first pick in the NBA draft no matter who wins the lottery, is that he doesn't seem particularly impressed with himself. He seems to view his basketball skills as just an accident of genetics, not a trait that makes him a superior human being. 
I thought during the last college basketball season that 
In news that will come as a shock to exactly no one, 
On ESPN Radio this morning, ESPN basketball analyst Bill Walton bashed Ohio State coach Thad Matta, saying Matta had access to one of the most talented big men the game has ever seen -- Greg Oden -- and that he let that talent go to waste.
I think everyone just assumes we just watched the last game of the amateur portion of 
America is finally getting to see what 
I mentioned earlier that the biggest question facing tonight's Ohio State-Florida national championship game is 
