Meadowdale H.S. graduation 2012
Middletown H.S. graduation 2012
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Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2009 > January > 03
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Forty (thirty-nine … thirty-eight … thirty-seven) winks
Wide receiver Brian Robiskie may not have gotten all of his normal rest this trip because of roommate Lawrence Wilson, who made the trip despite being lost for the season after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the Purdue game.
“He snores. He snores bad. If I’m up and he’s snoring, I’m going to struggle to go to sleep. It’s bad,” Robiskie said.
Sounds bad.
Robiskie played along with a reporter when asked if a finely tuned athlete should have to put up with that while preparing for a game.
“I can see why you should be able to go to Coach (Jim) Tressel and say you want to rotate” roommates, Robiskie said.
“I think that should be an option. Him and Cam Heyward are probably the worst (snorers) I ever had. I didn’t know going into this game, but I have warned everybody since then.”
Robiskie was hoping to attend Atlanta’s playoff game against Arizona here Saturday because his father, Terry, is Atlanta’s wide receivers coach.
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Laurinaitis believes college football playoff “would blow up”
James Laurinaitis believes a playoff system in the NCAA bowl subdivision could grow into one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar.
A playoff system “is going to happen, and if it did, it would be so hyped up,” he said.
“Look at March Madness. I think a (playoff) would be good. The regular season would matter, and then it would blow up.”
Of the concern about student/athletes playing extra games …
“They talk about playing 15 games. I played 15 games in high school,” Laurinaitis said.
A.J. Trapasso likes the idea of a 16-team or eight-team playoff, to a point.
“What makes this team the 16th seed? Who is the five seed?” Trapasso said.
“If it’s still the BCS, there still will be problems.”
Asked if he likes the current “plus-one” bowl system used to determine the BCS national champion, snubbed Texas coach Mack Brown said “I’m a plus-something advocate. I don’t like what we’ve got.”
The Ohio State-Miami (2003 season) and Texas-USC (2005 season) Nos. 1-2 matches are the exception rather than the rule.
“On years like this, how do you possibly say that SC doesn’t have a claim?” said Brown, whose team has the most gripe this season.
And, yes, he has a plan.
“Cut out the (conference) championship games, cut it (regular season) back to 11 games, have a great bowl system, and a playoff like 1-AA going through … it doesn’t seem that complicated,” Brown said.
“But until somebody figures out where the money is going to go, there is no going to be a playoff.”
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Ohio State looks to mute Big Ten critics
The Big Ten is 1-5 in bowl games this season, with Ohio State the final conference team left to play in the Fiesta Bowl on Monday.
Iowa’s 31-10 victory over South Carolina is the lone bright spot. Northwestern took Missouri into overtime before losing, but all the other losses have been by double-digits.
While Ohio State players have heard the talk about being in a lesser conference, they know there is only one way to change the perception.
“You have to take it in. You can’t really get mad at it. Stats are stats, and stats don’t lie,” strong safety Kurt Coleman said.
“Us or the Big 10 haven’t really shown up in big games. So I think (Monday) is going to be a big opportunity for us to show everyone what we can do.”
The criticism is usually “about the Big Ten’s speed,” Beanie Wells said.
“We have gotten tired of it, but you can’t do anything about it other than to go out there each and every game and try to prove somebody wrong.”
Publicly, Texas is not buying into the lack of speed theory, at least in Ohio State’s case.
“They have guys who can run like we can,” Texas senior cornerback Ryan Palmer said.
“Their receivers can run. (Malcolm) Jenkins is a good player. (James) Laurinaitis is a good player. (Terrelle) Pryor can run. Even Beanie. Beanie is bigger guy, but he can stiff arm you and then run away from you.
“They play hard competition just like we do, so it’s going to be fun to see how these two conferences can match up on Monday. That’s how you can really separate yourself.”
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Gifted athletes
In bowl game loot, Ohio State and Texas players received:
—-MyVu personal media viewer;
—-iPod Nano;
—-watch;
—-snack pack;
—-game hat.
The media viewer enables users to watch video from their iPods in a pair of sunglasses, and several Buckeyes already have tried it.
“The way it is designed, it forms to your face. It is really nice in the way it allows your eyes to just look forward as opposed to trying to focus,” punter A.J. Trapasso said.
Trapasso watched Pineapple Express. Nader Abdallah watched Rush Hour. Alex Boone gave his viewer away as a Christmas gift.
The NCAA permits bowls to spend up to $500 on gifts for up to 125 members of a school’s traveling party.
“It shows the class of the bowl to go out and spend the money they do for the gifts you receive,” linebacker Marcus Freeman said.
Last year, the Buckeyes received a Nintendo Wii game system as the main gift. The year before, it was an XM radio.
“I’m good as far as electronics,” Freeman said.
Some of the other gift packages this year:
BCS championship game: $300 Sony gifting suite. Members of the official party may order gifts from a Sony suite set up at the team hotel.
Champ Sports Bowl: a $400 shopping spree at Best Buy during the bowl trip.
Emerald Bowl: Sony noise-canceling headphones.
Independence Bowl: Trek mountain bike.
Insight Bowl: Vizio 26-inch LCD HDTV.
Orange Bowl: $300 Sony gifting suite.
Sugar Bowl: Sony Blu-ray player, Sony Walkman digital MP3 player.
Sun Bowl: Sony DVD Handycam.
