Afternoon thoughts
September 3, 2008
Some random thoughts floating around today. Also, it’s a bad day for more than one Big Ten team.
Beanie Wells
If you listen to Beanie’s mom, he might play this weekend. Her exact words were that he is “very optimistic” about playing against Ohio University this Saturday. Jim Tressel, on the other hand, is not saying much at all about Wells’ return to the field. The main words from the Senator are “if he’s ready, he goes”.
The best reason for him to play? He stays active and doesn’t get rusty before the USC game. The worst reason for him to play? He re-injures the toe and misses the game altogether.
I say sit him out against Ohio. Some of the word around town is that Ohio will pose LESS of a threat than Youngstown State did. No sense risking it against a team supposedly worse than the one who just scored 0 points on 74 total yards.
College football polls
In case nobody noticed it, Ohio State actually dropped in the AP Poll this week. We were previously #2, close behing Georgia. However, USC leapfrogged both teams and sits at #1. The switch does lend to the theory of not having pre-season polls, doesn’t it?
None of this leapfrogging matters, though. Whoever wins next week in the OSU/USC game will be #1 anyway.
Penn State football
Somebody’s going to have to clean the stadium for a lonnnnng time.
Drug charges are about to be brought up against as many as five Penn State players, stemming from an incident last night. Authorities apparently spent around six hours at the apartment of AJ Wallace, Andrew Quarless, Maurice Evans and Abe Koroma last night and removed numerous items, including marijuana.
Police were called to the residence after a loud noise complaint and officers “noticed an obvious smell of marijuana”. They asked to search the apartment and the football players denied them. So the officers stayed in the doorway and waited for a judge to sign off on a search warrant. Just before 11pm, they got their warrant and it was all downhill from there.
Apparently Wallace tried to immediately shift some blame to another student, Aristides Nova, claiming that he’s not really staying at the apartment anymore, and Nova is living in his room. Uh-huh. Sure. You were just holding it for a friend, right?
For PSU fans claiming that Nova was the one with the drugs and that the Lion players are innocent, a little note - police noticed an “obvious smell” of marijuana. Translation - it was being smoked, and the players were not exactly leaving the apartment when the blazin’ began.
Michigan football
Freshman linebacker Taylor Hill has bolted the program. He was going to be a redshirt while he learned the position anyway, but what does this say about the program? We’ll leave that one on the table and see what the future brings for Michigan football.
And while we’re at it, didn’t Justin Boren look good in scarlet and gray this weekend?
The Cleveland Browns
The 2008 NFL season starts tomorrow. The Browns get to start on Sunday at 4:15 at Dallas. Tough assignment for a banged-up team with little pre-season chemistry.
Braylon Edwards will return to the starting lineup, as will Derek Anderson. DA returns after suffering a concussion that gave Brady Quinn the chance to start the last two non-games. If Anderson’s still suffering and not clicking, will Quinn get in the game? Head coach Romeo Crennel has shown that he’s not afraid to yank a starter who’s not performing. Ask Charlie Frye, he’s down at the end of the bench in Seattle.
The Cleveland Indians
How can I be angry at a team that’s won 13 of their last 16 games and has climbed to within 9.5 games of first place?
Oh, yeah. They got swept at home by Seattle. That’s how I can be angry. Seattle was the worst team in baseball until that sweep, and it cost the Tribe their chances at the playoffs (probably). If we had taken 2 of 3 like we were supposed to, we’d be 7.5 games back going into tonight’s game. Damn, that hurts.
There’s still a glimmer of hope, though. If Jeremy Sowers can forget that he’s 2-7 and throw a gem, we can sweep the White Sox, and then concentrate of two cellar-dwellars, as we battle Kansas City and Baltimore for the next 11 games. It’s not much of a chance, but if we can gain another 4 or 5 games in that time period, we are within striking distance when we go close the regular season with Minnesota, Detroit, Boston, and Chicago.
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