Friday, May 31, 2013

Ohio State Buckeyes 2013 Football Schedule and TV Times


Ohio State Buckeyes 2013 Football Schedule and TV Times

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Pac-12 released their early season television schedule Wednesday afternoon. As expected, the September 14 Ohio State at California game will be a 4:00 pm local kickoff, and it will be aired nationally on FOX.

This means a 7:00 pm Eastern kickoff for Buckeye fans, giving Ohio State four games on national prime time television this season. More importantly, it gives Urban Meyer four national showcases for both recruits and poll voters.
It won't be considered a night game, but the effect will be the same for Meyer. In fact, the Buckeyes will receive the attention of a night game, without the "warmed up" and raucous crowd to have to contend with. Though given that this game is in Berkeley, a raucous crowd may not be possible.
Ohio State and Cal have played seven times previously, with the Buckeyes holding a 6-1 series advantage. When the two teams met last year in Ohio Stadium, it was their first meeting in 40 years.







The Buckeyes prevailed 35-28 in a difficult game, as Braxton Miller hit Devin Smith for a 72-yard score with 3:26 to play, breaking a 28-28 tie. Christian Bryant recorded his first career interception on Cal’s final drive.
Cal is now coached by Sonny Dykes, who is in his first season with the Golden Bears after coaching the nation’s top-ranked scoring offense one year ago at Louisiana Tech (51.5 ppg).
Dykes was 22-15 in three years at Louisiana Tech. His team won 16 of its last 20 games. Louisiana Tech scored 57 points in a two-point loss to Texas A&M last year.
This will be OSU's first prime time game of the season. They will play under the lights on consecutive Saturdays two weeks later when they host Wisconsin, and then travel to Northwestern. Like Wisconsin and Northwestern, the October 26 matchup at home against Penn State will also be an 8:00 pm Eastern kickoff. Each of these three games will either be on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2.
The only other kickoff time currently known is the October 19 homecoming game against Iowa, which will kick at 3:30 pm on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC.
September 14 looks like a very important day for the Big Ten. Along with OSU's trip to Cal in prime time, Illinois plays Washington at Soldier Field in Chicago at 6:00 pm on the BTN, Purdue hosts Notre Dame in an 8:00 pm kick on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2, and Wisconsin travels to Arizona State for a 7:30 pm local kick on ESPN or ESPN2.
Iowa also travels to Iowa State and Nebraska hosts UCLA that same week, though the television schedule for those games has yet to be announced.
For Ohio State, there shouldn't be anymore prime time games popping up on the schedule, unless they happen to make it to the Big Ten Championship Game, which will likely be an 8:00 pm kickoff as it was last year



2013 Ohio State Schedule (Approx. start times – ET)

Aug. 31 – Buffalo – Scarlet & Gray Game

Sept. 7 – San Diego State – Alumni Band Game

Sept. 14 – at California (7 p.m. on FOX Sports)

Sept. 21 – Florida A&M – Military Appreciation Game

Sept. 28 –Wisconsin (8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2) – Hall of Fame Game

Oct. 5 – at Northwestern (8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2)

Oct. 12 – Open Date

Oct. 19 – Iowa (3:30 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2) - Homecoming

Oct. 26 – Penn State (8 p.m. on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2)

Nov. 2 – at Purdue

Nov. 9 – Open Date

Nov. 16 – at Illinois

Nov. 23 – Indiana – Senior Day

Nov. 30 – at Michigan

Dec. 7 – Big Ten Championship Game* (FOX Sports)

*Lucas Oil Stadium; Indianapolis, Ind.



Wednesday, May 29, 2013

UH, OH! Its 2-2 Indiana and Miami


Come Back to Cleveland, LeBron!  We are used to failing!







INDIANAPOLIS -- Lo and behold, everyone wants the referees to be perfect now. In playoff games that are so close, so poised to turn on one play, everyone demands perfection when it matters most.
Game 4 recapPacers 99, Heat 92
The Pacers wanted Joe Crawford to get the call right on a 24-second violation in the fourth quarter when Roy Hibbert's shot clearly hit the rim. Crawford got it wrong; everyone saw it.
LeBron James wanted the benefit of the doubt on his sixth personal foul when he was called for an illegal screen against Lance Stephenson with 56 seconds left in a four-point game. He wanted it when he was called for a reach-in on Roy Hibbert earlier in the fourth quarter. He wanted the officials to appreciate that he had gone straight up to contest Paul George's driving layup with 5:38 left -- his fourth foul.
Guess what, everybody on both sides? If you're so concerned about the officials getting it right when it matters, why are you spending so much time trying to trick them into getting it wrong?
Why are you doing this?
In this otherwise compelling and wonderful Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and Pacers -- which goes back to Miami tied at 2 after the Pacers' 99-92 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday night -- we've got ourselves a theme.
Several, actually, but they're all related.
Other than Miami's dominance in Game 3, the games have been nail-bitingly close. The outcome can swing on a single possession, a single free throw or a missed boxout.
Game 4 GradesPacers B-minus, Heat D-plus, officials big fat F-minus
It can swing on a whistle, too. So before anyone on either side wants to complain about calls not going their way, about the referees not giving them the benefit of the doubt, do yourselves a favor.
Stop trying to trick them.
You can't have it both ways.
"I don't believe it was an offensive foul," James said of his moving screen against Stephenson, on which he was trying to free Dwyane Wade for a clean look with Indiana leading 96-92. "I was going to set a screen and I felt like I was stationary. And D-Wade rejected the pick-and-roll. Lance actually ran into me."
I have mixed feelings about the call, because on one hand, James clearly stuck his left leg out to make sure he picked off Stephenson. That's an illegal screen, plain as day. On the other hand, Wade chose to go the other direction -- away from the screen -- so no advantage was gained. In that regard, it's a play-on situation.
But these are the same officials who've spent six weeks in this postseason trying to avoid getting duped by all manner of fake and exaggerated contact -- especially in this series, and especially in this game. You're expecting them to look the other way on an illegal screen because no advantage was gained? That's a lot to ask.
It's especially a lot to ask when coming from the league's best player, the transcendent basketball force of our time, when only 30 hours earlier he had said that flopping was "not even a bad thing," and added, "Any way you can get the advantage over an opponent to help your team win, then so be it."
What comes around goes around, is the way I look at it.
"I believe I was straight up-and-down on Paul George's drive -- the and-one," James said. "Hibbert, they reversed a call on Hibbert, called a foul on me on that one. And at the end of the third, they called a push off [against] David West.
"It was a couple of calls that I didn't feel like were fouls, personal fouls on me," James said. "That's how the game goes sometimes."
Indeed.
Let me make myself clear: This isn't just about James. His greatness is unquestioned, his talent otherworldly. It's also about West, who at one point coordinated with James in a game of synchronized flopping when both players ran into each other and flailed to the floor.
It's also about Stephenson, one of the heroes of the game for Indiana with that glorious 3-pointer from the corner at the third-quarter buzzer on a cross-court inbound pass from George Hill, not to mention some gritty defense on James. But in the first quarter, when Stephenson got tangled up with Ray Allen, he cocked his head back violently while pretending that Allen had elbowed him in the face -- which, of course, he had not.
So please, if you're devoting so much time and effort to duping the officials into getting calls wrong, don't whine when you've suddenly decided to play fair and they make a mistake.
"Last time LeBron fouled out of a playoff game was last year in Boston," Erik Spoelstra said. "So it doesn't happen very often."
That's true, by the way. It's only the second time James has fouled out a playoff game, and he managed to do it this time with four fouls in the fourth quarter.
"Dwyane was in foul trouble the whole game," Spoelstra said. "[Chris Bosh] was in foul trouble. You have to overcome a lot in the playoffs."
I know everybody hates the referees, and to be honest, this game was not a career highlight for Crawford, Rodney Mott and Derrick Stafford. But in these flop-tastic NBA playoff games, the officials have a lot to overcome, too. They have to overcome 47 minutes of players trying to trick them into getting calls wrong and then are expected to be perfect when it matters.
"We've just got to play ball," Stephenson said. "Don't worry about calls. Don't worry about fouls. Just attack and make buckets."
Can everyone involved listen to this unexpected wisdom from Lance Stephenson -- including Lance Stephenson -- and apply it for the rest of this series? Can all the floppers give us our game back?
We've had three games decided by a combined 12 points and two tactical masterpieces -- one by Miami in moving James into the post to dominate Game 3, and the response from Indiana in closing off his success down low in Game 4. On Tuesday night, we had two supporting players, Stephenson and Mario Chalmers -- each with 20 points -- playing crucial roles.
We had Hibbert putting up another brilliant performance with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting with 12 rebounds -- and showing up in the interview room, God bless him, wearing a yellow T-shirt instead of some fashion experiment.
We had Allen and Stephenson hitting clock-beating 3-pointers, and James dueling with his understudy, George.
But we had something else that's detracting from the enjoyment of it all -- players trying to trick the referees and thousands of people chanting about flopping. Indiana fans not only know their basketball, but apparently they know how to use the Internet, too.
"He's a flop-per," the crowd chanted to James and Wade throughout the game.
Is this what we want? Doesn't the game deserve better?
It does. It's a best-of-3 series now between two teams that are very good at basketball and shouldn't need the fake stuff. Bad calls happen. Bad calls caused by players tricking the refs into making bad calls shouldn't happen.
And neither should whining when it all backfires. And that goes for everybody.



Friday, May 24, 2013

Akron Linebacker Dante Booker Commits to Ohio State





Akron Linebacker Dante Booker Commits to Ohio State





It always felt like just a matter of time, and on Thursday linebacker Dante Booker finally took the plunge and verbally committed to Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes.




Booker, out of Akron St. Vincent - St. Mary, is teammates with current OSU commitment Parris Campbell. He has teased his commitment to Ohio State in the past, but the teasing has apparently ended with his announcement, which he broke via Twitter.









Booker (6-4 210) is rated a four-star prospect by all four major recruiting services. He is ranked the #4 outside linebacker in the nation by 247Sports. Scout ranks him #9, ESPN likes him at #8, and Rivals ranks him their #10 inside linebacker.



He chose the Buckeyes over offers from Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Nebraska and Tennessee. He has already been selected to play in the 2014 Army All-American Bowl.



Booker finished with 72 tackles and six sacks last season, after tallying 157 tackles and 14 sacks as a sophomore. He was named Division III Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2012.



"I like him," said John McCallister, who runs the McCallister Scouting Report. "I think he is going to get bigger and stronger, but he's a work in progress. Now he can play, but I think he's going to end up putting his hand down on the outside and being a defensive end when it's all said and done.





"He's there, but he doesn't always make the play. But I think if you can put his hand down and play him on the outside, he's got a chance to be pretty good. He's one of the better players in Ohio. I don't see him as a linebacker though right now. But he's not really big yet. He's slender. This summer will tell the story on him."



Booker, who ran a 4.72 forty at a Nike Combine as a sophomore, is a tremendous athlete who is frequently asked to drop into pass coverage. McCallister also got a glimpse of him as a basketball player this past winter.



"He runs very well. He was listed at 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, but will get much bigger. Good hips. I like his burst. I watched him drop the ball into the basket. Really like his attitude. Tough competitor. I really believe that he has the total package [as a football player]. Next fall, I need to see him light up a running back. Hopefully, he can put his hand down on the edge and also play in space. He's one of the top five defenders in the Ohio Class of 2014."



Rivals ranks Booker as the #2 overall prospect in the state of Ohio behind Marshon Lattimore out of Cleveland Glenville. With Booker's commitment, the Buckeyes now have four of the top five in-state prospects committed, per 247Sports. Lattimore, who is #1, is still expected to be a Buckeye. Currently, seven of 247Sports' Ohio top 10 have issued verbal commitments, and five of them are committed to the Buckeyes.



Ohio State now stands at nine commitments and is looking for 10-13 more. Per Scout's ratings, the Buckeyes now have three of the top nine outside linebackers committed: #2 Kyle Berger, #3 Sam Hubbard, and #9 Dante Booker.



Ohio State is still interested in a couple of other linebackers, however. The first is five-star middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan out of Georgia, who has had the Buckeyes leading for the better part of a year now. The other is Chase Winovich out of Pennsylvania, who also has offers from Michigan, Florida State, Oregon, Stanford, Arkansas and Harvard.



Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Cavaliers win NBA draft lottery

The full 2013 first-round draft order
1. Cleveland Cavaliers 2. Orlando Magic 3. Washington Wizards 4. Charlotte Bobcats 5. Phoenix Suns 6. New Orleans Pelicans 7. Sacramento Kings 8. Detroit Pistons 9. Minnesota Timberwolves 10. Portland Trail Blazers 11. Philadelphia 76ers 12. Oklahoma City Thunder (via Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets) 13. Dallas Mavericks 14. Utah Jazz 15. Milwaukee Bucks 16. Boston Celtics 17. Atlanta Hawks 18. Atlanta Hawks (via Houston Rockets and Brooklyn Nets) 19. Cleveland Cavaliers (via Los Angeles Lakers) 20. Chicago Bulls 21. Utah Jazz (via Golden State Warriors and Brooklyn Nets) 22. Brooklyn Nets 23. Indiana Pacers 24. New York Knicks 25. Los Angeles Clippers 26. Minnesota Timberwolves (via Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets) 27. Denver Nuggets 28. San Antonio Spurs 29. Oklahoma City Thunder 30. Phoenix Suns (via Miami Heat, Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers)


Stunned Cavs open to dealing top pick Cleveland hasn't won a whole lot lately, which is how it wound up with Tuesday's win in the lottery in the first place. When the Cavaliers learned they would have the No. 1 pick for the second time in two years thanks to a lucky lottery draw, it was mostly disbelief. ... An already-young roster paired with what is generally considered to be a weak draft means that questions already are being asked about whether the Cavaliers will trade the No. 1 pick. The top selection in the draft has only been traded once in the lottery era, in 1993. "We're open," [Chris Grant] said. "We're going to look at all our options and make the decision based on what's best for the franchise -- short-term and long-term."

Monday, May 20, 2013

2014 Ohio State Football Schedule

Ohio State's full 2014 football schedule August 30 - at Navy (Baltimore, MD) September 13 - Kent State September 20 - Virginia Tech September 27 - Cincinnati October 4 - at Maryland October 18 - Rutgers October 25 - at Penn State November 1 - Illinois November 8 - at Michigan State November 15 - at Minnesota November 22 - Indiana November 29 - Michigan December 6 - Big Ten Championship Game