Buckeye News from Around the Net 6/24/08
John Havlicek,
Kenyon Rambo, Michael Redd, Terry Glenn,
Jason Simons, Shawn Springs, Ryan Pickett, Shane Olivea, Chris Speilman,
Bennie Wells, Anthony Gonzalez and Roy
Hall.
By Bill Smith
The Good
John Havlicek was looking very dapper at
the NBA finals cheering on his Boston Celtics to their 17th NBA
championship. “Hondo” as he was known
during his playing days is best remembered by Celtic fans for the last second
steal of an inbounds pass in game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against
Wilt Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers that won the game and propelled
Boston to yet another championship in 1965.
He is best remembered around OSU land for his great play in the early
1960's that saw OSU win a national championship and play for two others. He looked great. We will do an Old school bio of Hondo soon
right here on Brutus Report.
Michael
Redd was named to the USA 2008 Olympic team. But that is only part of the story. The US has not won a major international
championship since the 2004 Olympics.
The biggest reason was that foreign teams would play zone defense
against the US. The opponents shut down the inside game and
forced the USA
to shoot from outside. The prior teams
that were selected had very few pure 3 point shooters. That is Michael's strength. He averaged 22.7 ppg this past year and over
his career has hit 38% of his 3 point shots.
Look for him to get a lot of playing time.
He will be
remembered as an OSU All American that led the Big 10 in scoring as a freshman,
the first true freshman to do so.
Last
year Ryan Pickett was supposed to be used as a pass rush DT going into
the 07 season. Injuries to other players
and a solid performance gave Pickett the starting NT position. This year things should be no different. Corey Williams has been traded to Cleveland and injury
concerns about Johnny Jolly and Justin Harrell makes Pickett the only man on
the line that the Pack can depend on. He
has firmed up his hold on the NT starting spot.
Anthony Gonzalez figures to be a
starting WR for the Colts. Marvin
Harrison is coming off an injury filled year.
This year he will likely be used in the slot for spot duty to protect
him from further injury. To add to the
uncertainty of his availability, he is the now familiar “person of interest” in
the case of shooting outside his tavern.
Philadelphia police believe that Harrison's unique gun was used in that shooting but no
charges have been filed. That puts
Gonzalez opposite Reggie Wayne in the starting lineup.
Roy Hall
should benefit from more Payton Manning passes his way as well. There is a major battle going on for the 4th
WR position and Hall's size is a factor in his favor. With Ben Utek leaving Indy for the Bengals as
a RFA, there is a need for another big receiver around the goal line. Hall could well turn out to be that WR.
Joe Schad
of ESPN ranks OSU RB Bennie Wells as the top college back in that
position. He said that because of his
combination of size, strength and speed “Wells is compared by some to Jim
Brown.” To me that is a little over the
top. He also said that Wells goes into
the 2008 preseason Heisman chase as 2nd only behind last year's
winner Tim Tebow.
Now for
my favorite story of the week. When
he was asked who was the toughest player he ever played with or against,
Marcellis Wyley the former DE was quick to respond. OSU favorite Chris Speilman was his
answer. Wyley was a rookie on the Bills
team while Chris was the leader at linebacker.
On ESPN, Wyley said “I saw Cris Speilman play with torn triceps and torn
biceps. One time I don't know what he
did to his neck and back but he was bent over like an L. What he did instead of taking shots—instead
of crying about it, he grabbed some smelling salts. Put one in one nostril (and) one in the other
nostril. (He) grabbed a cup full of them
(and) smelled them. He went out there
and played with no complaints. This guy
was a warrior.”
The Bad
Wyley
also spoke about Terry Glenn's struggle with the Cowboys to get his
release or be allowed to practice without signing the $500,000 waiver. He pointed out that Glenn is in the middle of
an ego clash between the shadow of Parcells history with the team and Jones. “Glenn was a Parcells' guy. Parcells brought him here. I was in that position once. Now Parcells is gone.” Wyley said “Terry, you've got yourself
caught up in a civil war. I was a
casualty of that same civil war between Bill Parcells and Jerry Jones. And when Bill Parcells was there, there were
certain players that he wanted on his football squad. Jerry Jones has a different philosophy. Jerry Jones is the one who writes the checks
and at the end of the day he has the last say.
“Terry
Glenn is feeling the squeeze. They are
asking him to do something that is almost unprecedented when you say sign a
500K waver and then go out and play. We
haven't heard from Jerry Jones the 'or else'--what happens if I don't sign this
deal?”
In an
interview Glenn said “I'm not trying to be at odds with Jerry. These words and comments coming from me were
strictly frustration, knowing football season is right around the corner and I
don't know if my future is here, there or anywhere. I'm ready to give 100 percent. I just want to know if this is going be my
home.”
CB Shawn
Springs absence from “voluntary” OTA's is now becoming a distraction as far
as Coach Zorn is concerned. Not only has
Springs not attended, he hasn’t contacted the team to let it know when or if he
will show up. Some of Springs' team
mates are starting to speak out. DE
Phillips was one that expressed his displeasure with Shawn's absence.
The Ugly—More Ugly than usual
OG Shane
Olivea, the former starting RT for the Chargers was cut earlier this year
as we reported. Now he has been
suspended by the NFL for the first 4 games of 2008 for violation of the
league's substance abuse policy.
Reportedly, he failed a drug test.
He can sign and attend training camp with a team as well as play in the
preseason games. However, at the end of
preseason, he is to have no contact of any kind with the team until after game
4 of the season.
Jason
Simmons, the former OSU
DE and team captain, plead guilty
in May to 3 counts of sexual battery to avoid prosecution of charges of sexual
conduct with a minor. He was sentenced
last week to 1 year in prison for the guilty plea. He was a middle school teacher in Ohio.
Bill Smith is a
former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com. He has
also published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and
edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com