2012 Ohio State Bowl Game T-Shirts

Get 'em while they last!

(HT: SiC. He wasn't sure of original creator of this little piece of brilliance as it arrived in his inbox. So if you know, let us know and we'll pass it on)

UPDATE: U-M QB-to-be Shane Morris tweeted this after the M/OSU game.  Again, don't know if he's creator, but it's the earliest version of the joke I can find.

Unbelievable Breaking News

From a column in the Valley News:

(I)t appears now that the vagabond bug has bitten the Ivies, too. In an announcement expected to come by Christmas — talk about a special holiday gift — Harvard University will declare its intention to leave the comfy confines of the Ivy League and join the newly minted North East Royal Division.
According to the columnist, if Harvard goes, Princeton and Yale

Check It Out

This is a short video built around Harvard, but it's pretty special stuff. Click here to watch it after a short commercial.

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The Morning Call has a an interesting look at former Dartmouth assistant Pete Lembo, who, after posting a 9-3 record in his second season at Ball State, is being talked about as a candidate to be the next coach at Purdue. Lembo had successful stints at Lehigh and Elon

Ryan Rodenberg on Putter Ban

Sports Law Blog writer Ryan Rodenberg speaks to USA Today:

"My sense is that players and manufacturers would have a lot of difficulty, as courts generally defer to unilaterally-imposed sports league rules," according to Ryan Rodenberg, assistant professor of sport law at Florida State University.

. . . .

Rodenberg likens this case the "spaghetti-string" tennis case from 30 years ago, Gunter Harz v. USTA.

"The judge in the Gunter Harz district court case (before it got to the court of appeals), ruling in favor of the USTA's ban on spaghetti strung rackets, posited that 'the court is not to substitute its own judgment for the of the ITF or the USTA,' " Rodenberg wrote in an email. 

For more, click here.  For another take in Golf.com, click here.

'77 Hanlon Chosen As Dartmouth President

From a Dartmouth release:

Philip J. Hanlon ’77, PhD, will be the next president of Dartmouth. Phil is a world-class academic, an accomplished administrative leader, and a passionate scholar-teacher. He now serves as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan, where he is the Donald J. Lewis Professor of Mathematics.
Hanlon will take office July 1 but

Marvin Miller - The Most Significant Figure in Baseball in the Past 50 Years?

Professor Ed Edmonds

The following piece is written by Notre Dame Law School sports law professor Ed Edmonds, one of the best minds around on baseball and the law and founder of the Baseball Salary Arbitration website.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Marvin Miller - The Most Significant Figure in Baseball in the Past 50 Years?

There have been no shortage of articles this past week honoring the passing of the legendary leader of the MLBPA Marvin Miller at age 95.  Many writers have noted that he was possibly the most significant figure in baseball over the past half-century.  I certain agree that he belongs in any conversation about that topic, and I point to an earlier post on this blog by Howard Wasserman regarding his place in sports law history.  I will not attempt to go through the compilation of Miller’s many accomplishments because so many of you know and teach about this on a regular basis. 

Let me take up one point that comes together with the thoughts of Murray Chass, the long-time writer for the New York Times.  By the way, if you do not regularly read Mr. Chass’s writings on Murray Chass . . . On Baseball, I highly recommend it.  Murray Chass posits that perhaps Miller can now be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame because the owners and other management personnel will not be subjected to his acceptance speech or because their hatred for the man who led the players to some freedom over their playing careers and significantly better pay and working conditions would not allow them to vote into the Hall a man who so rightly deserves to be there.  I only need to mention the additional shun shown Miller when the Hall opened its doors to Bowie Kuhn.

How ironic is it that Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Sammy Sosa appear this week for the first time on a Hall of Fame ballot?  We are finally at the point so many have waited for to determine how the voters will actually deal with the steroid era candidates.  There will be a renewed conversation about the integrity of the induction process if Bonds, Clemens, and Sosa are allowed the honor of enshrinement.  My point is a simple one:  If anyone is really concerned about the “integrity” of the membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame, the exclusion of Miller needs to be addressed.  Marvin Miller’s bitterness over his non-election sparked comments from him that he would not have accepted the honor in his final few years.  Perhaps now everyone can agree to do not only the honorable thing, but an honest thing.  To not have a plaque to Marvin Miller in the National Baseball Hall of Fame is a grievous oversight.  Let’s hope that it is remedied soon.

Bo Knows . . .

Dartmouth receiver Bo Patterson has made a quick uniform change to become Dartmouth outfielder Bo Patterson and is in the Dominican Republic with the Big Green baseball team. He gets several mentions in the blog covering the Dartmouth trip.

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The Daily Princetonian writes about the Tigers' three NFL prospects on defense while noting that one of them, 6-foot-2, 305-pound defensive lineman Caraun

And you wonder how it starts...

Found all these vids post M/OSU game.  Never too young to start teaching kids to be classy fans. 



Don't you just love how mom literally bribed the kid above with some kind of treat, like she's training a puppy? Good job, mom.







So when they grow up, they can become this guy (yes, there's a "payoff" to his video at the end)...



O-H!

Legal implications of the proposed ban on belly putters

I speak with David Dusek of Golf Magazine|Golf.com about the potential legal fallout of the US Golf Association banning belly putters and whether affected athletes, like Keegan Bradley, and putter manufacturers can sue. My take: any attempt to use the law to beat the ban would probably fail.

Here's an excerpt:

But McCann quickly adds that it's an unpersuasive argument. The USGA and the R&A would argue that they have decisive rule-making authority. They would also contend that it's reasonable for them to alter the rules, and the PGA Tour would argue that it's reasonable to abide by those rules. 

"Courts give leagues a tremendous amount of latitude in rules of play" he says. "It's one thing to say there is a new restriction on free agency and that it's not collectively bargained, or there is a salary cap change; it's another to change the rules of play. Courts are pretty deferential, and I think any type of lawsuit would be unlikely to prevail." 

McCann pointed out, however, that in the early 1990s, a group of golfers led by Bob Gilder joined Ping and won a favorable settlement from the USGA and the PGA Tour after Ping Eye 2 irons were banned. That club's square grooves had been ruled to have a performance-enhancing effect, but the players rebutted that argument by citing data that showed golfers using the club earned less than those who did not use it. The case ended in a settlement that allowed the club but required different grooves in future models. 

That precedent may seem to favor a player inclined to sue, but McCann cautions that the player would have to show statistics that indicated that belly putters were not providing an unfair advantage.

To read the rest, click here.

Bathe, Runger All-New England

From Dartmouth sports publicity:

The New England Football Writers announced their 2012 FCS All-New England Team today, and senior Rob Bathe and junior Michael Runger of the Dartmouth Big Green were chosen for the squad.
Click here for the story.

The All-New England FCS team:

OFFENSE



OL - Rob Bathe, Dartmouth, Sr.

OL - Nathan Bernstein, Brown, Sr.

OL - John Collins, Harvard, Sr.

OL -

The ACC Sues Maryland over Exit Fee

The Atlantic Coast Conference filed a lawsuit in North Carolina state court on Tuesday seeking to enforce a $52,266,342 exit fee against the University of Maryland, following the recent news that the school was leaving the league to join the Big 10.  The exit fee represents a sum three times the conference's annual operating budget for the 2012-13 school year, and was approved by the ACC membership in September, with both Maryland and Florida State University voting against the measure.

The Washington Post has obtained a copy of the ACC's complaint, available here.  In the lawsuit, the conference alleges that Maryland president Wallace Loh -- a former dean of the University of Washington Law School -- has "refused to provide assurance" that the school would honor the exit fee.  The complaint also points to statements made by Loh back in September, in which he contended that the ACC's exit fee could be legally unenforceable. 

Indeed, Maryland can argue that the ACC's fee is an unlawful penalty under traditional contract law principles.  Specifically, courts will generally refuse to enforce liquidated damages provisions (like the ACC's exit fee) when the clause goes beyond simply compensating the non-breaching party for its anticipated financial injury and instead unfair penalizes the breaching party (I have summarized the law regarding the enforceability of liquidated damages provisions in the related context of college football scheduling agreements and coaching contracts in a law review article available here on pages 21-23).

Maryland can thus plausibly argue that the ACC's exit fee -- set to three times the entire conference's annual operating budget -- goes beyond mere compensation and rises to the level of an unlawful penalty.  The school can also point to the fact that the ACC's fee appears to be significantly larger than that imposed by any other conference in the country (the SEC notably has no exit fee).  Meanwhile, expect the ACC to argue that the total damage inflicted on the conference by a defecting university is so significant, and yet hard to precisely calculate, that a $52 million fee is within the realm of being reasonable.

I anticipate that Maryland and the ACC will ultimately settle the case out of court, likely for less than the full amount owed (as Missouri, Texas A&M, Syracuse, and Pitt each did following their recent defections to new conferences).  In fact, I suspect the ACC likely opted to file its suit on Tuesday in a favorable forum in hopes of obtaining some leverage in the ensuing negotiations, thereby preempting a potential suit by Maryland in a local state court.  You may recall that West Virginia University and the Big East conference both filed dueling lawsuits against one another in 2011 after the school announced it was departing for the Big XII, lawsuits that were ultimately settled earlier this year.  On the other hand, it is also possible that the ACC may refuse to settle for anything less than the entire $52 million in order to try to prevent other schools from leaving the league.

Quick Notes

A September Where Are They Now catches up with a former Dartmouth standout who went on to do great things. Click here to see who it is.

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Jake Novak down at the Roar Lions 2012 blog discusses the finalists for the Bushnell Award and I have to agree with him that Penn quarterback Billy Ragone belongs on the list. Jake writes:

. . . Penn's Billy Ragone was the heart and soul of his Ivy

Others' thoughts on Marvin Miller

I don't have a whole lot to say about the life of Marvin Miller, who died on Tuesday at age 95, other than that Miller might be the most significant figure in sports law; in fact, by introducing true labor law in sports, he arguably invented the field. Ironic, given that he was not a lawyer.

Instead, have a look at this piece by Tim Marchman in Slate, which argues that Miller achieved success by taking incremental steps, waiting for the right moment to attack the big issues (he was union head for almost a decade before the reserve clause fell, although he recognized that as a winning issue immediately), and being fortunate enough to go up against generally incompetent people on the other side of the table.

No Surprises In Ivy POY Finalists

The Ivy League has named the four finalists for the conference's offensive and defensive players of the year and none should be a surprise. The presentation will be made Monday. From the Ivy release:










Princeton senior defensive lineman Mike Catapano, Harvard senior quarterback Colton Chapple, Brown senior defensive back/return specialist AJ Cruz and Cornell junior quarterback Jeff

Columbia, Princeton Reviews

Were you curious when you read about Columbia playing a 227-pound offensive lineman this fall? In another informative and interesting blog post titled Season Review and Sticking With the Plan, Lions coach Pete Mangurian addresses the size of his linemen this way:

We remain committed to our standards for body composition. We will not carry fat as a substitute for muscle mass. Our players will

Majoring in college sports

Last year, I wrote about a proposal by Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post to allow college athletes to major in their sport, building a (hopefully) rigorous curriculum around participation on the team. Now here is David Pargman, an emeritus professor of educational psychology (and a self-described sports fan) making a similar proposal in Monday's Chronicle of Higher Education (H/T: Deadspin). Like Jenkins, Pargman uses performing arts majors as the analogue. He goes one step further and lays out what the last two years of the program would look like, with the first two years spent in basic studies. The advantage of this, Pargman argues, is honesty--students, coaches, family members, and universities all can openly acknowledge exactly why these young men and women (mostly men) are on campus.

As I wrote last time, this is an interesting idea with some potential, but the devil is in the details. Ultimately, my deepest question is whether this solution addresses the real problem facing college athletics. Pargman argues that not forcing student-athletes to pick a major in which they are not interested--when they really want to study their sport and become a professional athlete--is "integral" to a good portion of the other travesties that surround college sports. But is forcing a football player to major in, say, "Leisure Studies" really integral to all the other problems? Or are the real problems that 1) many of these people have no interest in being in college or studying at all, regardless of what classes they can take or what they can declare as a major, and 2) universities and coaches are making boatloads of money because of the skills of these students and the students are not seeing a dime. Honesty in their major does not change that.

Which is not to reject the proposal out of hand. It is just to emphasize that the problems inherent in college sport go much deeper than this.

The Contractual Implications of Auburn Firing Gene Chizik

As many had predicted over the last few weeks, Auburn University announced on Sunday that it was firing head coach Gene Chizik just two years after he led the Tigers to an undefeated season and BCS national championship.  Because the school decided 17 months ago to give Chizik a contract extension through 2015, Auburn is now on the hook for an expensive buyout of its football coaching staff.  Specifically, Chizik is owed a total of $7.5 million -- to be paid in monthly installments of $208,334 for each of the next 36 months -- pursuant to the early termination clause in his contract.  Had he not been fired, Chizik would have received an additional $3 million over the life of his contract.  However, because many of his assistant coaches were also given guaranteed contracts (in some cases running through June 2014), the total cost of the buyout for Auburn will actually exceed $11 million.

Anticipating Chizik's likely termination, the Columbus (GA) Ledger-Enquirer explored Auburn's contractual commitments to its football coaching staff, as well as the general trends in football coaches' buyout provisions nationally, in a story last week.  Here is an excerpt:

A June 2011 release by Win AD stated of the coaches who were dismissed in 2010 or 2011 with buyout clauses written into their contracts, 70 percent of those buyouts were based on their remaining total or base salary.

The other 30 percent were guaranteed a partial take on their full salary -- either a certain amount of money per month or year remaining on the contract, a percentage of the remaining base salary, or one year's total or base salary.

Read more here: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/11/21/2285781/auburn-football-a-lot-has-changed.html#storylink=cpy

You can check out the full story (including quotes from myself and Rick Karcher) by clicking here.

Jadwal Pertandingan Piala AFF (AFF Suzuki Cup 2012)

Berikut jadwal pertandingan AFF Suzuki Cup 2012:

Grup A: di Thailand

24/11, Pkl. 16:30: Vietnam vs Myanmar, Rajamangala
24/11, Pkl. 19:20: Thailand vs Filipina, Rajamangala      
27/11, Pkl. 16:30: Vietnam vs Filipina, Rajamangala
27/11, Pkl. 19:20: Myanmar vs Thailand, Rajamangala
30/11, Pkl. 19:20: Filipina vs Myanmar, SCG Stadium
30/11, Pkl. 19:20: Thailand vs Vietnam, Rajamangala

Grup B: di Malaysia

25/11, Pkl. 17:00: Indonesia vs Laos, Bukit Jalil
25/11, Pkl. 19:45: Malaysia vs Singapura, Bukit Jalil
28/11, Pkl. 17:00: Indonesia vs Singapura, Bukit Jalil
28/11, Pkl. 19:45: Laos vs Malaysia, Bukit Jalil
1/12, Pkl. 19:45: Singapura vs Laos, Shah Alam
1/12. Pkl. 19:45: Malaysia vs Indonesia, Bukit Jalil

Semifinal

Leg 1
8/12: Runner-up Grup A vs Pemenang Grup B    
9/12: Runner-up Grup B vs Pemenang Grup A    
Leg 2
12/12: Pemenang Grup B vs Runner-up Grup A
13/12: Pemenang Grup A vs Runner-up Grup B    
       
Final

Leg 1
19/12: Pemenang Semifinal 1 vs Pemenang Semifinal 2    
Leg 2
22/12: Pemenang Semifinal 2 vs Pemenang Semifinal 1

Familiar Names

The season may be over but I'm in the midst of two "wicked" busy weeks without much time to devote to the blog so . . .

Check out ESPNBoston for a high school report on Dartmouth-bound Lucas Bavaro, who tells the site he's ticketed to play safety with the Big Green. Bavaro chose Dartmouth over Colgate. He is the son of Mark Bavaro, the former tight end best known for his play with the New York

Back In Action

Dunno why it's been happening but occasionally Blogger goes a little  bonkers and tries to say I've abandoned the blog. Hasn't happened.

We're back from Happy Valley and the blog will come back to life Monday morning.

OSU Healing Picture If Al Borges Ran the MZone

I'm going to put in the same effort for this healing picture that Al Borges put into calling the 2nd half.  Why should I try harder?  Hell, I don't even get paid for this.

Loss of NHL games with Gary Bettman as Commissioner

Updated for NHL's additional cancellation of games on Dec. 10, 2012: As of December 10, the NHL has cancelled 526 of the 1230 regular season games scheduled for the 2012-13 NHL season.  10.1% 9.5% of regular season games under Gary Bettman have been cancelled.  No other commissioner is close and even when they are combined, they aren't close.

Back in October, I tweeted about loss of regular season games by commissioner by percent and in the aggregate.  With the 2012-13 NHL season on the brink (as Nathaniel Grow explained), I figured it might be helpful to see some updated math.

Here are my calculations for NHL commissioner Gary Bettman:

NHL Season    Regular S Games    Games Lost

1992-93             384*                         0

1994-93           1092                          0

1994-95           1092                      468               

1995-96           1066                          0               

1996-97           1066                          0               

1997-98           1066                          0               

1998-99           1107                          0               

1999-00           1148                          0               

2000-01           1230                          0               

2001-02           1230                          0               

2002-03           1230                          0               

2003-04           1230                          0               

2004-05           1230                    1230                   

2005-06           1230                         0               

2006-07           1230                         0               

2007-08           1230                         0               

2008-09           1230                         0               

2009-10           1230                         0               

2010-11           1230                         0               

2011-12           1230                         0               

            Total:               22,781                1698 = 7.4% of games cancelled through 2011-12 season.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2012-13           1230             To 12/10/2012: 526 games cancelled = 9.5% 

                                            

                                                                

                                             If 12-13 season lost: 12.2%

To date, 9.5% of games under Bettman's nearly 20 years as commissioner have been cancelled.  But if this season is cancelled, the number jumps to 12.2% of games.  That's a lot of games lost -- for owners, players and the numerous businesses (souvenir stores, restaurants/bar) dependent on NHL games being played.

Explanatory Notes and Assumptions

• NHL used 84-game regular season in 92-93, 93-94, and 94-95 seasons; in other seasons, 82-game regular season used. 

• NHL had 24 franchises in 92-93, 26 franchises from 93-94 to 97-98; 27 franchises in 98-99; 28 franchises in 99-00; and 30 franchises from 00-01 to present.

• Bettman became commissioner on Feb. 1, 1993.  By that date most of the 92-93 season had been played.  The Boston Bruins, for instance, had played 52 of their 84 regular season games.  Other teams had played about the same, give or take a game.  Assuming the 24 franchises had 32 games left, then Bettman was commissioner for 384 games in the 92-93 season (768 remaining games to be played by teams, divided by two since each game has two teams).

 

Context and Caveats

• It's important to stress that loss of games has many explanations, and not just who is the person occupying the commissioner’s job.  Clearly, the wishes of individual franchise owners and their level of unity in bargaining matter.  The willingness and ability of players’ associations to organize players and reasonably compromise with the league also matter.

• Evaluating a commissioner invites numerous metrics, including growth of revenue and popularity of sport.  Most would say Bettman has done well on those and other fronts, though expansion into southern U.S. states remains a questionable business strategy.

Key Take Away:

While context matters and while blame should be shared with owners and players, it's hard to escape these numbers when compared to other leagues' commissioners: Far more games have been lost under Bettman's watch than have been lost under commissioners of the NFL, NBA and MLB. 

In fact, no games have been lost under Roger Goodell’s leadership (6 years on the job), and just 2% of games have been lost under the leadership of David Stern (28 years on the job) and Bud Selig (20 years on the job). Those commissioners can certainly be criticized for many things, but they have succeeded in ensuring that scheduled games are played.  Games being played is obviously not only a concern for owners and players - the two groups who have the authority to resolve a labor dispute.  It's also one for those who have no formal say at the bargaining table: fans who buy tickets, networks that enter into broadcasting contracts to televise games, and apparel stores and restaurants that enter into business contracts assuming they will generate business from games being played.

If Bettman's games lost percent rises to 12%, it will be a percent of games much higher than all of the other commissioners combined -- and it's already higher as it is.

NHL Decertification Talk Heats Up

Following up on Michael McCann's post from Monday, talk of a potential decertification of the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) heated up this week.  After the NHL owners rejected a new union proposal on Wednesday, the players have increasingly appeared willing to dissolve their union in order to pursue antitrust litigation against the league (see this report by James Mirtle).  In fact, on Thursday, Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller publicly endorsed the decertification strategy, in the process calling out the NHL's outside legal counsel, the Proskauer Rose firm, by name. 

Given the increased possibility that NHL players will dissolve their union, several Sports Law Blog contributors have been interviewed in the past few days to discuss the procedural steps involved in a potential decertification of the NHLPA, as well as the strategy's likely impact.  In particular, Gabe Feldman answered some decertification questions for CBC, and Michael McCann discussed the issues with Canadian Business magazine, while I spoke to the Globe and Mail.  Here's a excerpt of my discussion:

Let’s start with the basics. Why might decertification make sense for NHL players here?

A. There’s kind of a benefit and a drawback. There are some protections you get under labour law when you’re in a bargaining situation like this. By having a union, the players under U.S. labour law get protection against the owners committing certain unfair labour practices.

So they get some benefits out of the unionization, but the downside is you can’t then file an antitrust lawsuit against the ownership while you’re still engaged in that collective bargaining relationship.

The trade off is do we want to have union protections or would we rather dissolve the union and pursue antitrust remedies. You can’t have your cake and eat it, too. You have to pick.

From the perspective of why is it a good thing to do now: The main benefit is probably leverage... If we file an antitrust lawsuit, it adds uncertainty for the owners. If this lockout gets declared to be a violation of U.S. antitrust law then the players’ damages are going to be tripled.

I thought I saw one estimate that the players were losing something like $10-million per day. If you use that as a ballpark, if they’ve missed 70 days, you’re talking about $700-million times three; that’s a huge number potentially. There’s leverage for the players.  The No. 1 thing they would shoot for presumably would be to end the lockout [using a preliminary injunction]. Even if they don’t get that, long term, they still have that threat of the antitrust legislation and the triple damages hanging over ownership.

MZone Exclusive: U-M Football Team Arriving in Columbus

How bad is it for the Wolverines when they arrive in Columbus?  Check out this exclusive video of Michigan's football team pulling up to the Horseshoe:



And yes, Harrison Ford is on the U-M staff this season.

Know Your Foe: Ohio 2012

It's finally here:  Meeechigan vs Ohio State. Maize and Blue vs Scarlet and Gray.  The greatest rivalry in all of college football.  A showdown so special that not even Jim Delany can screw it up, try as he might.

Tomorrow marks the 109th edition of The Game.  Last year, Michigan beat Ohio for the first time since 2003 (although Ohio hasn't beaten Michigan in a game that's still in the record books since 2009 thanks to the exploits of Cheaty McSweatervest) and Michigan holds a 58-44-6 overall advantage in the series.  But that you know, what you didn't know about the angry mob of f-bomb aficionados from That School in Ohio is found below - in the final regular season edition of Know Your Foe, fergodssake.

1870: The last year they didn't have
to vacate some of their wins.
OSU: Where even the book on
their seal is blank.  O-H!

History - The school was founded as THE Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1870 as a land grant institution.  Later that year, the first group of 24 students, including three women, started attending classes (while probably wearing "Fuck Michigan" shirts).  Like most land-grant schools of the era, an internal battle was fought to determine the mission of the school. On one side was the "narrow gauge" crowd, looking to teach subjects strictly related to agriculture and mechanical functions. On the other side was the "broad gauge" crowd looking for a more diversified curriculum that included liberal arts and sciences. As was the case in almost all of these land grant battles, the “broad gauge” side eventually won. In 1878, in light of an expanded focus, the college permanently changed its name to Ohio State University.

But that wasn't the only battle for OSU, because the school was also under fire from other schools within the state of Ohio. Both Miami University and Ohio University were considered more prestigious institutions at the time -- and they were justifiably upset to not be selected as THE state university and the recipient of government allocations. Former U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes lobbied hard for monies for Tosu, mocked the other schools, and basically browbeat the state legislature to give the new institution a prominent position above Miami and OU. In the end, the state legislature settled the issue by declaring Ohio State as the only school that would be allowed to offer doctoral degrees. Miami and Ohio would be limited to Bachelor and Masters Programs.  This also established the proud Tosu trend of bullies named Hayes bringing their school glory.

Location - Columbus, Ohio.  The city - named after the lost explorer - is the capitol and largest in the state of Ohio. Many folks are surprised to learn that C-bus is the biggest because the cities of Cleveland and Cincinnati are more well known, home to major league sports teams, and not the center of evil in the known universe.  According to Benny's 2007 KYF, Columbus has kept its largest city in Ohio title by bullying the few surrounding suburbs into annexation in exchange for sewer and water service that the city controls (thus making Michigan fans who call the city a sewer not too far off).

Nickname -  The Buckeye is the official state tree and a creative term of endearment for the pioneers on the Ohio frontier.  Apparently, one of the first acts of the original settlers was to cut one of these stinky trees down and somehow this led to calling themselves buckeyes ever since. The leaves appear in a five-leaf cluster, and the fruit (nut) resembles the eye of a deer, thus the name: buck-eye.  It’s poisonous to humans, horses, cattle, and coaches as it apparently causes them to punch opposing players and lie to the NCAA.

Coincidentally, there is a city in the U.S. named Buckeye, though it's in Arizona, not Ohio.

Mascot - In 1965, Ohio State students Ray Bourhis and Sally Huber decided Ohio State needed a “game day” mascot and persuaded the athletic council to study the matter. At the time, mascots were commonly live animals brought into the stadium or arena. A buck deer was contemplated but that idea was eventually rejected given the impossible logistics of keeping a deer calm in a large crowd (even a deer can only hear so many f-bombs before losing its shit).

Instead, they went with a 40-pound paper-maché buckeye nut which was worn over the head and torso, with legs sticking out.  They named him Brutus Buckeye. He made his initial appearance at the 1965 homecoming football game against Minnesota. The heavy costume did not last long and it was soon replaced by a more permanent and durable fiberglass shell. Sometime during the 1970’s they added a baseball cap to the bucknut with limbs. Today Brutus looks like something out of a muppet nightmare, frightens anyone he comes in contact with, angers other mascots into an uncontrollable rage and causes still others to do this on YouTube.

Thing-Atop-A-Donut-Shop Brutus...Lonely Brutus...Asshole Frat Guy Brutus

Colors - Scarlet and Gray. The official colors were selected by three students in 1878. The reasoning for the combination was that they were a “pleasing combination” and weren’t being used by any other college. The original selection of orange and black was shot down when the students discovered that Princeton used those colors. This was the closest Ohio State has ever come to being confused with Princeton.

Logo/Helmet - The primary athletic Ohio State logo from 1957 to 1987 was a simple, yet enduring block “O”. Since 1987 they have added a more modern “Ohio State” arched through the middle. They have a ton of secondary logos, the most common combining the classic “O” with a buckeye leaf and nut.

One should be careful, however, not to confuse the official school logo with their now-more-well-know logo, The Buckstache.

Normally, the Buckeyes have their distinctive silver bullet helmet design.  It had been unchanged since 1968 until Nike got involved and OSU whored-out The Game with "special" and "Pro-Combat" uniforms the last couple years, including tomorrow.  They also love to award their little pot-leaf Buckeye Leaf helmet stickers.  The design was "originally drawn in 1950 by alum and comic strip artist Milton Caniff and was intended to represent the buckeye tree as a symbol for strength and sturdiness of all Ohio State students.  The first Buckeye leaf decal appeared on the helmets of the 1967 OSU football team and are still given to players today for execution of an exceptional play on the field." They're now trademarked by the school.

Fight Song - In 1915, OSU student William A. Dougherty, Jr., set out to write the perfect fight song for his school. Dougherty felt that something more exciting was needed for pep rallies and football games than the sad melancholy Carmen Ohio (which sounds like something the students would sing in Dead Poets Society).  Thus, Across the Field was born.  It debuted on October 16, 1915 against Illinois and has not stopped playing since (although it is important to note that they had to wait another 4 years before they could play it during a win against Michigan).

While this is the main fight song, Buckeye Battle Cry is played after touchdowns.  Fan favorite Hang on Sloopy (NOT Snoopy) is played every home game, and no mention of anything to do with the Ohio State music would be complete without a mention of Script O-lie-o Ohio in which their marching band boldly steps onto the field and performs a move they initially learned from the Michigan Marching Band.

As much as it pains us to say it, KYF thinks OSU's fight song and Battle Cry are top notch.  And if you've ever been in the 'Shoe when Hang on Sloopy plays, it's pretty darn cool.  Okay, enough compliments.  Let's take a look at OSU academics.

Mila Kunis is a Tosu fan?

Academics - According to the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings, OSU is #56, down from #55 last  year, tied with Noreastern (the school, not the storms).  But they did rank 16th (down from 8th last year.  Oh, sad face) in U.S. News' list of  "Up-and-Coming" Schools, tied with NC State, VCU and Biola University.  So from everybody here at the MZone, congrats and good luck with that, you Buckeye up and comers! 

Athletics - Few schools have the athletic tradition of Ohio State. They currently field 36 varsity teams and are one of only three universities (Michigan and Cal-Berkeley being the others) to have won national championships in the big three sports (football, men's basketball, and baseball).

In 2007, Sports Illustrated nicknamed Ohio State's athletic program as being "The Program" due to the unsurpassed facilities, unparalleled amount of men's and women's sport teams, their success, and the financial support of an impressive fan base."  Gee, after The Downfall, I wonder if they'd still say that today?  

Exceptional former athletes at Ohio State include Olympic Gold Medalist and Dude Who Made Hitler Eat Crow Jesse Owens, NBA greats John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas, college basketball coaching legend and chair-thrower Bobby Knight, and golf superstar Jack Nicklaus (attended, did not graduate).

Football - It is in football that most people recognize and associate Ohio State. They’ve won five recognized national championships, including most recently the 2002 crown (due to a PI flag thrown about as long after the play as it took you to read KYF thus far). They’ve won 34 Big Ten titles (a number I didn't have to update after last years KYF due to their season being wiped away). They have a combined seven Heisman Trophies including the only two-time winner: Archie Griffin in 1974 and 1975.  They have produced many NFL stars and college and pro football Hall of Famers. Famous names you might recognize include Jim Otis, Jack Tatum, Eddie George, Chris Spielman, Orlando Pace, and Cris Carter. Recent NFL first round draft picks include Chris "Beanie" Wells, Malcom Jenkins, Vernon Gholston, Anthony Gonzales, and Teddy Ginn Jr.

However, Ohio State is football probably most well known as a place that once-great coaches eventually are forced out in disgrace.  The two most iconic coaches in the school's history met such a fate: Woody Hayes for punching a Clemson football player after he intercepted Art Schlichter;  and Jim Tressel who "forgot" to tell his bosses, oh, 642 times about his players associating with shady characters, selling merchandise and lying to the NCAA.  Naturally then, Ohio State is going to honor Tressel this Saturday as he is rumored to be taking the field with the rest of the 2002 Buckeye National Championship team*.

Famous Alums - As you would expect, Ohio State has a long and somewhat impressive list of famous alums. They have many successful CEOs and political leaders. They have produced two Nobel Peace prize winners and have accumulated 10 Pulitzers. Recognizable names include former UofM President Harlan Hatcher, Tuskegee Airmen Squadron Commander Harold Brown, WWII Medal of Honor winner Robert Scott, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center co-founder Charles Kettering, Goosebumps author RL Stine, Windex inventor Harry Drackett, Shoney’s founder Alex Schoenbaum, ESPN SportsCenter director Vince Doria, Actress Patricia Heaton, annoying comedian Richard Lewis, Rascal Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox, Ric Ocasek from The Cars, country singer Dwight Yoakim, Baseball Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Buck, and the co-founder of Wikipedia Larry Sanger. They also provided an education to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. By far the most humorous and ironic name I find on this list is Teflon inventor Roy Plunkett which is probably why it took so long for folks to finally realize the truth about Tressel.

As much as Michigan fans don't want to admit it, Bo Schembechler has a graduate degree from Ohio State. From his coaching days under Woody, he also has a pair of those little gold-pants charms they give out for beating Michigan (but never tried to sell his on eBay).

KYF counted at least four NASA astronauts, there may be more. And although the state of Ohio has produced eight US Presidents (William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren Harding) -- none of them attended or graduated from Ohio State.  But they are an "Up and Coming" school.  So who knows what the future holds (although if these Buckeye fans are an indication, it ain't good).

The Game - Last year, Michigan got the monkey off its back, beating Ohio State for the first time since 2003.  Even still, KYF thinks it's actually more important for Michigan to win The Game this year than Ohio State.  If the Bucks win, Michigan's victory last year - at home against one of the weaker teams in recent OSU memory - will feel like an aberration.  A one-off to the streak* started under The Vest*.  But if Michigan can come into the Shoe and defeat Urban's undefeated team, then I think we could be one step closer to a new, back and forth, Ten Year War.  Because (unfortunately), I don't see U-M running off a Cooper-esque string of victories against Urban.  But you never know.

Sadly, KYF doesn't believe such a string will start tomorrow, with the difference being the home field:  

Michigan - 20
Ohio State -24

Another Special Teamer

Dartmouth coaches apparently didn't have to travel far to recruit a placekicker and punter for the next recruiting class. Looks as if they did some one-stop shopping.

Headed Dartmouth's way is punter Ben Kepley of Charlotte Country Day. Click here for Chris Sailer Kicking profile. Kepley joins teammate Alex Gakenheimer, a kicker, in committing to the Big Green.

From the National Camp Series Dan

Boudewijn Zenden Menjadi Asisten Pelatih Di Chelsea

Setelah resmi menunjuk Rafael Benitez sebagai pelatih Chelsea menggantikan Roberto Di Matteo yang dipecat beberapa waktu yang lalu, kini kabarnya Benitez mengajak Boudewijn Zenden untuk menjadi asistennya di Chelsea.

Zenden adalah mantan pemain Chelsea pada kurun waktu 2001-2004. Kemudian pada 2004-2006 ia bergabung dengan Liverpool menjadi anak buah Benitez.

Bila benar Boudewijn Zenden menjadi asisten Benitez, maka ini merupakan pengalaman pertama mantan pemain Chelsea tersebut bekerja sama dengan Benitez, setelah dulu pernah menjadi anak buah Benitez di Liverpool.

Happy Thanksgiving

If you will be avoiding anywhere that has a cash register tomorrow (like me) but would like to get a jump on your holiday shopping, check out the 2013 Vintage Dartmouth Big Green Football Calendar from Åsgard Press.

Calendars for Brown, Cornell, Harvard, Penn and Yale also are available, along with calendars from numerous other universities. I've had several of the calendars in the past and

Happy Thanksgiving... And Beat Ohio!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from the MZone!

Now, eat your turkey, hug Nana and get your focus back on The Game.  To help you do that, here are a couple of our favorite wallpapers that our pal Andy (@SemperBlue88 on Twitter) put together last year.

GO BLUE!

BEAT OHIO!