Bleacher Report - Articles by charlie adams

Who Will Lead the Buckeyes in 2008?

charlie adams — Fri, 16 May 2008 03:14:21 -0400

The 2008 Buckeyes are a pretty impressive team on paper; they lost only four starters from the National runner-up and they weren't even at key positions. But that's just on paper, individual players will make the difference on the field. And when talking about individual leaders for the Buckeyes, you have to start with James Laurinaitis:

DEFENSE

LB, James Laurinaitis (Sr.)

The reigning Butkus award winner and pre-season All-American is a do-it all linebacker in the mold of A.J. Hawk. He's equally adept against the run and pass and will be a top-10 pick in next year's draft. He keys the entire defense, but will need to count on solid DT play to free himself up to make plays.

CB, Malcolm Jenkins (Sr.)

A shut-down corner that was thrown away from most of last season. Due to good depth at CB, and middling safety play, he was moved into a free safety role at times. He will probably continue to see some time back there this season, but with both safeties returning, he will play corner more. Expect him to blanket the go-to receiver every game. Should be a finalist for the Thorpe award and a pre-season All-American too.

Defensive Sleepers:

DE, Lawrence Wilson (Sr.): Hurt all of last year, but he was supposed to be the main guy on the D-line last year....not Vernon Gholston...who ended up going #6 overall.

S, Kurt Coleman (Jr.): Should finally lose the stone-hands that made him miss interceptions last year and turn into the impact safety the Bucks haven't had since Donte Whitner.

OFFENSE

RB, Chris "Beanie" Wells (Jr.)

The identity of the OSU offense and a classic Big Ten bruiser in the backfield. He can run around and through people. Coupled with a superb and experienced O-line he is a Heisman favorite and is aiming to become only the 14th player to amass 2,000 yards in a season.

QB, Todd Boeckman (Sr.)

He is going to be the difference between a good and great team. All the pieces he needs to succeed are around him. Now he needs to prove that his late season performances last year were a fluke. He has the arm and the experience, he needs to turn it into production. The only things holding him back from great passing numbers are the Buckeyes defense and Beanie Wells: he simply isn't in games long enough to compile the counting stats.

Offensive Sleepers:

WR, Taurian Washington (So.) and Wr, Dane Sanzenbacher (So.): They could emerge as the slot receivers and make a lot of big catches down-field. Washington is a more vertical threat and Sanzenbacher is a possession receiver in the mold of Anthony Gonzalez.

QB, Terelle Pryor (Fr.): Terelle Pryor!!! Ok, settle down everyone. He will get only a handful of meaningful snaps per game and when he does he will likely be picking up 3-5 yard first downs on speed option plays. That being said, he is a gifted player who will bring a whole new dimension to the offense.

AL East, AL Central: Imitation is the Highest Form of Flattery

charlie adams — Tue, 13 May 2008 05:12:46 -0400

Think about the general perception of the AL East over the last 15 years.

Since I have been following baseball (McGwire and Sosa's [PED induced] HR contest is the starting point) the AL East has had a similar set of storylines.

The hated Yankees spend money like it's going out of style, and the Red Sox are not far behind. Miring in the annual competition for third place (or second, but no Wild Card berth) are the Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rays.

Perennially, the Yankees have been successful with a simple strategy: have a hole in the lineup? Plug it with an All-Star free agent. Have a hole in the bullpen? Plug it with a 40-homer FA. Have only three quality starters? You get the idea.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox were once seen as a hapless franchise, mired in constant failure: to the Yankees, to the AL playoff teams when they beat the Yankees, and to the NL pennant winner when they beat the AL. This is clearly no longer the case. The Red Sox are the defending champs and in the midst of an "almost" dynasty.

Every year a pundit or two sees the Blue Jays are seen as a "sleeper" pick, but nobody can get hurt and everybody needs to have a bounce back year for that to happen.

The Orioles are a once proud franchise that is now in the midst of a massive rebuilding. This begins with the departure of their left-handed ace for a blue-chip centerfielder.

The Rays are an up-and-coming team chalk full of prospects, but with no proven success and a long history of losing.

The roles that these teams occupy within their division are clear-cut and generally accepted by casual fans and obsessive stat-geeks alike.

Now think of the AL Central.

The Tigers have a ridiculous lineup. They acquired the lineup by trading away their best prospects.

The Indians have had a series of heartbreaking postseason losses, despite continued success in the regular season.

The White Sox have good parts and recent success. But they need "everything" to go right and their entire lineup to have a bounce back year in order to regain form.

The Twins are coming off a string of recent success and are in the midst of rebuilding. They do this, most notably, by trading away their left-handed ace for a blue chip centerfielder.

And the Royals have up-and-coming big leaguers and a good core of players to make their loyal fan base forget the long history of losing teams.

From top to bottom, the teams in these two divisions resemble each other.

The Tigers are the Yankees of 10 years ago (pre-Cashman), the Indians are the Red Sox pre-2004, the White Sox are the Blue Jays from the post-Carter walk-off, the Twins are the Orioles today, and the Royals are just a couple years behind the Rays.

Perhaps this is just a coincidence. A consequence due to the fact that each division has two (seemingly) dominant teams, and the remaining teams fall into a certain pecking order naturally behind them.

Perhaps there is a cyclical nature that the divisional playoff format manifests as each team battles to win their particular division first, and the World Series second.

But, it is worth considering that each of these teams is trying to imitate each other, knowingly, or unknowingly, for better or for worse.

The Tigers have an owner who is willing to pull out all the stops. GM Dave Dombrowski is willing to go out and get all the best players, no matter what the cost down the line. The fact is, while good hitters are often available, good pitching rarely is. So the practice of acquiring the "best" players leads to a stacked lineup.

The Indians have a long-term minded GM, excellent scouts, and a balanced roster. This makeup lends itself to strategic selling of parts to acquire new pieces that will provide continuity. However, it also disallows the accumulation of talent that leads to championships.

The White Sox are forced to compete with two more talented teams and must scramble to appease their loyal fan base eager to relive their recent successes. But, the parts aren't there. Each season looks more and more like a failing Frankenstein collection of parts than like a growing organization.

The Royals had a promising 2003, winning 83 games. But that season was an aberration, and 2004-2005 signaled time to blow things up and start over. The Royals are now two to three years behind the Rays in terms of organizational development. They had to start over because they didn't even have the pieces to reload their system through trades.

The Twins made their run at the World Series with top-notch pitching. Now, after realizing they don't have the horses anymore, they have traded away the face(s) of their franchise and are building upon budding stars Morneau and Mauer.

I don't know if the Tigers used the Yankees as their business plan, or if the White Sox liken themselves to the Blue Jays. But it is very apparent that the similarities between these two divisions and their respective teams runs deeper than the superficial structure of having two dominating teams.

The thought process of the fan bases, players, and management are in sync with each of their bizarre selves. As a fan of not just baseball games and teams, but a fan of organizations and the sport of baseball, I can't help but admire the way that things sort themselves out in such a particular manner.

A Question of Incentives: Why the NCAA Can't Enforce Its Own Rules

charlie adams — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:54:21 -0400

The fact that college sports are notorious for corruption in regards to recruiting, academics and booster gifting is no secret.

These practices have been occurring for a long time and will certainly continue in the foreseeable future. Why is this? The schools and NCAA hold all the power, but they are not allowed to use it. Why is this?

These questions go hand-in-hand and to separate them dilutes the argument and will lead to no real change. The current system has little to no incentives for individual players to abstain from accepting gifts from boosters, runners or agents.

Think of Reggie Bush: he allegedly accepted gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars while at USC. What happened to him? He got drafted No. 2 overall and he's a hero in New Orleans.

Chris Webber? Multi-millionaire who recently retired and is one of the greatest NBA power forwards of all-time.

O.J. Mayo? Looking at a top-five draft selection and absolutely no consequences for his behavior other than re-enforcing the pre-existing "character flag" surrounding his draft prospects.

All of these infamous college athlete stories show you one thing: why wouldn't they take money? They suffered no consequences and there was no reason to take the "high road."

In short: there are absolutely zero incentives for the player or the agent to obey the rules in their current form. The worst case scenario is that a football player (no one and done careers, like basketball) gets caught accepting gifts early in his career, before establishing his pro-potential, and he is removed from the team. He loses his scholarship, can't pay for school and is left with just his original gift. That is the only scenario where there is marginal incentive for athletes to abstain.

But how often does a player get caught early? Most often, the allegations come to light well after the infraction occurs and the punishment isn't levied until much later.

What would possibly stop O.J. Mayo from accepting money? He knew he was gone after one season in the NCAA before he started. Take the money and run.

How do we stop this mentality? Reggie Bush served his mandatory playing time, took the money, avoided getting caught until he was already a Heisman-winner and is now happily in the NFL.

How do we prevent this from happening again? Simple: prevent them from playing professionally. This seems to be a ridiculous solution, but unless it comes to that point, the ultimate goal of playing professionally is not being blocked and the players aren't going to heed to the rules.

This of course, is the problem. You can't prevent players from pursuing a professional career because that is unconstitutional. The NCAA can limit eligibility when they detect, investigate, and rule that a violation has been committed.

But by this point, it's too late. The only true way to completely stop the money flowing is to make the punishment so effective that no player would dream of entertaining the idea of accepting gifts.

The only punishment that would do this would be to prevent them from making even more money in the future. This of course is illegal; so enjoy the games, let's keep turning our collective blind eye, but realize that most kids are on the right path and most schools turn away the runners before they get in the door.

Ohio State: Guaranteed to Disappoint

charlie adams — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 19:35:58 -0400

Buckeyes fans beware, you are going to make the NCAA tourney. The combination of first-team all Big Ten PG Jamar Butler's leadership and SG Evan Turner's athletic play will be difficult for other back courts to defend.

Couple that with the silky-smooth game of 7-foot frosh Kosta Koufos and the big-man mentality possessing Othello Hunter recently and the Bucks front-line isn't going to be outmatched by anyone in the tourney. As a likely 12-seed and proud owners of a hot streak that will get all the pundits talking, OSU will be a sexy pick to make a run to the Sweet 16.

Depressing, I know. Say hello to inflated expectations after a drubbing of Michigan State, and a very close loss to Wisconsin. And say goodbye to Koufos, he's going to play with the Big Boys following a sparkling late season run a la Mike Conley. With his high-profile performances in the Big Ten tourney, and NCAA's, the Buckeye dream of starting two 7-footers (with next year's BJ Mullens) will be put to bed. So too will the Bucks "magical' late-season run when they run smack into any team with an all-around big man and some semblance of back court consistency.

You see it is these two things that have plagued the Buckeyes for the entire season, save the last two, where pure desperation has overcome these deficiencies. There is no consistency and no rebounding from the 2-3 zone which prevents high shooting percentages, but yields constant offensive rebounds. In addition, it never allows for fast breaks which would more effectively leverage OSU's superior athletes, while minimizing their lack of experience.

So, after "upsetting" the number five or number six seed paired against Ohio State, all of Buckeye Nation will be in an uproar, phrases like "realized potential" and "coming of age" will get jammed down our collective throats.

In the end, the Bucks will get down big, come roaring back with their superior talent and then lack the stones to put themselves over the top.

Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce you to your potential Sweet 16 appearing and eternally disappointing 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes. Better look forward to Beanie, cause there is nothing but disappointment waiting for OSU in Indianapolis this weekend. Whether you know it or not.