One of my favorite things that happened on a routine basis with my teammates at Ohio State was when they would start sentences with either the words “real talk” or the much more entertaining and hilarious phrase “on some real s**t.” By starting their sentence with one of these phrases, they are basically telling everyone, “I was just messing around with everything else I have ever said in my life. That all means nothing compared to what I’m about to say, so please give me your undivided attention because I’m going to talk about something that is more serious and more important than global warming, AIDS, and Wrestlemania combined.” What made this so funny to me was that each and every time one of my teammates led with one of those phrases, they always would inevitably follow it up by saying something that couldn’t possibly be more irrelevant. Because of this, it was common for one of them to walk into our locker room after practice, get everyone’s attention, and then say something along the lines of, “Real talk, Martin had me rollin back in the day.” Sometimes, if they really wanted to drive the point home, they’d even throw in “and that’s on my momma” for good measure. Some people just know how to eloquently present an argument.
Having said all of that, it’s time for some real talk. My favorite month of the year, Movember, starts on Monday, which means on Monday it’s time to quite literally separate the men from the boys. Those of you who have been members of the Trillion Man March for awhile surely remember Movember from last year. If you’re new to the party, though, and don’t know about Movember, check out my blog post from last year that explained everything. Here are a few important paragraphs for those of you who are too lazy to simply click on a link:
It was brought to my attention by a few members of the Trillion Man March that the month of November marks a very important time for lovers of mustaches and haters of prostate cancer. That’s because November has been dubbed “Movember” by a couple of Australians, which may initially sound like a month-long tribute to GUTS announcer, Mo Quirk, but is actually an event that was started to raise prostate cancer awareness (apparently “mo” is an Australian slang term for mustache). I thought Movember was just another event started by guys in high school who wanted an excuse to grow out their peach fuzz without upsetting their moms, but as it turns out, Movember is actually the biggest charity event in the world that is targeted exclusively for men, having raised over $47 million to date. It’s like the men’s equivalent of Race For The Cure, except instead of using your legs all you have to use are your upper lip hair follicles.
Even though one out of every six American men will get prostate cancer at some point in time, it should be noted that I can’t think of anyone close to me who has ever had the disease. I’m not trying to get you to care because prostate cancer has personally destroyed my life by inflicting the people around me. It’s not like that at all. I’m just trying to get you to care because Movember provides a great opportunity to have an excuse to grow a mustache and also provides a great opportunity to raise awareness for a good cause. You can become a better person simply by growing out your mustache. Call me crazy but I think this might be the epitome of a win-win situation.
In short, Movember is an initiative to raise awareness and money for prostate cancer research. Prostate cancer is to men what breast cancer is to women, only more people care about breast cancer because, well, breast cancer affects boobs and everybody loves boobs. Since there isn’t as much of a focus on prostate cancer in this country as there is on breast cancer, the main goal with Movember is basically to show people that a man’s prostate can be just as sexy as a nice pair of hooters. Naturally, this is done by growing mustaches.
So here’s the plan. Since statistics say that at least 500 people reading this will end up getting prostate cancer at some point in their lives, I’ve decided that the Trillion Man March needs to do its part to kick prostate cancer in the nuts and give it the fiercest powerbomb of all-time. This can be accomplished two different ways.
Most of you are either in high school/college or have recently graduated college, which is another way of saying that most of you are ridiculously broke. Shoot, there are probably some of you that have been out of school for years and are still broke because you either have spending habits like my former OSU teammate, Daequan Cook (I heard rumors that he bought 13 flat screen TVs for just his living room immediately after signing his first NBA contract), or you have more likely fallen victim to the terrible economy. This first way of helping out doesn’t apply to you, so you can stop paying attention for a second. But, for those of you who have somehow found a way to successfully pay off all those student loans that went towards countless Trapper Keepers and Lisa Frank products, this first way of helping out just might be for you. The ultimate goal with Movember is to obviously raise money for prostate cancer research, so if you are in a financially stable place, you can help make this happen by donating whatever your heart desires. One member of the TMM, Matthew, took it upon himself to make a group on the official Movember site, so if you do want to make a donation, please click on this link, fill out the information to join Matthew’s group, and donate like your life depends on it (because it very well could someday).
As for those of us who aren’t rolling in the benjamins (the cool kids still say that, right?), we get to take on prostate cancer in a much more exciting way by growing out our mustaches for an entire month (it goes without saying that it’s perfectly fine to both donate and grow a stache). I’ve already pointed out that a majority of the Trillion Man March falls into the “dudes who are broke, man” demographic (myself included), which means that a majority of you will probably be taking part in Movember just by growing your stache. And since mustache growing will be the main way the TMM participates in Movember, I’ve decided to have a contest to establish who in the TMM is the manliest man of all. The only rules are as follows:
You must shave your entire face (excluding eyebrows) down to the skin on October 31st. This is on an honor system. If you know you can’t grow an awesome stache, it’s ok. Just do the best you can. But whatever you do, don’t be a jealous doucher and cheat.
Your stache can’t connect to itself or your sideburns anywhere on your face. If this happens, you have either a goatee or a beard, which means you no longer have a stache.
The best mustache doesn’t necessarily mean the longest mustache. Creativity is taken into account, so doing something like this is every bit as impressive as growing a Sam Elliott stache (ok, so not really but you get what I’m saying here).
Send me pictures of your stache throughout the entire month of Movember and I’ll post them on the blog as we move closer to judgment day on November 30th.
The ultimate winner will be decided by a TMM vote and will win a case of Barbasol shaving cream for being so manly, as well as a free shirt (your choice between either CLUB TRIL or FUNDAMENTALS MONTAGE!!!) for being so awesome.
Just so you’re mentally prepared, this is what you’ll be up against:
“Who wants a mustache ride?”
Based on past experience, I know that many of you work for companies or bosses who suck and won’t let you grow out facial hair of any kind for any reason. The unfortunate reality about the world we live in is that some people just don’t get it. If the economy was better I would coerce you all to participate anyway, but getting fired seems like an awful idea right now, so I won’t give you too much trouble for not participating. I truly am sorry. Fortunately, most of the TMM is comprised of college-aged guys whose only responsibilities are to skip class and get drunk, so they can pick up the slack.
Obviously the women of the TMM also can’t take part in the mustache contest because you all can’t grow mustaches (unless, of course, you’re an elderly librarian or lunch lady). If you have your heart set on doing something for Movember, I suggest you make a pledge to yourself to only party with guys who have mustaches all month. If you’re a high school girl, refuse to give your class ring or go to the school dance with any guy who doesn’t at least have a little peach fuzz. If you’re a girl in college, take a stand and only let guys with staches do body shots off of you (that would probably feel better for you anyway – not that I’d know or anything). You get the idea.
Finally, I thought I would address something that might be giving a few of you cold feet. Some of you might be asking yourself, “How exactly does growing out my mustache for a month do anything to help prostate cancer research?” Good question. Your mustache serves as a walking advertisement to raise awareness for prostate cancer. A lot of men don’t know all that much about the disease, so half of the battle is just spreading the word. Here’s an example of how your mustache can achieve just that:
Friend: “Dude, nice mustache. You look like a pedophile that molests little kids.”
You: “A) I’m trying to raise awareness for prostate cancer by celebrating my manhood, and B) Your redundancy makes it obvious to me that you have no idea what the word ‘pedophile’ means.”
Friend: “Oh my bad, I didn’t know you worked for the grammar police. And who cares about prostate cancer? Getting rid of breast cancer is obviously much more important. Last time I checked, I’ve never gotten a pants-tent from looking at Pam Anderson’s prostates.”
You: “You are the single dumbest person I’ve ever met in my life. You should care about prostate cancer because it is the most prevalent cancer for men and affects millions of guys all over the world. It should be more important to you than breast cancer since, ya know, you’re a guy which means you actually have a chance of getting prostate cancer. Sure breast cancer research is important, but you’re never going to have to worry about getting breast cancer since dudes don’t have boobs. Well, except for Tony over there.”
(NOTE: I know that guys have breasts and can get breast cancer. Just go with me on this one.)
Tony: “Ha. Ha. Real funny. Dick. For your information, I’ve started a new diet that is actually working really well for me.”
Friend: “Oh really? What do you call it? The FATkins diet?”
You: (laughing) (high five your friend) “Good one, dude. Yeah, Tony, sitting on your ass playing Halo every day and falling asleep to anime porn every night isn’t much of a diet.”
Tony: “You guys are jerks. I’m offended and I’m leaving.”
Friend: “I would say, ‘Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out’ but chances are you actually need that to happen cause it will help you get unstuck after you get your enormous hips wedged in the doorframe.”
Tony: “I hate you both. While I’m gone, I suggest you both go die.”
You: “Tony. Got. Served.”
Friend: “Yeah, we totally served him. What a doucher. Look. He left his Halo game paused. We should go play it and ruin it for him. And maybe you can tell me more about this prostate cancer thing you were talking about earlier.”
You: “Deal.”
Real talk, Tony sucks. And that’s on my momma. __________________________________________________
After I called out the walk-on community with my last blog post, tons of walk-ons around the country emailed me to sign up for The Belt. This is very encouraging, but I still think we need more guys. So again, please email me if you are a Division I men’s basketball walk-on. Even if you aren’t eligible for The Belt, you can still help out by writing a Facebook message or something to the walk-ons for your favorite basketball team that will let them know about this awesome contest.
(I know that paragraph was copied and pasted from last time but it still applies, so shut up. Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s perfectly fine to plagiarize your own work. If it’s not, I should probably give back my college degree.) __________________________________________________
Your awesome YouTube was sent in to me by Evan T. (no, not The Villain). There’s your shout-out, Evan. And here’s your video.
Proud To Be An American But Even Prouder To Be A Buckeye,
We have a lot of exciting things planned for this year, including guest speakers and celebrating SPJ's 100th anniversary. And with a new year comes new leadership, so meet your new Ohio State SPJ officers!
President: Molly Gray "I am a senior studying journalism and international studies. I have worked for The Lanternfor three years as a sports writer, arts editor, graphics editor and managing editor of design. I have aspirations to work for a newspaper doing international reporting. After I graduate in June, I hope to attend graduate school in the D.C. area."
Vice President: Zack Meisel "I am a senior journalism/econ double major with an undying passion for sportswriting that's constantly challenged by neverending disappointment and heartbreak from my hometown Cleveland sports teams. I'll be entering my second year as sports editor for The Lantern in the fall and hope to continue to pursue a career in the field of sports journalism after graduation. This summer, I interned with the Cleveland Indians in the communications department."
Treasurer: Noah Brown
"I am a senior studying public affairs journalism, with a minor in Political Science. I am a member of the Politics Society and Laws Scholars Group. I hope to one day get into sports writing and broadcasting. I would love to be a baseball broadcaster, or to have my own sports radio talk show, probably in the Philadelphia area."
Relations Executive: Lauren Hallow
"I am (sadly) in my last year at Ohio State, where I am majoring in public affairs journalism and minoring in criminology. This is my second year writing for The Lantern, and this summer, I interned in the newsroom of WGN Radio. My dream is to write for a newspaper, but I'll work in any newsroom, really--print, radio, or television. I think I'm cool enough to make a difference..."
We had our first meeting a couple weeks ago, where we met representatives from The Lantern and Ology magazine. Keep an eye on the blog for information on future meetings, as well as links to journalism resources and general information on SPJ.
The results of a survey just last month by COPS faculty Erik Nisbet and Kelly Garrett on rumors regarding the mosque near the site of the 9-11 attacks presents some timely and theoretically relevant input into a public opinion issue that has been widely covered in the news. Go here for the OSU press release, and here for a more detailed write-up.
I was watching ESPN last week and I saw an interview they did with Ben Roethlisberger, who was suspended by the NFL because he apparently used a bathroom stall for a number other than 1 or 2 (hint: it was 69). During the interview, Roethlisberger completely jacked Magic Johnson’s concept of having an alter ego created from fame and money. In an HBO documentary that aired earlier this year, Magic explained that it wasn’t actually Earvin Johnson who routinely cheated on his wife and got HIV. It was “Magic.” Magic was the leader of the Lakers who threw behind the back passes, oozed all sorts of charisma and personality in interviews, and put his tallywhacker where it didn’t belong. Earvin was a shy kid from Michigan who was humble, respectful, and could apparently grow a kickass afro. He went on to say something like deep down he was Earvin, but fame and money had turned him into Magic. Basically, he was a victim of his own success. Poor guy.
The crazy thing about Magic’s interview was that I actually ended up feeling bad for him, even though everything he said suggested that I should have felt the exact opposite. The reason for this is because Magic is quite possibly the most likable athlete to ever live, which is why guys like me were listening to what he said and were thinking, “Wow, I never thought of it like that. Magic didn’t want to have sex with all these women, but since he was rich and famous, he had no choice.” I never once questioned his logic, because he’s Magic Johnson, and Magic Johnson could tell me that he murdered my family and destroyed every copy of FIFA ever made, and as long as he smiled and let out that hearty laugh of his, I’d probably shake his hand and tell him not to worry about it.
Ben Roethlisberger, on the other hand, comes across as a guy who is as charismatic and persuasive as Brett Favre’s penis. So when he blatantly stole Magic’s alter ego concept and said something like “I stopped being the Ben Roethlisberger who grew up in Findlay and spent his weekends sheltering the homeless, and I started becoming Big Ben, captain of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” I couldn’t help but think of how big of a jerk this guy is and how I don’t feel sorry for him at all. Sure he used the exact same excuse as Magic, but since he’s nowhere near as likable as Magic, I was furious. The excuse works for guys who have an infectious smile (and in Magic’s case, an infectious disease) or at least a likable personality. It most certainly does not work for guys who think it’s appropriate to have the most rapist-looking haircut in the world right after they’ve been accused of sexual assault.
I guess the point I’m trying to convey here is that I’m really upset that Big Ben had to completely ruin this otherwise great excuse for misbehaving. Magic laid the foundation for athletes and celebrities to save themselves with nothing more than a little charisma and an alter ego. I even used Magic’s model to formulate a plan for myself. In five to ten years, when the cops inevitably bust open my door to find a dead hooker in my bathtub and an unconscious me laying in the living room with my pants around my ankles and my face buried in a huge mound of cocaine, I was going to be so excited to tell the judge that it wasn’t me who got into all that trouble. It was The Shark. But no. Ben Roethlisberger has to go and be an unlikable sleazeball and ruin it for everyone. Wait, I got that wrong. It was Big Ben who ruined it for everyone. Ben Roethlisberger did nothing wrong. My bad.
Now that I got that off my chest, let’s open up The Cage and see if I can do my best to avoid answering your emails. Before you ask, the answer is yes – all of these are real emails from real people, except for the ones that aren’t. ___________________________________________________
My email question is: Why do you never answer emails? - Ann L.
Good question.
Dear Mark, you are my hero. I love you. -Riley A.
Good statements.
Since you are a mid twenties something man, I am sure that you were excited when you heard of NBA JAM 2010. And since you grew up in Indiana, I was wondering what you thought about the fact that Reggie Miller and Rik Smits didn't make the Pacers legends roster. - Matt S.
Even though I grew up 20 minutes from downtown Indianapolis, I admittedly have never been much of a Pacers fan. This is predominantly because I absolutely despised the way Reggie Miller played basketball, which is to say that I despised how dirty of player he was and how much he trash talked. I hated all the theatrics that came with his game and I reached my boiling point with him when he pushed off of Jordan to hit that shot in the ‘98 Eastern Conference Finals, and then proceeded to execute the worst game-winning shot celebration in history. That play alone epitomized everything I hated about Reggie Miller.
As I grew older, though, I realized that trash talking and playing dirty were woven into the fabric of basketball tradition just as much as Chuck Taylors and teammates using the N-bomb as a term of endearment. Upon learning this, I gained a greater appreciation for Reggie’s talents and actually respect the hell out of the guy now. He was one of the best clutch shooters of all-time and made the NBA that much better during his playing days. As for Rik Smits? He was always one of my favorite players if for no other reason than he had a mullet and an awesome nickname (The Dunkin Dutchman). I liked him so much that I briefly considered playing for Marist when they were recruiting me in high school, even though I knew absolutely nothing about the school or basketball program other than the fact that Rik Smits played there.
To answer your question, I think this has the potential to make the fine people of Indianapolis the most upset they’ve been since Steven Tyler disgraced our great country with his national anthem at the 2001 Indy 500. Miller and Smits are the Pacers. If you asked all the Pacer fans who will buy NBA JAM 2010 to name the first two Pacers to come to mind, every one of them would say Miller and Smits. How could they possibly leave both of these guys off the game? More importantly, who got the nod ahead of them? Travis Best?
Now that we got Moss how many more years does Favre stay for? 4? 5? 45? - Nate H.
All of the above. He will retire after four more years, come back, retire again after another year, come back, and then finally retire for good 40 years later. But his final retirement won’t be his choice. It will be God’s. Following the 2055 NFL season, an 86-year-old Brett Favre will have a heart attack, pick up the phone to dial 911, and ultimately die in stunned silence after Tracy Porter intercepts his call.
(I thought that taking an hour-long rape shower immediately after the Vikings lost the NFC Championship last year would get me over the loss. I couldn’t have been more wrong.)
Who would win in a street fight? Mark Madsen or Craig Ehlo? - Doug P.
This is a no-brainer. I’m taking Craig Ehlo over Mark Madsen in a fight of any kind, whether it be street, MMA, or pillow. This is because I’m 100% sure that he’s tougher than the Maddog. Think about it. Both of these guys are known for one thing respectively. Madsen is famous for setting white people back at least 20 years with his horrendous dancing at the Lakers championship celebration. And by 20 years, I mean that he didn’t set white people back at all because pretty much all white guys dance like that. But still.
Ehlo’s claim to fame, however, is that he was repeatedly abused by Michael Jordan. I’m guessing a lot of people reading this are Cavs fans who don’t need to be reminded, but the rest of you probably only know Ehlo because of the shot Jordan hit over him at the buzzer to knock the Cavs out of the ‘89 playoffs, when in reality he was frequently dominated by Jordan (in Ehlo’s defense, though, who wasn’t?). Along with hitting “The Shot,” Jordan’s career high of 69 points also came against the Cavs in 1990, and while Ehlo didn’t start out guarding Jordan, he certainly guarded him (or attempted to) for a majority of the game. Ehlo got abused by Jordan so much, in fact, that during a game in Chicago, following a play in which Jordan scored on Ehlo even though Ehlo had wrapped him up with both arms, one of the game announcers was in such disbelief at how frequently plays like that happened that he felt compelled to say, “It always happens to Craig Ehlo” (I’m too lazy to look it up on YouTube, but I can just about guarantee that you’ll be able to find it). Jordan obviously had many victims during his career, but nobody got abused on a regular basis by Jordan like Craig Ehlo did. Nobody. Sorry, Cavs fans.
So what does that have to do with fighting? It’s pretty simple, really. People have spent the past 10 years telling Madsen that he sucks at dancing, which is something that I’m sure he’s somewhat proud of. Meanwhile, people have been telling Craig Ehlo for the past 15+ years that he’s Jordan’s bitch. You and I can’t even fathom how much pent-up anger Ehlo is waiting to unleash because of this. That’s why I think if these guys really got into a fight, Ehlo would be like the disgruntled employee who finally snaps and shows up to work with a shotgun, only instead of pumping bullets into his co-workers he would be pumping a steady dose of knuckle sandwiches into Mark Madsen’s face.
I think it's fair to say that I anticipated FIFA 11 just about as much as anyone. And, of course, was disappointed just as much as everyone. My roommate is the only one of my friends to share a love for the beautiful game. We got FIFA 10 last year to start preparing for the World Cup, and it was a great ride. I've even been getting up at 9:55 on Saturdays to watch EPL games. When FIFA 11 arrived we spent the next 2 days playing it and came to the conclusion that indeed it did suck, and maybe we'll just have to play FIFA 10. A few days go by and we give it another chance. Sure enough, I hate it just as much as before, however... he now pulls a 180 and says he likes it better than it's predecessor. I was floored. He read the first paragraph of your latest blog, and closed it. He refused to read, as he called it, “garbage.” So my question is - 1. Is his TMM membership revoked? and B. How do I best handle this doucher? - Dan W.
As much as I’d like to revoke his TMM membership, the fact is that the only crime he’s guilty of is loving FIFA too much, which obviously isn’t a crime at all. I would be a hypocrite to denounce him for defending FIFA, so I can’t exactly be that upset.
However, anyone who thinks FIFA 11 is better than FIFA 10 is obviously completely out of their mind. These are the same people who probably prefer the first Home Alone, the second version of DX, and the Third Reich. These people are so off-base with their thinking that they can’t be rationalized with. There is no saving your friend. I suggest you knock him unconscious, throw him in the trunk of your car, drive until you reach the depths of hell, and then leave his ass to rot in Ann Arbor, Michigan for being so dumb. Or you could just draw penises on his face the next time he passes out. Whatever works for you.
What are your thoughts on Rufus taking on Brutus? - Justin B.
I’m kinda split on this particular mascot attack. On the one hand, I’m all for mascot-on-mascot violence because every time it happens, it’s always hilarious to me. Always. Plus, when the kid who dressed up as Rufus was interviewed, he said that the only reason he ever tried out in the first place was because he knew that OU played Ohio State and he wanted to attack Brutus. I completely respect this kid’s ambition and desire to achieve his dreams. But, on the other hand, he kinda took a cowardly approach by springing a surprise attack on Brutus. There is absolutely no honor in how he went about doing it which kinda takes away from the act altogether. If you’re going to start a mascot fight, you gotta do it the old fashioned way – walk up behind the other mascot and give him a nice little shove. When he turns around to acknowledge your shove, you shove him again to let him know that it wasn’t an accident and that it most certainly is on. From there, you wait a second to let him have a chance to process what exactly is going on, and then you unleash hell. That’s the only fair way to go about it that still makes for great theater. It’s Mascot Fighting 101.
When I first read about this mascot fight, I was immediately struck by how awesome both mascot names are. I was sure that a fight between Rufus and Brutus would have to be the greatest combination of mascot names that could possibly get into a fight, but like most things, I was wrong. After doing a little Wikipedia research, I’ve decided that the best possible mascot fight that could ever take place, based solely on the names of the mascots involved, would be if Scrotie (from the Rhode Island School of Design) fought Gaylord (from Campbell University). Can you imagine the headlines if this ever happened? I would actually go buy a newspaper for once in my life, just so I could have a copy of a paper with an inadvertently hilarious headline like “Gaylord Wrestles With Scrotie.” Another element of hilarity is added when you consider that this story is absolutely unGooglable, because Googling “gaylord” and “scrotie” together would result in nothing but gay porn on at least the first 27 pages of results (not that I would know or anything). That really would be the greatest mascot fight ever. I dare you to check out the Wikipedia list of mascots and come up with something better than that.
Speaking of homosexuality…
I played D3 hoops and we always had uncomfortable conversations about why one or two guys would rather hike back to the dorms in the winter weather than get into the team shower mix. Along those lines, were you a shower sandal wearer, or were you willing to take that risk? Did you ever pee on your feet as a faux method to kill fungus? Did your teammates offer to do it for you? Was my locker room just that weird? - CC
First I’ll answer your questions - no, yes (just to freak out my teammates who apparently never realized that I’d douse my feet in soap after I did it), no, and yes if your teammates offered to do it for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll address something that should have been addressed long ago.
Locker room shower etiquette is one of the most confusing things in the world to me, right up there with the female anatomy and Three 6 Mafia winning an Oscar. In all my years of playing sports, I’ve never understood it. It’s completely counterintuitive for one fairly obvious reason.
It’s no secret that male athletes (specifically football and basketball players) are some of the most homophobic people on the planet. This is solely because they have an unspoken pressure to be as tough as they possibly can, and doing anything that could ever be perceived as “gay” would completely destroy their macho reputation in their minds. This is why they annoyingly overuse the phrase “no homo” on a regular basis (“no homo but I’m really hungry”), because even the slightest act of “gayness” would destroy an athlete’s reputation among his colleagues. Yet these are the same people who see no problem with packing twelve naked guys into a tiny communal shower area or making fun of a teammate with a small penis. It truly is perplexing.
And then there are women athletes, who are often stereotyped as being lesbians, even though a majority of them aren’t. But even so, anyone who has ever been on spring break can tell you that there are tons of straight girls who are willing to make out with each other if you offer them $20 or simply start a convincing group chant. Women athletes don’t have that macho perception to live up to, which is why they tend to be much less paranoid about being perceived as gay. But if you were to ask women athletes if they use the locker room showers after their games, nearly all of them would say something along the lines of, “That’s disgusting. Why would we do that?” It truly is perplexing.
Speaking of homosexuality…
My bromate named Chris continually bashes soccer for only being for homosexual people. Do you believe that assessment is true? - Terry P.
What is your greatest experience with a Thad Matta halftime or postgame tongue lashing? - Caleb W.
A little known fact about Coach Matta is that he might be the worst yeller in the history of getting angry. What I mean by this is that it’s completely unnatural for him to yell, so when he does it’s hard to take him seriously. He’s the consummate “players’ coach,” which is why I was able to write my blog and act like an idiot on a daily basis. Because of this, he rarely ever screamed at us and when he did it was always a little forced. Looking back, it was always pretty funny when he yelled but one story involving his yelling sticks out more than any other, even though it wasn’t at halftime or after a game.
During my freshman year at Ohio State, Coach Matta began having back problems that eventually led to him having foot drop in his right foot that still plagues him today. Before his injury, one of his favorite ways of expressing his anger during practice was to dropkick a basketball into the Schottenstein Center stands. When yelling simply wasn’t getting the job done, he’d find a ball laying close to him scream a few four-letter words, and cherry bomb for the upper deck. But when he started having back problems, he obviously couldn’t punt basketballs anymore, so he had to start improvising.
Maybe the funniest moment in my Ohio State career happened at one practice after Coach Matta’s back problems came up. He got upset with the way we were playing, presumably because Ivan Harris was shooting too many fade-away threes and Ron Lewis was smacking his lips at everybody, and stopped practice to unleash a furious tirade. After he thought he got through to us, we started practicing again. But on the very first play back, somebody didn’t do something right (my guess is that Daequan Cook forgot that he had to run to the other end of the floor and play defense after he scored) and Coach Matta lost it. He temporarily forgot about his foot drop as he searched for a basketball to punt into the stands. When he eventually found one, the proverbial light bulb in his head went off telling him that kicking a basketball is right next to swinging a golf club and receiving a powerbomb on the list of “The Absolute Worst Things You Could Possibly Do With A Bad Back.” Upon realizing this, Coach Matta turned to a nearby assistant coach and quickly told him something that was undoubtedly along the lines of “kick this for me.”
The assistant (who will remain unnamed for his sake) was obviously flustered by the request, because it was probably the last thing he expected to hear. Plus, he hadn’t even been that upset that we were playing badly, or at least he certainly wasn’t mad enough to want to kick a basketball. Still, the assistant didn’t want to upset Coach Matta more than he already was, so he quickly wound up to kick the ball. But instead of kicking it, he almost completely whiffed, as the ball grazed the side of his foot and rolled to the other end of the court. When this happened, the assistant was so embarrassed about whiffing that he actually became just as mad as Coach Matta, even though it was for a completely different reason. In a hilarious turn of events, the assistant coach decided that the best way to release the anger that he had just developed was to, you guessed it, dropkick another basketball. He hurriedly grabbed another ball and again wound up to boot the snot out of it. This time he made a little better contact, with “little” being the operative word here. The ball shot off the side of his foot as he shanked the kick into only the fifth row of the stands. I started laughing so hard that I had to bury my face in my jersey, and eventually acted like I had to pee so I could leave the gym without getting busted for not taking things seriously. It was, without a doubt, the worst execution of an angry tirade by a coaching staff that I’ve ever witnessed.
Ok, so maybe it wasn’t the funniest thing to happen when I was at Ohio State. But it’s still pretty funny to think about a pissed off Coach Matta delegating the role of ball-kicker to a flustered assistant coach, who just so happened to be so bad a kicking that he made Ray Finkle look like Morten Andersen.
Just was wondering what your thoughts are on OSU basketball team this upcoming year. Think they will be as good as you guys were last year even with the loss of The Villain? I know they have a good incoming freshman class that will help, especially with Sullinger. So just seeing what your thoughts are on the subject. - JJ S.
Obviously I could make some wisecracks about how Ohio State is going to struggle to replace me and my record for the most wins in the history of the program. And I could joke about how I brought so many intangibles to the team that I’m just as synonymous with intangibility as MC Hammer. And I could also make some funnies about how screwed the team will be because they’ll have one less silky smooth J to have to keep in check during practice, which means they won’t be nearly as prepared as they should be for games. I could do all those things, but since most of you are probably Ohio State fans who really do want to know how good the team will be, I’ll give you my honest opinion on this year’s team.
I fully expect this year’s team to be every bit as good as our team from last year, even though they lost The Villain. In fact, I think they might actually be better off without The Villain. Obviously, on the surface it seems like I’m saying this just because I want to take shots at The Villain, but the truth is that last year we won or lost based on how he played. Clearly he played well more often than not, but even so, many of our games consisted of four guys standing around watching Evan take over. This became a problem during a few stretches of last season. There’s no way that they’ll be able to replace The Villain this year, but I don’t think they necessarily need to. This team will have a lot more parity, which will force teams to plan their defenses around more than one guy.
On an individual level, I really think Will Buford will be the best player in the Big Ten this year, which may be surprising to hear for some people. I don’t think he has much of a chance to win the Big Ten POY simply because of the fact that the people who vote for these things are unfathomably stupid, but he certainly has the talent to be phenomenal this year. From what I’ve seen over the summer and early this fall, Will has not only improved his basketball skills, but he’s also taken his mental approach to a whole new level. Last year he kinda took a backseat and picked his spots throughout the season, but this year he’s already showing signs of being the undisputed go-to guy on the team. He’s playing his ass off right now and I would say his swagger is through the roof, except I’ve never actually used the word “swagger” to describe anything in my life and I really don’t want to start now. But you get the idea.
As for some of the other guys – Dallas Lauderdale finally gave in to his baldness and shaved his head, which is hilariously awesome to me. Dave Lighty has promised me that since this is his 17th and last year at OSU, he’s planning on making it his best. And Jon Diebler is still the same doucher he’s always been.
Oh, and Coach Matta told me that Jared Sullinger is the best player he’s ever recruited. Ever. And this was when Jared was at least 30 pounds overweight. He’s since lost a lot of weight and is in much better shape. Translation: I’m going to every home game this year.
Which brings us to the next email…
I'm a freshmen here at the great OSU. Basketball tickets go on sale today, and the games I've been to I (and I'm sure you also) have noticed some great fans in the student section such as Red Man Group and the Cowboy. With the basketball fans getting a lot of flack about not being good enough and the reforms they made to the student section this year (behind the bench), do you have any ideas for one person or a group of people to get a 4 year tradition of great Buckeye fanhood? The only idea I have that is decent (or maybe not) would be to have 5 guys all in full uniform behind the bench every game and call ourselves "Second String" or something like that. So let me know if you've got some good ones and you can see your work in action this winter at the games. - Eric L.
If there’s one thing I’ve always wished I was better at, it’s parkour. But if there’s two things I wished I was better at, they’re parkour and coming up with creative ideas for basketball fans or fantasy football/intramural team names. For some reason I always draw a blank on these kinds of things, probably because I have never actually experienced any of them. I’ve never played intramurals or fantasy football and I was always too busy making it rain to think about creative basketball fan costumes or signs, which is why I think I’m so far behind on the creative curve with this stuff. It’s a lame, copout of an excuse, I know. But I really think this Second String idea is solid. I’d go with that if I were you.
I’m a sophomore in high school. Today I was eating lunch and like we do everyday, we were shooting trick shots into the trash can with our empty Gatorade bottles, the only drink for high quality athletes. I made a behind the back bounce off one table and over our assistant principal. I just wanted a judgment of this shot from a respected, honorable American like yourself. On a scale from 1 to the size of Greg Oden's penis, what would you rate this shot? - Nathan P.
Without video evidence, I just don’t see how I can give it anything higher than a Brett Favre.
Since there has been a tremendous lack of historical wrestling flavor in your blog save for a few small references, I would like to share with you that two of the all-time legends, Ric Flair and Mick Foley, will battle it out in the upcoming TNA Impact in somewhat of a "Last Match". Where does this fall in the list of all-time saddest wrestling moments? - AJ K.
In order, here’s my list of the Top 10 all-time saddest moments in wrestling history:
My parents telling me when I was in 3rd grade that I couldn’t watch wrestling anymore because it’s “filth.” It would be almost five years before I started watching again. An obvious choice for #1.
Owen Hart falling to his death
Chris Benoit murders/suicide
The Montreal Screwjob
Ric Flair and Mick Foley – “Last Match”
Keller showing me a particular zoomed in screen shot from the X-Pac and Chyna sex tape (if you don’t know what I’m talking about, consider yourself lucky – you honest to God don’t want to know)
Mae Young giving birth to Mark Henry’s hand baby (sad because it was an awkward and embarrassingly terrible storyline)
The Rock starring in The Tooth Fairy
The fact that this video doesn’t even have 60,000 views
I know it goes without saying, but just so we’re clear – the greatest moment in wrestling history is without a doubt “The Plane Ride from Hell,” highlighted by Ric Flair trying to get a flight attendant’s attention by spinning his penis in circles while wearing nothing but one of his badass robes.
I've been thinking for some time that you're input could be valuable on this subject. Since last winter my roommates and I have debated what would be the best way to "make whoopee" with Jillian from The Biggest Loser. I guess there really are a lot of excellent options to go about this but the following are the choices for the four of us: 1. My personal favorite: Give her absolutely everything you've got only to have her screaming at you how inferior you are 2. Completely dominate and control her to turn the tables 3. Cover her in all manner of fatty delicious deserts and eat them off each other as foreplay 4. The two of you are “furries.” I think this guy has a fetish b/c I'm not sure how it relates to Jillian. - Scott C.
Call me old-fashioned, but if I had to “make whoopee” with Jillian I’d just do it the same way I’ve done it my whole life – I’d make her a mixtape full of K-Ci & JoJo to get her attention, I’d give her my class ring to prove my sincerity, and then I’d slip a roofie into her drink and have my way with her underneath the bleachers during the 3rd quarter of the varsity football game. But that’s just me. I’m more chivalrous than most. ___________________________________________________
After I called out the walk-on community with my last blog post, tons of walk-ons around the country emailed me to sign up for The Belt. This is very encouraging, but I still think we need more guys. So again, please email me if you are a Division I men’s basketball walk-on. Even if you aren’t eligible for The Belt, you can still help out by writing a Facebook message or something to the walk-ons for your favorite basketball team that will let them know about this awesome contest.
I also want to take a second to remind everyone about the Club Trillion Halloween costume contest I decided to have. In case you forgot, the only rule for the contest is that your costume has some sort of reference to Club Tril. This reference can be as strong or as weak as you want, as costumes can range from a walk-on basketball player sitting on a bench to my idea of a giant inflatable penis wearing an Evan Turner jersey. Remember: the stakes are high, as the most creative costume gets a free “FUNDAMENTALS MONTAGE!!!” shirt.
Finally, I wanted to let the Trillion Man March know that we will again be taking part in Movember this year for prostate cancer awareness/research. Since this blog post is already long enough, I’ll provide all the details with the next blog post. For now, I just wanted to remind you all to get mentally prepared to start growing your mustaches out on November 1st. Also, I’m planning on having maybe a couple mustache contests and I’m working on getting Barbasol to sponsor everything by providing shaving cream for the winners. Get excited. ___________________________________________________
Your awesome YouTube was sent in to me by John J. and features Mitchell, a member of the TMM, wearing his CLUB TRIL shirt. There’s your shout-out, John. And here’s your video.
Proud To Be An American But Even Prouder To Be A Buckeye,
Narrative Structures and the Language of the Self by Matthew Clark offers a new way of thinking about the interrelation of character and plot. Clark investigates the characters brought together in a narrative, considering them not as random collections but as structured sets that correspond to various manifestations of the self. The shape and structure of these sets can be thought of as narrative geometry, and various geometries imply various theories of the self. Part One, “Philosophical Fables of the Self,” examines narratives such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, A Farewell to Arms, A Separate Peace, and The Master of Ballantrae in order to show successively more complex versions of the self as modeled by Descartes, Hegel, Freud, and Mead. Part Two, “The Case of the Subject,” uses Case Grammar to extend the discussion to additional roles of the self in narratives such as The Waves, The Great Gatsby, Fifth Business, and Howards End as examples of the self as experiencer, the self as observer, the instrumental self, and the locative self. The book ends with an extended analysis of the subject in Hartley’s The Go-Between. Throughout, the discussion is concerned with practical analysis of specific narratives and with the development of an understanding of the self that moves beyond the simple dichotomy of the self and the other, the subject and the object.
There has never been any shortage of interest in philology, its status, its history, or its origins. Today, after more than twenty years of serial “returns to philology” under the banner of deconstruction, the new medieval studies, critical bibliography, and a particular kind of globally aware activist criticism, philology has again become available as a respectable posture for contemporary literary scholars. But what is “philology,” and how can we attend to it, either as a contemporary practice or as an age-old object of endorsement and critique?
In this volume, edited by Sean Gurd, noted scholars discuss the history of philology from antiquity to the present. This book addresses a wide variety of authors, documents, and movements, among them Greek papyri, Latin textual traditions, the Renaissance, eighteenth-century antiquarianism, and deconstruction.
It is too easy to see philology as the bearer of an antiquated but forceful authority. When philologists take up the tools of textual criticism, they contribute to the very form of texts; seeking to articulate the protocols of correct interpretation, they aspire to be the legislators of reading practice. Nonetheless, Philology and Its Histories argues that philology is not a conservative or ideologically loaded master-discourse, but a tradition of searching, fundamentally ungrounded, dealing with the insecurity of questions rather than the safety of answers. For good or ill, philology is where literature happens; we do well to pay heed to it and to its changes over the course of millennia.
Last night on CNN U.S. Senate candidates Coons and O'Donnell (the latter in the national news spotlight in recent weeks) debated each other in an event hosted in part by the University of Delaware Center for Political Communication. Aside from being my BA/MA alma mater, I was happy to see this because my former PhD advisee, Lindsay Hoffman, is now a faculty member at the University of Delaware and is involved in the Center as Coordinator of Research in Politics and Technology. We're all very proud of what Lindsay has accomplished since leaving COPS, and I wanted to give her a shout out!
I have to share this terrific blog post from former COP (and current U of Wyoming Cowboy) Kristen Landreville. It's a great -- and honest -- portrait of what it's like going through a PhD program like ours. http://klandreville.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/whoot-whoot/
Click here to view ABC 6's online coverage of ASAN's protest against Autism Speaks on October 10.
Below is the ABC 6 video about the walk and protest that aired on the 6pm and 11pm news on October 10. Please distribute widely. Nothing about us without us!
The Arts Initiative at Ohio State is pleased to announce newly named members of the Next Generation of Leaders Fellowship. The year-long fellowship is designed to identify, support and prepare the most promising next generation of leaders at local institutions of arts and culture. They got together recently for a welcome reception at the Arts Initiative space (above), where they talked with Karen Bell, associate vice president for arts outreach, and program director Christy Farnbauch, along with alums from previous years of the fellowship. New fellows include Lauren Emond, arts coordinator, City of Upper Arlington Cultural Arts; John Shaw, director of production and fabrication, COSI; Tony Pellerite, marketing coordinator, Wexner Center for the Arts; Ruby Classen, grants and services manager, GCAC; Eliza Jones, gallery director, Ohio Art League; Anna Wuerth, part C program coordinator, Columbus Aids Task Force; Joe Bishara, associate artistic director, CATCO-Phoenix Theatre; Dustin Grovemiller, donor relations manager, CAPA; Geoffrey Martin, assistant arts administrator, Columbus Cultural Arts Center; and Lisa Dent, associate curator of contemporary art, Columbus Museum of Art.
The fellowship will include nine small-group sessions with highly individualized attention to the professional development needs of the participants in the context of the multiple demands of leadership.
Notable News
The Arts Initiative space was lively last Thursday when it hosted an opening reception for the work of Tom Kelly (above). His exhibition, Elegies and Vestiges, is a show about fragments, drawn from literary sources and through the use of found objects. Kelly is a self-taught mixed-media visual artist, who cites lyric writing, mythology and storytelling of ancient and contemporary sources as inspirations for his work. His show continues through November.
The same evening, the Ohio Art League hosted an opening reception for Industrial Lichen, work by Michelle Stitzlein (below), while the Shoebox gallery spotlighted new works by Stephanie Livingston in her show, Plush Apocalypse.
Coming up -- the 6th annual Craftin' Outlaws craft fair will be held at the Gateway Film Center on Saturday, Oct 16, 10 am to 5 pm. Vendors include 50 of the area's top crafters, artists and designers. Activities include screen printing, pumpkin carving / decorating, and candle-making.
October is National Arts and Humanities Month! If you're looking for some ideas on how to celebrate the arts, check out the website here.
On Sunday, October 10, ASAN-Central Ohio/Ohio State protested Autism Speaks' Walk Now for Autism on the Ohio State campus, a protest that lasted four hours and attracted media attention from ABC-6, 10TV, and independent journalists. (See the end of this post or click here for video footage of the protest.)
Approximately 15 Autistic individuals and cross-disability allies protested Autism Speaks' lack of family and community support, its high executive pay, its lack of Autistic representation, and its eugenic aims. Protesters heavily emphasized that Autism Speaks only gives 4% of money raised to families and local communities.
Protesters face the crowd of walkers.
During the first half of the protest, protesters faced incoming traffic and held signs with slogans such as Listen to Me, I Have Autism, First Class Autistic, Second-Class Citizen, and Autism Speaks Does Not Speak for Me. Several interested individuals approached the group, some kind and supportive, others not. One such negative encounter involved a walker who claimed that Autism Speaks can't have Autistic leaders or board members because Autistic people are incapable of making important decisions.
From left to right, top to bottom: Benzion Chinn, Ross Edelman, Elizabeth Brewer, Justin Rooney, Erika Strandjord, Jessica Roeder, Noranne Cochran, and Melanie Yergeau.
During the second half of the event, protesters faced 18,000 walkers, many of whom were far more belligerent than those encountered during last year's protest. One walker screamed, "Are you all stupid?! You're all stupid!" This particular walker lunged toward the protesters and had to be pushed back by a friend and a walk official.
Others screamed, "You're a bunch of idiots!" and "How do you sleep at night?" Additionally, toward the end of the protest, a car full of walkers swerved at ASAN-OSU's faculty advisor as though they were going to hit her, and then drove off laughing. When protesters engaged in a dramatic reading of Jim Sinclair's "Don't Mourn for Us," a group of parents booed and yelled, "Go home! You suck!"
Protesters march in line formation.
Protesters chanted at several intervals, with slogans such as Nothing about us without us! We don't need a cure! and Autism Speaks needs to listen! At one point, a group of cheerleaders grew quite loud in their chants, and protesters responded with, 2, 4, 6, 8, Autism Speaks discriminates!
Campus police and certain walk officials took great care to protect ASAN's first amendment rights, for which the protesters are incredibly grateful. So too did State Representative Ted Celeste stop by, listen, and share kind words with the protesters. The reporters were also very gracious and willing to listen.
Faculty advisor Cynthia Selfe and student Jessica Roeder
ASAN-Central Ohio/Ohio State thanks those who were involved in the protest, including those who attended and those who assisted in planning. Individuals across the United States called and wrote cross-disability allies and Columbus media affiliates on our behalf, and many more spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media. So too did international members of the cross-disability community provide support and encouragement. Thank you. We appreciate all that you do.
As I’m sure many of you remember, I promised in my last blog post that this blog post would be dedicated to the FIFA video game series, or more specifically would be my review of the new FIFA 11 game that came out last Tuesday. After I casually mentioned awhile ago that I love FIFA so much I could write an entire blog entry about the game, a bunch of people in the TMM basically said “prove it” because they were avid FIFA players as well. I thought it would be a great idea since the new FIFA game just came out, but then a few things transpired between then and now that have since made me change my mind. Two of these things include:
FIFA 11 sucks – I didn’t want to write a review about the game because I would have been forced to write thousands of words about how bad it is, which is something I just can't bring myself to do. If you’ve played it, you undoubtedly agree with me and there’s no need for me to get into all the reasons why it sucks. If you don’t agree with me, you’re lying. If you’ve never played it, all you really need to know is that EA set out to make the most realistic soccer game ever, and while they certainly succeeded, they forgot one minor detail – realistic soccer sucks donkey balls compared to video game soccer.
Lack of response for The Belt – As upset as I was about FIFA 11, I was even more disheartened over the fact that only four walk-ons emailed me to register for The Belt (I capitalize the “T” and “B” only because I don’t have a name for the belt yet – suggestions welcome). You read that right - FOUR. I know that basketball isn’t on the forefront of most people’s minds right now and I know this blog is generally uninteresting during the offseason, but I’m still upset that only four people emailed me, especially considering that I know at least 12 walk-ons who are aware of this blog and absolutely should have registered by now (none of which have). Maybe I didn’t make it entirely clear how easy it is to register for this thing, so I’ll go over it again. If you are a Division I men’s basketball walk-on, take a second right now and ask yourself, “Am I a doucher?” If the answer to this question is yes, I suggest you immediately transfer from Michigan, get rid of your frosted tips, and maybe even grow a mustache for good measure. If the answer to the question is no, click on this link, type your name and what school you go to, and click “Send.” That’s it. You are now registered for what will ultimately be the most coveted award in college basketball history. You’re welcome.
The truth is that the main reason I didn’t write a FIFA review is because I don’t want to put down the game for the chunk of time it would take to effectively write it out. Even though I absolutely hate the game, I simply can’t quit it because I think I love it a little more than I hate it. It’s like FIFA and I have the same relationship as Ronnie and Sammi from Jersey Shore, only I don’t have to take FIFA to my smush room if I want to mess around with it.
Now that I’ve changed my mind and decided to not write about FIFA 11, I’m really left with nothing to write about until the basketball season gets here, so I’ve decided to make the next blog post the next installment of “The Cage.” In case you forgot, The Cage is my version of a mailbag, where I pretty much just take emails from the Trillion Man March and do everything in my power to provide completely irrelevant answers to the questions I’m given without actually answering the original questions. So, if you’ve got something to ask/tell me, be sure to send me an email and if it doesn’t suck I’ll address it in the next post.
Another thing I wanted to talk about in this post is the newest contest I’ve decided to have for everyone in the TMM (since, ya know, the contest for The Belt is going so well). This new contest is going to be a Club Trillion Halloween costume contest in which I will be giving out a free shirt to the best Club Trillion-themed costume. The important part about this contest is that “Club Trillion-themed costume” can be interpreted however you see fit. At first thought, it seems like whoever has the best basketball benchwarmer costume will win the contest, when really there are so many more (and better) costumes than that. You can dress like Journey from the “Separate Ways” video. You can rock a mustache, mullet, jean shorts, and tank top combo. You can dress like you think Gusalina would (for those of you who remember Gus). Hell, you can wear a t-shirt that says “Terrorism Sucks” with an American flag draped around your shoulders. The possibilities are nearly endless (Personally, if I were taking part in this contest I’d wear a giant penis costume and get a jersey that says “The Villain 21” to wear over it, but that’s just me). All that really matters is that there’s some sort of connection (no matter how small) to Club Trillion with the costume. I’ll be taking both creativity and execution into account, but mostly just creativity because that’s all I really care about. Take a picture of your costume and email it to me by November 3rd and I’ll post my favorites on the blog and let the TMM vote on the winner or something. The ultimate winner will get a free shirt, but it won’t be the standard CLUB TRIL shirt that all of you should have by now. No, the winner of the Halloween costume contest will be the first to get their hands on the new “FUNDAMENTALS MONTAGE!!!” shirt that will be available to the public shortly and will look a little something like this:
If you think that getting a free Club Trillion shirt isn’t a big deal, take a look at this email from a member of the TMM named Sam, who just sent me this two days ago:
Dear Mark "The Shark" Titus,
I am a freshmen at Wake Forest University, and live in Carmel, Indiana. Just the other day I was procrastinating on the internet and so naturally went to read the new Club Trillion blog. Then I decided to buy a Club Tril t-shirt, since some of the money goes to charity and it never hurts to have extra shirts in college. I remember you once writing something about if you have a Club Tril shirt on there are bound to be plenty of attractive females around but I laughed thinking this was a joke. I wore my t-shirt for the first time today and you were not joking.
First, I saw easily the hottest freshman girl I have seen since Jenny Finch pitched for Arizona. Then one of our basketball players walks by and gives me a shoutout for wearing a Club Tril t-shirt, which triggers two young hotties to walk up to me and ask how I know him. Finally, I am walking back to my dorm pondering if in Indiana Keith Smart is actually more well known than the team he now coaches, when this senior babe starts staring at me. For a split second I fantasize that she is trying to use x-ray vision on me and check out the size of my package, but then she shouts out "Do you like club tril as much as I do?" This commences a five minute conversation on Club Tril in which I use the nugget of info about Billy Mays which makes her crack up. I then realized this t-shirt actually has more game than I do. This t-shirt is golden. Bitches be flockin.
Thank you for your generous help in the fight to get Sam a girl campaign,
Sam S.
I trust you understand the magnitude of this contest now.
So go work on your Club Trillion-themed costumes and send me an email for The Cage. And if you just so happen to be a D1 walk-on, please, for the love of God, email me and register for The Belt before I lose all the hope I had in the future of college basketball benchwarming. While you all do that, I’ll get back to playing FIFA. Ready, go. __________________________________________________
Your awesome YouTube was sent in to my by Darrell B. There’s your shout-out, Darrell. And here’s your video.
Proud To Be An American But Even Prouder To Be A Buckeye,
I just received my September issue of Mass Communication & Society and noticed that Brian Weeks is the first author of the lead manuscript. Congrats, Brian!
September 28, 2010 - The National Research Council (NRC) has released results of its extensive, five-year study of 83 doctoral programs in the field of communication. The reports reveals The Ohio State University' s School of Communication to be firmly situated among the elite communication programs in the country based on several metrics. The OSU School of Communication faculty achieved an absolute rank of #1 in research activity (e.g., average number of peer-reviewed publications per faculty member). In addition, the School as a whole achieved a #3 ranking in the field based on its achievements along twenty different criteria - these criteria reflected faculty research (e.g., % of faculty with grants), quality of graduate students (e.g., GRE scores), graduate student support (e.g., % of students with full financial support), and a broad range of diversity measures (e.g., % of female faculty, % of female students).
The extensive analyses conducted on the NRC data identified only five programs which could state with 90% certainty that they rank as one of the top 10 programs in the field. Joining OSU's School of Communication on this list are Stanford University's Department of Communication, the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication, University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Journalism & Mass Communication, and the Speech Communication program at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign (now the Department of Communication). This is truly elite company and the NRC rankings are a reflection of the significant advancements made by The Ohio State's School of Communication.
It is important to place the NRC rankings in some additional context. The 2010 NRC report is based on data collected only up through the 2005-2006 academic year. OSU's School of Communication has seen its level of research productivity grow exponentially since that time. A quick review of the broad range of works generated by the School 's faculty and graduate students and placed in the field's top peer-reviewed journal outlets offers much hope that the School of Communication is maintaining its steady progress toward becoming the single best place in the country to study communication.
Arts in the Alley -- the arts and entertainment district in the alley at South Campus Gateway near the Ohio State campus (High Street at 10th) -- will come alive on Thursday, October 7, from 6 to 9 pm with three gallery openings, live music and a special film offering. The galleries will host free opening receptions for:
Elegies and Vestiges, mixed media paintings (above) by Tom Kelly, in the Arts Initiative space (1568 N High St). The show is a collection of the artist's work that highlights his use of fragments drawn from physical and literary sources. Elegies is a collection of paintings inspired by the surviving work of the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho. Vestiges is a collection of Kelly's paintings using found objects as well as literary and historical sources. The show continues through November.
Industrial Lichen, work by Michelle Stitzlein, in the Ohio Art League Gallery (1552 N High St). The exhibition is a series of wall-hung sculptures inspired by botanical imagery and created with recycled materials. It continues through October.
The Plush Apocalypse, new works by Stephanie Livingston, in the Shoebox Gallery (1570 N High St), presented by ARTillery. The show continues through the month.
During the evening, there also will be refreshments in the galleries and live music outdoors in the alley. And the Gateway Film Center presents the Columbus premiere of the HP Mendoza comedy Fruit Fly, presented by the film center and Stonewall Columbus. It starts at 8 pm.
Notable News
The Arts Initiative's website is "new and improved" and has a host of information about our endeavors, from the Royal Shakespeare Company partnership and next summer's Scarlet and Gray Shakespeare (below) to details about our emerging artist programs and fellowships. Click here to check it out.
Sketch by Number, Arts in the Alley's award-winning sketch comedy troupe, presents The Monster Halloween Show Spectacular, with comedy and live music this month. Shows are $5 in the Green Room, 10th and High St in the alley at South Campus Gateway. On Friday, Oct 22, there's a 7 pm preview and a 9 pm show, with music by Cap City Pocket. Saturday, Oct 23, includes a show at 9 pm with music by Zak Houston. And Friday, Oct 29, has two shows at 9 and 11 pm and music by Tempted. Check it out!
Special student discount tickets are available to the Thurs, Oct 7, Condom Couture Event at BoMA, 583 E Broad St. There are SRO tickets available for any college or university student for $25; doors open at 7 pm and the runway show begins at 7:30. The popular event features runway fashions using condoms, designed by CCAD students. Proceeds benefit Planned Parenthood. Call 614-358-8730 to purchase a ticket.
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