Random sports thoughts

Here are some of my random sports thoughts on what has been going on lately.

• As written in a previous blog (or two) I haven’t really been paying attention to the Cleveland Baseball Team, but occasionally see updates on Twitter and it appears they are playing decent. I did laugh at that Josh Naylor dude who hit two big home runs recently and after the second one, which ultimately gave the team the win, he went nuts around the bases haha. Baseball is a weird sport where guys aren’t crazy or intense, so it’s nice to see that for a change. That sport needs entertainment badly.
• The NBA Game 7 blowouts where something huh? I don’t think I’ve seen that happen in a while, if ever. For sure thought the Bucks and Suns would pull it off, but instead they both got roasted. Chris Paul once again being part of another playoff collapse and also getting crushed never gets old. It was only a day later, reports came out, he was ‘injured’. This dude might get into the Hall of Fame just based on his skills, but the playoff history is scary bad. Every stop he’s been there’s always some type of collapse and he’s always on a team that’s favored as well. Fool me once….
• Also in NBA news, the draft lottery is tonight and of course the Cavs are part of this…again (sigh). I don’t really care what pick they get. I think this team needs to pull off a trade and/or grab FA. I’m not sure getting younger will help this team now, especially when they are trying to take the next step. I am also surprised the lottery is still a thing. No other sports league does this and there’s very little evidence of tanking historically in those leagues. Thought for sure the NBA would rid of lottery and just penalize teams if they are doing obvious tanking. Oh well, a primetime special to open envelopes and watch awkward staring in the camera for which rookie will make/or break your chances of not sucking as a franchise.
• Apparently the state of Ohio, specifically, OHSAA, regulatory body for high school athletics had a matter voted on for NIL for high school athletes. It was voted down by quite a lot and honestly….good! There’s no reason to spread this NIL to high school kids. It’s ridiculous and we have already seen in college, how the NIL plan has gone awry. Numerous ADs and coaches in college are getting annoyed, random players are getting deals and there are kids basically getting recruited for millions of dollars to play a sport. Listen, I know top tier athletes make schools and broadcasting networks a shit ton of money. Those athletes should benefit a little. But millions of dollars?! Eh — I would never go beyond maybe 100k and even then that’s a lot. The biggest crutch prior to this, was athletes having little scholarship money to get food and other necessary items. Meanwhile their athletic exploits generated millions to billions of revenue. Now you may be reading the last sentence and thinking I am contradicting myself. No — my point is athletes being recruited shouldn't be making millions up front. They should be getting money throughout their college career based on performance and their likeness. If they are good enough, the pro leagues will give them millions. It will be weird, seeing players have millions of dollars in college, not make the pros, and are basically a phantom hero who was really good from 18–22 years old. Again back to high school — this is a time to experiment with sports, get better as an athlete, bond with your team, and enjoy sports life before it gets tougher in college and beyond. Introducing these kids to weirdos with money who are obsessed with teens is just a disaster in the making. I’m glad OHSAA shut that down. It’s interesting on social media, how the ones who are most angry about this, are the same weirdos obsessing over high school senior recruitment trips and decisions. If you’re an grown adult with no familial connection to a high school athlete, its inappropriate and gross to obsess over decisions they make, and communicate with them on how/why they they came to said decisions. Leave the kids alone, let them and their parent(s) (or coaches) support them in their decisions. If they fuck up — -they will learn — we all do. Good job on OHSAA
• Speaking of recruiting, Ohio State continues to crush it there. But here is a final thought on the Buckeye football recruiting and actual performance. Everyone associated with Buckeyes recruiting or football in general on social media raves on the latest ‘super-star’ they got to join the program. Good stuff! — but here are some other facts to chew on — the Buckeyes have not won a national championship since 2014 season. Only Larry Johnson and Mickey Mariotti are still on the staff that was on the 2014 staff. — The Buckeyes have won only 1(!) playoff game since the title win and the last time they were in a national championship they got crushed so badly many wondered if they should have played in the game. — -They are coming off a season in which they lost to Michigan, did NOT win the Big 10, did NOT play in Big 10 title game, and had a defense that was so atrociously bad it looked like a JV high school unit. — -So yes getting the top recruits helps and that’s part of the job for the entire coaching staff. However, there comes a time where all that recruiting needs to lead to a championship. The Buckeyes need to win a national title in the next two years, or Ryan Day should be on the hot seat. Sounds crazy but its true — if you are getting all this top shelf talent, you HAVE to win. Otherwise, why bother going all out for that talent. Yes other teams are doing the same, but this is THE OHIO STATE, there is a standard. The Buckeyes haven’t had a decent defense since 2014 (maybe 2019 with Chase Young and Jeff Okudah), and really never a shut down defense since 2007 and possibly back to 2002.) The offense is loaded even more despite losing Olave and Wilson, and CJ Stroud is considered a potential #1 pick. That’s a lot of pressure for a kid, who just last year, was so nervous and uncomfortable his coach basically had to bench him against Akron, just to calm him down and re-charge. I’m tired of hearing about the recruiting, the Buckeyes will ALWAYS get the recruiting at the highest level. They need to start winning titles, otherwise Ryan Day will be less Urban/Tressel, and more John Cooper.