Let's let what happened over the weekend sink in a little bit.
In the most obvious attempt to change the most important narrative of a story that folks in Columbus desperately want to get away from, Tom Herman's character was forced to withstand an assassination because he allegedly ...
*Wait for it.*
*Wait for it*
... helped a victim of spousal abuse.
That's where we are, folks.
Rather than deal head on with the reality that Urban Meyer is a serial enabler of abusers, which led directly to the situation that exists today with an abuser knowingly protected for years on Meyer’s staff, the good folks of Columbus (and I'm using the word "good" incredibly loosely) seem more concerned with getting down to who might have told on Meyer or had the audacity to help a battered wife and mother.
The highest piece of irony about this pile of disingenuous manure that made its way south this weekend is that this entire situation practically begged for someone ... ANYONE ... to step up emphatically for a woman in need of help. It should have been Meyer, but it wasn't. It should have been leadership in the athletic department, but none existed.
As far as I can tell, Tom and Michelle Herman have been more supporting of Courtney Smith in the last four or five years than anyone at Ohio State has ever been. They befriended her long after Herman stopped working with her incredibly flawed husband.
Let’s be perfectly clear, I don't care if Tom Herman helped Courtney Smith in any way, including supporting her as she made the decision to go public with her situation.
Good.
Where was everyone else in the Ohio State Athletic Department when she needed help?
Let me also be perfectly clear that I don't care who has given Brett McMurphy the goods on the situation. His source matters 1,000 times less than properly addressing the enabling of abuse that Meyer signed off of, which in his own words were motivated by football reasons.
Finding the complete truth is what matters and when people associated with the bad guys start pitching story ideas to news organizations in the hopes of changing the national narrative, it tells you exactly where the truth is likely to take us.
No. 2 - More thoughts on the Ohio State matter ...
... And we wonder why victims of abuse don't step forward on timelines that make everyone else most comfortable ...
Since Smith came forward to speak of the abuse that seems to have been confirmed in multiple capacities, the following has occurred:
a. The predictable character assassinations.
b. Her alleged abuser was given national platforms to spew obvious lies and misrepresentations of the truth.
c. Anyone that has supported her is under attack.
d. Her mother betrayed her.
Folks, if you don't have an appreciation for the stakes involved in these stories, you need to be asking yourself why.
... Whatever Smith did with the money loaned to her by Michelle Herman is none of our business. I don't care if the money was used for legal bills, her cell phone bill or a trip to Europe. It's none of our business. Even if the Hermans did give her money for legal fees, so what?
Let me repeat that last part ... so what?
... Urban Meyer needs to lose his job. There are too many questions he cannot answer with good answers. I have no idea whether the university has the guts to do what is right.
No. 3 - Three things that stand out after a week of camp ...
a. The offense remains a major work in progress. There's hope. There's optimism. There's just very little you can absolutely take to the bank at the moment. On the other side of the ball, there might be some depth issues in the front seven, but I have absolutely zero concerns about Todd Orlando's side of the ball. None.
b. Youth continues to be served. DeMarvion Overshown is already making waves. So is Keaontay Ingram. So is Joseph Ossai. We could end up seeing as many as a dozen true freshman listed on the two-deep at some point this season.
c. It's been a week and I haven't had a single source in the program offer hyperbole on the quarterbacks. There's optimism, but there's also more caution there than any other position, including (weirdly) offensive linemen.
No. 4 - My expectations for the Maryland game ...
I think it's safe to say the Longhorns are taking on a dumpster fire in the season-opener.
With the suspension of head coach D.J. Durkin over the weekend, I have no idea how this will impact the game, but it can't be a good thing for the Terps. When the one word that seems to be associated with a program the most is "toxic," it's hard to know what the hell to expect as it relates to an actual football game.
All I know is Humpty Dumpty is broken and I'm not sure how the pieces can be put together again.
No. 5 - Story-time with Uncle Ketch...
It's hard not to see the story that is unfolding in Columbus in the last few weeks and not recall that the last time I was in Columbus, my traveling companion was featured on the front page of the daily newspaper for the racial abuse he suffered following the game.
I'll never forget being in the Texas travelling section in the end zone as the final seconds ticked off the clock when a female Ohio State fan turned towards the late Sean Adams and myself, apologetically offering up, "I want to apologize in advance for how you're going to be treated.”
We kind of chuckled at her words, which were followed by a stern reaction.
"I'm very serious," she said. "You're going to need to be careful."
Moments later, we weren't even out of the stadium when women wearing burnt orange were being called the c-word. Furniture would burn in the streets before the night was over.
While we were stuck in the worst post-game traffic you've ever seen, our cab driver turned into an alley, which was clear of traffic for a few blocks. At some point, we got stopped in this alley, which was near an Ohio State fraternity (I believe I have that right). About a half-dozen Ohio State students approached Sean, who was sitting in the front seat of the car, while I was in the back seat with two female friends. The n-word was used and that probably wasn't the most disrespectful thing that was used in the way of verbal communication.
Honestly, I didn't think there was any way that Sean wasn't going to get out of the card and in the moment I was prepared to do whatever needed to be done. If we had been 21 or 23 or 25, we probably would have engaged in a brawl that night, but since we were both hovering around 30, cooler heads prevailed. Sean didn't let pride get him into a 7 on 2 physical confrontation and the damn cab eventually got out of the area.
The stories of what happened that night were so bad that it was being discussed locally in Columbus for days the following week. Our story made the news.
This is what I know of Columbus. I've never had any desire to go back, football games or not. It's the most low-rent town I've visited in nearly a quarter-century of covering college football. Not even Fayetteville comes within a 100-foot pole of it.
Therefore, when a scandal breaks out in Columbus, you're just going to forgive me if my level of expectations for anyone living there to be incredibly low. That place has more than earned its reputation.
No. 6 – Buy or Sell …
BUY or SELL: @MFarrell participated in the biggest burning of bridges on OB ever yesterday?
(Buy) It reminds me of a scene from The Big Lebowski. Mike wasn't wrong that college coaches as a whole are completely untrustworthy, but his bedside manner and misuse of proper context made any point he was trying to make wide of the mark.
BUY or SELL: With Maryland in chaos and USC starting a true freshman QB, Texas gets through non-conference 3-0 and sets itself up for the breakout we've all been impatiently waiting for?
(Sell) I'm still not ready to give that kind of benefit of the doubt. It has not been earned.
BUY or SELL: Herman may have not been McMurphy’s source, but he encouraged Beck to blow the whistle?
(Sell) I'd guess that Herman has been terrified he'd be linked to this story, thus producing unwanted distractions, which is what coaches hate more than anything.
BUY or SELL: The competition between Sam and Shane is way closer than most fans realize?
(Buy) There could be a new quarterback on the field in the second quarter of the opener if Ehlinger doesn't play well. Of course, if he plays well, this could be his job until 2021. Separation is only truly going to occur in games, not practice.
BUY or SELL: As good as Hager, Nelson and Omenihu seem to be, there will be significant issues in run defense that teams are able to exploit?
(Sell) The run defense will be fine.
BUY or SELL: Kirk Johnson is more likely to rush for 100 yards in a game this year than Urban Meyer is of coaching Ohio State next year?
(Buy) I just want you to know I thought about this long and hard. I just can't believe Meyer keeps his job.
BUY or SELL: Tiger Woods wins a golf tournament before the Longhorns win a football natty?
(Buy) Tiger will win before the end of the decade.
BUY or SELL: Next year, despite our bowl outcome, you will refer to the team by its regular season win/loss record in nearly every podcast and article.
(Sell) Context matters greatly.
BUY or SELL: It is a mistake to allow "fans" to gather and party outside of DKR Texas Memorial Stadium before games if they don't have a ticket to the game?
(Sell) Why did you put "fans" in parenthesis? Isn't someone that would gather and party outside of DKR without a ticket the definition of a fan?
BUY or SELL: @Ketchum makes a minimum of one OB tailgate in 2018?
(Buy) I will make a tailgate this year.
No. 7 - Tweet of the weekend...
For once Tiger Woods wearing red on a Sunday made sense. It was beautiful.
It speaks to the level that Brooks Koepka played in winning that Tiger's -14 performance just wasn't enough to get over the hill.
Man, that was fun. Can we do it again?
No. 8 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …
... Brooks Koepka is a mack. He's the best golfer in the world right now. Crazy to think he has the same number of majors wins as Jordan Spieth.
... Chris Warren is tearing it up in Oakland as an undrafted rookie free agent and I have to admit to being shocked by it all. Good for him.
... If Terrance Williams loses a starting job to Michael Gallup and never returns to the starting line-up for the Cowboys, it'll be too soon. Go rookie.
... Paul Pogba is going to have a monster season.
... Sadio Mane >>> Eden Hazard. Still.
No. 9 - The List: Top 10 Tom Cruise performances ...
Is Tom Cruise the most underrated movie star of all-time?
After watching "Mission Impossible: Fallout" earlier this week (solid B), I started kicking around this idea a little. He's not the most accomplished actor of all-time, as he doesn't have a single Oscar. Clearly, he's no Daniel Day-Lewis. However, when you look at is best work, he's got a resume that will stand the time of history.
Here's my list:
10. Ron Kovic (Born on the Fourth of July)
9. Vincent (Collateral)
8. Joel (Risky Business)
7. Frank T.J. Mackey (Magnolia)
6. Jerry McGuire (Jerry McGuire)
5. Ethan Hunt (Mission Impossible)
4. Lt. Daniel Kaffee (A Few Good Men)
3. Charlie Babbitt (Rain Man)
2. Les Grosman (Tropic Thunder)
1. Maverick (Top Gun)
No. 10 – And Finally ...
This is the hero that America needs right now.
