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March 2009
Is women’s center among the best athletes on campus?
An eye-opening quote from OSU women’s basketball coach Jim Foster following the Big Ten tournament. It concerns his center, Jantel Lavender, and her potential (if satirical) success in multiple sports:
“My biggest fear is that Jim Tressel realizes the best tight end on our campus plays for me,” Foster said of his star center, two-time Big Ten Player of the Year Jantel Lavender. “She can run like a deer and she’s got great hands.”
Lavender, a sophomore from Cleveland, is clearly one of the best players in the Big Ten, if not the best. She earned Most Outstanding Player honors at the Big Ten tournament, which she helped the Buckeyes win with 25 points and 13 rebounds in the championship game.
But she’s not a one-tournament success. Lavender has been the team’s top performer, with averages of 21.1 points, 10.9 rebounds and 33.8 minutes per game.
We’ve all seen the movies with females playing quarterback. But the 6-foot-4 Lavender at tight end?
No matter how ridiculous that seems, Foster still wants to keep Tressel away.
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Maurice Clarett: Blogging!
Bob Hunter, sports columnist at the Columbus Dispatch, has uncovered a gem. Maurice Clarett, the disgraced former Ohio State running back, has started a blog from prison as a forum to share his thoughts.
Clarett’s blog — The Mind Of Maurice Clarett — has so far not featured anything about which Ohio State and football coach Jim Tressel would have to answer. But it’s likely only a matter of time.
Several of the entries describe Clarertt’s desire to improve himself. In one, he talks about enrolling in college classes. In another, he lays out his upcoming workout routine, which he hopes will help him drop pounds from his current 233.
I must admit that making convenient excuses to eat during the holidays has helped the increase. I have to get it all back in order now. I have a new weight goal; my goal is to weigh in at 210 lbs. by April 1st. I know it is possible and it can be done in a healthy way. Here are eight things that I plan on doing:
1. Strength train four days of the week.
2. Cardio for two hours daily and agility training forty-five minutes daily.
3. Core train with a thousand sit-ups daily.
4. Eat no food after 6 p.m. every day.
5. Fast all day on Sundays.
6. No sugar and no flour on Mondays and Tuesdays.
7. Eat only fish, rice, and oatmeal for the first 30 days.
8. Drink water and coffee only.
Clarett also folds in inspirational quotes from Warren Buffet and responses to comments. The first entry seems to be from Oct. 7, 2008, titled, “Transcending Ignorance and Supporting Humane Living.” In it, he writes:
It is my hopes that someone will pull something out of here to help them get through their daily living.
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Are Buckeyes now OSUI?
That is, Ohio State Under the Influence?
In the past week, we’ve seen two stories about current or former Ohio State athletes possessing drugs or the instruments to use drugs.
First, former basketball guard Jamar Butler did not fight charges of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He later apologized in a letter his father delivered to the hometown paper:
“I am not a good kid gone bad,” Butler wrote in the letter, delivered Sunday to The Lima News by his father, Melton Butler. “I’ve never been in trouble before, and promise you I don’t intend to be again. I will learn from this and will make myself a better man because of it.”
Then, on Sunday, news reports surfaced that two freshmen offensive linemen will make their own court appearances on charges of possession of drug paraphernalia:
Mike Adams, 18, and J.B. Shugarts, 19, were cited on Jan. 14 after being pulled over for running a stop sign at Pearl St. and E. 14th St., in the campus area.
They were not arrested.
Each has pleaded not guilty. Adams has a pre-trial hearing set for Monday and Shugarts for Wednesday, both in Franklin County Municipal Court.
Often, the seemingly long line of bad news concerning athletes can be traced to the attention such incidents receive rather than an actual epidemic. Entire newspaper sections and news broadcasts could be filled with just the student arrests, especially at a school the size of Ohio State.
But, on top of these, you add Alex Boone and his antics in California. And, the cloud that still hangs from Maurice Clarett (you bet it’s still there nationally). And the Serbian scandals from Jim O’Brien’s tenure. People wonder if there’s a pattern.
Of course, each school has its problems, but Ohio State has nowhere to hide. Its news rises straight to the top in this state, no matter what else is happening with any other team. Its negative tidbits aren’t tidbits at all. They’re full stories.
It’s the negative side of enjoying such attention and support. Each incident is covered and remembered.
