Meyer, Duval, and Various Other Things.

Didn't Get the Ohio State Job.

We briefly talked about underrated movies on the blog last week.  Over Thanksgiving my sister offered about 235 choices that I’d missed.  But, Necessary Roughness was not on that list.  Maybe it should have been.  The movie keeps popping into my head.  First, I thought Scott Bakula may have to QB the Texans.  Now, Ohio State hiring Urban Meyer makes me think of Ed “Straight Arrow” Gennaro.  I still haven’t found a connection to, an at her hotness peak, Kathy Ireland, but it’s there somewhere.   Great flick.

I respect Ohio State for bringing in Urban Meyer, because it’s an honest move.  In Necessary Roughness, Texas State needed cleaned up, they couldn’t afford anyone but “The Arrow,” but Ohio State hasn’t lost sight of the task at hand.  They have to keep winning football games.  It doesn’t take long for a program to slide into mediocrity.  Michigan?  Miami?  Pretty soon you are piling up 7-win seasons and burning through coaches.  If your program gets too down on its luck, it’s hard to bring in that coach who can turn things around.  He’ll have better offers on his plate.  So, Ohio State isn’t going to let that happen.  They snag the guy with the impeccable track record of recruiting and winning, and dismiss the notion that his track record in other areas may not be so impeccable.

And, really, who is the coach with the clean resume at this point?  Are we going to trust anyone?  Why not just bring in the best coach and try to exert some control over his activities and the types of players he brings into the program?  It’s a lot easier than bringing in a boring guy who is just going to toe the NCAA line, but couldn’t recruit if his life depended on it.  Ohio State lost to Michigan this year, first time in a long time, and that’s a big deal.  They also went 6-6 and are still facing NCAA penalties.  Any coach would have their hands full with that scenario, and I’ll guess we’ll see if Meyer is the coach to drag OSU back to the top of the rankings.

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If you are a a regular blog reader you’ll know that I am an unabashed fan of David Duval.  Duval took a step back in his comeback odyssey in 2011, failing to make the top-150 on the PGA Tour’s money list.  For a guy out of exemptions, it meant going back to the 2nd stage of Q-School–a humbling and hazardous endeavor.  A lot of pros (see John Daly) choose to eschew Q-School at this stage of their career in exchange for a life of sponsor exemptions and globe trotting for positions in a field.  I understand that impulse.  Once you’ve won a major, do you really want to be a Q-School failure?  If you don’t sign up, you avoid the awkwardness of not advancing, but Duval made his appearance two weeks ago at the 2nd stage and finished 2nd, easily advancing to the Q-School Final this week.

Even if the six-round struggle goes Duval’s way he’ll be further down on the status ladder than he’s ever been in his career on Tour, but you’ve got to respect that he’s keeping at it.  A lot of guys in his shoes would be on the corporate outing circuit and waiting for a career revival on the Champions Tour.  The truth is, it may take the Champions Tour for Duval to start winning again.  His putting skills will  be deadly on that circuit, but that’s a long, long way off.  In the meantime, DD tries to get back out there with the big boys.  At least the final stage has some familiar faces, Rich Beem, Daniel Chopra, Steve Flesch, Lee Janzen, Jeff Maggert, Shaun Micheel, and Boo Weekley are all also trying to get back onto the big circuit for 2012.

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I have this really nervous feeling in my gut that the Phillies are going to announce a 4-year (vesting option 5th year) deal with Jimmy Rollins sometime in the near future.  I’m nervous about it because if they do sign Rollins it finishes the painting into a corner process that we’ve witness this off-season.  We’re going to change (our marginal bench players)!  I originally thought Rollins might get away and Madson would stay (wrong again, shocking), but that overwhelming offer from another team doesn’t seem to be out there for J-Roll.  And, the Phillies are so limited in their options to replace him.  The Freddy Galvis people need to get together with the why can’t Matt Rizzotti get some ABs people and try life on a deserted island.  Anyway, it seems like, for now the Phillies started this off-season with some good words and good intentions, but then realized they were married this to this core of players–something I’ve been saying for a long time.*

*Is this all a reverse jinx in hopes that Ruben presses the Acme TNT lever at the winter meetings?  Maybe.  That Cuban guy is still available.  The guy from Cuba, not Mark Cuban.

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Quiz of the Day Nostalgia:  1990s Blitz.  Category: You Should Know This Stuff.  My Score:  24/30*

*Rusty.