Buckeye House Call

A message of 140 characters or less - from a 16 year old kid - must be taken with a grain of salt. The faster we all figure that out, the better experience everyone will have on Twitter. With that being said, Hinesville, GA inside linebacker prospect Raekwon McMillan made his intentions known on Sunday afternoon through one simple-but-bold message, and it only took him 111 characters. From his @Kwon_daTRUTH account: "I'm gonna go ahead and say ,, if Da'shawn Hand commits to Ohio State ,, im going too , #BuckeyeNation #gobucks"

Hey Urban - it's working.

Let's back up a little bit. Da'Shawn Hand (Woodbridge, VA) is an elite 2014 defensive end that schools from every major conference have their eyes on. He's yet to play the first snap of his junior year of high school and already has nineteen scholarship offers, including those from Alabama, Arkansas and South Carolina of the SEC and Michigan, Penn State and - The Ohio State University - of the B1G. Simply put - everyone wants him, including Mr. McMillan.

First and foremost we want to wish all of the Buckeye moms out there a very Happy Mother's Day. If the rest of the moms around the B1G have a great day as well then, meh, that's ok too. Now to the week that was....

Ohio State didn't land our next four- or five-star talent this week but, on the bright side, we also didn't have any de-commits after Lewis Neal and Alex Anzalone both pulled their commitments last week. A quick tour around Twitter also shows that our former, current and future Buckeyes are now gathering inspiration on their own now that @BDubsTriviaGuru is behind bars trying to remain inspired himself.

We take a tour around The Buckeye Bloggers Network, as well as the blogs of all eleven other B1G schools, so we can keep an eye on what the enemy has up their sleeve and at the same time overdose you with B1G sports news. It also gives us the opportunity to smear a Scarlet font all over the links of the rest of the conference. Hyperlinks abound - 41 in total.....

Andrew Sweat, former Ohio State linebacker and undrafted free agent, has decided against an NFL career after signing with the Cleveland Brown immediately after the conclusion of the 2012 NFL Draft. Sweat was a no-show on Friday for the Browns' rookie mini-camp, and reports have him wanting to pursue law school as the next chapter of his life. He was accepted to multiple law schools before Cleveland signed him back on April 28th.

When camp opened on Friday in Berea, OH the Cleveland brass expected 37 total participants to take the field. But when Friday morning arrived, only 36 showed up. The Browns were unaware of Sweat's planned absence until they realized he had not shown up. Pat Shurmer later said, "Andrew Sweat is not at camp and has decided not to play."

The Washington, PA native and recent Ohio State graduate has a degree in finance from Ohio State's prestigious Fisher College of Business. He is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection and a four-time OSU Scholar-Athlete.

Simply put, Jim Tressel loves The Ohio State University. In his ten years as the head coach of the Buckeyes - known for most of it as just Tress, The Vest or The Senator - all he did was collect 106 victories on the field of play, including the twelve that were later vacated from 2010. He won one national championship, logged five BCS wins in eight appearances on the big stage and nine wins over the Michigan Wolverines in ten tries. He didn't run the score up on lesser opponents - much to the dismay of the fan base at times - and wasn't the most flamboyant of leaders in front of the camera. He could lay ten-thousand words on a room full of reporters and have virtually said nothing at all. His trademark sweater vest became a source of pride within those who rooted for Ohio State, and a punchline for all who didn't. He didn't care, and neither did we.

For nearly his entire decade at the helm he was our classy, spotless leader free of controversy. When all was said and done - ending with a Memorial Day resignation in May of 2011 - Buckeye Nation was left to ask itself one very important question: Was Jim Tressel not the man we thought he was? In the end, he probably wasn't.

But he was damn close.

With the first anniversary of Coach Tressel's resignation quickly approaching, we take a look back at his decade of success at The Ohio State University through the eye of a camera lens. Enjoy. We did.....

From the Toledo War that was fought between 1835 and 1836, the nearly bloodless boundary dispute left reverberating feelings of resentment and hostility that are as equally intense now as they were then … possibly being even stronger now. This war was also known as the Michigan-Ohio War and is now known as the Michigan-Ohio State War. Our date at the end of every football season in either the Big House or the Horseshoe has become the greatest rivalry in college sports … and arguably, the greatest rivalry in all sports. This battle for glory became the bitter rivalry that it is under Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes. Neither man needs an introduction. Anyone who claims to be a fan of college football recognizes these legends by name. Neither school could boast the great football tradition they possess without paying homage to these two men, but there is something special about our rivalry … about The Game … that sets it apart from any other. In the words of the great Aretha Franklin, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T.” Yes, the taunts are vicious, the hate runs deep, and disgust is written over all our faces when confronted with the enemy, but this is not a typical “enemy.” They are our nemesis … our equals … The Game is at its best when both teams are at their best.

That's how it should be.

In the final years of Tressel’s tenure at The Ohio State University, That School Up North stumbled. We loved it, yes, and we certainly mocked them for it … but in their weak years, The Game ultimately suffered. Therefore, OSU suffered, too. But last year, TSUN finally found their man in Brady Hoke … just when the Buckeyes hit a brick, tattooed wall of resistance. As our first year approaches with our new coach and lifelong Buckeye fan, Urban Meyer, at the helm - could it be that our rivalry will be renewed?

There's no denying that Brady Hoke finally has the Michigan Wolverines - Jim Tressel's decade-long whipping boys - back on the right track after an 11-2 showing in 2011-12 that included a BCS win over (cough!) the ACC's Virginia Tech Hokies. But the Buckeyes he beat in Ann Arbor back in November aren't the same ones he'll face when he and his skunkbears venture into Ohio Stadium this November. No, this version has arguably the best head coach in college football, a sophomore quarterback with a full year of experience under his belt and a chip positioned squarely on his shoulder - and a group of pissed off athletes who will see their season end once Michigan comes and goes.

Is the rivalry back where it belongs? Was Hoke really the answer that the struggling program up north needed - or did he just temporarily stop the hemorrhaging before Urban Meyer entered the picture to go on another Vest-like run against TSUN? We pulled a few of our BHC writers together to get their two cents on The Game - the season ahead - and whether we can expect to see Urban Meyer light up the 'Shoe's scoreboard like a Christmas tree this November 24th.

Most in Buckeye Nation have given less credibility to last year's 40-34 Michigan win in Ann Arbor due to Ohio State's circumstances, but there's no denying Hoke has Michigan heading in the right direction. How do you see the next five years in the rivalry shaping up?

Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That's normally pretty sound advice, unless you're a fan who's been through the tumultuous sixteen-month stretch of turmoil and controversy that the fans of The Ohio State University have been through. The successful decade that was the Jim Tressel Era came to a crashing halt on Memorial Day 2011 and the Luke Fickell era was anything but easy on the eyes - or heart - of this enormous fan base. But with the November 28th, 2011 hire of new head coach Urban Meyer - all bets are officially off. Buckeyes fans want to win, and they now have the man that will see to it that Ohio State does just that.

Meyer's first public message to the fans, players and alumni came on Sunday, January 15th during halftime of the Ohio State basketball win over Indiana at the Jerome Schottenstein Center, and it was crystal clear:

"I just want you to know we're here for one purpose and one purpose only and that's to make the great state of Ohio very proud of your football team and your coaching staff and we will get that done."

But these fans expect greatness in the form of gold pants, B1G championships, bowl victories and national championship rings. Only with that set of criteria will they be 'proud of their football team and their coaching staff.' Fortunately Urban Meyer already knows that, and has met that expectation head on with passion, intensity and a relentless drive to recruit - and sign - the best talent in America during his five months in charge. After all, he's been through this before. The expectation laid upon this program by the fan base in recent months is the exact same expectation that Meyer has for this program. It's the same expectation that Luke Fickell and Tom Herman now have. Same goes for Withers, Vrabel, Coombs and right on down the line of the coaching staff.

Did you think Meyer came to Columbus to coast into an easy retirement? That approach isn't in his blood. He doesn't work that way. His oldest daughter Nicki summed it up pretty well when we spoke with her back in March: