Seth's 50 Centers

Jim Rome, a radio show host I used to listen to in college before I grew out of the smack off, banging on my monkey and jungle karma phase, often uses a phrase that I think is very fitting with the current quarterback situation at Ohio State.

“With apologies to Todd Boeckman’s family…”

It’s not so much that the middle-aged quarterback stinks, it’s more like he is so uncomfortable in the pocket that he hasn’t been productive in nearly 11 months.

So while I feel badly for him as a person for getting booed at his home stadium for going 0-for-1 passing Saturday, I also know that OSU football, or other big time college football, is as close as you can get to actually being professional, without really being so.

That means that it’s best for the program to get super frosh Terrelle Pryor into the fray as the starter, like Jim Tressel did Saturday, against Troy and Minnesota so that he can be as acclimated as possible to the speed as the college game.

Everybody who saw him at USC, even Trojans coach Pete Carroll, knows he’s not afraid of the big stage, and even on a slightly smaller stage against the other Trojans he showed what he can do with his arm with the four passing touchdowns.

I think we’ll see some growing pains — like the scrambling attempt to the left and right at the end of the first half that knocked the Buckeyes out of field goal position and led to him having to throw the ball up for grabs in the end zone, ending his modest interception-less streak — but even if you just point to the fact that he can move in and out of the pocket, making up for a shoddy line to this point, it’s a big step up from Boeckman’s happy feet that go nowhere.

On a much bigger level, Pryor, as a freshman, has shown he’s an alpha dog. He’s the guy everybody looks to. Senior corner Malcolm Jenkins tested Pryor’s resolve in the summer and came out with a lot of respect for the newcomer. Another example of how the rest of the team looks up to the 6-6 QB is that during that USC game, not one player on the sideline remained back in the bench area when TP was on the field.

The telling example of Boeckman not being that alpha male is that when Beanie Wells was healthy he was the guy the offense looked to for leadership, not the sixth-year senior captain quarterback!

With apologies to the Boeckman family, it was time to make a change.

NFL Picks

We had a tight one this week with a record 20 participants. We welcome Grandpa and Jeremiah to the show.

Once again it came down to the overall Monday night score to determine a winner, and while bermuda funk, Howard aka the Trashman and gatorbuckeye all correctly picked 12 winners, the ultimate victor is Howard, who came closest with a guess of 44 overall points.

Shenanigans apply again as the Chargers scored 48 points by themselves! I doubt the game this week between the Ravens and Steelers will be as high scoring. Do with that information what you will.

Howard 12-4 (plus 1 for winning the week)
bermuda funk 12-4
gatorbuckeye 12-4
Jeremiah 11-5
Big Game 11-5
Seth 10-6
Adman 10-6
crazed wolverine 10-6
The CPA 10-6
Jessica 10-6
nora peanut 10-6
JMB 10-6
Brian 9-7
tom s 9-7
mary the nurse 9-7
Jack 10 8-8
Grandpa 8-8
Nick 8-8
Steve-o 7-9
Kara 4-12

Overall standings

Big Game 31-16 (plus 1)
Adman 31-16
tom s 30-17 (plus 1)
Howard 30-17 (plus 1)
Seth 29-18
The CPA 28-19
Brian 28-19
nora peanut 27-20
Jessica 27-20
bermuda funk 26-21
Kara 26-21
gatorbuckeye 25-22
mary the nurse 25-22
Steve-o 24-23
crazed wolverine 24-23
Jack 10 22-25
JMB 20-11
Nick B. 18-13
Jeremiah 11-5
Randy 9-7
Grandpa 8-8

NFL Week Four

Minnesota (1-2) at Tennessee (3-0)
Denver (3-0) at Kansas City (0-3)
San Francisco (2-1) at New Orleans (1-2)
Arizona (2-1) at NY Jets (1-2)
Green Bay (2-1) at Tampa Bay (2-1)
Atlanta (2-1) at Carolina (2-1)
Houston (0-2) at Jacksonville (1-2)
Cleveland (0-3) at Cincinnati (0-3)
San Diego (1-2) at Oakland (1-2)
Buffalo (3-0) at St. Louis (0-3)
Washington (2-1) at Dallas (3-0)
Philadelphia (2-1) at Chicago (1-2)
Baltimore (2-0) at Pittsburgh (2-1) Pts.______

Make your picks by using the “Comments” section under the headline.