Can J.T. Win the Heisman? Baver Answers Bye Week Questions

Colin: The OSU offense looks like a kid playing Madden on the easiest level. Has J.T. reinserted himself into the Heisman race?

Brent: What a turnaround, huh? Urban, Kevin Wilson, Ryan Day and JT seem to now be in sync …..at least against the softer part of OSU’s schedule that they just buzzed through. And JT’s confidence? It’s night and day since the shell-shocked look we saw from him on the sidelines late in that Oklahoma game. At a minimum, JT has a decent shot of getting to New York for the Heisman presentation IF he can get it done against the stiffer competition that Ohio State has coming up

Colin: What is the offense doing now it wasn't earlier in the year? Is this becoming Kevin Wilson's offense?

Brent: At a high level….it’s two things. One is what we just talked about, and that’s JT’s confidence. The other is the play callers (Wilson, Urban and probably Ryan Day to some extent) doing a much better job at mixing things up. Specifically, you’ve seen some run-pass options, where JT has the option of keeping, pitching, or passing. You’ve got Day’s “mesh concept”, using receiver crossing patterns that free up a WR (usually Johnny Dixon) in the middle….we’ve seen Dixon take it to the house 3 times on this play. You’ve also got the new wrinkle in using TE Rashod Berry as a fullback and lead blocker.

But back to the confidence thing and the play calling. The Buckeyes offense is now confident enough to run tempo without the fear of 3-and-outs wearing down their defense. And JT’s gotten comfortable enough to start throwing the ball over the middle and into tighter windows. As far as play calling, the OSU coaches seem to be staying one step ahead of opponents’ defensive adjustments week after week.

Colin: The Cornhuskers have gotten absolutely embarrassed the last two meetings with the Buckeyes. Is there any hope for a proud Nebraska program moving forward and do you think they regret joining the Big 10?

Brent: They are awful. And to think, OSU punter Dru Chrisman went to the trouble of traveling to Lincoln. Mike Riley was simply a bad hire. I mean, his successful days at Oregon State were behind him, and he lands the Nebraska job in 2015? I think at the very latest, Riley is gone at the end of this season, and getting Scott Frost to return to Lincoln could get things headed in the right direction pretty quickly. I am not sure it mattered whether it was the Big Ten or the Big 12….Mike Riley is not the guy to head a program like the one Nebraska has.

Colin: Going into bye week, which OSU players have shown the most improvement since the beginning of the season?

Brent: (1) JT Barrett, for the reasons we just discussed. (2) Dante Booker….he was everyone’s whipping boy after the Buckeye LBs got burnt for several big plays by Oklahoma, but he has really come on since. Everyone knew he had the skills; now he’s translated those skills into production. (3) Binjamen Victor….like Booker, he is another guy that everyone knew had all the talent in the world, but I thought maybe lacked WR instincts. He’s proved me wrong there; Victor is really starting to get it.

Colin: Who has been a disappointment?

Brent: Kendall Sheffield. 5-star athlete, 2-star cornerback….at least so far. I am still holding out a glimmer of hope that he can play corner at the level that OSU needs.

Colin: Give us an update on your picks and what games/lines will you be watching this weekend?

Brent: 16-7 against the spread…I’ve been killing it. Not a lot jumping out at me spread wise this week, so I will just take a stab at the 2 marquee games. Penn State-Michigan in Happy Valley. I think you take Michigan and the 9 ½ points here. Michigan’s defense should keep them in this one, but their offense probably keeps them from winning it. I like Notre Dame laying 3 ½ at home, hosting a USC team that is off that emotional 1-point win against Utah. I think Notre Dame is the better team here, and the home field alone is worth 3 ½ or more points.

 

 

 

 

The Columbus Crew Have a Problem and I May Have the Answer.

This was story was originally published in August 2013 just after then new Crew owner Anthony Precourt assumed control of the team. Some folks inquired about re running it in light of the Crew possibly leaving town. Here you go. - Colin

Once again attendance is lagging for the Columbus Crew. As of August 1st, 2013, Frankiln County's hardest working squad rank 14th out of 19 teams in Major League Soccer with an average crowd of 14,775 per match. The team was recently sold to new owner Anthony Precourt and I thought I would offer a simple, and in my opinion, a rather obvious solution to improving attendance for the 2014 season.

Let's use myself and nine year old son Owen as a test case for this study. In the past year we have attended multiply sporting events including OSU football, basketball, baseball, CBJ, Cincinnati Reds, the Memorial Golf Tournament, and countless Clippers games. Yet we haven't bought tickets to a single Crew game. What gives?

It's not like we don't enjoy the Crew experience because we do. We like the stadium, the sport and the team. Recently when we were attending the state fair to catch some pig racing (another sporting event) we parked next to Crew Stadium and Owen said, "Dad, we should go to some more Crew games". I agreed, "Yeah Owen, we should". But when it comes time to pull the trigger I always talk myself out of it and it is easy to pinpoint why..

The Crew doesn't offer any discount for youth tickets.

The cheapest ticket I can buy to a Crew game is $23 on the South endline. Add $10 for parking and Owen and I are already out $56 before one soft drink or dippin' dot has been purchased. If he brings just one friend we are up to 79 smacks. And what if Mom wants to come too? Well, that's just crazy talk. Might as well plan a weeklong trip to Disneyworld at those velocities.  

And here is the thing, I am not a cheap skate. Once committed to an event I am all in. Why even bother to go if you are going to complain about the $8 beers? We all know the score before we walk in the gate. Supply and demand baby. "The Man" knows what that beer is worth and he knows damn well I am going to pay it. And get Owen what he wants too. What's fair is fair. In fact, I actively avoid crowded promotions like 'Dime a Dog'/ 'Buck a Brat' and the like. If I do mistakenly wind up at a stadium on some such night, I would rather pay a full $4.00 for a dog than wait 45 minutes in a line with a bunch of hill-jacks just to save a buck or 3.90. My point being, I am not looking for a bargain, I just need some relative economic value compared to my other family options. I have a little discretionary income to play with, but not enough that I don't have to make some sensible choices. Listen to me, rambling on like Suze Freaking Orman. Anyway...

 Let's address the elephant in the room shall we? The Columbus Clippers. I can get Owen into a Clipper baseball game for just THREE DOLLARS while only paying six bucks for myself. For three bucks I have been known to pile a bunch of his friends in the car just to go down and catch a couple of innings and get some grub. 

Let's get inside the numbers with some complicated "new math".  Try to stay with me.

Crew Game: 2 Adults + 2 Kids + Parking =  $102

Clippers Game: 2 Adults + 2 Kids + Parking = $23

Is a Crew game really $79 better than a Clipper game on the kid fun scale? I won't even bother to answer.

So if attendance is always disappointing, why doesn't the Crew start to offer discounts for youth tickets? 

Occasionally, I'll pose this question when I run into somebody of consequence working in the Crew organization. After some hemming and hawing the answer they seem to suggest is that they want to be perceived as "Major League". Cheap tickets would hurt their brand. Hmm. Ok. Two big problems with this answer.

1) M.L.S. really stands for Minor League Soccer. ESPN has figured this out and started to aggressively push European football covering all sorts of games along with plenty of juicy placements on Sportscenter. Kids like Owen know all about Barcelona, Manchester U. and Messi and so forth. The game has truly gone global so it's too late for MLS to fake it like they have made it. Both the Crew and the Clippers are feeder teams to something greater. Players on both teams aspire leave Columbus in a cloud of dust or just get one last paycheck playing the sport they love. They are both minor league teams. 

2) OK, let's assume the MLS is "Major League". Why do the Cincinnati Reds and Indians offer tickets for $6 and $10 respectively? Last I checked, Major League Baseball is considered pretty "Major League" yet somehow they manage to get kids into the game at a decent price without hurting their brand.  What makes the Crew so smart? What do they know that the Reds, Indians and Clippers don't?

I wish the Crew and new owner Anthony Precourt all the success in the world. I cannot promise Owen and I will be attending any games this season, but we will be keeping an eye on the team from home and Huntington Park. Let's hope they can build the organization back to a Championship level and pack the house night after night with or without my advice. 

 

Colin Gawel plays in Watershed and owns Colin's Coffee where he runs Pencilstorm in between serving customers. Learn more about him and the other Pencilstorm contributors by clicking here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pencilstorm Interview: Brian Close for UA Council

There are eight candidates running for four seats on Upper Arlington City Council.  Pencilstorm asked each of the candidates five specific questions centered around issues that impacted Upper Arlington residents and questions that were being raised by fellow voters.  Pencilstorm will be posting their complete and unedited answers individually throughout October and reposting all their answers together in the first week of November. Answers will be posted in order they're received. Our sixth candidate, Brian Close, is featured below.

Brian Close
www.closeforuacouncil.com

If the election were today, would you vote for or against the school levy and why?
As you know, the school levy is determined by the Upper Arlington Board of Education, not City Council.  However, I am a big supporter of the schools and I believe that we cannot have a strong community without strong schools.  I know this levy/bond is very expensive for most households (especially those on fixed incomes) and I question whether the levy and bond should have been separate issues, but I believe the schools were very transparent in their process, gathered community and professional input, and applied that input to meet their immediate needs.  I am for the levy.

What qualifies you to be on Upper Arlington City Council?
I offer the community the problem-solving skills I've acquired over the course of my legal and public career as applied to my perspective as an active resident that truly understands our community's problems.  I am a business and tax attorney at Dinsmore & Shohl helping family-owned, start-up and small businesses and their owners navigate the complex legal world.  For the last 10 years, my full-time job has been to bring two sides together over divisive issues, whether it is the negotiations of a contract, the sale of a business or helping a family with succession planning.  I am also actively involved in our community as a volunteer, serving as a youth sports coach, as a member of Rotary, serving on various committees supporting the schools, serving on the UA and Grandview Board of Tax Appeals, and as a Leadership UA alumnus.  This combination of training and community involvement make me uniquely qualified to unite this community on the issues that have divided us for the last few years.

If you had a magic wand and an unlimited budget, what infrastructure project you would implement?
One of my top priorities is to address our deteriorating roads, sidewalks, sewers and parks, but I feel our city should be able to handle a majority of these issues with careful and prudent planning and budgeting and without raising additional tax dollars.  One public project that I would support if it meant no increase in taxes or a diversion of existing tax dollars from core infrastructure projects, is a community center.  Over the last 20 years our residents have not supported a community center due in part to these reasons, but if we had a magic wand and an unlimited budget (and the land to do it) I think our community would greatly benefit from a central gathering place that could serve all ages, groups and activities within our community.  Unfortunately, without a location and without community backing, it can only exist in this fantasy-like scenario at this time.

Looking around Central Ohio, give an example of a community you think is doing it right and one that’s doing it wrong. What could Upper Arlington could learn from both? 
I think it is hard to compare Upper Arlington to any of the I-270 communities because of our distinct characteristics of a landlocked community where our schools and city are unified in a singular community, but some of our neighboring communities do provide some good examples of how a city's processes can make a difference.  I think both Dublin and the University Area have both shown us how careful planning can help alleviate some of the issues that arise from commercial development.  For example, the UAC has a master plan that addresses specific issues - height, density, size, setback, parking requirements and design guidelines - for certain key areas so both residents and developers know and understand the community's expectations and can plan accordingly.  This planning also allows the community to be involved earlier in the process and lessens the urgent and loud opposition occasioned by ad hoc zoning ushering in a more civil tone.  I don't want to name communities that are doing it wrong, but I think communities that have struggled over the last few years are those that don't support their local public schools and those that don't have a community-back plan for future growth and development.

At Pencilstorm, we all have a love of music. In that vein, what's your favorite album and why?
After reading this, I went on a camping trip with my daughter (Marley) in Hamilton, Ohio.  On the way down, she told me a story of how one of her friend's name is a combination of her two grandmothers' names.  I asked Marley if she knew where her name came from, to which she responded that it came from her maternal grandmother.  Noting that she was technically correct, I told her that her name was also influenced by another person - Bob Marley - and I started playing for her my favorite Bob Marley & The Wailers albums (Exodus and Catch a Fire).  From that music came a rush of memories to my college and law school days.  For the remainder of the two hour drive down, I started listening to all of my other favorite albums from my youth (U2 - Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby), high school (don't ask), and more recently (Zac Brown Band - The Foundation and Jekyll and Hyde).  As only music can do, each album took me back to the memories I hadn't recalled in years.  So I feel like the question isn't one of my favorite album, but one of my favorite time period of my life so far.  That I can't answer because each era is special for various reaons, so I will give it to the album that has been one of my favorites for the longest periods of time and from an artist that helped influence my daughter's name:  Bob Marley & The Wailers - Catch a Fire.

Pencilstorm would like to thank Brian Close for taking the time to answer our questions.  Learn more about Brian at his website: www.closeforuacouncil.com. Pencilstorm is an independent news source and does not endorse any individual candidate.

In the coming days, we'll be resposting all the responses we've received in one blog, along with rationale behind why we asked what we did.

Local UA Politics coverage provided by Wal Ozello. You can email him at Pencilstormstory@gmail.com or try to catch him at Colin's Coffee. 

Check out coverage of all the candidates we've received responses from by clicking here.

 

 

Colin on WCBE Thursday October 19th, 1 - 2 pm. Tune in or Stream It.

It's the fall fund raising season for WCBE 90.5 and to pay respects, Colin will be riding shotgun on the air with Maggie Brennan and her fabulous show The Global Village on Thursday October 19th from 1 - 2 pm. Talking Watershed, Bowlers, Pencilstorm and all sorts of things along with the great music you expect from WCBE, it should be a fun ride. Tune in and spread the word. Or hit the link below to stream it on the interwebs the kids are so crazy about. 

Click here to stream the show and to learn about how you can contribute to this great radio station.

Official music video for Colin Gawel's "Dad Can't Help You Now." The single is available on "Superior: The Best of Colin Gawel" released by Mike Landolt's Curry House Records. More at www.colingawel.com. Video directed by Wal Ozello, produced by Maria Clark, director of photography Alex Williams, edited and visual effects by Eric "Bing" Ringquist, and features Sam Ozello and Tim Baldwin.

Performed @ Comfest 2017

Pencilstorm Interview: Michaela Burriss for UA Council

There are eight candidates running for four seats on Upper Arlington City Council.  Pencilstorm asked each of the candidates five specific questions centered around issues that impacted Upper Arlington residents and questions that were being raised by fellow voters.  Pencilstorm will be posting their complete and unedited answers individually throughout October and reposting all their answers together in the first week of November. Answers will be posted in order they're received. Our fifth candidate, Michaela Burriss, is featured below.

Michaela Burriss
www.citizensforburriss.com

If the election were today, would you vote for or against the school levy and why?
Absolutely yes. The strength of the UA Schools was the difference between our family choosing this community over other inner-ring suburbs like Grandview or Bexley. UA's location and school system continue to be our main attractors. As first time homeowners, we want our investment to be protected. The value of our home is interwoven with the strength of the schools.

As a UAHS Volunteer Asst. Coach, I spend quite a bit of time in our school facilities. They're inadequate. In fact, I've even experienced triggering responses around the leaking roofs and flooded basements. It reminded me of my low-income and adverse childhood. There shouldn't be any question about the need to mend our buildings.

There is, however, a valuable conversation to have about how we got here and how we maintain quality facilities moving forward. Additionally, the cost of the levy is significant enough that we will all feel it, but most especially within our retiree community who is on fixed incomes. We have to be sensitive of tax increases and how they may force empty nesters out of UA. For City Council, this means being even more fiscally responsible and efficient with dollars, something I intend to do.

What qualifies you to be on Upper Arlington City Council?
Obtaining a BA in Political Science Pre-Law helped prepare me for a career I've now spent, in it's entirety, within or intersecting with government. As a Constituent Services Liaison for the U.S. Senate, I helped Ohioans troubleshoot bureaucracy with federal agencies, while intaking opinions on issues of top importance. Prior to that, I externed with the Ohio Senate and Columbus City Attorney's office.

Currently I am an attorney working for a non-profit that helps small business owners with free education on resources to start and grow a business. I have the expertise and excitement for the next era of economic and residential development. One that will help seniors age in place, and attract the next wave of homeowners. Ensuring our infrastructure is not only up to date, but innovative.

Locally, I serve on the Leadership UA Board of Directors and as a volunteer UAHS coach. I have the passion, patience and experience needed for a community with high expectations and genuine interest in weighing-in on the future of Upper Arlington.

If you had a magic wand and an unlimited budget, what infrastructure project you would implement?
Ironically, budget wouldn't be the major constraint in implementation of this "magic wand" concept. While canvassing for this race, I have been completely shocked by the frequency in which people mention wanting a community center here in UA. This isn't exclusive to one generation with young families. I've heard it in every neighborhood from every demographic. It would be disingenuous of me to ignore the hundreds of residents that have brought this to my attention. With support from the community, I would love to update the Senior Center and explore how a community center could be brought to UA. The major challenge quite frankly would be physical space.

In that same vein, universal sidewalks and bike lanes would make me so happy! If UA could play a role in a regional mass transit or light rail plan, I would also be delighted. With the increasing population and congestion of cars, our proximity to downtown and OSU where many residents work is losing its convenience. 5-10 minute drives have quickly become 20.  Walkable communities and mass transit are more affordable, decrease congestion/traffic, while helping the environment and encouraging public health. There are so many economic, environmental, and health reasons to invest in alternative transportation and walkability.

Looking around Central Ohio, give an example of a community you think is doing it right and one that’s doing it wrong. What could Upper Arlington could learn from both? 
Bexley, like many other communities in Central Ohio, allows for public comment on non-agenda issues during Council meetings. Having an opportunity to speak on topics that are important to you as a resident, opposed to guided by the City/Council, can go a long way toward increasingly accessibility. More importantly, because it is during an official meeting, it becomes a part of the public record. This too can go a long way in holding Council accountable for inaction. As a candidate for Upper Arlington City Council, I've proposed amending our agenda to bring this to our residents. It's a great tool that allows our residents to drive ideas and help our community continue to prosper.

Columbus has seen a lot of change lately. Columbus/Central Ohio has grown to the 14th largest city in the country and 2nd largest in the Midwest.  MORPC anticipates the regional population will increase by 500,000 in the next 35 years. Developers are quickly changing the look and feel of downtown, gentrifying long time residents and driving up living costs. As Upper Arlington grows and considers who we want to be in the next 50 years, we should preserve what makes us unique and special: a suburban lifestyle close to downtown. I'm a proponent of smart residential and commercial development that protects our character. I'll welcome change that doesn't unnecessarily put us in an "arms race" with the rest of the region that is changing very hastily.

At Pencilstorm, we all have a love of music. In that vein, what's your favorite album and why?
No way I could ever pick a favorite album. I'm such a fan of music! The most recent one I downloaded was Ke$ha Rainbow. I listen to a ton of EDM/Dance music. DJ's dont necessarily produce a ton of original content but rather mix songs

Pencilstorm would like to thank Michaela Burriss for taking the time to answer our questions.  Learn more about Michaela at her website: www.citizensforburriss.com. Look for responses from future candidates in the coming days. Pencilstorm is an independent news source and does not endorse any individual candidate.

Local UA Politics coverage provided by Wal Ozello. You can email him at Pencilstormstory@gmail.com or try to catch him at Colin's Coffee. 

Check out coverage of all the candidates we've received responses from by clicking here.