Ghosts of Spartan past-lives to visit the 'Shoe on Saturday? Baver Answers Colin's Questions - Sparty Week

Colin: Wow. After the Nebraska blowout folks around the coffee shop are starting to discuss if this is one of the all time great Buckeye teams. Is it too early for that kind of talk?

Baver: Yep....too early for that. So far, this team looks as polished as it gets, but they haven’t played a top 25 team yet. Hell, they may not have played a top 50 team yet. Still, that was a show Ohio St put on at Nebraska. The speed on defense is insane, and the offense looks like a machine. And everyone has taken notice, not just those in Ohio. The problem now is battling expectations and keeping everyone hungry. Bama went from being called the greatest team of all-time last fall to getting blown out in the title game. This Buckeye team actually needs some adversity right now...as long as that adversity isn’t in the form of a loss. To that point, Clemson’s scare vs UNC last week will actually help Dabo’s squad.

Colin: Speaking of all time great teams, Sparty came into the Shoe as huge dogs yet ripped the heart out of the undefeated 1998 and 2015 OSU squads. Why couldn’t it happen again? 

Baver: It COULD happen again. Since 2000, Ohio St has lost 9 games as double-digit favorites, including losses as 18-pt favorites against both Iowa and Purdue over the past two seasons. 

But OSU hasn’t lost as a 20-plus-pt favorite since that ’98 loss to Nick Saban’s Spartan team. They were 4-TD favorites that day and blew a 24-9, 3rd qtr lead. That was about as shocking as it gets.

While another upset is surely possible, I think the Spartans are in trouble Saturday. Without OSU doing Sparty favors with turnovers, I don’t see Michigan St scoring more than 14, maybe 17 pts. And although MSU is tough on D, their pass defense isn’t up to typical Spartan standards.

Colin: The O-Line lost 4 starters from an average group last year and suddenly Kirk Herbstreit is calling the 2019 O-Line the best in the country. What gives? 

Baver: The ’19 O-line was not good (by Ohio St standards), so it doesn’t surprise me that this line is better. They seem to have a nastiness that’s been lacking in recent years. But best in the country? Herbstreit gets carried away sometimes....no....he gets carried away ALL of the time. Let’s revisit this topic in November or at least after this OSU O-line has faced MSU & Wisconsin. 

Colin: Fields, Young, Dobbins and Okudah are already stars. Who are a couple unsung Buckeyes who have really stepped up so far in 2019? 

Baver: Instead of a couple, here are seven of em: Davon Hamilton, Shaun Wade, Josh Myers, Baron Browning, Pete Werner, Thayer Munford, Chris Olave. Browning and Werner both took a beating from OSU fans last year, and look like different players in the new scheme. And few have brought up Davon Hamilton...that kid is light years better than when he arrived on campus.

Colin: Thoughts on the matchup with MSU and a prediction?

Baver: If the Bucks can simply run the ball “adequately”, Michigan St almost can’t win this game. But Sparty’s run D is elite, so Dobbins and company have to bring it. The MSU pass D got nickeled and dimed to death by IU’s short passing game last week, and the adjustments surprisingly never came. You can be certain Ryan Day took notice. Sparty does have two defensive stars that can change games. One is DE Kenny Willekes, a former walk-on, who had a big game against OSU last season. Willekes plays the run better than any DE in the B1G, while MLB Joe Bachie is the best LB in the league. 

On the other side of the ball, Brian Lewerke has been healthy and is playing better after a rough 2018. Lewerke can hurt you some with his legs but has limited upside. Sparty’s new #1 WR is Darrell Stewart, a big kid that can be a matchup problem at 6-2, 216. Tailback Elijah Collins isn’t a stud athlete, but is a tough back to bring down. MSU’s O-line vs OSU’s D-line? Not a favorable matchup for the green and white. 

Sparty may keep things interesting for a bit, but with a subpar offense and a so-so defensive secondary, I see Ohio St winning & covering the 20 pts. I’ve got it OSU 35 MSU 13.

Colin: What other games and lines will you be keeping an eye on this weekend? 

Baver: Iowa at Michigan - the “Big Noon” game on Fox. UM is much better at home than on the road, but should find trouble scoring against a strong Hawkeye D. Of course, Iowa may have trouble scoring as well. I like Iowa +3.5 and tend to think they win outright. Until Michigan shows they have some heart against better opponents, I am going to continue to pick against them in these games.

Auburn at Florida – should be a good one in Gainesville. I think the Gator defense will be too much for Tiger true frosh QB Bo Nix. I like Florida getting points at home (currently +2.5). With the schedule Auburn has, they have to get beat at sooner or later, right?  

—Brent Baver and Colin Gawel

Bp On The NL Division Round

The National League Divisional rounds begin this evening with the Cardinals traveling to Atlanta and the Nationals drawing the Dodgers in LA.

Game Ones:

St. Louis/Miles Mikolas (9-14 4.16) vs Atlanta/Dallas Keuchel (8-8 3.75)

Washington/Patrick Corbin (14-7 3.25 vs Los Angeles/Walker Beuhler (14-4 3.25)

Let’s start with the latter, and I’ll make this real simple. If the Nationals do not steal game one, I give them no chance in the series. This L.A. team is loaded, but they are tougher against right handed pitching. With lefty Patrick Corbin going in game one this is the only advantage Washington can possibly press.

The Nationals are a good offensive club, but the Dodgers are better and can attack you one to eight in the order. The Nationals’ top three starters are better than L.A.’s, and they have to be in this series. The Nats’ bullpen is a liability. Max Scherzer certainly has to pitch better when we see him in game three.

L.A. was smart to go with Beuhler in game one over Clayton Kershaw. We all know Kershaw has had his post season issues, but for whatever reason most of Beuhler’s bad starts have come on the road this season. Better to get him off the ground at Dodger Stadium.

This Dodger team is fun to watch because of the home grown kids they keep bringing up. It’ll be interesting to see how much Gavin Lux and Will Smith play in this series. Smith will be catching in game one which shows you how much they think of the rookie despite his September struggles at the dish.

Give me L.A. in four games.

As for the Cardinals and Braves this one is more evenly matched. I was impressed by the Cardinals getting it together, getting hot, and winning the NL Central. When you look at their roster it just doesn’t look like a playoff team.

Paul Goldschmidt’s first season in St. Lou was a disappointment. Paul DeJong hit 30 homers, but that doesn’t seem like such a big achievement any more. Those bombs came with a low average. Matt Carpenter was just plain awful, and lost regular playing time to interesting rookie Tommy Edman. My biggest beef with St. Louis is how right handed they are. In the playoffs, with how pitching can control games, they don’t have enough answers from the left side of the plate.

This Atlanta club is really good. If you know only one young superstar in the game, make it Ronald Acuna Jr. He can do it all. Freddy Freeman was awesome even when the Braves had nothing around him. Josh Donaldson was thought to be washed up at third, but he’s had a very nice, and mostly healthy year. The Braves are just built so much better for the playoffs. They can balance you up from the left side with solid big league hitters Nick Markakis and Matt Joyce and then draw on the bench from the other side with former Red Adam Duvall. (Interesting that another former Red Billy Hamilton made their team in this series too…… Late inning pinch runner no doubt. Could be the difference you never know!)

I think I like the Cardinals staff better in this one. Mikolas is entirely dependent on his fielders, but Jack Flaherty has been as good as any starter in the game this year. Dakota Hudson is an extreme ground baller who has gotten extreme results. Adam Wainwright ended his 2019 very well.

As for Atlanta Keuchel is the left handed version of Mikolas, and is better at it. What are we going to get from Mike Foltynewicz? I have no clue. I like Mike Soroka and Max Fried, but they are very young.

I’m not going to say much about the bullpens except that if either team can finally get that area settled it could provide them the advantage they need to get through.

Give me the Braves in five games.

Pencilstorm Interview: Angela M. Lanctot for UA Council

There are five candidates running for three 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 leading up to the election and reposting all their answers together the last week of October. Answers will be posted in order they're received. Our fourth candidate, Angela M. Lanctot, is featured below.

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Angela M. Lanctot
www.UAForAngelaLanctot.com

What’s your vision for a potential Community Recreation Center?
Many of us as UA residents are excited about the ideas that we could include in a Community Recreation Center, including athletic amenities, meeting space, indoor pool, and a dedicated Senior Center. Since we have neither unlimited space or resources, we would need to have the proper research and community involvement to determine the features that would provide maximum utilization and benefit to the community for a right-sized community center. To this end, I support the City’s recent formation of a Community Center Feasibility Task Force to establish whether residents are in favor of a community center, whether it is feasible and if so, what options are available for location, funding, and management. In all cases, it would be crucial that any decision on moving forward would be properly voted on by residents. 

Upper Arlington has had a record amount of development this year and continues to have increasing development pressure. How do modernize our city while controlling the traffic and maintaining the community feel that makes us special?
It is all about balance. While it is vitally important that we preserve the things about Upper Arlington that compel people to move to, return to or never leave this City, it may not be possible to meet the needs of today’s residents with the way things have always been. Our society desires greater access to amenities, recreation, shopping, and dining, among other things and this demand will only be greater for future generations. With the correct balance of responsible development and receiving and accounting for public input, particularly those neighboring potential development, we can meet these expectations. It is impossible to please everyone, but it is possible to give all residents a voice. This participation, coupled with professional and reliable resources, will allow City staff and council to make the appropriate recommendations concerning traffic and density. We have a great opportunity before us with the hiring of our new City Manager. The experience and expertise of Steve Schoeny in development will give us the best tools to make the right decisions for our community as a whole. 

When Compuserve was still headquartered in Upper Arlington, local income taxes from that commercial property represented approximately 35% of the City’s income tax revenue stream. Now that the Tree of Life court case is over, what should the city do to maximize that property and significantly boost our income?
As a private landowner, Tree of Life has the ultimate decision-making power on how that property is utilized. Notwithstanding, the City should work with Tree of Life to provide opportunities on how it can have a better result for all parties. This prized piece of commercial property would supply needed revenue to support the needs and priorities of the City and its residents. Ideally, the space would again host high-end technology jobs. This discourse between the City and Tree of Life is another example of the benefit of our new City Manager, Steve Schoeny, who can facilitate these discussions and negotiations to achieve a way through the situation. 

If there’s one thing you could fix within our parks and recreation, what would it be?
For the amount of demand we have on our parks, we just don’t have enough of it. While we can’t fabricate more green space, we can continue to look for creative solutions to the problems. This could include annexing neighboring space or establishing connections to nearby amenities. The Columbus and Franklin County Metro Parks Quarry Trails on the west side of the Scioto River and north of Trabue Road will be 118 acres in phase one alone, with another 100 acres planned in total and will be awesomely close to Upper Arlington. It will be imperative that City Council and City Staff prioritize making a connection for Upper Arlington residents to utilize the vast resources that will be available in this development. The exact connection is yet to be determined but could include a pedestrian bridge, an underground tunnel or any configuration that the experts determine can safely get people access to the Park. Furthermore, the entire west side of Upper Arlington follows along the Scioto River with miles of recreation available. If additional connections are made from our neighborhoods to provide safe passage, it will multiply the space available for all generations to enjoy. 

Remembering that Pencilstorm is typically a Rock N Roll blog, we’d like to end with a music question. What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to and why?
It was actually two concerts, but the same artist. When I was in middle school, my father took my sisters and me to see Garth Brooks perform in Cleveland. At the time, I might have been the only of my sisters who truly listened to country music, and Garth, but we had the most memorable night together, even being stuck for hours in traffic leaving Cleveland on a school night. Flash forward, twenty-five years later, Garth Brooks was once again touring and my dad and sisters and I made a return trip to Cleveland to see the epic performance. Not only has his performance improved with time, it is one of those rare artists for me that I can sing all the lyrics to the songs – and this time we were all singing along! Time spent with my family and with Garth makes for the best concert I’ve ever been to!

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Pencilstorm would like to thank Angela Lanctot for taking the time to answer our questions.  Learn more about Angela at her website: www.UAForAngelaLanctot.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.

The Major League Baseball Post Season: Wild Card Round - by Brian Phillips

6pm EST October 2: AL Wild Card Line ups/Rosters out. Thoughts below.

After a year of record setting dingers, another high water mark in strikeouts, and embarrassing futility at the bottom of the American League we’ve reached baseball’s post season. Now the game changes. (For instance the Yankees don’t get to play the Orioles any more.)

One thing we’ll recognize is the creative deployment of pitching staffs. Openers aren’t just for the Rays any more. With all their injuries the Yankees were even doing it fairly often as the season wore on. It’s no accident that the A’s, Rays, and Brewers all made it to October. They’ve been leaders in how bullpen arms can be dispatched at any time and more efficiently. They’ve also been brutally honest in accepting what their starters can and cannot do. When Milwaukee got red hot (after losing Christian Yelich no less!) their starters were lucky get two trips through an opponents order.

We’ll be adding to our coverage here as we move through the playoffs. We’ll start with Tuesday and Wednesday’s Wild Card match ups. Remember! It’s one game. Win or go home.

Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals

Tuesday October 1

Brandon Woodruff (11-3 3.62) vs Max Scherzer (11-7 2.92)

Woodruff was just returning from injury in September so don’t expect him to go any longer than the first three. The Brewers would be happy to let him wind it out 100% one time through the order. After that we’ll likely see an improving Jordan Lyles for a couple of frames followed by blow away closer Josh Hader at most any time. Without Yelich the Brewers have to keep this close. I don’t like them against a power righty like Scherzer. They can strike out at a high clip. Ryan Braun and Lorenzo Cain are dinged up already, and not good against righties.

The key to beating Scherzer is hunting for home runs. He will give them up. If you can grab a walk or a cheap hit, a bomb or two can be lingering behind those. Yasmani Grandal, Eric Thames, Mike Moustakas, and impressive rookie Keston Hiura will be looking to jump a Scherzer heater. The X-factor is young lead off hitter Trent Grisham. He’s had his moments this season.

As for the Nationals, this is an impressive line up. Keep an eye on two hole hitter Adam Eaton. He’s quietly pumped up his power profile the last couple of months. With Trea Turner in front of him, and mashers Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto and the always reliable Howie Kendrick 3, 4, and 5 this is a club that can jump out to an early lead and sit on it.

Washington’s biggest weakness is it’s bullpen, but with an all or nothing Wild Card game it’s all hands. If Scherzer runs into trouble (and he has had back trouble this season) we could see Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin both appearing.

I like the Nats at home, but this is baseball. These Wild Card games can be strange.

Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland A’s

Wednesday October 2

Charlie Morton (16-6 3.05) vs Sean Manaea (4-0 1.21)

With all the above about bull penning we might just have to forget all that when we look at this pitching match up. Morton has been great all year, and on paper any way he should be able to navigate an A’s team that sees most of their thump come from the right side of the plate. That said, when Morton has struggled (and that’s not very often) it’s been on the road. Oakland will put the ball in play so I don’t expect Morton to just mow them down.

As for Manaea he returned from injury late in the season and looked very good. His underlying numbers don’t quite add up to a sterling 1.21 ERA, but the A’s have to be pleased with what that they’ve seen. Given a choice you’d rather start a good lefty against Tampa if only to mitigate stud outfielder Austin Meadows a bit. (Why the Pirates traded him I have no idea.)

6pm EST: Rosters And Line Ups Now Out

The biggest surprises come on the Tampa side. Former Indian Yandy Diaz is leading off and playing first. He was out for weeks with a bum foot and only returned at the end of the year to DH. The Rays must feel he’s ready to go, and Diaz is certainly a plus glove if he’s healthy. One time Columbus Clipper Jesus Aguilar is also on the roster if Diaz doesn’t hold up. Rookie Michael Brosseau starts at second and bats 9th over Daniel Robertson. He’s shown some pop against lefties this year. If need be Joey Wendle is a good choice to pinch hit and play second or third should the A’s go to a righty. I can’t wait to see left handed hitter Matthews face Manaea. Should be fun to watch.

The Rays have 10 pitchers on the roster tonight and in case Morton falters I like them to look at Ryan Yarbrough before Blake Snell. Snell’s injury marred 2019 had him coming back displaying some of his old wildness. Tyler Glasnow could certainly give them three solid innings as well.

Over on the Oakland side Bob Melvin is opting for experience over interesting rookies. Robbie Grossman bats 8th in left over Seth Brown. Jurickson Profar hits 6th at second over Sheldon Neuse. Four of the first five hitters hit from the right, but all are dangerous. If I had a vote for AL MVP it may well have gone to Short stop Marcus Semien, who has had an amazing all around year. Matt Olson is the biggest power danger for Morton in the four hole. DH Khris Davis has had hand problems all year, and just hasn’t been himself. Still, he’s got that lightning strike power.

Oakland has tapped 11 pitchers for this game. Perhaps this is an acknowledgement that Manaea is not that far removed from a long IL stint. Jesus Luzardo recently returned from suspension. If a long man is needed they could well turn to him.

I like Oakland at home 5-4.

Pencilstorm Interview: Brendan T. King for UA Council

There are five candidates running for three 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 leading up to the election and reposting all their answers together the last week of October. Answers will be posted in order they're received. Our third candidate, Brendan T. King, is featured below.

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Brendan T. King
www.uaforbrendanking.com

What’s your vision for a potential Community Recreation Center?
Personally, I would love to find a way to create additional indoor community space for families and individuals. However, any future Community Recreation Center cannot be about my vision or the vision of any single person, it has to be the vision of the community. As a member of Council, I have helped empanel a group of highly qualified residents to study the feasibility of a Community Recreation Center. This group will determine (a) whether the community needs a center, (b) whether the community will support a center and then (c) what a center would look like. If Upper Arlington has a vision for a Community Center, it will be determined though this transparent and community-driven process and, again, it cannot be the vision of a single individual. Furthermore, I support the initiative of a prior Council that promised that any decision on indoor recreation space would be placed before the voters. 

Upper Arlington has had a record amount of development this year and continues to have increasing development pressure. How do modernize our city while controlling the traffic and maintaining the community feel that makes us special?
The pressure of development and its impact on UA is the single most difficult issue I’ve faced during my term on City Council. Change is happening in UA, and the City needs to lead the community through the changes in a responsive and collaborative way. The process of modernizing cannot be thrust upon the residents by the City and the byproducts and unintended consequences of modernization, such as increased traffic and impacted neighborhoods, must be carefully considered. Furthermore, because every development project is unique and every neighborhood is impacted differently, we cannot apply a one-size-fits-all approach to solving these problems. We must dive-in, study the particular project and work with the neighbors and the developers to achieve a balance between the interests of the neighbors, the developer and the City. Recently, we are proud to have hired a new City Manager that is uniquely qualified to help navigate these exact issues and through his experience in other roles we are excited to have his expertise to aid Council in creating a vision for development. 

When Compuserve was still headquartered in Upper Arlington, local income taxes from that commercial property represented approximately 35% of the City’s income tax revenue stream. Now that the Tree of Life court case is over, what should the city do to maximize that property and significantly boost our income?
There is no debating that the CompuServe property is a great opportunity for the City to increase the income tax revenue. In order to maximize the income tax revenue on that property, we need to take our time and carefully consider all of the potential options. The worst mistake we could make would be to make a quick decision that results in a long-term under-utilization of the property. Let’s engage the community of residents and developers to help us realize the full potential of that space. When the property was generating 35% of our income tax, City leaders learned that UA was not properly diversified, and that has resulted in the increased emphasis on economic development in our other commercial corridors.  

If there’s one thing you could fix within our parks and recreation, what would it be?
Upper Arlington’s parks are, and will forever be, a source of pride for residents. We saw up-close a few years ago when the tension that bubbled that our parks are both community parks and neighborhood parks. The challenge for the City is to improve the parks while juggling the competing interests of the community at large and the neighbors. That being said, the one thing that I would fix is to find additional field space outside our current park footprint. The pressure that the ever-increasing need for fields puts on the existing parks makes it difficult to satisfy all of UA’s field sports demands while still preserving the neighborhood atmosphere and passive park spaces. 

Remembering that Pencilstorm is typically a Rock N Roll blog, we’d like to end with a music question. What’s the best concert you’ve ever been to and why?
Finally, an easy question! The best concert I’ve ever been to is a three-way tie between my son Will’s choir concert at Jones, my daughter Ellie’s choir concert at Tremont and my daughter Annie’s second grade class play.

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Pencilstorm would like to thank Brendan King for taking the time to answer our questions.  Learn more about Brendan at his website: www.uaforbrendanking.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.

Big $ is Going For Two: Browns v Ravens

Follow the NCP on Twitter @northcoastposse.

1) Should Browns fans feel encouraged or discouraged following the week 3 loss to the Rams?

Big $ - Life is about expectations. If you expected "Chinese Democracy' to rub elbows with "Appetite" you were crushed with disgust. However, if like myself, you were ready for a record showcasing Axl's varied musical tastes and interests while creating with a new cast, you got yourself a nice little surprise (Better is one of GNR's all time songs fyi). In the Browns case, if you were expecting a super bowl contender or even a team that could make noise in the playoffs, the only way to feel is discouraged. You have a first time HC and a QB that has yet to play a full season who are showing brutal growing pains. Opposing teams are better prepared and better equipped to make adjustments. I fully expect this bumpy ride to continue through the 1st half of the season, which will make it tough for a playoff run to exist, If you're one of the few Browns fans who entered the season level headed with a clear memory that this team was a combined 8-39-1 over the last 3 years, the narrow loss to the reigning NFC champs is encouraging. Think about the 1986 Browns loss to the reigning Super Bowl Champ Chicago Bears which was a jump-start to the Bernie/Marty era.

2) Though it’s only week four, this game against the Ravens feels very big. Does that sound crazy?

Big $ - Once again, its about perspective. This game is an absolute must win if the Browns are going to start a playoff trajectory. We 100% have to see offensive changes specifically related to route trees and pre-snap communication between Baker and Freddie. I'm aware that the internet unearthed that Baker made the 4th and 9 audible call, but things were a mess prior to the snap, Monken has no choice but to compromise his "air raid' sensibilities to better fit this roster's strengths. If we do not start to see these changes/improvements this week, things are only going to get worse (like 1-6 bad). After the distressing last 4 plays from last Sunday night, i am firmly in the wait and see camp as there has yet to be concrete proof that this offense and its parts can mesh