Cleveland, OH

Ohio State coach Ryan Day can win something big at Michigan, including the right to speak his mind

Published

7 months ago

November 23, 2023

Ohio State coach Ryan Day can win something big at Michigan, including the right to speak his mind

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football coach Ryan Day will walk across the Michigan Stadium playing surface Saturday afternoon and shake the hand of a Wolverines football coach.

Not the Michigan football coach, though. Jim Harbaugh will probably watch The Game the same way you will — on a couch, eating Thanksgiving leftovers and yelling at the television. His second suspension of the season, for separate NCAA investigations, makes him a very engaged spectator for the biggest game in the sport.

That three-game banishment by Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti deprived Harbaugh of the chance to, perhaps, celebrate another historic victory on the field with his team. It deprived Day of the chance to, perhaps, use his body language to say everything his voice has not since the Michigan sign-stealing scheme was uncovered.

And oh man did it deprive the rest of us the perverse pleasure of watching these two men — their dislike for each palpable — converge for the most awkward sports moment of 2023.

Other than a stern rebuttal of Michigan’s accusation that OSU gave Purdue the Wolverines’ signs before last year’s Big Ten championship game, Day continues to pass up every chance to comment on anything even tangential to the scandal up north.

Yet it is difficult to imagine a more personal game thus far in Day’s career. Set aside for the moment whatever personal opinion he may have previously felt about Harbaugh. Those losses the past two seasons were analyzed, in the moment, through the lens of what Day had or had not done to prepare his program to win.

In 2021, it triggered wholesale changes to his coaching staff. Last season, it confirmed that a program at the top of the Big Ten when he inherited it had officially been bumped down a rung.

And then, over the past five weeks, details emerged that questioned whether those games took place on an even playing field. Is that why both of C.J. Stroud’s Heisman Trophy campaigns were derailed? Is that why Ohio State’s prolific 2021 offense did not get its shot at Georgia’s elite defense?

Day does not deny the personal nature of this gmae. He knows, though, the most certain path to a third straight loss in this rivalry would come from putting too much thought into the circumstances of the first two.

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“Not that it’s easy, but the only thing that matters is this game, is this team, is preparing — the rest of it doesn’t matter,” Day said. “So that’s what we have to do. We have got to stay disciplined enough to focus on that.

“Every year you learn more and more about this game and the preparation for it. So we’re not going to let any of that stuff get in our way. In terms of distractions, we’re just going to focus on this team this season and preparing the best we possibly can.”

Despite what the most irate portion of the fan base might tell you, Day is not coaching for his job on Saturday — or even to stay off of the proverbial hot seat.

This game should not be a referendum on his future at Ohio State. It is, though, a referendum on specific choices he made. Keeping play calling duties for himself rather than shifting to full executive mode. Doubling down on the status quo on special teams in the offseason. Fixing the offensive line issue that had been on the horizon for a full two years.

As this season began, Day faced significantly more pressure to win The Game than Harbaugh. Not anymore. Saturday he will walk the sideline while his counterpart watches from a remote location. When the Fox broadcast shows his face, it will not be in conjunction with words such as scandal or scheme.

Win or lose Saturday, Day will be asked about the Michigan allegations. How he believes the illegal scouting operation affected the 2021-22 games. What he thinks about Harbaugh now.

If Ohio State wins, he might say to us what he won’t be able to say to Harbaugh in that postgame handshake.

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Cleveland, OH

Caitlin Clark B1G Female Athlete of Year Again

Published

6 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Caitlin Clark B1G Female Athlete of Year Again

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Former University of Iowa guard, Caitlin Clark, was named 2023-24 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year, announced today by the Big Ten Conference Office.

Clark, from West Des Moines, Iowa, is the first Hawkeye to win the award in back-to-back years. She is also only the third repeat winner in Big Ten Conference history, joining Wisconsin’s Suzy Favor (1988, 1989, 1990) and Indiana’s Lilly King (2017, 2018).

She is also the third Hawkeye student-athlete to win the award, joining Kristy Gleason (field hockey, 1994) and Megan Gustafson (women’s basketball, 2019). She is also ninth women’s basketball student-athlete to win the award, joining Gustafson, Purdue’s Joy Holmes (1991), MaChelle Joseph (1992), Stephanie White (1999) and Katie Douglas (2001), Penn State’s Kelly Mazzante (2004), Ohio State’s Jessica Davenport (2007), and Minnesota’s Rachel Banham (2016).

It is the ninth time a Hawkeye (men’s or women’s student-athlete) has earned the Big Ten Athlete of the Year award, and the fourth time in the past six seasons. Iowa’s past winners include wrestlers Ed Banach (1983), Barry Davis (1985) and Brent Metcalf (2008), football player Chuck Long (1986), men’s basketball player Luka Garza (2021), Gleason, and Gustafson.

Clark won the 2024 Honda Cup on Monday, and was named Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year as by THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA). She also won the 2024 Naismith, Wooden and Wade Trophies along with the Associated Press and USBWA Ann Drysdale Player of the Year honors.

She is also a three-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award and is the first-ever three-time winner of the Dawn Staley Award. She also won the Honda Sport Award for Basketball in April.

Clark, who now plays for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever, is the NCAA basketball all-time leading scorer and the only player in NCAA Division I men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons. Clark led the nation in 10 different offensive categories, including averaging 31.6 points and 8.9 assists per game and also broke the NCAA women’s tournament scoring record during the Hawkeyes’ final NCAA Tournament run.

Off the court, she is a three-time First Team Academic All-American and was named the 2024 CSC Academic All-America of the Year.

The Big Ten Athletes of the Year are selected by a panel of conference media members from nominations submitted by each institution.

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Cleveland, OH

Ohio town named best 4th of July fishing destination in U.S., report says

Published

13 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Ohio town named best 4th of July fishing destination in U.S., report says

Summer is in full swing and Independence Day 2024 is right around the corner.

While many celebrate the annual holiday with cookouts, parades and fireworks, fishing is also a popular activity for the 4th of July. If you’re seeking the best destinations in the U.S. for fishing on the 4th, look no further than Ohio.

Cleveland, Ohio, is the best 4th of July fishing destination in the U.S., according to a report from FishingBooker.com, an online fishing charter service.

“It’s only suitable to kick off this year’s fishing destinations list with the largest city on Lake Erie – Cleveland,” FishingBooker.com writes in its report. “If we were to use only one word to describe Cleveland, it would be diversity. This Ohio beauty promises not only various fish species and numerous bodies of water for exploring, but also an array of activities to do this Independence Day. That’s why Cleveland is the perfect Fourth of July getaway location.”

Beyond Cleveland, eight additional U.S. cities made rankings for best fishing destinations in the U.S., according to FishingBooker.com.

1. Cleveland, OH

2. Fairfield, CT

3. Seward, AK

4. Astoria, OR

5. Port Arthur, TX

6. Sebago Lake, ME

7. Glenwood Springs, CO

8. Huntington Beach, CA

9. Brainerd, MN

The full report from FishingBooker.com on the nine best 4th of July fishing destinations in the U.S. can be found online.

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Cleveland, OH

Cavaliers Linked to Nets Player on Potential Trade Block

Published

20 hours ago

June 27, 2024

Press Room

Cavaliers Linked to Nets Player on Potential Trade Block

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been relatively quiet in the days leading up to the 2024 NBA Draft after reportedly naming Kenny Atkinson as their next head coach.

The Cavaliers saw multiple players thrown into trade speculation (Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, and Jarrett Allen) after getting bounced in five games by the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

However, various reports suggest that the Cavs will keep their ‘Core Four’ together, which is good news for Atkinson. That said, for Cleveland to take that next step, they must upgrade the wing spot and their bench this offseason.

One potential option for the Cavaliers could be Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson. The Nets could be on the verge of a firesale after shockingly trading Mikal Bridges on Tuesday night to the New York Knicks.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported Wednesday that Johnson is among the Nets vets who are all potential trade candidates to monitor. Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com said on 92.3 The Fan Wednesday that the Cavaliers “love” Cam Johnson and that they have for years.

Fedor also mentioned that the Cavaliers worked out Johnson during the draft process and have kept him on the radar. However, Fedor also questioned whether the Cavs have the pieces to send to Brooklyn in a potential trade for Johnson.

The Cavs could show interest in Cam Johnson, per @ChrisFedor
“The Cavs love Cam Johnson. If he is available from the Brooklyn Nets, the Cavs will be involved in those conversations. There’s no doubt about that. The question becomes, do they have the pieces to satisfy what… pic.twitter.com/ce5YUZFo7H
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 26, 2024

If the Cavaliers grabbed Johnson, he would be an immediate upgrade on the wing, giving the team floor spacing and another shooter. The 28-year-old forward posted 13.4 points per game on 44.6 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent from three-point range (6.1 attempts per game).

Johnson signed a four-year, $94.5 million contract extension last summer, so if the Cavaliers traded for him, he’d be in Cleveland for at least three seasons. With the Nets not having a pick in this year’s draft, maybe the Cavs could throw them the No. 20 overall pick, Georges Niang, and Caris LeVert to generate a conversation.

With the Knicks making a major splash for Bridges and the Celtics winning the NBA title, the Cavaliers must explore all options.

More Cavaliers news and analysis:

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