While We’re Waiting… Buckeye Underdogs, Interesting Winter Meetings for Tribe and More Trouble for Joe Pa?

While We’re Waiting serves as the early morning gathering of WFNY-esque information for your viewing pleasure. Have something you think we should see? Send it to our tips email at tips@waitingfornextyear.com.

“And so it went, year after year for most of the first decade of the century, in increments of about 365 days. First it was two in a row in favor of Ohio State, which still counts as a streak in this rivalry. Then came a third straight win, which was utterly surreal. After the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh* in a row that initial shock had morphed into a comforting sense of entitlement. This is supposed to happen every year.

Seven years without a Michigan victory means that a fourth consecutive senior class is currently at risk of leaving Ann Arbor without taking The Game even one time. They’re 9-2 this year, which is easily the turnaround of the year in the conference, if not the country. A loss this Saturday might as well count as five. This fulcrum of pleasure and pain where months of work can either pay off in amaranthine splendor or squandered into imperishable regret is where the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry resides. It is both the wrecking ball of great seasons and a fancy diadem for the otherwise gross, rubbishy ones.” [Ramzy/Eleven Warriors]

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“There are plenty of parallels between the Cleveland Indians and the Tampa Bay Rays. They are both small-market teams who have generally been able to handle the obstacles of their financial situations better than most in recent years, whether it be creatively locking up a young superstar, maintaining talented minor league systems, or having postseason success. Conversely, both organizations have also dealt with the harsh realities of their locations: losing talent and baseball games to bigger, richer teams.

As the offseason speeds towards December and the always crucial Winter Meetings, the Indians’ front office may find the answers to its two most glaring problem positions, first base and outfield, in the form of current or former Rays.” [Kevin/Indians Prospect Insider]

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“The most bizarrely hilarious play of the week, though, belongs to our favorite overmatched Jags quarterback. Facing a third-and-8 from the Cleveland 9-yard line while down 14-7, the Jags drop Gabbert back to pass, but Browns end Jabaal Sheard beats right tackle Guy Whimper to blow up the play. Sheard spins Gabbert around, and in the process, Gabbert makes one of the most confusing throws we’ve ever seen.” [Barnwell/Grantland] (H/T WFNY Tumblr)

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Yikes- “In an Aug. 12, 2005, email to Pennsylvania State University President Graham Spanier and others, Vicky Triponey, the university’s standards and conduct officer, complained that Mr. Paterno believed she should have “no interest, (or business) holding our football players accountable to our community standards. The Coach is insistent he knows best how to discipline his players…and their status as a student when they commit violations of our standards should NOT be our concern…and I think he was saying we should treat football players different from other students in this regard.”

The confrontations came to a head in 2007, according to one former school official, when six football players were charged by police for forcing their way into a campus apartment that April and beating up several students, one of them severely. That September, following a tense meeting with Mr. Paterno over the case, she resigned her post, saying at the time she left because of “philosophical differences.”” [Albergotti/Wall St. Journal]

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Finally, spend a few minutes with the highlight video of my favorite Buckeye win over Michigan.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWbfJK_tBbo]

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