Why is this news?: Rookie QBs succeeding, no booze in the 'Shoe

"I haven't proposed it, and probably won't....don't think I need to"

-Gene Smith, to the Lantern, on alcohol sales at Ohio Stadium

Ohio Stadium has had a license to sell booze since 2002, and many other schools across the country, from SMU to West Virginia, have started selling alcohol at their stadiums. But Ohio State athletic director doesn't seem interested in pursuing that option at the 'Shoe.

Why sell booze at a stadium? Some schools have looked at it as a potential profit center, others as a way of curbing alcohol abuse at the stadium, still others as a potential remedy to the onerous problem of lagging student attendance at many places.

Don't look for Ohio State to apparently join that group any time soon though. Adding the wrinkle of alcohol could make life harder for stadium personnel, and Ohio State isn't hurting in their ability to draw folks to the seats. I'm probably the last person on the website to make this recommendation, but I am told, if you are really committed, that there are ways to drink near Ohio Stadium anyway. Just rumors, though.

"We started off the morning fishing deeper for smallmouth and once it got bright we went and fished docks with Senkos "

-Brett Warrick, Ohio State college fisher

Did you know Ohio State has college fishers? They do, and a pair of them, Brett Warrick and Sidney Hoover, just won the FLW College Fishing Northern Conference tournament on Chautauqua Lake. With the victory, the pair earn $2,000 for their club, and will advance to the  FLW College Fishing Northern Conference Invitational Tournament on the Potomac River.

Both are Ohio products, with Hoover hailing from Findlay, and Warrick from Westerville. Joining the Buckeye duo in advancing to the Invitational include squads from Youngstown State, Kent State and Akron. Rutgers also participated in the event, and finished 16th, behind something called a Mansfield University, multiple SUNYs, and a Slippery Rock. DAMMIT RUTGERS CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING?!?

"But the truth is, first-year starting quarterbacks have never been more successful than they are today"

-Jon Solomon, CBS Sports

Ohio State is obviously going to miss Braxton Miller this season, but Buckeye fans who are panicking right now can at least take small comfort in one thing, they have some history on their side. First-year QBs, particularly redshirt QBs, are more successful now than ever before in the history of the sport, per Jon Solomon.

Five of the last seven BCS titles were won by first-year starters, including the last two Heisman Trophy winners. First-year starters only won two of the first nine BCS title games, but one of those was Ohio State's Craig Krenzel. Of course, Kreznel did have three starts before that season, so he wasn't flying in totally blind. He also wasn't a freshman.

Does this mean that J.T. Barrett is the second coming of Jameis Winston? Well, probably not. For one thing, Ohio State's offense isn't nearly as experienced as Florida State's was. Winston was also a more celebrated recruit (although Barrett's pedigree does stack up well with other recently successful QBs). One thing's for sure though, Barrett being successful would not be some historical aberration.

"Ohio State is 18th among National Universities Rankings"

-Washington Monthly

When it comes to ranking universities, typically, the U.S. News & World Report is most wildly used. Lots of smart people think those rankings are at best, incomplete, given that they can be gamed, seldom change, and often don't measure really important metrics.

Washington Monthly has their own college rankings, grading schools on "social mobility", "research" and "service" taking things into account like a school's % of students getting Pell Grants, joining the Peace Corps, their graduation rate, and Bachelor to PhD ratio.

Ohio State finished 18th among national universities, beating out institutions like Notre Dame, Princeton, Duke and Cornell. Cleveland's Case Western Reserve was even higher, clocking in at 9th. Excellent work, all around.

STICK TO SPORTS

• MICHIGAN TRAMP STAMPS.
• The Popeyes Bahamas Bowl sounds perfect. Fried Chicken should sponsor every bowl.
• Johnny Football has words of wisdom for JT Barrett
• Wait, mixing a Coyote and a Wolf is a real thing? This is where humanity ends.
• Compared to other coaches, Urban Meyer was apparently a lousy football player.
• Man, our grandparents ate some really gross crap.