Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Benedict Boren

As predicted earlier this month, Justin Boren has made his transformation from "returning leader" to "traitor" complete, by signing transfer papers agreeing to play for OSU. Although he will sit for a season, Jim Tressel talked about how much he looked forward to having Boren on the team.

The thing that bugs me the most about this is the fact this story was put up as a headline on ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports. A lineman of Boren's ability (and character, for that matter) did not deserve such publicity. He was a decent lineman with a low ceiling as far as potential. Regardless of the fact that some of the reason for the publicity is the UM-OSU rivalry, as a fan of this University, it is a slap in the face to have this headline sitting right below Jake Long's signing. Long is the second Wolverine to be selected 1st overall, the first player being Tom Harmon. Long's caliber of character and style has play has set the bar high for all players who come after him and put on the winged helmet.

It's ironic to see both headlines, each player from opposite ends of the spectrum, sitting right next to one another.

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