{"id":200091,"date":"2025-12-01T21:30:59","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=200091"},"modified":"2025-12-01T21:31:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:31:03","slug":"random-thoughts-hoops-football-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2025\/12\/01\/random-thoughts-hoops-football-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Random Thoughts: hoops, football"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s installment of Random Thoughts centers around a rough start for WBL boys basketball teams, OSU vs. Michigan, SEC drama, and rematches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just two<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the opening week\/weekend of the boys high school basketball season, just two WBL teams are undefeated \u2013 Van Wert (1-0) and Ottawa-Glandorf (2-0). Everyone else has at least one loss. I should note that two teams \u2013 Defiance and Wapakoneta didn\u2019t play this past weekend, but will begin their respective seasons this Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shawnee\u2019s loss to Lima Central Catholic in the Elida Tipoff Classic was a bit of a surprise to me but in fairness, both teams should be very good this season. I was looking forward to Van Wert at Delphos St. John\u2019s on Saturday night but that was put on hold by Mother Nature. It should still be a great game whenever they do play. Both teams have this Friday off, but I don\u2019t think officials could be secured for that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSU vs. Michigan<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many Ohio State fans, I\u2019m very happy about the win over Michigan. I\u2019m not happy with some of the conduct on the field by both teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, I get it \u2013 this isn\u2019t 1975. But I couldn\u2019t help but think what would have happened if some of the behavior (again, on both sides) occurred when Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler were coaching. Those games were always hard fought and there was respect between the two teams, or at least it seemed there was respect. You\u2019d be pressed to see cheap shots, constant jawing, rage baiting etc. and if it did, someone would pay dearly at the hands of the coaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a rivalry game \u2013 got it. Doesn\u2019t have to be like that though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEC drama<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know if anyone has used this word to describe the whole Lane Kiffin\/Ole Miss\/LSU saga, but it just feels slimy all around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slimy the way Kiffin handled it, basically holding Ole Miss (and other schools?) hostage while he took his sweet time and dragged this whole thing out, then trying to play the victim in his statement announcing his move to LSU. In a nutshell, he wanted to keep coaching Ole Miss as long as they were in the playoffs but was denied by the school\u2019s athletic director. Either you\u2019re in or out and it\u2019s obvious he didn\u2019t want to be there, so goodbye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slimy the way LSU has handled everything. Brian Kelly obviously wasn\u2019t anyone\u2019s favorite but his whole dismissal drama dragged on for weeks. Apparently, he wasn\u2019t actually officiall fired until last week and at one point, the school was at least exploring the option of firing with cause to get out of paying his buyout. The governor of Louisiana was in the middle of this whole thing, which is odd, and it just feels like whoever is calling the shots has unrealistic expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not sure who\u2019s the bigger villain in all of this, but maybe Kiffin and LSU are made for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

More on that\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t have the answer, but something has to be done by the NCAA to stop poaching coaches while the season is still going. If it involves changing signing day or anything else, do it, please, now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rematches and more<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the seven football state championship games that will be played in Canton Thursday-Saturday, two are rematches from last season \u2013 Avon and Cincinnati Anderson in Division II and Columbus Bishop Watterson in Division III.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of the 14 teams competing for state titles, only two are making their first ever state championship game appearance \u2013 Shelby in Division IV and Olentangy Orange in Division I. It should be noted that Orange has been open for less than 20 years. Shelby has been around for more than a century and actually has a long and storied football history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, if you have thoughts or comments on any of the above subjects, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports This week\u2019s installment of Random Thoughts centers around a rough start for WBL boys basketball teams, OSU vs. Michigan, SEC drama, and rematches. Just two After the opening week\/weekend of the boys high school basketball season, just two WBL teams are undefeated \u2013 Van Wert (1-0) and Ottawa-Glandorf (2-0). Everyone else has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-07 21:04:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200091"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200093,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200091\/revisions\/200093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}