“We would not do that,” Smith told MLive.com. “We will schedule nonconference and manage around that. Missing Michigan a second time — yeah, it bothers us. But we’re not going to fall on the sword.

There has been some talk that the Big Ten will start protecting certain rivalries so this won’t be as much of an issue moving forward.

However, that’s basketball and another AD has suggested he might add a Big Ten team if he needed to do so in order to address shortcomings in the league-issued football schedule.

“There’s no rule against it,” Purdue’s Morgan Burke told The News-Sentinel. “You might play another Big Ten team as a non-conference game. You might. You could say, you know what, we want to position our league to play for national championships. To do that, strength of schedule will be a determining factor. If Penn State isn’t on the schedule I could call (Nittany Lions athletic director) Dave Joyner and say, Hey Dave, do you want to play? Our fans might react better to that than other alternatives.”

It seems improbable a Big Ten football program would actually go this route. After all, the teams most likely to improve strength of schedule are probably also the least likely to want to travel. They would insist on a home game.

Plus, in Purdue’s case, the Big Ten has already promised to protect their series against Indiana.

It is interesting, though, to see teams are considering the option.

Despite the fact that he hasn’t played in an NBA game since December 2009, the 25 year old is getting rave reviews from yet another former Buckeye, Deshaun Thomas. Thomas told The News-Herald that he’s been able to get a firsthand look at Oden’s rehab efforts, and he’s been impressed.

“Man, he looks unbelievable He’s running. He’s lifting weights. You might be seeing a comeback,” Thomas said.

Which team might take a chance on an Oden comeback?

Today the Boston Herald reports that the Celtics are at least considering it as an option. “We’ll look into Greg still,” President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge told the paper. “He wasn’t ready to play when we saw him last. He wasn’t ready to work out — I mean, not like a real workout. We’ll probably check into that some time this summer.”

The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto has written that the Cavaliers have an interest.

Other teams that have been linked to the center include the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs and Charlotte Bobcats.

First, they were in Ireland. Then they made what might seem to be a rather strange pilgrimage.

I have a confession to make, I just really didn’t think I’d ever see the Marching 110 perform “Gangnam Style” at the Vatican.

No, I’m not talking about David Krecji’s 3 goals against Toronto in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

I’m talking about the 3 Massachusetts writers, who this morning took aim at Bruins fans, making collateral damage of Blue Jackets supporters in the process.

Describing the atmosphere at TD Garden with the Rangers in town for the start of the second round of the postseason, Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette
wrote: “The play was so docile and the crowd — lots of empty seats among the listed sellout of 17,565 — so tranquil you would have thought the Columbus Blue Jackets were in town for a Saturday matinee.”

The Boston Globe’s Eric Wilbur compared it to “your average February tilt against the Blue Jackets.”

Meanwhile, The Eagle-Tribune’s Bill Burt didn’t even think it was worthy of being a February showdown.

“About 17,700 of us attended a good old-fashioned Boston-New York, Original Six, no-holds-barred, shoe-smacking, blood bath here last night.

And a January game against Columbus Blue Jackets broke out.”

It is pretty remarkable that 3 reporters would use a nearly cut-and-pasted punchline the same day.

Of course, we know the one-liner wasn’t actually cut-and-pasted. After all, reporters appreciate (or should) that if you’re going to call out the fans for lack of effort, you first have to put a little work into your writing.

“Not Ohio Dominican,” he added.

Spoiler alert: It’s Ohio State.

The game will be played on the Buckeyes’ home floor this season, although a specific date and time have yet to be announced.

Rufus was not in attendance at this evening’s event and was, therefore, unavailable for comment.

Also writing stories about Thomas were The Plain Dealer and the Chicago Tribune.

In all these articles, Thomas expresses confidence about his pro career, or as he told the News-Sentinel, “I can score the ball. Now it’s trying to do the little things and show that I care and can really work.”

Blue Jackets record against…

Non-playoff teams: 12-6-2
Playoff teams: 12-11-5
Teams that lost in the Conference Quarterfinals: 5-6-2
Teams that have advanced into Round Two: 7-5-3

2014 Ohio State Football Schedule
Aug. 30 – vs. Navy (at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium)
Sept. 6 – Off
Sept. 13 – Kent State
Sept. 20 – Virginia Tech
Sept. 27 – Cincinnati
Oct. 4 – at Maryland
Oct. 11 – Off
Oct. 18 – Rutgers
Oct. 25 – at Penn State
Nov. 1 – Illinois
Nov. 8 – at Michigan State
Nov. 15 – at Minnesota
Nov. 22 – Indiana
Nov. 29 – Michigan
Dec. 6 – Big Ten Championship Game

To keep him on schedule today, his handlers continually guided him down back hallways. To do otherwise, they knew, would have risked Johnson chatting up every passerby he came across.

Johnson is in town as part of the 2013 Black Enterprise Conference, which is going on through Saturday.

As one of the most prominent black entrepreneurs working today, he was here to speak about the challenges of starting a business.

As an NBA great, though, he couldn’t avoid questions about whether league might someday find a home in Columbus.

He was asked by ABC 6′s Clay Hall whether Mayor Michael Coleman, who has lobbied for a team in the past, has bent his ear on the topic.

“He hasn’t yet,” Johnson laughed before pointing out the man who has been driving him around the city has not been as reluctant to discuss the matter.

“I think that you’ve shown people, especially with your NHL team, that you will come out and support it,” Johnson then added. “I think an NBA team would do well here.”

NYR Derick Brassard
2 goals, 1 game-winner, 7 assists, +4, 52.3% in the faceoff circle

NYR Rick Nash
2 assists, +2, a team-leading 22 shots

NYR Anton Stralman
21:07 minutes a game

NYR Derek Dorsett
6 penalty minutes, 10 shots

WSH Jason Chimera
1 goal, 2 assists, +1, 4 penalty minutes

Ducks lost series 4-3 to Red Wings

ANA Francois Beauchemin
a team-leading 25:22 a game

San Jose moved on with a sweep of the Canucks

SJS Raffi Torres
1 game-winning, overtime goal

VAN Tom Sestito
2 penalty minutes in the one game in which he played

Islanders fell 4-2 in their series with the Penguins

Radek Martinek
played in 2 games, registered a -2

Wild go home after 4-1 series loss to Blackhawks

MIN Mike Rupp
12 penalty minutes, -3

MIN Zenon Konopka
played in 2 games, registered a -2

Kings beat the Blues 4-2

LAK Jeff Carter
3 goals, 20:22 minutes a game, 51% in the faceoff circle

Senators win 4-1 in their series against the Canadiens

OTT Marc Methot
1 goal, 4 assists, +2, 21:37 a game

MTL Mike Blunden
10 penalty minutes in the one game he played