Ward's title defense against Youngstown's Pavlik was slated for Jan. 26. Ward injured his right shoulder in a sparring session last week.

Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik, who held the world middleweight championship from 2007 to 2010, will have to wait until at least February to try to take the super middleweight title from Andre Ward. Associated Press  

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik will have to wait to challenge Andre Ward for the super middleweight championship.

Ward injured his right shoulder while sparring last week, forcing a postponement of the Jan. 26 fight against Pavlik. Ward would be making his sixth defense of the title against Pavlik, who held the world middleweight championship from 2007 to 2010. The fight was scheduled to be held on the USC campus in Los Angeles and featured on HBO's "World Championship Boxing."

Pavlik, 30, has a 40-2 record with 34 knockouts. Ward, 28, is 26-0 with 14 KOs.

Dan Rafael writes for ESPN.com that Ward's promoter, Dan Goossen, says the current target date for the rescheduled fight is Feb. 23.

Rafael writes:

"He felt a little tweak when he threw a punch and stopped immediately," Ward's promoter, Dan Goossen, told ESPN.com on Thursday. "He didn't really think it was that damaging at first but he certainly felt pain. He went to the doctor and followed up with an MRI (on Friday). It disclosed no tears, no rotator cuff injury, nothing of devastating proportions, but there was a lot of swelling and inflammation, so the key to healing is not using the arm for a few weeks."

Goossen said the delay in disclosing the postponement occurred because "we were trying to get as many opinions as we could as far as the healing process. He was looking forward to Jan. 26. He'll have to rest it, but we are in the process of trying to reschedule the fight now."

"I'd pass on Youkilis and Swisher. I’d rather move Asdrubal to 1B or trade him for Bauer and Skaggs and sign Reynolds. Aviles could hold down SS with a breather from bench players. I’d even take a chance on moving Lindor to SS now if Asdrubal is traded and Reynolds is signed." - 99dawgpound

Should the Indians think about moving Asdrubal Cabrera to first base if he is not traded? One cleveland.com reader thinks so. Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer  

"I'd pass on Youkilis and Swisher. I’d rather move Asdrubal to 1B or trade him for Bauer and Skaggs and sign Reynolds. Aviles could hold down SS with a breather from bench players. I’d even take a chance on moving Lindor to SS now if Asdrubal is traded and Reynolds is signed. I could live with a .220 average if his fielding is everything it’s supposed to be. LF has been an issue for a couple of years and Tribe flirted with AL Central contention with older over the hill veterans. Why not go with Fedroff, Canzler or Neal; these guys are no worse than what’s been out there over the last 3 years. Use the money to try to pick up a quality FA starter and hope Masterson and Jimenez rebound."

The Ohio High School Athletic Association is charged with educating member schools on a referendum it strongly opposes - separating private and public schools in the playoffs.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association and its commissioner, Dan Ross, will face a challenge in the coming months when they must educate member schools on a referendum they strongly oppose - separating private and public schools for tournaments. The issue will be voted on statewide in May. Special to The Plain Dealer  

CLEVELAND, Ohio - It's difficult to picture the burly, gray-haired Dan Ross on a balance beam, and yet the gymnastics apparatus is a perfect symbol for the fine line he must tread between now and May.

Ross, the commissioner of the Ohio High School Athletic Association, is steadfastly against a division of private and public schools for playoffs, while his organization is charged with delivering to its 820 members a referendum that will do just that.

A group led by Wayne County superintendents collected more than 100 signatures from member schools supporting a petition that forces the OHSAA to put the hot-button issue up for a vote in May.

Every spring, OHSAA commissioners and staffers tour the state talking to school administrators and media about the annual referendums. Normally, the items up for vote are written by the OHSAA and have OHSAA support, and the staffers talk up the issues.

This is different. This is a rare instance where the OHSAA opposes major legislation before its members.

Separate playoffs are bad news for the OHSAA. Its leadership believes divided tournaments are not in the spirit of high school athletics, where teams and individuals strive to be the best.

Separation also could devastate already declining state tournament attendance, which is the primary source of OHSAA revenue. That has the potential to wreck the organization's bottom line. The OHSAA will have to expand tournaments in many sports, and the expectation is those tournaments will operate at a loss.

The OHSAA represents the full membership, an increasing number of which are unhappy with constantly losing to private schools they perceive have unfair advantages. Ross and his staff need to keep that in mind when educating OHSAA members about the referendum. It would be inappropriate for the OHSAA to boldly campaign against something its membership needs to decide for themselves.

Frankly, once schools start crunching the numbers, it will give a lot of administrators pause.

Here are a few things to consider if the referendum passes:

It appears the OHSAA would like not to increase the number of divisions in sports where there already are at least three divisions.

In that case, there are 715 football teams this year, 72 of which are private. The OHSAA is about to expand to seven divisions for football, and then could go with five public divisions of 129 schools and two private school divisions of 36 each.

This is very appealing for many public schools, who would much rather play in a division with 128 other similar institutions that play by the same rules. Because football drives the bus, this is why it's unwise to bet against this referendum.

Outside of football, it gets sticky and tricky.

If it can help it, the OHSAA doesn't want to put all private schools in one division because of huge enrollment disparities. Girls basketball has 689 public schools and 108 private schools, and there are 199 schools in each division.

If it stays with four divisions, and goes with a 2-2 split, that would put 291 in each public-school division and the enrollment disparity in public school Division I would be enormous. Or, would the OHSAA add a fifth division?

More complicated is a three-division sport such as wrestling, which has just 56 private schools among its 506 teams.

And what to do with gymnastics, a one-division sport with just 14 private schools among its 96 teams? Who wants to be the state champion in a sport with 14 teams?

It is the individual sports where separating public and private schools makes the least sense. In wrestling, the team champion at the individual state tournament becomes a rather moot point because a state dual team tournament begins this winter. Gymnastics also has a separate team and individual tournament.

The OHSAA should take a different approach to those and other individual sports and crown true champions, then sort out divisional team champions from the individual results. Why does it matter how many boys or girls are in your school in an individual sport? If you can run fast, golf or wrestle, it shouldn't matter where you are from.

In those cases, unification is better than separation.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

twarsinskey@plaind.com, 216-999-4661

On Twitter: @TimsTakePD

"We all know it will be a couple of yrs for all the young guys to gel. They have been fun to watch and have played competitively. Key injuries to top players on a young team is a tough uphill battle. Keep the ship on course and don't sign some over priced over the hill free agents for a few wins." - Bandit2

Will it take the Cavaliers a couple years to compete? AP Photo/Tony Dejak  

"We all know it will be a couple of years for all the young guys to gel. They have been fun to watch and have played competitively. Key injuries to top players on a young team is a tough uphill battle. Keep the ship on course and don't sign some over priced over the hill free agents for a few wins."

Former Browns quarterback Kosar says nothing was wrong with him during his interview on a Cleveland radio station on Wednesday.

Bernie Kosar, shown here in a 2010 photo at the Longaberger Golf Club in Nashport, Ohio, said on Thursday that there was nothing wrong with him during a radio interview on Wednesday. John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer  

BEREA, Ohio -- Former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar said he’s surprised
by the strong reaction his interview on a Cleveland radio station
Wednesday is soliciting.



Kosar said he was neither inebriated nor medicated as he gave a rambling
and, at times, incoherent five-minute interview on WKNR’s The Hooligans
show. He became emotional discussing his appearance in NFL Road Tested,
a television program spotlighting the Browns
on the Travel Channel.



The 49-year-old Kosar said he was in a car in Florida with his 21-year-old daughter as he conducted the interview with host Bruce
Hooley.



Audio of the interview is turning up on web sites at USA Today, Pro Football Talk and Deadspin.




(Earlier on Thursday, cleveland.com, in a post linking to stories about the Browns, linked to a profootballtalk.nbcsports.com report on Kosar's radio interview)

Kosar does a weekly spot on The Hooligans. At one point in Wednesday’s
interview Kosar sounded as if he were sobbing, as he discussed the NFL
Road Tested segment in which he’s on the field at Cleveland Browns
Stadium during the Nov. 4 game helping honor the
family of a 23-year-old solider from Massillon who died in Iraq.



Kosar said he was caught off guard by the question about his appearance
and his emotions came flooding back. Road Tested debuted on Tuesday
night and he expressed his thoughts using his Twitter account
@BernieKosarQB during the show.



“Wow is this emotional,” he wrote. Later he added: “OMG was that
Emotional! when we think we have problems?????or aren't happy?????”



In the past, Kosar has spoken about dealing with the effects of
concussions he suffered and the pain from post-career surgeries. Kosar
said he understands the interview raised concerns with some, but that he
feels fine and went to lunch with friends on Thursday.




He plans to attend Sunday’s game, Kosar said. 

The Indians concluded the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., without any major transactions. But GM Chris Antonetti hopes the club lay a foundation for some future deals.

Terry Francona is introduced as manager of the Indians on Oct. 8. Seated to his right is Chris Antonetti, Indians vice president and general manager. Marvin Fong/Plain Dealer  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Indians talked a lot more than they acted this week at the winter meetings. The coming days will tell whether all those words were just an exchange of hot air or a step toward giving new manager Terry Francona an improved ball club for 2013.

"Hopefully we'll build on the foundation that we laid here and try to get some things pushed across the finish line," said GM Chris Antonetti.

Teams always talk at the winter meetings. That's what they come to do, but there is a difference between idle chatter and serious conversation. The Indians were involved in a lot more serious discussion than in years past. Every time a rumor surfaced, they seemed to be part of it.

"It was pretty busy," said Antonetti. "Most days we were meeting through the course of the day, whether it was with teams or agents. Then we had time to reconnect as a group and strategize. We were pretty busy."

The Indians have made offers to free agents Kevin Youkilis and Nick Swisher. They had a four-year $44 million offer rejected by Shane Victorino.

They've fielded offers on Asdrubal Cabrera, Shin-Soo Choo, Justin Masterson, Chris Perez and some of their other players.

Much of their time was spent talking about a multiteam deal in which Cabrera would go to Arizona and the Indians would receive young pitchers Trevor Bauer and/or Tyler Skaggs. At various times, Texas, Kansas City and Seattle were involved in the talks.

What is the status of those talks at the end of the winter meetings?

"I'd say we're marinating," said Kevin Towers, Arizona general manager.

It sounds like Towers spent a lot of time with the Indians trying to make that deal work. As for those who say not a lot happened at these meetings, Towers felt differently.

"That's incorrect," he said. "I can speak for the four to five clubs that I spent more time with than I spent with my own people. I feel I know them better than my people. There was a lot of 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. [meetings]. I was with clubs to 6:30 in the morning [Thursday].

"I think everybody has a better idea of what everyone's threshold is."

Towers felt that the other teams involved in the deal were on a faster track than he was. It's believed those teams are the Indians and Texas.

"We're in no huge rush," said Towers. "We could start the season tomorrow with the team we have right now."

The Diamondbacks signed infielders Eric Chavez and Eric Hinske at the meetings.

Antonetti said has never felt that the four or five days in December occupied by the winter meetings are the only time a team can make a deal in the offseason.

"I think the thing that matters is where your roster is once you head to spring training," he said. "We still have a few months left for that to take shape. We just have to be prepared to react and respond to the market."

The Indians still need starting pitching, a left fielder, first baseman and DH. Youkilis could fill the spot at first, but he's received a one-year, $12 million offer from the Yankees. It's believed the Indians have offered him a two-year deal worth between $16 million and $18 million.

It could come down to Youkilis deciding if he wants to play third base for the Yankees on a part-time basis, providing Alex Rodriguez returns from hip surgery. Or whether he wants a multiyear deal with the chance to play every day at first base with the Tribe.

Goryl, 79, has spent 62 years in baseball. He played in the big leagues and managed the Twins. For the last three decades he's been a big-league coach, coordinator, executive and adviser for the Indians.

At the end of most winter meetings, big league front offices can't wait to rush out of town and return home. As a show of respect for Goryl, the Indians entire front office stayed for the ceremony.

Coolbaugh, a long-time minor league player, was coaching first base for the Colorado Rockies Class AA team when he was hit in the neck by a line drive and died on July 22, 2007.

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: phoynes@plaind.com, 216-999-5158

Conley is the 18th oral commitment in Ohio State's class for 2013.

New Ohio State pledge Gareon Conley Rivals.com  

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State flipped former Michigan pledge Gareon Conley today, getting an oral commitment from the Massillon Washington athlete, as first reported by BuckeyeSports.com and confirmed by several other recruiting outlets.

Conley becomes the 18th oral commitment in Ohio State's class and the first since September. The Buckeyes have several other prospects scheduled for visits this weekend, with National Signing Day looming in early February.

With current players on the roster, Ohio State is at 62 scholarships right now. Johnathan Hankins could leave for the NFL, and there's always the possibility of transfers. Ohio State is still working with a limit of 82 scholarships, instead of 85, due to NCAA sanctions, but there should be room for somewhere between two and five more players in this class.

Conley is a three-star recruit according to Rivals.com, ranked as the No. 42 cornerback in the Class of 2013. However, he could wind up as a receiver with the Buckeyes.

He originally made an oral commitment to Michigan in March, but in late October Conley told Rivals that he had an offer from Ohio State and he was thinking of taking other official visits.

He made the decision to be a Buckeye on that visit today.

"We've got a great fan base. I've said it all week, let's not look at the record, this is a good football team. We've got to play our best football to find a way to win the game. I anticipate there will be a great crowd," Pat Shurmur said.

Pat Shurmur is trying to win 3 games in a row for the first time in his head coaching career. Joshua Gunter / The Plain Dealer

Browns head coach Pat Shurmur addressed the media at his regular Friday press conference in Berea today. This transcript is provided by the Cleveland Browns media relations staff.

 (Opening Statement)- “You guys have the release, Reggie Hodges, is our Ed Block Courage Award winner. Coming back from that Achilles, he’s done a nice job for us this year.”

(On the commissioner talking about eliminating kickoffs)- “It sounds like that’s a conversation already. Those tend to be offseason issues and I’ll put a little thought into that. Obviously, by moving the kickoff up, it’s eliminated quite a few balls being brought out. In fact, you’re seeing lots of the returners playing with their back foot on the back line just trying to get an opportunity to come out. It’s changed things already. I’m assuming it has made the game safer in some ways. It will be something we’ll discuss here in the offseason.”

(On Joshua Cribbs returning a kickoff from nine yards deep)- “I think what happens is they get very few opportunities to come out and they are playmakers. You see it across the league now where guys are trying to advance the football from almost near the back of the end line. You can’t score a touchdown if you don’t give it a shot. I would say if you get tackled inside the 20, that’s not good. Those guys that are returning those kicks need to use good judgment.”

(On if it’s Cribbs’ call to return kickoffs)- “It’s good judgment, yeah. He’s a playmaker. He’s a guy that we want to see if he can do something with the ball in his hands.”

(On if he had a problem with Cribbs’ decision)- “No, not at all.”

(On if the wedge rule helped with the safety)- “Over the last couple of years, they’ve been tweaking the rules to try to make it a safer play. I guess the results are that it is becoming safer. I would say that’s good.”

(On if kickoff returns are the most dangerous play)- “I know there are quite a few high speed collisions. They are really putting an emphasis on player safety. You could see some dangerous things happening.”

(On the challenges of the Chiefs’ linebackers)- “They are a classic 3-4 linebacking corps. They’ve got two outstanding pass rushers standing on the line of scrimmage, then their inside linebackers. All of the guys that have played are very, very active. Those are the guys that kind of make it go when they line up in their base front. They’ve got two very good pass rushers and two active middle linebackers. They have the ability with that scheme to naturally rush three, four, five or six and then be able to drop as many as eight. That’s what makes the 3-4 scheme a challenge.”

(On if Montario Hardesty had to show that he could hold on to the ball)- “I think it’s important that when he goes in there I trust him. No matter how many snaps he gets, I trust the fact that he’s going to go in there and execute like an NFL running back. That means get positive yardage and secure the football. I don’t want to jinx him, but he’s doing a nice job of it so far.”

(On finding a way to win at home)- “I think it’s important to establish a home field advantage in this league. We know when we go on the road that crowd noise can be a big distraction when you’re trying to move the football. Plus it’s fun to be able to put a good performance on the field in front of our home crowd. We understand that. We’d like to be able to establish that. We want to be able to establish a lot of things as you move forward and try to build a team that’s going to be a consistent winner. Being able to win at home is obviously the starting point.”

(On the vibe of the team in practice after back to back wins)- “I think the preparation has been good. They come out here and they practice in a meaningful way. We’ve got more guys that practiced this week than we did preparing for Oakland. Typically, when you have more guys, some of the guys that are doing the look squad stuff, you get a little bit fresher look because you’ve got more guys out there.”

(On if he senses a boost in the team’s confidence)- “I think we’re practicing with a purpose. That’s the first step in this process of trying to build. No matter how well you practice, you’ve got to go out on Sunday and do it.”

(On if you can get a read for how the team will play Sunday by how they practice)- “That’s a hard thing to judge. I’ve been around teams that practice horribly and played well. I’ve been around teams that have practiced extremely well and didn’t play well. I’ve been on teams where you watch warm-ups and you say, ‘Holy smokes, are we ever going be able to get out of the huddle?’ It’s really hard to predict. All I know is this, you maximize your chances to play well if you prepare well. That’s pretty much how far I take it.”

(On if they had a good week of practice)- “I felt good about what we did, yes.”

(On if he anticipates a buzz from the crowd this week coming off back to back wins)- “I would anticipate it. We’ve got a great fan base. I’ve said it all week, let’s not look at the record, this is a good football team. We’ve got to play our best football to find a way to win the game. I anticipate there will be a great crowd. They will be ready to go.”

Cleveland Browns News and Notes with Sheldon Brown, Josh Cribbs, Usama Young, Joe Haden, Brandon Weeden, John Greco and Brad Childress as they prepare for Sundays game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Hosted by Plain Dealer's Browns beat writer Tom Reed. Watch video

The Browns need to stop the Chiefs' running game on Sunday. Watch video

CLEVELAND, Ohio -  Each week, Branson Wright will provide his take on how the Cleveland Browns can win in their upcoming game.

On Sunday, the Browns host the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dawson does not see how adding more punts makes the game safer

Josh Cribbs is no fan of Roger Goodell's proposal to eliminate kickoffs. He likened it to "intramural" football. Tracy Boulian/The Plain Dealer  

Daboll's trickery: Former Browns offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, now with the Chiefs, used trick plays effectively here, including in 2010 to beat his former Patriots team.

Will he pull out all the stops for his former Browns team Sunday? Josh Cribbs recalled one ploy that worked beautifully against the Patriots, a direct snap in the Wildcat formation to Cribbs, who handed off to Chansi Stuckey who ran in for a TD while the Patriots chased Cribbs.

The play was dubbed Brownie, and Daboll savored every morsel.

"He wouldn't run that against us," Cribbs said. "We know about those plays. If he does run it -- this is a shout out to him -- we know about it. He has to play the straight and narrow. We play hard. This is Cleveland. A lot of teams don't run too much trickery on us. This is not the time and place for stuff like that to try to win games."

But linebacker D'Qwell Jackson is gearing up.

"We have to prepare for them," said Jackson. "But if we're up, that totally changes the game plan. It's one of those deals if it's going to happen, it's going to happen early. We just have to be aware of it.

"We've been around him long enough to know what kind of gadget plays he has. I'm sure he'll have something in store for us Sunday."

"Crazy ex'' mum: Joe Thomas chuckled when asked to respond to Peyton Hillis' retort that Thomas is like "a crazy ex-girlfriend" that won't get over the past. "I've answered my last Peyton Hillis question this week," Thomas said. Thomas was asked if he'll get a chance to play some defense Sunday. "No plans yet," he said. "Don't tell anyone. It might be a secret."

Hodges is Ed Block recipient: Punter Reggie Hodges has been named the team's 2012 Ed Block Courage Award winner for his comeback from a torn Achilles tendon. Hodges is averaging 42 yards on his 72 punts and has landed 24 inside the 20, sixth-most in the NFL.

"I think it's great," Dawson said of Hodges' award. "That was a bad injury last year. As tough as it is to come back from injuries physically, I think emotionally it's even tougher. You get little twinges and pains doing what you do. Coming off an injury you always wonder, 'Oh, no, is it happening again?' There's a certain amount of mental toughness this requires. He's come back and I'm really proud of what he's done this year. He's a great locker room guy and a great guy in the community. He certainly deserves that award."

Spirit of giving: Perhaps the Chiefs' biggest reason for their 2-10 record this season is their minus-21 turnover differential -- last in the NFL. The Chiefs have given the ball away a league-high 32 times, including 18 by quarterback Matt Cassel (12 INTs, six fumbles). Opponents have scored 107 points off the Chiefs' giveaways this season (16 interceptions and 16 fumbles). Conversely, the Chiefs have only 11 takeaways -- third-fewest in the league. The Browns are plus-7 in turnover differential, which is tied for eight in the NFL. They're also fifth in the NFL with 26 takeaways.

"Why not keep Choo and Asdrubal, sign Swisher and a decent starter and let Francona go for it? A lineup with Brantley, Choo, Asdrubal, Swisher, Kipnis, Santana, Chisenhall, Canzler could have the Tribe in contention if we get a bounce back year from Masterson and at least a little better showing from Ubaldo." - Rick Moranis

One cleveland.com reader says the Indians have players already on the roster that can help turn team around. Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer  

"Why not keep Choo and Asdrubal, sign Swisher and a decent starter and let Francona go for it? A lineup with Brantley, Choo, Asdrubal, Swisher, Kipnis, Santana, Chisenhall, Canzler could have the Tribe in contention if we get a bounce back year from Masterson and at least a little better showing from Ubaldo. Thats five players with a very realistic shot at hitting 20 homers each. If Masterson and Ubaldo can both win around 15 games, were definitely in contention at least for one of two wildcards."

AKRON, Ohio - Ralph Orsini will not return as football coach at Archbishop Hoban. Athletic Director Mike DelMedico said the coach's year-to-year contract will not be renewed. According to the coach, the development was unexpected.

Archbishop Hoban declined to renew football coach Ralph Orsini's contract after two poor seasons in which the Knights went a combined 3-17. - (Plain Dealer file)

AKRON, Ohio - Ralph Orsini will not return as football coach at Archbishop Hoban. Athletic Director Mike DelMedico said the coach's year-to-year contract will not be renewed.

According to the coach, the development was unexpected.

"It kind of blindsided me," said Orsini, who just completed his 19th season with the Knights. "Two weeks ago I thought I was coming back. Something apparently changed with the administration. I didn't resign and I'm not retiring."

Orsini, 56, said he will continue to teach U.S. history and government classes at the school.

He was the head coach at Oregon Cardinal Stritch for six seasons before coming to Hoban. Orsini compiled a 131-83 record at Hoban, taking 10 teams to the playoffs, the last in 2009.

Hoban finished 2-8 this season, 2-3 in the North Coast League Blue Division. The Knights went 1-9, 1-4 NCL in 2011.

"For 19 years, Ralph has represented Hoban with class and dignity," said DelMedico. "He has been a role model and father figure for hundreds of men, not only in football but in life. The entire Hoban community is grateful for his dedication to the school and the football program. He's an outstanding individual."

Orsini said he was open to continue coaching football.

"If something were to come up," Orsini said. "But right now I'm dealing with this situation and we have exams and the holidays coming up. There is a little bit of anger and hurt involved with it. But it's the administration's call."  

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio - Mike Tyler has decided to give up on going south and head west. The Brecksville-Broadview Heights senior defensive end/tight end has changed his nonbinding oral commitment from Vanderbilt to Stanford. Tyler said he received a scholarship offer from the Cardinal about three weeks ago.

Brecksville-Broadview Heights senior defensive end/tight end Mike Tyler has changed his nonbinding oral commitment from Vanderbilt to Stanford, his dream school long before high school football.

BROADVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio - Mike Tyler has decided to give up on going south and head west.

The Brecksville-Broadview Heights senior defensive end/tight end has changed his nonbinding oral commitment from Vanderbilt to Stanford. Tyler said he received a scholarship offer from the Cardinal about three weeks ago.

"Since day one, Stanford has always been my dream school," said Tyler, who attended summer football camps at both schools and committed to Vanderbilt in August. "Even before [the goal of] playing football in college, I wanted to go to Stanford."

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Tyler had 83 tackles, 41 solos, for the Bees (5-5) this season. He had a team-high 17 sacks and one fumble recovery.

He plans to major in engineering in college.

"I have nothing but respect for Vanderbilt and the coaches," he said. "They are an up and coming program. It was nothing personal. But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to one of the best schools in the world."  

Ohio State's football team celebrated an unbeaten, albeit bowl-less, 2012 season Friday night. Did it have to be that way?

Coach Urban Meyer and the 12-0 Ohio State Buckeyes will not be playing in a bowl game this season. Jay LaPrete, Associated Press  

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- On the list of speakers and presenters at Friday's football celebration at Ohio State, the name of Athletic Director Gene Smith -- miscast by fans as the Great Nullifier -- was missing. OSU officials probably feared he would be booed at the 12-and-0-and-nowhere-to-go party at St. John Arena.

The real Great Nullifier, as far as the unbeaten Buckeyes' chance to play for the national championship, was not Smith, but former coach Jim Tressel, whose cover-up of the scandal involving memorabilia, tattoos and cash led to NCAA sanctions.

As far as any possible chance at this postseason goes, however, the Great Disabler -- a term that sounds like one of Tonya Harding's plug uglies -- is popularly thought to be Smith. The AD refused to self-impose a bowl ban after the 2011 season, thus enabling the 6-6 Buckeyes of interim coach Luke Fickell to lose a seventh game, which hadn't happened since 1897, to Florida in the Tax-Slayer Gator Bowl.

Smith didn't even make a pre-emptive move after the revelation of further violations involving Cleveland booster and contractor Bobby DiGeronimo, who turned out to have overpaid OSU football players for little work. This caused the NCAA's Committee on Infractions to push back the release of its verdict from August until late December. With the team short-handed because of player suspensions, Smith, critics charge, should have cut the Buckeyes' losses and attempted to satisfy the NCAA with an announced bowl ban in 2011.

It's not that simple, E. Gordon Gee, Ohio State's president, told the Columbus Dispatch this week.

Citing his close ties to NCAA leaders, Gee is convinced that a self-imposed ban in 2011 wouldn't have been enough to prevent a 2012 ban, too. "We were caught in the tsunami of all the things that were going on, and we were the big fish on the line. The NCAA was under great pressure to impose sanctions, and my strong belief is, if we would have self-imposed, we still would've had a bowl ban," Gee said.

Gee, however, suffers from a credibility gap only slightly smaller than that of Butch Davis. You might remember that the former Browns coach was all sunshine and daffodils about every draft pick he made, especially if the player was from Miami, Florida or Florida State. In a pinch, having once eaten an orange was enough.

At his most glib, Gee is every bit as disconnected from reality.

"I'll say it again -- over my dead body. Mark that down -- we will not have a playoff in this era -- period," said Gee in 2009. A four-team playoff begins in 2014.

"Let me be very clear. I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me," said Gee on March 9 of 2011. He and Smith forced Tressel out on Memorial Day.

"We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor," Gee said on Nov. 24, 2010, dismissing TCU and Boise State as national contenders. On Jan. 1, 2011, TCU beat Wisconsin, which had beaten Ohio State, in the Rose Bowl.

So you can take Gee's word to the bank. But you better try to put it in T-bills once you get there.

The Buckeyes still might not have reached the BCS Championship Game this season had they been eligible, but the consolation prize was a Rose Bowl date with Stanford. That would have beaten staying home for the holidays from here to the Arroyo Seco.

The ban for this season was announced last Dec. 22. It had the effect of a body blow to new coach Urban Meyer for his recruiting chances and his retention of the team's seniors. The latter were free to transfer without penalty under NCAA rules. Yet the dynamic Meyer recruited brilliantly anyway, and senior leaders such as John Simon and Zach Boren kept the class intact and set a shining example for the underclassmen.

Even now, however, Meyer is still paying the bill for the 2012 bowl ban, losing the extra practices bowl teams receive. This is galling because last year's Buckeyes were free to practice to the limit of the rules the offensive wizardry of Jim Bollman on their way to the bowl loss.

A recent Columbus Dispatch editorial called Smith a "wonderful leader" and praised his role in "recruiting" Meyer.

Actually, a nearly miraculous series of events -- including Meyer's boyhood and professional ties to OSU and the fact that the Notre Dame job had already been filled -- led to the coach practically falling into Ohio State's lap.

Ohio State has a good chance to win a national championship soon with Meyer. If it happens next season, many Buckeye fans will say with some justification, "Could have been two."

Kendall Wright and coach Art Briles say they saw Gordon's talent up close at Baylor and knew he would be a success in the NFL. Watch video

Josh Gordon leads the Cleveland Browns with five touchdown receptions and an average of 19 yards per catch. John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer  

BEREA, Ohio -- Josh Gordon's former Baylor teammate receiver Kendall Wright, whom the Browns targeted with the No. 22 pick in the draft, and his former Baylor coach Art Briles aren't surprised that he's already lighting it up in the NFL.

"I expected Josh Gordon to do what he's doing," said Wright, taken with the 20th overall pick in April by the Titans. "Josh Gordon is an absolute monster. I'm not surprised by what he's done and anyone who played with him would feel the same way."

Wright, who leads all NFL rookies with 54 receptions but is one behind Gordon with four TDS, was so sold on Gordon that he tried to convince the Titans to take him in the supplemental draft.

"I definitely tried to get him up here," said Wright. "I told my coaches about him, but good for Josh that he got drafted."

The Browns' draft strategy changed when the Titans nabbed Wright two spots before the Browns' pick. With Wright gone, the Browns opted to take quarterback Brandon Weeden at No. 22 instead of waiting until the second round to take a passer. But when Gordon declared for the supplemental draft in June, the Browns didn't hesitate to bid their second-round pick in 2013.

"The Browns did want me, but they stuck to Baylor and got another great receiver," said Wright.

Gordon, who sat out last season at Utah, is coming off the best game of his career. In the win over Oakland, he caught six passes for 116 yards, including a 44-yard TD. He leads the team with 646 yards and five receiving TDs, and is first with a 19.0-yard average on his receptions. He's also third with 34 catches. Among NFL rookies, he's first in receiving yards, receptions of 20 yards or more (12) and tied for first in receiving TDs. All of his TDs have been receptions of 20 yards or more -- and the average distance of his touchdown catches is 46 yards.

Wright has 54 catches for 514 yards and four TDs. When they were together at Baylor in 2010, before Gordon got kicked out for marijuana use, Wright caught 78 passes and seven TDs, and Gordon had 42 receptions and seven TDs.

"Josh is big, fast and he's got monster hands," said Wright. "He makes its looks so easy. It looks like he can just wake up and do the things he does without stretching or anything."

Briles gave such a glowing report of Gordon (6-3, 225) the day he was drafted that it almost sounded too good to be true. He said then, "If Josh had played in 2011, he definitely would've been a first-round pick without question." And "He was born ready. I'd get ready to turn that pencil to ink today." He added, "When you look at the ceiling and Josh is in the room, you're seeing straight to the sky."

Now, five months later, Briles has been proven correct.

"I'm not going to say anything that's going to sound good unless it is," said Briles. "Everything I said about Josh I felt it because I knew him so well. I know his heart, I know his soul, I know his intellect, not to mention all of his ability, which is freakish. I had a very good intuition that he'd be a success because of all of those factors combined."

Briles also predicted that Gordon would stay on the straight and narrow in the NFL.

"That just comes with maturity," said Briles. "He just turned 21 years old. He's still a growing child and then to be able to hold that responsibility down shows a very mature factor."

Briles knew that NFL teams would discover the same thing Baylor's opponents did. "He's an impossible matchup for a defense," he said. "You don't have to be a trained professional scout or coach to spot (his natural ability). The guy's big, he's long, he's got great hands, he's got unbelievable speed and he's got jumping ability. When you start adding in he's tough, he's a great competitor and he's got great intellect, you can see why he was the highest-picked receiver in the supplemental draft."

Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown ventured to say Gordon has the best hands of anyone he's ever played with in his 11 seasons.

"His ability to pluck the ball out of the air continuing stride (is the best I've seen)," said Brown. "He can catch the ball without even focusing on it and that's God-given. He reminds me of (Texans five-time Pro Bowler) Andre Johnson. He can very special and the sky's the limit for him."

Perhaps his best attribute, Brown said, is his anti-diva personna.

"Do you ever hear him say anything?" said Brown. "That speaks volumes. He's not a showman. He makes his plays, he comes to work, he brings his lunch pail. I love him. He's the perfect teammate to me. I don't have to worry about 'What's this clown going to do?' Very rare."

Brown pondered what Gordon's role would be right now if Mohamed Massaquoi hadn't pulled a hamstring and missed five games.

"Everyting happens for a reason and he's making the most of it," said Brown. "It couldn't happen to a better person, because he works his tail off."

Browns receiver Josh Cribbs has been trying to coax Gordon out of his shell.

"He still doesn't talk a lot," said Cribbs. "I want him to break out and be vocal, be a leader. Even a rookie can be a leader. He's having an awesome season and he's only getting better. He's going to be that guy. I'm glad I have an opportunity to help direct him and just help lead him to that good path."

Cribbs, who also came in with some baggage from college, has been proud of Gordon's turnaround.

"Nobody really cares about when you fall down, it's how you get back up," said Cribbs. "We've all done things as a young person that we regret. Fortunately people take chances on you and they end up working out, myself included. He's done a great job bouncing back from anything that might've happened in his past and you don't see it in his future."

But don't expect Gordon to start popping off anytime soon.

"I'm not really a big, joking kind of guy," he said. "I pretty much stay to myself. It's not really a shell, it's just me being me."

Besides, Gordon would rather talk with his hands.

"If you want to come see my type of attitude, watch on Sunday," he said.

Wright and Briles already know all about it.

Adelman is closing in on 1,000 career victories as an NBA coach.

Byron Scott's first NBA coaching experience came as an assistant to Rick Adelman, above, in Sacramento from 1998 to 2000. Adelman now coaches the Timberwolves. John Bazemore, Associated Press  

MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota coach Rick Adelman is closing in on 1,000 victories, which comes as no surprise to Cavaliers coach Byron Scott, who started his coaching career under Adelman in Sacramento from 1998 to 2000. Adelman had 979 victories heading into Friday night's game against the Cavs at Target Center.

"I learned so many things from him," said Scott, who credited Adelman's even nature for his longevity. "Everybody always talks about Pat Riley and Larry Brown, two of the guys I played under and learned a lot from. But I always talk about Rick and all the things I learned under him -- on and off the court. He's one of those guys I think is very underrated.

"Players who play for him love playing for him because he allows you to just play basketball, use your talents. He's not very demanding in practice. He just wants guys to play whereas I've got to get guys doing this and doing that -- and Riles was like that as well -- Rick just likes you to play a lot of basketball in practice so guys really get to know each other and know how to play with each other, which I thought was interesting.

"But it works. We had a very good team in Sacramento for those two years. I think if you find one player who didn't like playing for Rick, there's something wrong with the player. It's not the coach."

Leuer to Canton: In bad timing for Minnesota native Jon Leuer, the Cavaliers assigned him to their DLeague team in Canton just before the Cavs played the Timberwolves at Target Center.

"We sent him down just so he can get some playing time," Scott said. "We think that will be the best thing for him right now. He just needs to get back on the floor and play. He's not in the rotation right now, so it's probably the best thing for him."

Leuer, a forward who grew up in the Minneapolis suburb of Long Lake, has played in five games this season for the Cavs, averaging 3.2 points and 2.0 rebounds in 14.4 minutes per game. He will be available for the Charge's next game, Saturday at Springfield against the Armor.

The Cavs just recalled forward Kevin Jones from Canton, and Scott was asked the difference between the two players.

"Kevin's a little bit more of an inside, physical guy, and Jon is more of an athletic player," said Scott, who still doesn't know if he can find minutes for Jones yet. "It's just sending one down and bringing one up to get a feel for the other. That's the biggest reason."

Waiters out? Rookie shooting guard Dion Waiters remained in Cleveland to get treatment on his sprained left ankle. This was the third straight game he has missed since suffering the injury in Saturday's double-overtime loss to Portland, and Scott doesn't think he will be able to play against Detroit at home on Saturday, either.

"Talking to Dion, he wants to play [Saturday], but I just don't see it, watching him walk," Scott said. "The other thing is, I've always believed that when a player comes back, he has to have a full day of practice, too. His first chance of doing that would be Monday. So we'll see how it goes."

Rookie Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Gordon is gaining the respect of his teammates as he leads the team with 646 yards and five receiving touchdowns. Watch video

There's no bowl for the Buckeyes, but about 7,500 fans turned out to celebrate their perfect regular season. Watch video

COLUMBUS – The 2012 Ohio State football team will go down in history, and someone in Columbus is going to wind up with an address with a hyphen in it.

A poster give to fans at Friday's celebration of Ohio State's 12-0 season Doug Lesmerises  

At a 35-minute celebration at St. John Arena on Friday night to honor the Buckeyes' perfect but bowl-less season, Columbus mayor Michael Coleman announced that he would rename some avenue in Columbus “12-0 Row,” and OSU president Gordon Gee later volunteered his home street.

Their brief remarks were part of an evening that featured coach Urban Meyer introducing all of his seniors, and former Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith presenting the team with the Leaders Division Trophy, which was hoisted into the air by senior captain John Simon to cheers from the crowd.

That was appropriate, as Meyer's strongest words were saved for Simon, as they have been all season.

“If you say what is the face of Ohio State football,” Meyer said, “John Simon is who this football team is.”

Ohio State had expected a crowd of 13,000 and handed out 11,300 free vouchers to the public to gain admittance, but the estimated crowd was 7,500, with the upper deck empty.

Meyer thanked and praised his assistant coaches and their wives, then emphasized what has been his primary takeaway from this season, that “this will go down as one of the greatest senior classes in Ohio State University history.”

As for future seasons, which will be able to end with a bowl game and not a December farewell, senior captain Etienne Sabino said, “The future is bright for this team, the sky's the limit for this team. Go Bucks.”

Assistant AD Jay departs: Ohio State's Ben Jay has been named the new athletic director at the University of Hawaii. He had been OSU's Executive Associate Athletics Director for Finance and Operations.

Out of the rain, the marching band entered St. John Arena on Friday night. Watch video

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Not surprisingly, the Ohio State marching band was one of the highlights of Friday night's celebration of the Buckeyes' undefeated football season. As I was walking into St. John Arena, I heard TBDBITL in the darkness and the rain, marching from near Ohio Stadium, across Woody Hayes Drive and in through the doors of St. John Arena.

Here's a video of that experience. Neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night stops this band.