THE Ohio State University football player Josh Perry had THE quote of the day in Chicago for Big Ten Media Days part one yesterday. Perry was asked about Michigan’s new Head Coach Jim Harbaugh:
“is he the kind of guy that you think can restore this rivalry?”
Perry’s response was probably more clever than most of what the sportswriters in the room could come up with.
“I don’t like the word ‘restore’ because restore makes it seems like it went to crap and dilapidated, some hipsters went and bought it and needed to live in it as an investment and trying to flip it right now and that’s not what it is so I’ll put that out there.”
Yes, about 90% of what is said at Media Days is vanilla at best, and mind-numbing at worst, but soundbites like these make that elite 10% of discourse worthwhile. You can see why Josh Perry was chosen to deliver the speech at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon this afternoon. With clever quips like these, his time at the podium today should be very entertaining to say the least.
When tossed a standard issue softball question about the speech, the outside linebacker responded:
“That’s huge, I’m glad I have the honor. I’m glad the Big Ten selected me and gave me a platform to speak and I sat down with Jerry Emig (THE!!! Ohio State Sports Information Director) and got some thoughts together and he helped me iron some thing out and hopefully I don’t crap the bed.”
So that’s two “craps” from Perry, but another Ohio State football player, Offensive Tackle Taylor Decker one-upped that.
When asked a question about keeping things loose in the locker room, Decker responded
“You have to make it fun. If you’re too serious all the time you’re just going to stress yourself out and you’re just going to kill yourself. Each position group has a guy that’s good at that (keeping thing light) in their own way. Maybe there’s a shit talker and that just makes practice funner. Guys just like to make jokes, or just be goofy. You have to make it fun because practice isn’t easy, workouts aren’t easy, but if you can make it fun and enjoyable, it’s a lot easier doing something that’s fun. ”
With Perry and Decker, Ohio State football made two solid selections in who they choose to bring to Big Ten Media Day. (Each school is only allowed three) Of course, it still wouldn’t have hurt to have brought any of the three star quarterbacks. Or the star tailback; or the league’s reigning defensive player of the year, who’s slotted to go first overall in next year’s NFL Draft. (Oh wait, scratch that last one. In light of yesterday’s news)
Overall, kudos to two of the three Ohio State football players for making league media day a lot more entertaining. On a side note, Decker grades out as one of the top three pro prospects at the offensive tackle position. Perry has a first-second round grade himself.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is part of the FOX Sports Engage Network. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous talk radio stations all across the country.
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