Football
The-Ozone Note and Quotebook
By John PorentasIt's All in the Name: OSU defensive back Chimdi Chekwa was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week last week. Now that everyone has seen his name in print, the next step is to find out how to actually pronounce it.
Chimdi Chekwa The OSU football media guide gives a phonetic pronunciation guide for names to aid broadcasters. Unfortunately, that guide is incorrect, at least as far as Chekwa's last name goes. The media guide lists the correct pronunciation of his last name as "cheek-wa", while the correct pronunciation is actually "check-wa". Chekwa found out about that error this week and it explained a few things for him.
"For some reason they want to say Cheek-wa all the time, the don't want to say Check, they put the extra 'e' in there," lamented Chekwa.
When reporters explained the media guide error to him, Chekwa understood the source of the problem. Now if only people could get his first name right.
"A lot of people like to say Chim-i-di," said Chekwa.
The correct pronunciation is "chim-dee".
Though he was born in the U.S. in the state of Virginia and grew up in New Orleans, both of his parents were born in Nigeria. Chekwa's name reflects his Nigerian background. His name also carries a meaning.
"The full last name means 'Death Pass Over Me'," said Chekwa.
"My first name means 'God is with me'".
Better Than a Bye: It's rather unusual for the Buckeyes to commence the Big Ten schedule, then in the middle of the Big Ten season have a non-league game, but that's exactly what the situation is this week as OSU will take on Kent State after playing three Big Ten games. While returning to non-league play is unusual, it's better than not playing at all, at least for one Buckeye.
Steve Rehring "It's better than a bye-week. I didn't like bye weeks when we had them," said OSU offensive lineman Steve Rehring
Rehring is a player who feels he is on a bit of a roll and wants to keep active after having a bit of a rough start to the season.
"I feel like I'm in great shape now," said Rehring
"I weigh 329 so I'm doing good.
"I came in at 344. They told me I needed to lose a little weight. I've got it down to lower than I had to be. I'm still trying to fight down to get it a little lower. My ideal playing weight is probably 325," Rehring said.
Seeing the Light: OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman is a player with all the tools, but for some reason last season never seemed to stand out. This season, however, Freeman is meeting and exceeding the rather lofty expectations that the OSU coaching staff and fan base have for him. According to OSU defensive coordinator Jim Heacock, it was simply a matter of letting the light go on.
Marcus Freeman "I think it's just as you go through the program, the light comes on at a different time, and I think he just decided it was time for him to go and you could see a whole different attitude all through spring," said Heacock.
"Marcus had a great spring. We've had high expectations because of his abilities, but he's worked extremely hard and he's gotten better and better. We're excited about where he's at right now," Heacock said.
Heacock said it is not unusual for a player to suddenly go from so-so to off-the-charts like Freeman has this season. .
"Almost everybody it happens to at some time or another," said Heacock.
"Some (a few) come in with the light on, but some come on. There's been a lot of players that have gone through here that early on (in their careers) you wonder if they're ever going to be a player and all of a sudden they decide it's time to go and they turn it up. It is exciting to see something like that," Heacock said.
Heacock says that Freeman falls into that category, and thinks he knows why he is suddenly more productive.
"I would say intensity," said Heacock.
"He's playing intense, he's playing with some enthusiasm, and just a lot more excited about being out there I think."
Forty Pounds: The defensive line was a question mark position coming into the season, but it is rapidly becoming apparent that not only do the Buckeyes have capable defensive linemen, but they also have depth.
Last weekend against Purdue starter Todd Denlinger was unable to play and fellow starter Vernon Gholston was hobbled as well. OSU defensive line coach Jim Heacock simply plugged in a couple of more players and the Buckeye defense went on to dominate the Boilermaker offense.
"Dexter (Larimore) and Doug (Worthington) and Nader (Abdallah), all three kind of filled in there and rolled through. I thought they played well. I thought they were real unselfish and did a nice job inside," said Heacock.
"One of the great things about playing eight guys early is you know about half way through the season you're going to start getting some guys banged up.
"It happened last year. Dave (Patterson) had knee surgery, Quinn (Pitcock) had the concussion problems, so I guess it's to our advantage to play a lot of guys early so when we have the injuries (you have players to replace them).
"Alex Barrow has been around here and he's been playing, so he was able to go in. Of course Cameron (Heyward) has been playing a lot of plays and he was able help out at the defensive end spot, so we had guys that stepped up and did a good job for us."
Nader Abdallah Abdallah in particular has been a pleasant surprise this season, and according to Heacock, that is no accident.
"You talk about the light coming on for somebody that's not playing, he's a great example of a guy like that," said Heacock.
"All of a sudden he comes in and says 'I'm going to come in here every morning at 6:00 AM and I'm going to show you and I'm going to get this done.'
"Every morning in the he was in here at 6:00 AM in the off-season, worked hard and lost 30 or 40 pounds and got down under 300, ran and worked out and responded to not playing with instead of complaining and making excuses, saying 'I'm going to play.'
"I'd like to take credit for that," continued Heacock, "but I really believe his brother was a key factor in that.
"His brother actually came up and lived with him and and his brother actually brought him over here at 6:00 AM. I think he's always wanted to do it but he didn't know quite how and I think his brother got him turned around."
Avoiding Mid-Air Collisions: For those of you who are students of football technique, the slide step is a real point of contention. If you don't know what we're talking about, here's a quick primer.
For years offensive linemen were coached that their first step after the ball is snapped is across the line of scrimmage so they can engage defenders with their blocks. At OSU however, offensive line coach Jim Bollman teaches something called a slide step. The first step an offensive lineman takes is sideways, not across the line of scrimmage, and that has some traditionalists up in arms.
According to Bollman, the slide step was made important by the change in both defenses and blocking techniques. Defensive linemen no longer simply try to hold the line of scrimmage, they try to move it backward with a hard charge of their own. At the same time, blocking is now done more with the hands than with the shoulder. If the collision that takes place at the line of scrimmage between offensive and defensive linemen happens too quickly, the offensive linemen don't have the time to get their hands up and on the defensive linemen.
The theory is that by stepping sideways with their first step the offensive linemen delay that collision just long enough to be able to get their hand up and on the defenders.
According to offensive lineman Steve Rehring, there is another reason the slide step works well these days. That is that a lineman's power is really generated with his second step, not his first, and if you get to the defender too quickly, your second step is wasted.
Steve Rehring "Your second step is the foot that's powerful," said Rehring
"Your first step not going to do anything for you power wise, so if take a forward step you're going to have your second foot in the air when you hit a guy and it isn't going to do anything for you power wise," Rehring said.
In other words, if you hit the defender while your second step is in the air and not on the ground, your second (power) step is wasted, and the slide step helps linemen avoid having collisions with defenders while their second step is in mid-air.
"If you take a sidestep then your foot is forced up a little bit shorter and you actually have power," Rehring said.
"I love it," said Rehring talking about the slide step technique.
"If a guy slants you have a chance to react with a slide step as opposed to a forward step.
"It's a very powerful technique. You look at a lot of NFL teams and a lot of other good college football teams, they're all doing the same technique. It's what works.
"I've been doing that since I got here. My high school coach taught it too," Rehring said.
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