David Briggs
The Toledo Blade
Toledo, OH, United States
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Past articles by David:
David Briggs' ballot breakdown: Ohio State, Michigan rising
The Blade's David Briggs has Ohio State at No. 3 and Michigan at No. 14. ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTOS Enlarge Straight to it, a few quick thoughts from my latest ballot in the Associated Press college football poll: • My top dozen teams were the same, just in a different order, starting with Ohio State moving up a spot to second. That’s not some big statement. The order here remains Alabama, three… → Read More
Urban Meyer returns to what could be his best OSU team yet
COLUMBUS — Urban Meyer went up. The house came down. If the Ohio State coach is diminished nationally, here he remained larger than life, his approval rating somewhere between a smiling puppy and the man above (no, not Woody). As Meyer stepped on to a platform in front of an overflow pep-rally crowd at St. John Arena — two hours before the Buckeyes diced Tulane 49-6 in his first game back from… → Read More
Toledo showed up, but Miami showed why it's Miami
The first cold ones cracked open before dawn, the optimism flowing. “Toledo is here to play,” Scott Meyers said outside his RV, which he he rolled onto Stadium Drive shortly after 6 a.m. And so was the city. Toledo fans cheer after Toledo scores its first touchdown against Miami. BLADE/LORI KING Enlarge Soon enough, the tailgate lots were full, 19-year-olds ordinarily still in bed were lined up… → Read More
How a Toledo executive helped save the Notre Dame-Michigan rivalry
From the lips of college football to God’s ears, the call arrived to a Toledo office park in the spring of 2016. Notre Dame and Michigan were working to renew their football rivalry, and Irish coach Brian Kelly had a favor to ask his good friend. “I’ve got a challenge for you,” Kelly told Mike Wilcox, the local financial adviser who knows everybody who is somebody in college athletics. “Don’t… → Read More
Investigation into Meyer, Ohio State program leaves no winners
COLUMBUS — The sexton is off watch. Michigan is back on it. Urban Meyer will coach the Ohio State football team this season. At a university where the bell has tolled without favor for every football coach since Paul Brown — the last to leave on his terms — its latest icon was spared the same fate, assuring its gridiron machine will roll on. Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer makes a… → Read More
For Paul Azinger, Inverness is a little slice of heaven on turf
For some, it is an island paradise. For others, a candlelight dinner in Paris. For Paul Azinger, heaven is a place on turf, sprawled across 200 rolling acres of bent grass in Toledo. “I love this place,” he said Monday at the Inverness Club. A quarter century after Azinger won the 1993 PGA Championship here, he returned for the first time to the iconic Dorr Street track that changed his life.… → Read More
Can Urban Meyer survive the fight of his coaching life?
COLUMBUS — If Urban Meyer is going down, he will go down fighting like hell. This much we know after the embattled Ohio State coach and the assistant who could submarine him set off on an apparent coordinated blitz late Friday to save Meyer’s job. A week ago, Meyer defiantly told reporters, and, in turn, the public, he had no idea Smith was twice accused of domestic violence in 2015. Friday, he… → Read More
How a northwest Ohio woman transformed from a gymnast into world-class weightlifter
Like Alyssa Ritchey always imagined as a gymnast growing up on a cattle farm in northwest Ohio, she hopes to be in Tokyo for the 2020 Summer Olympics. There is but one little twist. In her dreams now, she will not be there on the bars. She will be there bending them. Yes, Ritchey, signing in at 4-foot-11, 108 pounds, is one of Team USA’s tallest hopes in weightlifting. How cool is that? “I had… → Read More
For Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, pride comes before the fall
It is official: The LeBrons now are the LeBrowns. And best we can tell, some in Cleveland don’t much care, including Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. “He doesn’t mind the thought of LeBron James leaving at all,” ESPN NBA analyst Stephen A. Smith reported before James announced he was headed to Los Angeles on Sunday. “Matter of fact, I had one executive tell me [Gilbert said], ‘Excuse me, I can’t… → Read More
LeBron James has to leave Cleveland, but where will he go?
CLEVELAND — As one party began, another ended. Resigned but at peace, his head held high, The King left the building Friday — perhaps for the final time in home threads. Swiftly and soundly, after three games of spiritedly pushing a boulder uphill against the indomitable Golden State Warriors, a Cleveland team accepting of its fate tumbled down the mountain, confirming once and for all LeBron… → Read More
James has carried Cavaliers as far as he can
CLEVELAND — With the season — and perhaps an era — on the brink, I received an email Wednesday from an opportunistic Cavaliers salesperson. Would I be interested in purchasing a house on Termite Lane without an inspection? Would I be interested in purchasing season tickets for next year? Just for kicks, I told her that depended if she had the inside scoop on LeBron James’ plans. “I wish I did!”… → Read More
With endorsement from pros, Inverness' major championship momentum builds
DUBLIN, Ohio — Paul Azinger has not returned to Inverness Club since his victory there at the 1993 PGA Championship. But the fabled Dorr Street course and its home city still hold a special place in his heart — and on his head. “I wear my Mud Hens hat all the time,” he said. “I love Toledo.” On the 25th anniversary of the last major championship to pass through town, Azinger warmly reflected on… → Read More
Ranking the best college football games of 2018
The other day, I received an invitation to a September wedding. Which reminded of something important. Time to buy a thoughtful gift? Nah, it’s time for our annual public-service list of the best college football games of local interest. With invitations to fall weddings, parties, and reunions on the way, we’re back to to help you decide whether to accept with pleasure or decline with regret.… → Read More
On Memorial Day, it's worth remembering our sports aren't really battles
The next time someone compares football to war, think of Joe Brown. Think of the former Ohio State defensive lineman and Army Ranger, and — on this Memorial Day weekend — the meaning of loss and sacrifice. Former Ohio State football player Joe Brown, left, is pictured in 2005 in Mosul, Iraq. The defensive lineman finished his OSU career in 2000 and went on to become an Army Ranger. COURTESY OF… → Read More
UT left 'frustrated' after Harbaugh receives key to city
Call it Keygate at the SeaGate. The town-vs-gown football controversy we didn’t know we needed. The key to the city sits on a table before being presented to Michigan's Jim Harbaugh. The Blade/Kurt Steiss Enlarge | Buy This Image Remember back to last week when Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz presented Toledo-born Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh with a key to the city at the downtown convention center?… → Read More
'He has a bright future': Kizer finds perfect fit with Packers
DeShone Kizer rolls out as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns during a game against the Chicago Bears last season. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge DeShone Kizer shouldn’t feel too bad about a backup role in Green Bay. The last time the Packers acquired a big-armed young quarterback and had him watch and learn for a few years, it worked out just fine. We’re referring, of course, to the… → Read More
End the debate: LeBron is the greatest of all time
Lest a stray turkey leg go flying through the bay window, I try to stay away from the big third-rail debates at the dinner table. You know, Taylor Swift or Katy Perry. Trump or Mueller. Jordan or LeBron. Then came the epiphany. Right about the time Saturday that LeBron James brought down the house with another buzzer-beating playoff game winner. What if there is nothing left to debate? In that… → Read More
Tigers make dream come true for BGSU freshman
BOWLING GREEN — Fresh off the best day of his baseball life, Kyle Van Houten clears time to meet in the Bowling Green student union. It is a busy week, the last of the semester, and the business major wants to finish the school year strong. “Definitely excited it’s almost over,” he said with a smile. Van Houten is just like any other dorm-living, finals-cramming college freshman but for a couple… → Read More
I kept up with the Glass City Marathon winner, and lived to write (ride) about it
With weary bones and the fires of hell raging through my legs, I did it! I completed the Glass City Marathon at a near-record pace Sunday. Then I got off my bike ... and looked to congratulate the winner. Man, these guys fly. Sorry, maybe I should explain. For years, I had covered marathons the traditional way, waiting at the finish line for the top finishers to tell me about their draining… → Read More
Fowl ball: Toledo Zoo acquires real-life mud hen
Like the ballplayers, the coots generally arrive here just in time for spring, then head to warmer climes for winter. Your in-laws? Be nice. We’re talking the mud hens. You know, the American coots — the migratory marsh birds also known as the namesake of our local nine. Well, we recently heard the city had its first known year-round hen resident, and had to know the story. And see the little… → Read More