Thursday February 11, 2010 year: 130 No. 61 the student voice of
The Ohio State University
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Video of Mark Titus interview sports
thelantern Titus faces life without trillions Buckeye basketball’s merry prankster might be at his career’s end after shoulder injury ZACK MEISEL Sports editor meisel.14@osu.edu It’s rare for an athlete to brush off a potentially career-ending injury as if it’s nothing. But after learning that a tear in his shoulder could cut his ÿnal season short, Mark Titus wasn’t the one who was distressed. “My mom’s actually more disappointed than I am,” said Titus, a sarcastic senior on the Ohio State men’s basketball team. “When the doctors told her I was done, she started crying and she started talking about me playing basketball like it was me walking or something. She was like, ‘So wait, he’s never going to play basketball again?’ like the shocking revelation or whatever. She’s taking it much harder than I am, so it makes it easier on me I guess. She can take all the pain.” Titus ÿrst injured his shoulder during practice earlier in the season. When reaching in to swipe a pass intended for Dallas Lauderdale, Titus’ shoulder became tangled with the 6-foot-8-inch center. He eventually lost feeling in his shoulder, he said. Still, being the relentless warrior he says he is, Titus fought through the intolerable pain, delaying surgery so he could help his team on the court. However, the blogging benchwarmer received further damage to the shoulder when hustling for a loose ball in OSU’s win over the Wildcats.
“Against Northwestern, in the one minute that I played, I went to reach for a loose ball and someone grabbed my arm again and pulled it out of the socket and it popped back in,” Titus said. “So, we took a look at it and it’s pretty bad.” Best known for his off-the-court gimmicks and his blog, clubtrillion.com, which has attracted more than 2 million visitors, Titus seems more sardonic than ever now that his ÿnal season at OSU has been derailed by injury. Although, “derailed” isn’t exactly how Titus describes it. “It’s kind of cool. We usually lift before practice and I MARK TITUS don’t have to show up for the lift, so I can sleep in for an extra half hour or 45 minutes,” Titus said. “I can kind of do whatever I want during practice. If I just want to go downstairs and look at my phone for a little bit and come back up, I can.” Titus started Club Trillion and the “Trillion Man March” as a way to applaud the limited statistics that he and fellow senior walk-on Danny Peters amass in their brief playing time. A “trillion” is derived from the statistical showing in a box score when a player plays one minute, but accumulates no other statistics: zero points, rebounds, assists, shot attempts, free throws, steals, turnovers or blocks.
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8A
Pryor recovers from surgery
After undergoing surgery to repair a ligament in his knee, Terrelle Pryor looks to be back by spring practice
campus
Softball team adopts girl
ANDY GOTTESMAN / Lantern photographer
2A Classes continue despite snow struggles
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Tuesday evening, five Buckeyes crafted their own version of Script Ohio on Curl Drive on north campus just west of Taylor Tower. Pictured from left to right, Matt Elliott (second-year), Calvin Goodman (first-year), Derek Scott (first-year). Contributors not pictured are Kyle Harper (second-year) and Andy McCray (first-year). Read the story about the snow Script Ohio on 3A.
KEVIN SANCHEZ Lantern reporter sanchez.825@osu.edu The picturesque landscape is transforming into icy frustration as the snow continues to fall in Columbus. Slick roads have been a problem for many students both on foot and in vehicles. An accident Wednesday on State Route 315 northbound left the passenger-side door and front headline smashed on Ohio State fourth-year Emily Metz’s car. When Metz tried to apply her brakes in the center lane, her car slid through several lanes before it was hit by a Chevrolet truck. Both cars ended up in the snow on the side of the freeway. “They had to call a tow truck to pull me out of the snow because my car
was stuck,” Metz said. “If the roads weren’t so slippery, this could have been avoided.” The vehicle, though still drivable, has sustained considerable damage from the accident. Metz was driving below the speed limit when the accident occurred. Despite recent school closings in the surrounding areas, the OSU Columbus campus will remain open for all classes and events today. “Everything has continued as scheduled,” said Bob Armstrong, director of Emergency Management. The only exceptions have been a number of athletic team practices that were canceled because of the weather. As the whitewash continues to blanket the university grounds, winds could reach gusts of up to 40 mph. Armstrong said that Emergency Management is prepared for the potentially high winds and will monitor them closely. The employees of the Facilities Operations and Development department have
continued as Snow on 3A
Local ‘Idol’ doesn’t make the cut in show’s Hollywood round
weather
BEVAN SCHNECK Lantern reporter schneck.9@osu.edu
high 27 low 14 flurries
FR 25/10 cloudy SA 27/13 flurries SU 27/20 cloudy MO 23/13 snow showers www.weather.com
Columbus’ own idol got silenced this week. Bosa Mora, 22, of Columbus, was ousted from “American Idol” on the episode that aired Tuesday night. Though he had beaten out thousands of others in the singing competition following his Boston audition, his Hollywood round audition didn’t earn him a place in the top 25. The contestants were called on stage in groups to sing individually. Mora tried to meet the judges’ expectations with his vocal skills, but even with the aid of his keyboard it wasn’t enough. Instead, the judges decided he couldn’t move further in the
BOSA MORA competition, sending him back to the Buckeye state. Judge Randy Jackson joked that people would be able to see Mora performing at a Holiday Inn in Columbus “off Route 52.” In a previous interview with The Lantern, Mora had said he simply wanted to learn from his experience on the show. Following his Hollywood
performance, he said he was grateful for the opportunity to compete. “I believe I did well,” Mora said. “I’m looking forward to continuing my path as an artist and getting my music out to the people.” Though he didn’t make it big, some local fans were sure to keep track of him during Tuesday night’s show. “I wouldn’t say I was rooting for him any more than the other contestants,” said Andrea Lodico, a fourthyear in radiologic technology, “but I did want him to do well, seeing as how he was local.” Lodico said she was trying to ÿnd Mora on the screen throughout the show. Rachel Bryant, a 2008 OSU grad who has followed the show for the past seven seasons, said she was also watching for Mora.
“It’s just cool that somebody from Columbus made it that far,” Bryant said. “I knew before the show that it would be hard for most of the contestants to move on.” Bryant said she is used to seeing contestants sent home. “That’s what the show is about; it’s a competition,” she said. “Even though Bosa is a great singer [who is] far better than most other people, it takes a lot more to be the winner of ‘American Idol.’”
Listen to Bosa sing at thelantern.com 1A