Sports Today: Rejoice as football plans come into focus

Heroic OSU SID Jerry Emig also gave us a way to kill some time yesterday by publishing the 2017 media guide.

RELATED: 5 quick facts from the Buckeyes new media guide 

I’m not afraid to admit I used to love going through those when they were still printed (but I’d rather pretend it’s only been a year or two since they went all-digital).

The first time I saw one was when my high school football coach gave me his copy (I am pretty sure OSU sent one to every school in the state). This was before the brief period where the internet was both useful and not ruined by social media, so it was a treasure trove of information not otherwise readily available.

Later I learned Ohio State had a long list of people who used to send them a check for $35 every year to have one mailed to them.

I also killed summers in college going through the guides to work on historical pieces for the Ohio State football programs, and naturally I’ve saved most of the ones since then.

Like I said, it’s been a slow week… 

Mississippi tried to help last night with the latest NCAA scandal, one that doesn't seem to have caught anyone by surprise.

“Previously irrelevant program set to become irrelevant again” isn’t all that interesting anymore, either, but at least they got to be a foil for Alabama a couple of times.

“The Process” for Nick Saban can’t operate at full capacity without some real setbacks. Maybe Hugh Freeze can be the next coach to be rehabilitated in Tuscaloosa, too…

*The lede of this column is of course acknowledging that the Reds have veered off into, “Easy to ignore” territory with their disastrous start to the second half. 

Obviously, I don't plan to ignore them for the rest of the season, but how many times can you write, "Their pitchers got bombed again and they lost," in one week?

Projects on the docket include examining what they have gotten in trades so far during their rebuild and trying to figure out what, if anything, they have learned about the pitching staff since they started starting over.

RELATED: Castillo was not terrible yesterday, so at least there was that

The ramifications of making Scooter Gennett the full-time second baseman are worth examining closer, too.

Anything else you'd like to see? Email me at marcus.hartman@coxinc.com...

This time next week, the Bengals will be on the practice field (or have finished their first practice of training camp 2017, depending on when you read this).

They have also done their part to pass the time this week by rolling out the top 50 players of the first 50 years of the franchise.

I’m happy to see them embracing their past, but it’s a little anticlimactic when the No. 1 player was a no-brainer (Anthony Munoz).

I am surprised to see Cris Collinsworth and Isaac Curtis ahead of Carl Pickens, and I would have gone with Corey Dillon ahead of James Brooks, but otherwise it’s a fine list…

RELATED: Dillon, Anderson happy to be buddies again 

Browns rookies are set to report Sunday, making them the first in the AFC North.

Here's more of what to look for as NFL training camps begin.