01-02-2009, 04:24 PM
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Head Coach
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,782
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Total Points: 498,953.39
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Quote:
RandBall Q&A: Mark Titus, OSU baller + Club Trillion
Posted on January 2nd, 2009
By Michael Rand
Mark Titus is a new Interweb sensation. You might be thinking, ?No way, I?ve never heard of this guy,? but really he is. And it happened fast. Like in about two months. Titus is a walk-on basketball player for Ohio State, which plays here tomorrow against the Gophers. He started a blog around the start of the season called ?Club Trillion? and has since been featured on Bill Simmons? podcast (The BS Report) among other places. Marthaler linked to Club Trillion a couple weeks ago, and that was the first time we had heard of it. We read. We liked. This guy gets what it means to be a college athlete, and he gets what it means to have a blog. A sample, from a post about per diem money that players get:
Per diem for road trips ranges anywhere between $10 and $10,000. Over Christmas break, we are given anywhere between $100 and a 10 day NBA contract. The rationale behind per diem is that we are getting cash in place of the meals that we missed while we were on the road. I could care less what the rationale is. Alls I knows is that daddy is beefing up his pockets for doing absolutely nothing. And that?s the great thing about per diem?it comes out of nowhere for unclear reasons and brightens my day.
So we e-mailed Mark. He big-timed us and told us to go through the school?s Sports Information Director (OK, actually he said he?d be down with it as long as it was cleared by official channels). And this morning, we talked to Mark ?The Shark? Titus. (We also swiped that picture from the Club Trillion Facebook page. It was either that, a picture of a palm tree or some random shot of him with Larry the Cable Guy. We demand some Greg Oden party pictures! But we digress). Let?s put some points in your face. Here we go:
RandBall: So where did the idea for a blog come from in the first place?
Mark Titus: I guess at the start of this year I was doing a halftime reflection thing. What I?ve been through the first two years, all the fun stories that go on behind the scenes. You turn on ESPN and you hear the same stories about athletes all the time. I thought I had a perspective nobody else had. I felt at least somebody would be interested. I thought it would be cool to start something. I?ve been planning on writing a book for a while, when I graduate. I kind of nosed around at possible ideas ? and with a blog you write something short every time things happen. It kind of took off. I don?t know how or why. I thought it would last a couple weeks. I would show my mom and dad what I did. And that would be that.
RB: Some places can be guarded with information. Did you have to get clearance from your coaches or anyone else to do a blog like this?
MT: I had a talk with our compliance guy and our SID and some of the coaches. Everyone over here is not too strict about it. Coach (Thad) Matta is a crack-up himself. I know he doesn?t read it, but ? it?s not like I?m saying ?here are the plays we are going to run.? It?s more self-deprecating humor. Some coaches will make fun of me ? how I?ve become a ?big deal.? The coaches? wives read it. Part of reason I started it is that I would tell my dad about what goes on here, and it made me think that most people don?t realize (the life of a college athlete). We?re going to be on a chartered plane today. We take a chartered bus to the chartered plane. It?s pretty much grapes being fed to us and palm leaves cooling us. ? Not everyone knows that. You take too much for granted. I have a great opportunity here. That?s why the walk-ons at every school can become fan favorites. People can relate to us. I?m not incredibly big or incredibly athletic. I?m just a guy who worked hard and got decent at basketball.
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http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/...club-trillion/
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