Throw The Book At The Buckeyes

The Ohio State saga has reached its climax. The dramatic play, which originally people thought it was just five players being dumb and trying to make money could not have been farther from the truth.  Jim Tressel knew what happened and took over six months to inform the NCAA about the issue which means there is some real trouble.  Here are the specifics according to ESPN

In a 13-page indictment of Tressel's behavior, the NCAA alleged that Tressel had "permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics while ineligible." It also said he "failed to deport himself ... [with] honesty and integrity" and said he was lying when he filled out a compliance form in September which said he had no knowledge of any NCAA violations by any of his players.

All this time, I felt Tressel had class in college football, but I could not have been more wrong as he is a snake just like others in the college sports profession. With the latest case against Tressel, I think we need to start looking at college coaches the way we looked at baseball players when we got the idea that everyone took steroids.  All of these guys are cheaters. They lie, cheat, and steal in order to make their teams collectively better. The way Major League Baseball shut down steroids is they punish the players in a harsh, and made these players out to be pariahs of the sport.

The NCAA gave USC the business for having one illegal player (Reggie Bush) on the field therefore if Ohio State doesn't get a three-year bowl ban, I find it ridiculous.  Even if Terrelle Pryor and friends did not deliver the National Championship to Columbus, it doesn't excuse the fact these guys should not have been playing, and Tressel should have been suspended from the get-go.  People are calling for a year-long suspension for Tressel, but it's clear to me that he needs to be fired.

Remember when Eric posted a poll asking if Tressel needed to get fired a couple months ago?  An overwhelming amount of people said he would not get fired. I do wonder if things are different today, and it's funny to hear every Ohio State fan make up excuses for this why this happened.  If you want to find the truest form of how someone feels, it's ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Here are some of his comments via USA Today 

Just like I did, Kirk thought his alma mater had one of the good guys in college football when in reality, Tressel is no different than the other snakes lying in the weeds.

-Charlie.

Someone Take Jim Tressel's Shovel Away

Jim Tressel just won't stop.  He keeps digging himself into a deeper and deeper hole.  As everyone is aware of it came out in the last week or two that Tressel had been tipped off via email about Terrelle Pryor and 4 other Buckeye's illegal merchandise scheme long before the NCAA found out and subsequently suspended the five players for the first five games of 2011.  We all know that if there is one thing the NCAA really doesn't appreciate its being lied to, just ask Bruce Pearl.  These transgressions left Tressel with a $250,000 fine and a 2 game suspension which he later voluntarily increased to 5 games.  Well, today the Columbus Dispatch reported that Tressel forwarded that infamous email on to Terrelle Pryor's "mentor" in an apparent attempt to have him address the issue.  So where does this leave Jim Tressel and The Ohio State University?


In my opinion it results in the two parting ways.  I think you could see a lot of parallels with the Bruce Pearl situation.  OSU has stood firmly behind Tressel to this point and I think they will most likely continue to do so at least through the 2011 season.  At that point, Pryor (the cause of a lot of headaches in the Columbus area the last three years) is gone and it may be time to clean their hands of the entire situation.  Not to mention the fact that the NCAA has yet to weigh in on Tressel and/or OSU's punishment in this case.  Just like Tennessee did, OSU may have to rid themselves of a great coach in order to avoid further sanctions. 

Tressel was widely viewed as a squeaky clean, sweater vest wearing, honest abe before this situation manifested itself in the last few weeks.  However, if you examine his past the Vest hasn't exactly ran a tight ship his entire career.  Just to touch on the major scandals: Tressel's then employer, Youngstown State, was hammered with probation in 1991, Maurice Clarett was hit with NCAA ineligibility, Heisman Winner Troy Smith suffered a similar fate, and as mentioned above OSU has found itself in some hot water.

Based on these facts Tressel, like Pearl, can be considered a repeat offender (a label no one going before the NCAA wants anything to do with).  Despite his extremely impressive on field accomplishments Ohio State may have no choice but to part ways with Jim Tressel, if for no other reason than self-preservation. 

I expect Tressel to coach out this next season with Pryor and the Buckeyes and then be forced out of the program he has led for the last 10 years. 

What do you think?  Weigh in on the topic in the SNOtap poll question.

You Can't Spell 'Underground Violations' without OSU

Upon Further Review: Punish Him!!!

Here's another thing that I can't seem to come to terms with.  In a world where professional athletes are lambasted for making more than one mistake on-and-off the field, it appears that Jim Tressel has reached unchartered waters.  Beyond his impressive overall win-loss record of 106-22 in 10 years at Ohio State and a National Championship in 2002, Tressel has been allowed to bring in players with conduct issues that puts a blemish on the program, and get away with little or no punishment.

However, the NCAA has finally cracked down on this sweatervest wearing prick with a two-game suspension to begin next year's ball games and was fined a hefty sum of $250K.  About damn time. Looking into Tressel's past, you'd think that repeat offenders would have a greater degree of punishment for the lack of control of his player's off-the-field conduct.  Let's run down the list of player goofs under Coach T:

2010: Terrelle Pryor and four others suspended 5-games in 2011 for selling or bartaring items and jerseys for tattoos which is a violation of NCAA rules.

2004: Troy Smith suspended for the season ending bowl game and the first two games of the 2005 season for accepting benefits from boosters, before going on to win the Heisman Trophy in 2006.

2002: Maurice Clarett was suspended after the National Championship game for also accepting benefits from the boosters.

Prior to that, when Tressel was at Youngstown State, one of his QBs was punished for accepting cars and other benefits from boosters.

Another interesting stat I found on ESPN's article is that since 2000, Ohio State has reported 375 violations of NCAA conduct, the most out of any of the FBS schools.  The thing that irks me about this particular violation is that Tressel had gathered information about the conduct of his players last April.  This guy said that he was going to take care of the issue with his players and he never did.  Now I do think that $250K is a lot of money, but not really considering this guy makes a few million each and every year.  And only two-games, when the guy had knowledge 5 months before the college football season even began? I just don't understand the justice system for a guy who had this knowledge long before anything had been done about it.

Normal people that withhold information about a crime without telling proper law enforcement are considered heretics and are given prison sentences.  How does this rule not apply in parallel with punishment for college athletics.  Tressel should be suspended just as long as Pryor and the other players, if not longer, and should have to pay upwards of $500K dollars because he obviously, judging by his lack of character in the past, hasn't learned his lesson.

-Pat