The problem with Tressel's actions is, if he had came forward and notified Gee and his "bosses" of the allegations, the OSU braintrust would have given him a slap on the wrist, if that.

But the NCAA probably wouldn't have. Even so, hiding the problem only made it worse with everybody -- NCAA, OSU brass, media, etc.

Why would have Tressel deserved even a slap on the wrist if he had come forward with the email?  You get slapped on the wrist for playing it 'by the book'?

 

To me, JT did one thing wrong.  He checked the box on the NCAA form that says he is not aware of any potential rules infractions.  That was his only crime.  Does anyone truly believe there is one, single college coach in the entire country who could honestly check that box?  Given the broad language used, I certainly don't...

^ They won't check that box if they like winning. 

This would never come to this if they had suspended the players before the bowl game. Both the NCAA and OSU dropped the ball on this.

http://www.espn1530.com/pages/mo.html?article=8640638

 

So we all sound more intelligent, let's do away with....

 

"He lied to protect his players...."

 

Bullcrap.  Even if you buy this initial argument that his handling of the emails was intended, at heart, to protect the players involved, it does not explain how his blatantly lied to NCAA investigators in December.  The sheer fact that the NCAA was looking into allegations involving players and tattoos meant the cat was out of the bag.

 

"This happens everywhere."

 

Dumbest. Rationalization. Ever.

 

Doesn't work here.  Doesn't work anywhere.  Won't work with your wife ("Honey look, everybody's got a little side beef, it's no big deal"), won't fly with your boss ("Sir, half the office blew out early on Friday to go get hammered across the street, I figured I would too"), won't work with the law ("Officer, I might be three times over the legal limit, but everyone I was with at the bar was drunk and they drove too"), and sure as hell doesn't work when you're the CEO of the biggest college football corporation in the country. ("Email?  What email?  I don't even have a computer.  I type those sanctimonious books on a word processor.")

 

"It's (Yahoo, Sports Illustrated, The Columbus Dispatch, Charles Robinson, George Dohrman, Ray Small, The Lantern, Kirk Herbstreit...)'s fault.

 

That justifies the lying.  Makes it a-okay. Totally sensible to blame the people reporting the lies, not the person doing the lying.

 

Insane.

 

"You're just a (fill-in-the-blank- name of a college football team that's not Ohio State) homer and you're jealous."

 

Those of us who express our rooting interest yet still comment on matters at other schools have said rooting interests used against us when we offer up such comments.

 

I can't speak for others, but this UC fan takes no delight in seeing a coach take a program and put himself before everyone else involved in it...players, coaches, staff, and most important...fans.  If as a fan of another school, I feel more passionately about what the coach did to your team, then that problem lies with you.

 

So what?  We're going to get Urban Meyer!  And if he tell us no, perhaps we can get Belichick!  If not him, Parcells!  Or Saban!  Hell, we could maybe get the carcass of Woody Hayes to coach the Bucks in 2012!

 

Fine.  There's no doubting that the number one storyline this season and into next offseason will be about whom the Buckeyes hire to take over in 2012.  And while possible NCAA sanctions will take some of the luster off the gig in the short-term, it's still Ohio State, it's still a lucrative position, and it's a dream job for a ton of good, high profile coaches.

 

But immediately turning attention toward the next coach means ignoring the biggest problem for both Jim Tressel, and whomever the new guy is: there's a lot to clean up here.

This would never come to this if they had suspended the players before the bowl game. Both the NCAA and OSU dropped the ball on this.

 

Absolutely agree - nobody realized the extent of the memorabilia trading back then yet, but it would have been much better to indefinitely suspend the players they knew about right then, start the investigation, and move ahead with whatever consequences in terms of wins & losses, with Tressel in place and the University still able to claim moral high ground...  I can't imagine the NCAA punishment at that point would be much of anything

Wow. What a great column. Check it out.  I won't even paste the lead paragraph, it will ruin it. Props to waitingfornextyear for linking to it.

 

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2011/05/the-man-who-wasnt-there

That pretty much sums it up for me.  Exactly how I feel about JT.  Ohio lost an asset of limitless value when the Vest stepped down.  I hate to be skeptical, but they are not going to find a replacement for what he brought to the program, the school, and our state.

Paul Pabst: "Sources say the NCAA may punish the Buckeyes by making them refer to the school as 'An Ohio State University'."

^Lol.

 

People seem to be pretty much evenly split on how they feel about what went down with Tressel. Some people feel that things like this go on all the time in sports, and that he earned "street cred" or cool points for not "snitching" while others feel he got what he deserved because he knew of what was going on and he didn't say anything.

 

I share the former sentiment, and actually feel kind of bad for him. He ended up being the fall guy for his players transgressions and has now ultimately lost his career.

 

As Hts121 said, I highly doubt they will find such an honorable guy who can contribute the way Jim Tressel did.

I'm glad to get rid of him, his 1981 coaching style and Jim Bakker crap. I didn't like him at first, warmed up to him from 2001-2004 (like everyone else) and began to dislike him again not long thereafter after I realized that he would never win another national championship as long as these high-tech southern and western teams are around.

I'm glad to get rid of him, his 1981 coaching style and Jim Bakker crap. I didn't like him at first, warmed up to him from 2001-2004 (like everyone else) and began to dislike him again not long thereafter after I realized that he would never win another national championship as long as these high-tech southern and western teams are around.

 

As much as people hate to admit, the SEC has the competitive edge over BigTen schools, and to a lesser extent, even the ACC. A lot of top prospects bypass the BigTen schools for "warmer" weather and better scouting opportunities.

Ahh, the 'ole "everyone else is doing it" excuse. O$U got caught.

 

So Ohio State is the only school doing it?  And if other schools are doing it, too, you're satisfied with the fact that most of them will never be punished for doing so?

 

The system needs to be fixed.  Dramatically.  Schools aren't going to stop cheating because of this, they're just going to get better at it and work harder at not getting caught.

^Yeah, this stuff happens a lot more than many naive people think. I have a cousin who played at Georgia, and all the bribes, illegal benefits and bonuses started while he was in high school. They even presented his mother with goodies because she did not want him to go too far away from home (which was one state over, btw). All the illegal stuff went on all the way until he got drafted. Some programs will do almost anything to keep their players happy. It's dirty, but that's the way the game goes.

I'm glad to get rid of him, his 1981 coaching style and Jim Bakker crap. I didn't like him at first, warmed up to him from 2001-2004 (like everyone else) and began to dislike him again not long thereafter after I realized that he would never win another national championship as long as these high-tech southern and western teams are around.

 

As much as people hate to admit, the SEC has the competitive edge over BigTen schools, and to a lesser extent, even the ACC. A lot of top prospects bypass the BigTen schools for "warmer" weather and better scouting opportunities.

 

The SEC also engages in a dirty little practice called oversigning.  Basically they do not limit themselves to the number of high schoolers they can promise scholarships to.  They sign 30 players to a class, keep the ones they actually want, and the lucky ones are sent off to community colleges or "gray-shirted."  The other ones fall a year behind and forced to start their college search all over again.  This is one of a handful of sleezy things that the SEC does that gives them a leg up.

^ oversigning is the biggest scandal ever.  It needs to stop immediately. 

I didn't know about oversigning. What are the other naughty things that the SEC does that give them an advantage?

They don't warn the players they recruit from the north what it feels like to be outside in August for two-a-days in SEC country with full-gear on...

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/06/usc-stripped-of-2004-national-football-championship/?hpt=hp_t2

What, strip them of the Sugar Bowl victory? Could be! There's certainly parallels with USC.

ESPN and The Dispatch are reporting it too. 

 

And it certainly is not a shock.

Good riddance.

Of course Pryor has been an assache to the program, but any true fan would be lying to say they won't miss a 4 year starter coming back for his senior year.  Having said that, I think OSU will be fine and it brings additional closure to the program.  I feel sorry for him too, because he's done himself no favors by running amuck at OSU.  Whomever is advising this guy is kidding themselves if they think he's got much of an NFL career ahead of him.

Where is the IRS in all of this?

http://www.danpatrick.com/2011/06/08/maurice-clarett-talks-about-culture-problem-at-ohio-state/

 

Wow, Clarett is the voice of truth in all of this. He has no reason to say anything but the truth at this point and lays it all out on the table. He puts it on the players and the fans, but mostly on the players for taking advantage of the situation. There is a component of the blame that he puts on the NCAA rules and the lack of perspective that a lot of the poor kids have on what it takes to be successful. He defends Tressel, too.

Ohio State vacates wins from 2010 football season, places program on probation

 

Friday, July 8, 2011 - 12:20 PM

Updated: Friday, July 8, 2011 - 12:52 PM

By Randy Ludlow, The Columbus Dispatch

 

An "embarrassed" Ohio State University is wiping its stellar 2010 football season from the record books as self-imposed punishment for major NCAA violations.  But it is not suggesting that the team lose scholarships or be banned from postseason play.

 

In a response submitted today to the NCAA, Ohio State admits allegations that then-coach Jim Tressel lied and allowed ineligible players to compete by failing to report that they had sold OSU-issued memorabilia to a tattoo-parlor owner.  Ohio State concedes major violations of NCAA regulations but says it should not face harsher punishment, because no OSU official other than Tressel was aware of player violations, according to the response that was obtained by The Dispatch.

. . .

 

In addition to vacating the wins from its 12-1 season along with its Big Ten and Sugar Bowl championships, the university has placed its football program on probation for two years effective today, Ohio State reported to the NCAA.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2011/07/08/0708-ohio-state-pleads-case-to-ncaa.html?sid=101

Ughhhh...so back to winless against the SEC in bowl games?  :x

 

There are so many things about this whole situation that piss me off...

NCAA tells Ohio State it finds no new violations; won't face 'failure to monitor' charge

Friday, July 22, 2011 - 04:00 PM

By Randy Ludlow and Encarnacion Pyle

The Columbus Dispatch

 

The NCAA has notified Ohio State University that it will not face charges of failing to appropriately monitor its football team as part of a memorabilia-sales scandal that brought down former Coach Jim Tressel. 

 

The NCAA has not uncovered any new, unreported violations during its investigation and agrees with Ohio State that Tressel was the only university official aware of violations by his players and that he failed to report them.

 

In the summary that was delivered to Ohio State yesterday and released today, the NCAA again stresses that Tressel failed in his duty to report the violations and knowingly fielded at least two ineligible players. 

 

The NCAA will not hammer Ohio State with its worst-possible findings of loss of institutional control or failure to monitor, which would bring significant punishment.

 

READ MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2011/07/22/ncaa-ohio-state-violations.html?sid=101

 

---

ESPN:  Ohio State doesn't face worst sanctions

Huge break for Ohio State.  No "lack of institutional control" or "failure to monitor" means that they likely won't end up with a bowl ban.

The Buckeyes start their 2011 season tomorrow.  This was likely to be a challenging season for Ohio State regardless of any off-season difficulties.  OSU is replacing seven starters from last year’s dominating defense.  Nebraska is joining the Big Ten.  Winning the Big Ten will now require an extra championship game this year. 

 

After beginning the season with the traditional Ohio invitational games at Ohio Stadium, the schedule toughens up with a road game at Miami, home games against Colorado and Michigan State, a road game at Nebraska, a home game against Wisconsin before finishing up against Penn State and at Michigan.

 

Add to this four starters suspended for the first five games, last year’s starting QB gone early to the NFL, last year’s national championship winning coach gone and replaced with a rookie head coach and fans are left with lots of questions going into the first game.  Probably the biggest question being “who will be the starting QB”?  Right now it looks like Coach Luke Fickell will feature fifth-year senior Joe Bauserman as the primary QB and use true freshman Braxton Miller as a change-of-pace QB.

 

But even with all of the changes on and off the field - some things haven’t changed.  Ohio State is still ranked in the pre-season Top 20.  They are still expected to compete for the Big Ten championship again.  And 105,000 fans will still arrive at Ohio Stadium expecting to see a win.  No matter who the head coach or quarterback is. 

 

Let the games begin at noon tomorrow against the University of Akron. :clap:

Go Bucks!  I am rocking the scarlett and grey today for sure.

I realize it was Akron, but there certainly were some encouraging signs yesterday.  Both QBs played well.  Miller is 'as advertised' - runs like Terrelle and throws like Troy.  He is going to be VERY good.

 

3 TDs for Stoneburner was impressive.  He should have a big year.  The other starting recievers were not overly impressive.

 

I was somewhat disappointed in the RBs.  Hyde clearly lacks the break away speed and Smith's vision seems off.  That was a let down as I was thinking either one of those guys could be feature backs (not saying they won't eventually be just that).  It will be nice to get Hall and Berry back... and then Boom later on.  At the very least, we are extremely deep at RB.

 

How 'bout them youngsters.  Already talked about Miller.  Ryan Shazier at LB and Devin Smith at WR both looked very impressive in the 2nd half.  That catch by Evan Spencer had to be sportcenter top 10 (I assume).  But the guy that really made my eyes pop was the DT, Michael Bennet (#63).  The kid is 6'3 300+ but that move he put on the OL was with the speed of someone 100lbs lighter.  Watching him play reminded me of seeing John Simon his freshman year.  The linemen simply could not block him.

 

What stood out most though was the stark contrast Fickell offered to 'Tressell Ball'.  Blitzing in the 4th quarter and up by 6 TDs?  I kinda liked that ;)

tOSU doesn't rebuild, they reload!

 

I watched the game again this morning.  The young RB's and WR's played very well....other than the fumble on the GL.  Overall Good route running by the WR's.  There was only one maybe two catch-able balls hit the ground. 

 

Defense was solid as expected. 

It's hard to imagine how last Saturday's 42-0 win over Akron could've gone better for Coach Fickell's debut.  As was said earlier, starting QB Bauserman looked very good.  Backup QB Miller also looked good in the second half (after his initial 3 and out in the first half).  TE Stoneburner had a career game with 3 TD catches (BTW-love that name!)  And the defense, which had to replace seven of last year's starters, was dominating.  The only caveat being: it was Akron they beat.

 

The Buckeyes should get more of a challenge this Saturday against Toledo.  Unlike Akron, Toledo is predicted to win the MAC.  And Toledo's offense should definately challenge the Buckeyes defense.  In Toledo's first game they beat New Hampshire 58-22.  But there might be an extra pyschological advantage OSU has over Toledo.  Might Toledo be looking past this weekend's game at the Shoe for next weekend's game?  Toledo will be hosting #5 Boise State at the Glass Bowl!

That's a big caveat.  Akron may be the worst team in Div. I.... or whatever they call the top division now.

 

I'm still shocked at the stark contrast between Fickell's approach and 'Tressell ball'.  I didn't expect that at all.

Ohio State survives Toledo 27-22.  Whew!!

I was cheering for Toodle-lee-doo.

I was cheering for Toodle-lee-doo.

 

OSU played okay at times.  But they could've and should've scored late in the 4th quarter to put the game out of reach.  And Toledo almost made them pay for it!

 

Good luck to the Toledo Rockets on their remaining games.  They look good enough to win the MAC title.  As for this Friday's game hosting Boise State in the Glass Bowl . . . well good luck! :wink:

Best player on the field last Saturday was Eric Page.

Columbus Dispatch has an article today outing Bobby Digironimo, local Cleveland businessman, principal of Independence Excavating, as booster who paid Terrell Pryor & other players.

 

Anybody who knows "Buckeye" Bob Digironimo, knows he has been giving out hundred dollar handshakes for years.  All four of his kids are OSU Alum.  Every summer he would have OSU football players "working" in the shop delivering tools, etc to jobsites for wages much higher than they should've been paid.  He watched the home games from the sidelines, stayed on the same hotel floor as the team when they go to bowl games, has a big RV done up in scarlet & gray that he takes to every home game, buys pizzas & meals for the entire teams, has a championship ring from 2002 season, has a driveway that is stained concrete with a huge "Block O", has a OSU custom painted Escalade...

 

The university is absolutely complicit, they enable guys like this who are lunatic fans with loose money to get access to these young impressionable players, it feeds their addiction by letting them into the inner circle and be on the sidelines and watch practice and such...  the young players don't know any better, than to accept an envelope from some rich old white guy who says "go play hard son & beat Michigan!"  what are they going to say besides "yes sir".

They call 'em "Jock Sniffers".

Columbus Dispatch has an article today outing Bobby Digironimo, local Cleveland businessman, principal of Independence Excavating, as booster who paid Terrell Pryor & other players.

The article also quoted Mr. Digironimo, 64, as saying the $200 cash payments to the three players and Pryor was intended as reimbursement for travel expenses for attending a Feb. 19 Cornerstone of Hope charity fundraiser.  Cornerstone of Hope is a charity that assists families grieving deaths - a charity started by Mr. Digironimo after the death of his grandson at the age of 3. 

 

Terrelle Pryor is no longer on the OSU team and the other three players were suspended for the first two games of this season.  The Dispatch also reported that the three players have had their suspensions lifted by the NCAA and can play Saturday against Miami.

The Buckeyes took their talents to South Beach.  Unfortunately, they left their offense in Columbus.  Miami wins 24-6.

Decent 37-17 rebound win against Colorado.  Braxton Miller made his first start of the year and played the entire game.  The Buckeyes offense looked solid on the ground / shaky but adequate through the air.  Colorado's poor special teams play helped out the Bucks.

 

The Big Ten schedule starts Saturday.  The Buckeyes season will rise or fall on their first four Big Ten games.  It's a tough set of games.  Michigan State (#25 in USA Today poll) next Saturday in the Horseshoe.  At Nebraska (#8 AP/USA) the next week.  At Illinois (#22 USA/#24 AP) the next week.  Then a bye week.  Then OSU hosts #7 Wisconsin the week after.

I would hesitate to call the Buckeye's air attack "adequate".... shaky, yes, but not adequate for B10 play.  Miller's spiral (or lack thereof) concerns me.  Hopefully it was just the jitters and he proves that he throws a tighter ball in future games.  We won't be able to run with such success during B10 play if we can't get teams on their heels with the pass.

 

One thing that is really sticking out to me is the lack of depth at DE.  With Williams out, we are basically playing 4 tackles on at least 50% of the snaps.  We have seen Simon, Hankins, Bellamy, Bennett and Hale all line up at DE.  Hale is somewhat of a tweener, but I would consider the rest all pure DTs that shouldn't be on the outside.  There is a kid down in Cincy named Adolphus Washington (plays for Taft I believe) who appears to be a must get this recruiting class.  Why Steve Miller has not seen the field more is cause for concern in terms of his readiness to step in.  Getting Solomon Thomas back from suspension the week after next should help somewhat.

 

I really like what I am seeing out of the young recievers, particularly Smith and Spencer.  I am really not liking what I am seeing out of the sophomores and redshirts at that position.  Play the true freshman, I say.

 

Speaking of true freshmen, I also think it is time to get Ryan Shazier on the field more.  Playmaker and head-knocker even if undersized for a LB.  He is playing too much on kick coverages to get a redshirt and I'd hate to waste a year of his talent just on special teams.  One of the LBs not named Sweat needs to get squezed out.  This kid gives me the same chills that TJ Ward did for the Browns because when you hear a big hit on the field, you really don't have to wait to see who it was because chances are #10 will be getting up from on top of the poor sap he just laid out.

I guess I wasn't meaning "adequate" to come off as a compliment.  But I could see how "adequate" vs. Colorado might be "less than adequate" vs. the best of the Big Ten.  In any event, I don't fault Coach Fickell for going with Braxton Miller.  Miller isn't a better passer than Bauserman right now.  But Miller adds an extra dimension when he has the ball that helps the offense.

O.M.G.

This is pathetic the whole game. O just flat out stinks we're in for a long season you got Joe who's not athletic at all can't throw for anything you've got braxton hell idk what to say about him and not to mention this play calling and overal coaching staff is sad.

Defense has played well taking the fact cb T.Howard has been terrorized today.