Ok I will admit this right off the rip, I am an OSU homer. I graduated from OSU in 2007 and I also work at the OSU Medical Center. I love my school. One of the perks (aside from having the best damn band in the land) is having one of the most successful football programs ever. Nothing beats a game at the 'Shoe with 105,000 of the best fans in the college football universe. And yes, death to the team up north! But recently we've had cause to see the best sports program at our school take a huge hit. Our fearless and untouchable Coach Jim Tressel and a few of the football players have managed to damage the program for years to come. For what you might ask? Well by this time everybody knows what went down. Some players (whom I will not name to avoid a HUGE rant) decided they where above the rules and sold their prized awards (ie gold pants, conference championship rings, ect..) for tattoos and cash. Also as we find out, there may have been some very shady deals involving cars sold for way less than their worth or simply given away.
Now I understand it was their stuff. I get that. However there is this little thing called the NCAA, and they have some rules that say "Thou shalt not sell your stuff while you are a player for a university goverened by the NCAA". So the "it's their stuff" arguement is moot, and the changing of the rule is a whole different conversation. If you are a college player you agree the the rules and their enforcement, its just that simple. You violate these rules then they pull out the paddle and give you some lumps. Now the players in question have the talent and skill to go to the NFL. Awaiting them are large contracts, and if they are any good at all maybe some stardom. Why on Earth would you jeopardize draft position and potentially more money by breaking the rules? I doubt aside from stupidity there will ever be an acceptable answer to that question. I think a whole lot of not caring was involved there.
But really it comes down to one man that should have brought the hammer down and just sucked it up while his star players where acting like children. Jim Tressel should have been all over that like glaze on a donut. This would have been the perfect example of one of his big "teaching moments". Show the other players that yes even the mighty Terrell Pryor can be paddled just like any other petulant rule breaking child. I think the message there would have served Jim for many long years to come, hey you mess around I'm going to nail your ass to the wall and leave it there for everybody to see. In doing this Tress could have saved the entire program from the coming storm that will be the NCAA's ruling. Instead, he perpetrated a massive cover-up that is still being peeled back layer by layer. Now I certainly understand the man is paid to win football games. He went 106-22 in ten seasons...that is a bloody stellar record. That's about an 80% win percentage. But he is also paid to make the right decision (which I'm not totally convinced the AD has assisted with), in this case he did not.
Instead, Tress lied not once, but twice to the NCAA about the infractions by his players, knowingly kept ineligible players on the field, and then tried to bury it so it wouldn't be found. I understand the man has a job to do, but that's not his only job, plus its Jim Tressel, the paragon of virtue and integrity. He knows better than to touch this situation with a 10 foot pole, but to instead route it the proper authorities, sit the players involved, and come up with some brilliant scheme to keep the season alive. But the reality is we can never know what it is like unless we are in his position. I am not excusing Jim for is idiotic oversight, but I am saying I can understand why. The way it was handled though...yeah that was a bit crap.
That's about all the time I have for now, please feel free to leave your thoughts..or not whatever you want to do.
Corey
