The Tressel Situation

It's a hard pill to swallow if you're an avid sports fan in general. And when it especially hits a powerhouse program like OSU it hurts many other D1 teams it competes against. It hurts recruiting, Alumni, gates, etc. I do think however that he did the honorable thing by resigning to help the University mover forward from here. Heck, who knows. More may have been coming out soon and he may be dodging a bullet. We've all seen it before.

I do hate it. But I can't help but wait until tomorrow when I see the lone OSU fan in our office.

The only time it hurts is when the school is penalized. If OSU loses half its football scholarships and are prohibited from playing in bowl games, yeah, it's a big deal. If nothing happens, the Horseshoe will be full, they'll be on tv every Saturday, kids will want to go there, alumni will pony up... Nothing will change.

Me? I don't care if a kid gets some extra money, a free car, apartment, sells his jersey. I think they should worry more about teams that are all juiced. Open your eyes, NCAA.

Well I think Tressel is done coaching for a long time at the college ranks. He may be able to catch on at the pro level as a position coach but what school in their right mind would touch him now?

The problem with college sports starts at the NCAA. They have way too many rules and enforce rules too arbitrarily in terms of how prestigious schools are. Every once in a while a school comes along that just blows the rules out of the water and they have to drop a hammer on them. Lately we've seen this happen to USC and now OSU today. They are not going to hurt the schools that help them make money so you can't really enforce the rules that matter. But they go after the minor rules that probably shouldn't be rules to make themselves look good. How long until Auburn has to vacate the national championship from this past season? Only naieve people will think that whole situation is on the up and up.

If anyone thinks for one minute that this guy is alone in these deeds you got your head in the sand. Tressel sold out. And to think that this stuff is not going on at several other programs is ridiculous imo. The NCAA allowed those players to play in the BCS game last year because of the all mighty dollar. They allowed the players to be suspended for the first 6 games of the next season and play in the BCS bowl game. Why? They wanted Pryor in that BCS game. They needed him in that game. So on one hand the NCAA says play fair and on the other hand they say make us some dollars. The pressure on these college coaches to produce and produce big is huge. And sometimes people fold. They sell out.

I think Tressel is a good man who went bad. Like many more before him and many more doing the same things right now. You have these kids who are only in college because they are preparing themselves for the NFL. Many would never get into the college if it were not for relaxed admissions so they can come make the school some money. Then they act shocked when these kids make the decisions they make once they are in school. And when you see bright young people who are outstanding students struggle to get through the academics at some of these schools and see some of these guys graduate on time with the demands of college football do you think something might be a little fishy there?

What we have in college football "Big Time" college football is the Minor Leagues of the NFL. And its rotten to the core imo. These are not student athletes in many cases. These are hired guns to make money. And the ones that dont make it to the NFL are left with a degree that is not worth the paper its written on. And the ones that do make a roster who are released without hitting it big are right there with those other guys 1 or 2 years down the road. The players get used in many cases. The coaches sell out. And then the administration acts shocked. And the NCAA comes and saves the day. Its a sham. But it sure is entertaining to watch them play.

Good comments by everyone and totally agree with Coach May.

My heart breaks because I think one of the finest human beings anywhere proved exactly what he is - human. I loved Coach Tressel as he seemed to win the "right" way. Moreover, he seemed to stand for something.

Coach May is right. What he ultimately stood for was money, power, prestige, hypocracy, and yes, unfortunately - arrogance - the same things the NCAA so duplicitly stands for. Lets be clear, Coach Tressel only has himself to blame but he is not alone imho.

Terrel Pryor is part of the problem here. Think Reggie Bush 3 times over. I don't like Pryor and I don't like the way he was recrcruited. I think the Coach really had to sell-out to get Pryor and to keep the prima-donna eligible. Look the other way.

To the media who are so high and mighty and holier-than-though - you are to blame as well. Stop deifying and fawning over the black athlete like Pryor and Lebron James and Reggie Bush. They've proven they're not worthy of the attention. They've earned nothing imho.

Shocked! I'm absolutely shocked to find out there was illegal payment transfers at a major BCS football team....just shocked! As time goes by (sticking with the Casablanca theme), we'll find out if there were other violations or infractions.

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"They've earned nothing imho.'

Absolutely, without question, undeniably the truth CD!

If a person has truly earned respect imagine how cherished that respect is as compared to someone who, for whatever reason, has had respect heaped on them undeservedly.

It seems to never end well for those who did not earn the respect. Is this end the adoring media's aim? To damage the coddled athlete?



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I still can't wrap my mind around the idea that trading something you own/earned for a tattoo/cash is a crime in the mind of the NCAA. I don't get it.

Error of omission I get. The "crime" I do not.

I have always liked Tressel and sad to see him have to resign.

I always wondered how these "student athletes" in powerhouse D1 football and basketball programs afforded all those tattoos. Now I know.

It's not just Ohio State.

this chaps my ....

The latter interpretation is suggested by a story that has long circulated among college coaches and was confirmed to SI by a former colleague of Tressel's from Earle Bruce's staff at Ohio State in the mid-1980s.

One of Tressel's duties then was to organize and run the Buckeyes' summer camp. Most of the young players who attended it would never play college football, but a few were top prospects whom Ohio State was recruiting. At the end of camp, attendees bought tickets to a raffle with prizes such as cleats and a jersey.

According to his fellow assistant, Tressel rigged the raffle so that the elite prospects won -- a potential violation of NCAA rules. Says the former colleague, who asked not to be identified because he still has ties to the Ohio State community, "In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That's Jim Tressel."

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c...x.html#ixzz1NvzZDnmw

This whole situation is sad. I tend to be optimistic and look at people as trying to do the right things for the right reasons, but I have a hard time believing this of any DI sport any more.

I truly believe that sports have a place as part of an educational mission, the same as music, art, drama, and all the other programs not part of the basic 3Rs. However, I don't see this as part of the process in DI programs, especially revenue sports, and to a lesser degree in other divisions, as they are just that, a revenue generator. It is well and good to think, as Bear Bryant used to say, his football team helped build the science building, the art building etc. at Alabama (paraphrase, not a quote). One could make a case that was true in a simpler time. I do not believe that has been the case for a long time. It is strictly a business venture, disguised with noble aspirations. The NFL, NBA, bat companies, and assorted other "professional" and business ventures have vested interests in continuing as is. The NCAA is a good thing for its members, financially. They want to keep it going as well. Follow the money.

I tend to oversimplify things. The tendency is to make things too complicated by making rules to cover all the situations that come up that are just different enough a new rule is needed.

Any four year college or university offering financial aid to student-athletes must graduate 95% of them within 5 years. No student-athlete accepting financial aid may sign a professional contract before completing degree requirements.

Athletes not wishing to commit to the student part of this process are free to pursue professional opportunities right out of high school. It is up to the professional sports leagues to provide those opportunities. Institutions not willng to commit to educating their athletes are barred from any TV or post season money.

Overly simple, but put first things first.

I have always thought Tressel was a little shady. Don't know why but I just did.

Kind of like the parent who has to tell everyone how great their kid is and then gets exposed.

The cynic in me always thought that he tried too hard to convince folks about how moral and great a guy he was. Turns out he did have something to hide.

With that said I was a classmate of one of Tom Osborne's daughters. I was also very confused about his handling of the whole Lawrence Phillips situation for those of you who remember that. Hey but we smoked Florida in the National Championship game so it was all worth it right. Maybe Lawrence isn't in the CA State Pen right now if handled differently. Who knows.

Guess it shows that once you get to these levels the pressure of winning takes precedence over all for most of these coaches.

quote:

Originally posted by baseball_fever:
I still can't wrap my mind around the idea that trading something you own/earned for a tattoo/cash is a crime in the mind of the NCAA. I don't get it.

Error of omission I get. The "crime" I do not.

It's simple. Without this in place, players that play for teams that make bowls are de facto receiving payment in convertible goods.

quote:

With that said I was a classmate of one of Tom Osborne's daughters. I was also very confused about his handling of the whole Lawrence Phillips situation for those of you who remember that. Hey but we smoked Florida in the National Championship game so it was all worth it right. Maybe Lawrence isn't in the CA State Pen right now if handled differently. Who knows.

What an absolutely stupid and totally unrelated comment. The Phillips kid had no parents, no family to speak of at all. Osborne's position was taking away the only "family stucture" the kid knew would destroy him. Who knows. Time has shown the Phillips kid wasn't salvageable, but you didn't know that at the time. Hindsight is always 2020. But that's nothing like to either ignoring or facilitating the breakage of economic NCAA rules. And, you're talking about widespread rule violations across what sounds like a good part of the roster compared to a case that involved a legal problem with just one kid.

Sorry I don't see it as unrelated. My point was (and maybe I didn't make it or your rose colored glasses missed it) is that even some of the most well respected coaches at these levels will do most anything to win. Because that is the pressure they are under.

I don't think you can argue that the LP situation had nothing to do with winning and only had to do with worrying about a kid with "no family". If that was the case continue to suspend him or suit him up but don't play him. Either way he gets to stay around the football team.

GBR

quote:

Originally posted by BackstopDad32:
The cynic in me always thought that he tried too hard to convince folks about how moral and great a guy he was.

He had me convinced. I never thought of Jim Tressel, the person, as 'questionable', even when these stories first came out. However, I always wondered about some of his game plans.

The Phillips kid was suspended for most of the season. Did the timing of coming off suspension have something to do with a game...likely so. But please, systematic cheating across multiple years and a large part of the roster is what Tressel's done. Call Osborne's parental view of the 1 player situation what you want, he was not a systematic cheater that looked the other way like Tressel.

quote:

Originally posted by Tx-Husker:
But please, systematic cheating across multiple years and a large part of the roster is what Tressel's done. Call Osborne's parental view of the 1 player situation what you want, he was not a systematic cheater that looked the other way like Tressel.

I agree completely, but I don't think I ever said that Osborne was in any way what you describe. I was making an analogy that clearly struck a nerve wtih a fellow Husker fan.

quote:

I agree completely, but I don't think I ever said that Osborne was in any way what you describe. I was making an analogy that clearly struck a nerve wtih a fellow Husker fan.

Dadgummit...almost made it through May without being wrong. My bad.

The NCAA could make its rule book a lot thinner by just admitting that playing a sport is an on-campus job and letting the schools pay the players for the time they spend generating revenue for their institutions.

OK, but how's that gonna work? Is the QB at Notre Dame going to get paid the same as the P for Lafayette, or do players get a percentage of their school's total football revenue...? It's a can of worms, but I don't mind if they open it.

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:
The NCAA could make its rule book a lot thinner by just admitting that playing a sport is an on-campus job and letting the schools pay the players for the time they spend generating revenue for their institutions.

My comments are for NCAA football only....(what? something like 90 full scholarships?)...to us baseball people that boggles the mind...

Isnt a full scholarship payment enough?....isnt a degree from a school payment enough?....how many of our boys will go to college (even with baseball scholarships) will come out of school owing nothing?

what does 4 years at Notre Dame or Ohio State cost a non athlete?......

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:
The NCAA could make its rule book a lot thinner by just admitting that playing a sport is an on-campus job and letting the schools pay the players for the time they spend generating revenue for their institutions.

Players already get paid with a free education. At $30K-50K a year, it's a pretty good salary considering they come out with a degree at the end.

quote:

Originally posted by zombywoof:

quote:

Originally posted by Swampboy:
The NCAA could make its rule book a lot thinner by just admitting that playing a sport is an on-campus job and letting the schools pay the players for the time they spend generating revenue for their institutions.

Players already get paid with a free education. At $30K-50K a year, it's a pretty good salary considering they come out with a degree at the end.

Let's not forget the free health care and the best tutors in the school if they need it. Look at the facilities in terms of locker rooms, weight rooms, meal rooms and all that stuff - free clothing. If you start paying players then all that stuff dries up.

quote:

The NCAA could make its rule book a lot thinner by just admitting that playing a sport is an on-campus job and letting the schools pay the players for the time they spend generating revenue for their institutions.

I agree with others-- they're already receiving payment.

Besides, you start to institute that (which the Big 10+) is now discussing and then it becomes an even bigger gap in Division One athletics. Right now, you already have the FCS and FBS divisions for football. With the FBS being divided between BCS and non-BCS schools. You start paying these players and those BCS schools will move so much more further in front of the non-BCS schools.

I saw a full-time job opening posted for a Sun Belt Conference school the other day.. they wanted the applicants to have a Masters Degree-- offering $25,000 a year.

After reading the SI article about Tressel and the OSU situation it seems to me that the best word to describe Tressel would be Fraud.

He has been looking the other way since his days at Youngstown State. Referring players to boosters for "jobs" then claiming he knew nothing of it when questioned. Same thing he did with this OSU situation until it became too obvious he knew what was going on.

There were other things mentioned in the article that makes him look like bad also. Like rigging a raffle at a football camp so the players he was recruiting would win the raffle. Nice honest guy!