Yet Another Snake Gets His Number Called!

I must have had some foresight into the week ahead last Sunday. No sooner had I completed my roasting of Bruce Pearl to start the week, when suddenly news came out that Ohio State Buckeye Football Coach/Evangelist Jim Tressel was also guilty of lying about something he shouldn't have lied about.

In case you hadn't followed, Ohio State Football Players Terelle Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Solomon Thomas and Mike Adams were caught selling Ohio State memorabilia to Edward Rife the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos, for cash and discounted tattoos last season.

Whether or not those players should be allowed to sell their property is another debate for another day. For now I'll just stick to the most significant part of this story which is that Ohio State claimed they first became aware of these possible infractions on December 7, 2010. Afterwards, all five players were suspended for 5 games beginning in 2011, yet (very controversially) were still allowed to play in the 2011 Sugar Bowl against Arkansas.

If the story were to end there, that would be more than enough to be considered shady. Lucky for us however, it doesn't end there because it turns out that Ohio State - specifically Jim Tressel - knew about the infractions WAY before December 7!

Thanks to Yahoo Sports, it was discovered that Jim Tressel wasn't telling the truth when he said he first learned of it on December 7. According to a copy of an email he received, Tressel knew about these acts as of April 2010. Not only did Tressel know these possible infractions took place, he did absolutely nothing about it because he was "scared" for his players. Tressel didn't report any of this information to his superiors which is in violation of not only NCAA Rules, but also HIS OWN CONTRACT.

Ohio State is trying to call off the NCAA by giving Tressel a two game suspension, even though he could/should be fired with cause. It won't work though. The NCAA Infractions Committee will have to come down much harder on Ohio State and Tressel simply because it's one thing to be caught doing something you shouldn't be doing, but it's something else entirely when you LIE to the NCAA about it. The NCAA tends to take exception to that sort of behavior, and likes to make examples of programs that do such things.

As for my take, this has been long overdue despite it's absence of surprise on my part. Tressel is one of the worst types of snake-oil salesman that exists in college sports, because not only does he blatantly break rules to win football games but manages to do so by exploiting peoples' religious beliefs for his own benefit. The picture above is his new book that came out as of last month. It's title:

"Life Promises for Success: Promises from God on Achieving Your Best"

If that book's existence alone wasn't enough to get your blood boiling, I'd ask you to also consider that Tressel has always been dirty going all the way back to his days coaching at Youngstown State. He was caught paying quarterback Ray Issac $10,000 when Tressel was both head coach and Athletic Director at YSU. Not to mention the three highest profile recruits he's had at Ohio State (Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith, and now Terrelle Pryor) have all gotten into trouble in one way or another.

So for Tressel to not only cloak himself in his supposed Christianity, but to also act like this is the first time anything like this has happened to him is extremely insulting. How insulting is it? Let me put it this way: Even the most strident Ohio State fans, alums, and overall Scarlett & Gray Kool-Aid drinkers that I've spoken with won't even deny that Tressel is nothing but a complete turd anymore with this documented fact that he's a liar....and that's from a school that still worships Woody Hayes!