Crapped Out

Another summer, another college football scandal, and I couldn't be happier. I was looking for something to take my mind off of eating crow for the Chicago Bulls not even making it to the NBA Finals, let alone winning the NBA Championship. Jim Tressel's resignation yesterday, and the wonderful job Sports Illustrated did with their own Special Investigation of the Ohio State Football Program, provided the very solution I was looking for.

In many ways, this represents a degree of closure for me, and others like me that never liked/trusted Ohio State. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that Ohio State is guilty of egregious criminal acts, or is comporting themselves as immoral charlatans who are poisoning the landscape for the rest of college football. Far from it actually.

The acts themselves (free cars, tattoos, money, weed, and the coach/university doing nothing to stop it), are not even close to the worst things I've heard of going on within a major college football program. This is hardly similar to the rapes and domestic abuse that went on during the 90's Nebraska Cornhuskers back to back championship runs, for example. This has much more to do with Tressel finally being exposed for the creep that he is and always has been.

If you've read my blog before, you know I've pointed out that Tressel is as dirty a head coach as you will find in college athletics. I've always known he's been dirty since his days at Youngstown State. Now thanks to Sports Illustrated, we now know he's been dirty going all the way back to his days as an assistant with the Buckeyes in the mid-80's, where he was known to commit NCAA Violations at Football Camps. He's had various forms of trouble snowball for him during his 10 year run in Columbus, often manifesting itself in the form of Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith, and Terelle Pryor among others. Yet despite all the turmoil, he's always been held in high esteem by the Buckeye Faithful.

Why has he always maintained this level of idolatry among Buckeye Nation? The simplest answer would be because he beats Michigan every year, annually has his team in the National Championship hunt, and has won a Championship under his watch, but I don't believe it's that simple. I think there is something deeper and uglier that would be the main reason why. That reason is his self-cloaking of divinity.

Jim Tressel has literally flaunted his supposed Christianity on his sweater-vest the entire time he's been in Columbus. He's written two books during this time:

1. The Winners Manual: For The Game Of Life
2. Life Promises For Success: Promises from God on Achieving Your Best

I can't make that up! I can't claim I've read either book, but I would bet there's not a chapter either one that covers lying at every possible chance to get out of trouble?

Lying, after all, was Tressel's undoing. He lied at every possible chance there was to lie about this. First he lied to the NCAA by saying he didn't know about the tats-for-gear scandal until November. Then he lied to the Ohio State Athletic Director and The Ohio State University President by not immediately reporting these potential violations to his superiors when notified - (he's required to report them as per NCAA rules). He also lied when he said he didn't know who to report this to, because he notified Terelle Pryor's "mentor" (read agent) as soon as Pryor's name was mentioned to Tressel. For a man who literally preaches honesty and integrity, these are hardly actions that could be considered "Christian".

The question on most people's minds now is whether or not this was a Tressel Problem, or an Ohio State Lack Of Institutional Control problem? The fact that Ohio State allowed Tressel to resign, rather than outright fire him, is smoking-gun proof that this is an Ohio State Problem. The Car Dealership's "friendly" relationship with the Ohio State football program goes all the way back to Woody Hayes. Ohio State also has the biggest Athletic Department Budget of any school in the country with numbers approaching $60 million annually. Considering those facts, it's a pretty safe bet that whomever Ohio State ends up hiring to be Tressel's full time replacement, will not be a man hired to clean up the program.

None of that matters though, as the chickens have finally come home to roost for Tressel. Ole Jim is yet another example of it being pretty easy to be a Jesus-Freak when you're winning, but it's a bit harder to turn the other cheek when you get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. Personally, I take a lot of pride in watching Tressel burn, simply because he's another one of these reprehensible assholes that exploits peoples religious beliefs for his own personal and financial gain.

Somehow I don't think his book covers that life lesson however...

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!