Last night might not be remembered as the night that altered the balance of power in the Large Ten for the next decade.
But it will certainly alter the “branding” and “image” of what was previously seen as 1 of the cleanest football programs in the country.
In this day and age in the sports world, ought to we beВ that surprised?
Although alter won’t take place overnight and most surely rests on the severity of any forthcoming sanctions imposed by the NCAA, the “informational improprieties” at Ohio State which have been revealed in the last 48 hours will weaken the integrity and credibility of the Buckeye program.
This incident will leave a “black-eye” on the program, lessening the ”Ohio State brand” and possibly more importantly leaving a sour taste in the mouth’s of parents whose kids are being recruited by Coach Tressel’s staff in subsequent years.
TUESDAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE – HERO OR HYPOCRITE?
Very first, please read the Yahoo Sports investigative piece that developed the impetus for the timing of the afore-mentioned press conference.
On Tuesday evening, Ohio State Athletics Director Gene Smith announced that the Buckeye athletics program have imposed self-sanctions on their football program following it was discovered that Coach Jim Tressel had withheld information received in April 2010.
The self-sanctions consist of (a)В a public reprimand of Coach Tressel, followed by a public apology from Coach Tressel, (b)В a 2-game suspension for Coach TresselВ during the 2011 season, (c)В a $ 250,000 fine for Coach Tressel,В and (d) Coach Tressel must attend a compliance seminar.
In the course of the press conference, the impression I received from the joint comments of both AD Smith and Coach Tressel was that Coach Tressel chose not to share data received in April 2010 since he was protecting his players. He mentioned that he was “scared”, and in light of earlier references in the press conference to past players that had been killed or involved with malfeasance, the implication was that somehow Tressel’s silence was motivated by his intention of protecting the safety of his student-athletes.
Although this interpretation would paint Tressel a “hero” if accurate, there is considerable hypocrisy here. And unless a lot more evidence comes forth that somehow suggests that Coach Tressel was saving these players’ lives by picking silence over substance, then hypocrisy is the overriding sentiment to explain his silence.
1st, that Coach Tressel very publicly asked his players to make a pledge to return for their senior season so as to not side-step NCAA sanctions appears quite hypocritical and comical with the evidence prior to us now. That “pledge” was tantamount to asking his student-athletes to “man up” and accept responsibility for their actions.
Well, coach, admitting wrong-doing now isn’t the identical as bringing these issues to light when they 1st came to your attention in April.
You needed to “man up” then, sir.
Second, that Ohio State would only propose a 2-game suspension of Coach Tressel for the 2011 season when the offending players will miss five games is “new math” to me. I don’t see the equity in that logic whatsoever. And considering that Ohio State’s very first 2 games are against the likes of Akron and Toledo, his absence won’t likely be missed against those college football behemoths.
Third, that he would be fined $ 250,000 appears like proverbial “chump change” when you take into account that his latest reported annual compensation approached $ three.9 M.
NCAA PENALITIES Ought to SEND A MESSAGE
We won’t know the severity of the NCAA’s sanctions for weeks. But we do know that they know that their ruling on this matter will be highly anticipated and scrutinized no matter the outcome.
On the one hand, the NCAA might only add minor extra sanctions to Ohio State’s self-sanctions due to the fact:
(a) It is perceived that AD Gene Smith is taking swift and (in his mind) substantial action against Coach Tressel on the school’s own accord
(b) Coach Tressel seemingly has been a ”clean coach” prior to these incidents and a “good citizen” among the college coaching community
(c) Ohio State’s football program in general has a fairly clean history, whereas one could argue that component of the severity of the sanctions levied against USC could be attributed to what was perceived as a persistent culture of non-compliance with a touch of ”catch me if you can” arrogance mixed in for good measure.
On the other hand, one could euphemistically say that Coach Tressel strategically misrepresented and under-reported the facts as he knew them.
Cynically, you could say he lied.
And strategically from the NCAA’s standpoint, what type of fear could the NCAA strike in the hearts of coaching staffs all across America if they came down harshly and definitively on a coach that had previously been portrayed as a studious professor of pigskin who stood for virtue, character, and integrity.
THE EVENTUAL IMPACT UPON BUCKEYE FOOTBALL
Ultimately, the eventual impact that this matter will have upon the Buckeyes as the dominant football program within the Big Ten Conference depends upon whether the NCAA imposes sanctions that consist of scholarship reductions, bowl sanctions, and the like. The stiffer the penalties, the a lot more immediate any negative impacts upon the Buckeye’s stronghold of the Big Ten conference.
For the record, I do foresee the NCAA adding to the self-imposed sanctions by (a) increasing the length of Coach Tressel’s suspension to at least five games and (b) banning the Buckeyes from the 2011 Bowl Season. If this is the extent of the added sanctions, Ohio State should contemplate themselves lucky.
For the real problem here isn’t so significantly the infractions committed by the student-athletes as significantly as it is the perceived cover-up orchestrated by Coach Tressel.
Regardless of how the NCAA rules, the “Ohio State brand” takes a significant body blow here. And you much better think that rival coaching staffs at Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Michigan St, and Penn St will play this up when pitching the virtues of their programs to prospective players and their families, coaches, and inner circles.
Ultimately, cash is the ultimate elixir.В Ohio State is 1 of the wealthiest college athletics programs in the country.В They will no matter whether this storm partly due to the fact they have the financial wherewithal to do so.В Their fans will still show, their alum will still provide monetary support, and the beat will go on.
But Coach Tressel won’t have that very same scholarly, “Pleasantville” air about him anymore.
As the face and figurehead of the Massive Ten’s top football program, isn’t that worth some thing?
Below are aВ few crucial passages from the afore-mentioned Yahoo SportsВ piece co-written by Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports.В The post begins:
Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was informed that numerous Buckeyes players were selling memorabilia much more than eight months just before the school claims it was created aware of the scheme…
They continue:
Tressel received info that players were selling items to Edward Rife – the owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos in Columbus – as early as April 2010, according to a source. Even so, neither Ohio State nor the NCAA investigated the transactions or the players’ relationship with Rife until December 2010, when the school claims it was informed of the situation by the local United States Attorney’s office.
Citing the crucial misstep by Tressel:
According to a source, a concerned party reached out to Tressel last April, alerting the coach that memorabilia transactions had taken location between Rife and a handful of Buckeyes players, including Pryor. The selling of items violates NCAA eligibility rules. The source said Tressel was troubled by the info, and the coach indicated that he would investigate the matter and take proper action.
At a Dec. 23 press conference, Smith claimed the school very first became conscious of the memorabilia sales on Dec. 7. Smith said the athletic department was told the following day and instantly launched an investigation.
And the NCAA violations associated with Tressel’s transgression:
If Tressel failed to inform Smith or the Ohio State compliance department about the players’ dealings with Rife, he could be charged with numerous NCAA violations which includes unethical conduct, failure to monitor and a failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance. In general, a coach is needed to act on, or pass along reasonable details about feasible rule violations for further investigation.
![](http://www.lat34.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/JJ2.jpg ""JJ(2)")
