Ding, Dong

Blogosphere 1, osu 0

Like a sneeze, only better.

...I could have been a fly on the wall when the galley copy of the Sports Illustrated landed in the ol' inbox at TSIO, with the lawyers on the conference call with the editor and writer at the magazine, who explained beat by beat what they found, what they will be reporting. The crestfallen looks around the conference table, the pale stares, wagons circled, threats of legal action, and a realization that there was no way out this time. 

I have no doubts that, for the past 7 years or so, giving a year here or there when things were on a razor's edge, TSIO has put a better football team on the field than we have. Between the numbers, when it is time to hit and make plays, they have been better than my team, much to my personal frustration and, frankly, anger. But how those players got there has finally been shown to be part of a fraudulent program. Which is, frankly, disappointing to me. I wanted Michigan to step up and beat TSIO on equal terms, to have a Hollywood ending to my pain, to triumph over adversity, where I could smile in the face of my adversaries and say, finally, our program is back on its feet, is on the road to glory again. That has been taken away from me now.

What makes me most upset about this is that the euphoria of finally beating that team will now be tempered by controversy forever, past losses probably abandoned, the greatest rivalry in all of sports now tarnished with unknowns. That is what sucks the most for me here. I am glad TSIO will finally get what they deserve, I hope their fanbase eats a load of shit for a long time from everyone they play; you can point to the scoreboard all day, but you can't erase the stain of being a cheater. But in the end, this is good for no one; cheating destroys the inherent value of competing at all, and without competition, there is no fun here. Just money and cars and winning without any purpose. That sucks for Michigan. We deserve better from our rivals. 

Interesting how JT chose today to come clean.

In recent years he's made it a point to honor our men and women in uniform as part of his program.  He's talked about their character, their sacrifice, their courage, their integrity, their commitment to duty...

I wonder if he couldn't bear the thought of putting on that face to celebrate another Memorial Day knowing that he's in the process of being outed as a liar and a cheat.

You know, I'm sure he meant well.  He probably thought he was just covering up a few minor transgressions for his players.

I'm obviously ecstatic that we'll get to play "The Game" on a level playing field again (or slanted in our favor as punishment for prior transgressions).

It's some consolation that our players in recent years that weren't successful beating Ohio now have an asterisk by their record v. tsio, (*The Cheating Years).

But I'm really disappointed that this guy took what many to believe the greatest rivalry in all of sports and defiled it.

It's a great day because justice is served.

It's a sad day because of the damage that was done.

That's life.  The Game will be restored.  That's what's cool about it...it's bigger than liars and cheats.

this opens the door to Ohio State getting away with all this crap to a certain degree.

Tressel should have been FIRED,not allowed to resign, end of story. 

Cheaters Never prosper..Oh Sure theyll have their moments in the sun BUT in the end it will come crashing down and they will be exiled in shame and scorn....the Tressel years will ALWAYS be referred to as "THE CHEATING YEARS...farewell Jim Tre$$el  Vest in peace...

So who else wants to bet Rich Rodriguez is not hired by Ohio State?

From 11 Warriors:

"Ohio State hasn't had a football coach leave on his own terms since the mid-40's."

So what page is resigning under fire on?

The levels of apologism and rationalization circulating the OSU blogosphere are nothing short of spectacular.....If these yocals put as much time and creativity into writing a book as they are in creating a positive narrative about thier fallen angel, they could win a pulitzer.  

citing a "lack of family values" at Michigan.  I now wonder what sort of values he associates with family. 

Sporting News is now agitating for the dismissal of Gene Smith and Gordon Gee due to their alleged roles in fostering of a culture of corruption. The SI investigation results have leaked apparently and the situation is snowballing. Look for the NCAA to drop the big hammer.

Who else is refreshing SI.com every five minutes?

Its all herbstreit/speilman/clubtrillion's fault.

disappointed.  I want to see the vest sitting at another nondescript table with a microphone try to explain his behavior.  Now I do not see him doing that.  Wanted to see him explain the hypocrisy of his book compared to his actions.  Explain how he is holding his players to remaining at OSU to make amends for their mistakes while he himself slinks out of town.  bottom line is HE SUCKS!

Folks, be sure to go online and order your own "In Tressel We Trust" tee shirts while supplies last. They are sure to be collector's items and will make for great stocking stuffers for your Ohio State friends and loved ones. Myself, I'm going to buy an asterisk to put on every one of Ohio State's nine tainted wins over Michigan during the Tressel era. As I've said all along, this is a program permeated by cheating. Tressel's legacy will forever be tainted -- and so will all his ill-gotten wins over the Michigan Wolveries.

And for the record, it has been more than 4,500 days since Ohio State beat Michigan with a coach who wasn't tainted by blatant NCAA rules violations.

"Though Jim Tressel resigned, Ohio State says it will still honor all booster payments & free tattoo deals thru 2013"

you can expect to see alot of the same things that happened at u$c. The SI article points to a systemic lack of control and the NCAA might even push its August date back to add more charges on at this point. Once the sanctions are handed down you might see a few senior transfers, but more likely you'll see a ton of juniors go eligible for the draft early and leave them with a thin senior class. With 2 coaching changes looming and both Tressels likely to be gone (and maybe losses of scholarships) the recruiting ability will seriously drop off. If tUOS appeals and drags it out for 2 years maybe they can mitigate that some but these few minor things add up do major damage. It isn't the death penalty, but it could do the same type of damage that was done at SMU. tUOS will recover faster , but maybe at the expense of the other 2 bobbleheads at the top. When the buckeyes start reeling I imagine that Wisco, PSU and Illinois will do their best to keep them down to improve their annual chances at the B1G Championship Game.

will be colder and taste better.

Where has Herbstreit been today?  I haven't heard anything from his mouth about the Vest resigning yet.  His words will probably drive all the Bucknuts to tear the whole city of Columbus down!

I haven't looked forward to a SI article this much since ever.

Vest in peace.

Hasta la vesta, baby!

Thanks, Twitter. 

In celebration, I'm going to go tan on Elbel field, while staring at the Big House and thinking, "soon". Federal holidays, yeah!

About f'in time.  It sure would have been nice to beat him, but since we couldn't, I'll take getting him out any way I can.  So long to the worst decade of being a UM fan I've seen in my lifetime.

Has not been so enjoyable to watch since January 2, 1998.

Was having lunch with friends in a deserted Ann Arbor restaurant yesterday and said of the OSU situation, "The fish are beginning to rot." But I didn't know it would happen this fast.

I would rather not gloat over the demise of an enemy. I'd rather reflect on what happens to a program, a university, a fan base that loses its balance and resorts to winning at all costs - and that equates college football with life itself. There is a direct link between photos of a Bucknuts fan father-and-son, both in buckeye nut necklaces, weeping piteously after an upset loss, to the kind of revelations that are only beginning to come out. 

Be satisfied that justice is apparently being done. But be vigilant not to lose our balance so that we don't fall as well.