Tatgate: Outrage And Other Things, But Mostly Outrage
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apropos image via MNB Nation
The media explosion in the aftermath of Tressel's folly has been nigh overwhelming. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who writes about college football who hasn't put finger to keyboard in the aftermath. Even Inside The Hall, an Indiana basketball blog, decided to transcribe Bob Knight's clueless defense of Tressel so they could shake their heads at it. It's kind of a big deal.
File under…
Future Maize 'n' Brew writer. A kid at the Lantern, OSU's student newspaper, calls for Tressel's firing. (HT: Maize N Blue Nation.)
Well played, douchebag. Mark Schablach manages to piss off both OSU and Michigan fans in the same piece by laying into Tressel ("might be even worse than other coaches corrupting college athletics") in a fashion irrational even to this Michigan fan at the same time he conflates Michigan's stretching-and-confusion with what seems like a serious, games-will-be-vacated offense (At least Michigan "had fired their cheating coach").
And now… THE COMFY CHAIR! SBN OSU blog Along The Oletangy headlines a two game suspension against MAC teams "Jim Tressel Forced To Take Tough Medicine." Michigan suffered more concrete penalties for the Jihad—at least they lost some practice time. Of course, the NCAA probably isn't going to say "good job, here's an extra year of probation" when they get around to their own discipline.
Only in Ohio. The blacked-out name of the lawyer who tipped Tressel off in April has been revealed: Chris Cicero, a former OSU walk-on. I wonder if he's going to get hammered for trying to help the program. Also:
In 1997, the Ohio Supreme Court suspended his law license for one year because of misconduct. The lawyer led others to believe he was having sex with then-Judge Deborah P. O'Neill, who had appointed Cicero to defend a client in a criminal case.
Our old friend. Remember Michael Buckner, the Florida lawyer who seemed to show up in every piece about Michigan's misappropriate stretching and GA sketch? He's back:
"Just looking at it, it may seem a little light, especially in light of the fact Tressel didn't report it to the university within a reasonable period of time," said Michael Buckner, who heads a law firm that helps schools deal with the NCAA.
OUTRAGE. "Disingenuous Tressel Is Wizard At Spinning Empty Words"—a Yahoo piece from something called "The Postgame." They're right about the spinning empty words bit.
OUTRAGE. "Armor of integrity falls from Ohio State coach Jim Tressel"
OUTRAGE. "No trouble spotting hypocrisy in college sports"—this one is just awful:
And now, our latest offering from a septic tank of a system that's unlikely to be flushed out in our lifetime.
/wanking motion
OUT—NEVERMIND, MILQUETOAST. "Tressel report appears damaging"
OUT—ACTUALLY, A REASONABLE QUESTION "Tressel docked, but what does it take for a coach to get fired?"
OUT—YES, OUTRAGE. "OSU's Tressel piles lies on top of lies," from the Akron Beacon-Journal. Also calls for firing. Via pdgoblue25.
Retrospective reaffirmation. Mets Maize has one Michigan-related takeaway from Michigan's recent turn under the lights:
Dave Brandon, like any good athletic director should do, showed tremendous leadership by taking the reins and guiding Michigan through a 6-month investigative gauntlet. He answered questions like a political ninja, hired a third-party independent firm to couple with an internal investigation, and reported back to the committee of infractions with a comprehensive review and self-imposed penalties in line with the violations and precedent. This was for stretching. The NCAA ended up adding 1 measly probation year and agreed to take away some of the most damaging charges--something unheard of in terms of appeal.
People complaining that Michigan's approach to their NCAA violations invited more bad press and ended up resulting in stiffer penalties than pretending there was nothing to see here are going to get empiricism in their face over the next six months. I've given Brandon a lot of stick for The Process and the results therein but the whole Identity is a Ceiling thing isn't all downside; he was still pimp throughout the whole process and saved Michigan the OUTRAGE you see above.
Can you imagine anyone associated with the Michigan athletic department saying "I hope he doesn't fire me" when talking about a football coach, joking or not? Bo could have been sitting there* and that wouldn't have happened.
This all banks on the NCAA crafting a punishment that fits the crime here, but I think that's likely given the existence of paper, both the emails sent to Tressel and the forms he signed and the transcripts of the December investigation. The NCAA has way more linking Tressel to a serious offense than they ever had on USC—though that was a more serious offense still—and OSU's pathetic wrist-slap will not help them avoid the penalties they have coming.
*[In a hypothetical world where Bo wouldn't have immediately suspended and possibly killed all six players.]
MORE OUTRAGE. "Lame defense affirms winning is the only thing that matters for Jim Tressel, Ohio State." I mean, right?
SEXY OUTRAGE. "Ohio State mess latest example of college athletics gone wild"
PROTIP: do NOT start looking for humorous "gone wild" pictures by typing in "bears gone wild."
ENTIRELY PREDICTABLE OUTRAGE. Doyel. /wanking motion
OUTRAGE WITH SURPRISING VERBIAGE. Never thought I'd see this word in an H1 on AnnArbor.com: "Ohio State coach Jim Tressel: A fraud, manipulator and image whore." That's actually from the Drew Sharp of Central PA, David Jones, but dang.
OUTR—"Ohio State doesn't much give a damn about your outrage"
!!!
METAOUTRAGE. That's Ray Ratto writing a column about the columns that are outraged about Ohio State and their handling of this.
The Free Press Jihad ended with Bruce Feldman quoting people saying it's a "joke," Kirk Herbstreit declaring it a "joke," and the final NCAA word declaring the original lurid descriptions were overblown. The OSU reaction was such that people were writing columns about said reaction the day of. Boring, honest, NCAA-is-serious-business press conferences are so obviously the way to go.
Let's win this NCAA violation contest. "Document" on three.
What does it really mean to suspend Tressel for those two games, anyway? Is he forbidden all contact from the team those two weeks, or just on gameday? Even if he is banned completely, what's to stop him from working on a game plan for those games over the summer, before the ban kicks in?
I think you are missing the point. As OSU pointed out in a letter to the NCAA, they CONSIDERED banning him from spring practice. They're serious. They considered being serious. THAT close, they were.
They didn't just "consider" a ban from spring practice and a suspension for "several games," they actually imposed these measures -- but then forgot about it a few pages later. Here's page one of the letter:
After conducting several interviews, the University has determined the above NCAA violation occurred and is imposing significant corrective and punitive measures upon Coach Tressel and the football program. This letter will review the institution's inquiry and also detail these corrective and punitive actions, which include suspending him from coaching several games during the 2011 football season, reducing his salary, and precluding Coach Tressel from having any involvement with spring practices or summer camps in 2011.
Of course, it was too much for the folks who signed the letter (OSU's president and AD) to read to page four, where they impose a different (and lesser) set of punishments.
To jmblue's question, OSU's letter to the NCAA explains that the "suspension" is for the two game days only, and not any practices or other activities on the days leading up to game day.
So he'll be there all week to break down film and conduct practice, but just won't be there to call plays during the game. Lame.
usually thats the OC's job
priceless
PROTIP: do NOT start looking for humorous "gone wild" pictures by typing in "bears gone wild."
I'm not really sure I'd even image search "cats gone wild".
doing said image search. I stumbled upon the innocent sounding website hairy bears and fuzzy tummies. Now I have to erase the web history off my wive's laptop or she'll ask questions.
At least you didn't search via your work computer.
Here's a protip for YOU Brian: You know your readers. You know we're a curious bunch. And for me in particular, telling me NOT to search something is equivalent to taking control of my laptop and pulling it up for me yourself.
That said, if my wife happens to open my browser history and sees that I I was looking at disgustingly hairy dudes playing tummysticks, I'm coming after you, Cookie.
Awesome. Bo would have immediately suspended them and reported to the AD, and there is zero doubt about that.
Bo would have hit the roof if that ever happened. Picture his reaction to the 73 Big Ten vote combined with the phantom holding call on Chris Stapleton's fake punt in the 89 Rose Bowl against USC and then multiply it by 100.
Those players would have had to go in the witness protection program.
celebrity deathmatch. lets go
If we had a player sell off an equivalent of "Gold Pants"??? Woody would have killed the player too.
The anger would be fueled because of the betrayal and lack of respect for your program and tradition. We all know how much Bo loved tradition.
As a Michigan fan, this is like another punch to the gut added to our recent "performances" against OSU on the field. The fact that their stupid ass players would even think of selling those gold pants off like they were nothing. I wonder how all those players who played before them feel about that when they themselves were extremely lucky to get even one pair of gold pants for their enitre college career. And selling off your conference championship stuff after your program had been to one Rose Bowl in 20 years? That shows how much the players have respect for tradition.
Good GOD we have to go back to beating these punks every year again. We just HAVE to.
i believe the phantom holding was on alex marshall since #59 is emblazened on my brain.
then suspended them, then reported to the AD that he had dead, suspended players.
Bo would have booted them when he saw the tats.
What does it take for a coach to get fired? Lose games. That's easy guys.
notsportslaw.wordpress.com
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and conveniences, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
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<br>Didn't we already see how he acts in these times when we consider his actions after he found out about his players being in this mess?
Herbstreit's reaction?
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<br>(The pic is great too. Even looks like he's running from behind bars. Though the Horseshoe has always looked like a prison).
Wow, great minds and such. I'm real curious what he's got to say here.
Has anyone seen or heard anything from Herbstreit on this ? I heard Speilman yesterday and other friends of OSU but I didn't see anything from Herbstreit. I may hve just missed it but I'm curious on his take.
I wonder if the conference is going to do anything. For years I've been hearing rumbles from multiple schools how tOSU is a "SEC School playing in the B10" in regards to the corruption down there. If this whole things go nuclear I wonder if the conference will have the guts to punish one of its national brands.
The board at Apple Inc hopes Steven Jobs doesn't fire them
I am conflicted about this issue... I feel like it is in the NCAA's best interest to make an example of Tressel and OSU but can't help but imagine the day when I wake up and it seems as if this whole thing has been forgotten. If/when the NCAA brushes this under the rug I will hang my head again at their incompetence, shrug my shoulders and say, "what did I really expect."
In my hypothetical letter to the NCAA:
Please don't fuck this up!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!
March 10th, 2011 at 10:30 PM ^
Awesome rundown of the coverage. Disagree on USC being worse. The NCAA had to piece together the conclusion that USC should have known about Bush through circumstantial evidence involving an assistant coach. Here it is obvious the head coach himself knew and smothered it to win games, no circumstantial evidence necessary. Also here we are dealing with 1 equally as important a player (starting superstar quarterback) and other key players.
This is way worse than USC. The NCAA is sweating this big time because they don't want to treat it that way. Tressel is one of their poster boy "integrity" coaches complete with measured precise speaking tone, hokey game day get up, a book on full of platitudes about character, and the important sounding nickname.
If Ohio State's penalites aren't worse than USCs this is a joke and if the investigation doesn't cover the whole Tressel era, this is also a joke.
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