375 violations since 2000

Submitted by natesezgoblue on

I know this relates to some of the other OSU topics but i fekt it needed a thread of its own.

In May of 2009, The Columbus Dispatch reported that since 2000, Ohio State had reported to the NCAA more than 375 violations -- the most of any of the 69 Football Bowl Subdivision schools that provided documents to the newspaper through public-records requests. Most of the infractions were minor and resulted in little or no punishment.

Last paragraph

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6194162&campaign=rss&source=ESPNUHeadlines

JimLahey

March 8th, 2011 at 10:40 PM ^

That really stood out to me too, it makes me sick how we went through months of speculation about our (cough,cough) major violations for stretching too long, yet captain shitacular and the shiteyes get away with way worse, more often. Horseshit.

david from wyoming

March 9th, 2011 at 12:32 AM ^

Nevermind being on camera, SMU had written contracts with recruits ... and got caught multiple times with different coaches doing the same time. Handing out bills on camera would hurt a program, but it's still not comparable to what SMU did.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

March 9th, 2011 at 12:39 AM ^

After having specifically been told to stop it, no less.  I've seen some SMU comparisons to this Tressel thing and frankly they're way off base.  There's really nothing since SMU that's ever even approached the blatancy of SMU's actions.  They really deserved that death penalty.

michgoblue

March 8th, 2011 at 10:51 PM ^

Totally agre with you.  But, you should have excerpted the larger quote from the article, as it makes the point even clearer:

___________________________________________

Over the course of his career, Tressel has had players who drew the NCAA's attention.

While Tressel was coach at Youngstown State, of Division I's Football Championship Subdivision, quarterback Ray Isaac was accused of accepting improper benefits including cars from boosters. Years later, the university admitted to the infractions and faced minor penalties.

The player who led Ohio State to its first national championship in 34 years, tailback Maurice Clarett, also involved Tressel in some NCAA problems. After the Buckeyes beat Miami in the BCS National Championship Game following the 2002 season, Clarett was suspended for receiving improper benefits from Buckeyes boosters.

Clarett, who never played another collegiate game, also accused the university of academic fraud in its dealings with athletes' academics.

Troy Smith, Tressel's quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy in 2006, was suspended for the Alamo Bowl at the end of the 2004 season and for the first two games of the 2005 season for taking money from a booster.

In May of 2009, The Columbus Dispatch reported that since 2000, Ohio State had reported to the NCAA more than 375 violations -- the most of any of the 69 Football Bowl Subdivision schools that provided documents to the newspaper through public-records requests. Most of the infractions were minor and resulted in little or no punishment.

__________________________________________________

And this list is far from complete.  What about the thing with Troy Smith and the hooker? And TP and the cars?  ANd Pittman's recent statement that the selling of rings / trophys / gear went back years? 

I am sorry, but if this is not someone who fosters "an environment of non-compliance" I don;t know what is.  How can the NCAA not put this program under the microscope?

EDIT:  Oh, and another thing:  Sure, Tress has owned Michigan since arriving in C-bus.  Look at the list of star players who have allegedly received $$, and who would be tossed off of M for this conduct.  No wonder they are owning us - they play by entirely different rules.

EDIT 2:  It's a good thing that Boren transferred away from RR to go to a place with such strong family values.  Prick.

/rant

APBlue

March 8th, 2011 at 10:53 PM ^

If that isn't a failure to promote an atmosphere of compliance, then what is?  Between 2000 and May of 2009, that's almost 47 violations per year?!?!?  I knew they self reported a lot of violations, but HOLY CRAP! 

Deserved, or not, we've taken our lumps for the excessive stretching.  Although we can no longer hang our hats on the spotless record, I'm glad that we're not humping around that kind of rap sheet. 

Maybe this incident will bring more scrutiny into what's going on in Columbus. 

Magnum P.I.

March 9th, 2011 at 12:22 AM ^

I agree, but it's important to remember that these violations give OSU an advantage on the field. Some people--not accusing you here--seem to be treating the violations issue as a separate phenomenon from on-field results. It's just "sour grapes" for U-M fans to belabor the number of violations that OSU has reported. To that, I say bullfrog. Teenagers see the lifestyle that is available to athletes at different colleges when they are being recruited and that makes a serious impression on them. If there's precedent for big-time players to get hooked up with cars and other benefits at certain schools, you better believe that influences some kids' decisions.

This makes me despise OSU even more and reinforces my long-held feeling that U-M is objectively the force of good in this battle and OSU that of evil.

Zone Left

March 8th, 2011 at 11:20 PM ^

Wait, did the US Attorney ask him to keep quiet? I didn't see that at all. Gordon Gee isn't involved in the drug ring...trust  me.

Trust me...

AlwaysBlue

March 8th, 2011 at 11:43 PM ^

Judging by what I'm hearing on ESPN (television and radio) that ridiculous press conference failed to convince the national media that this was an innocent, well meaning, mistake.  They are talking about retroactive punishment since Tressel knew he was letting ineligible players suit up. 

smwilliams

March 8th, 2011 at 11:54 PM ^

Tressel signed a document saying any and all violations had been reported in September 2010, several months after he found out about the tattoo stuff. That is a straight up lie to the NCAA.

Next, he is on television as saying himself and the university first learned of this in December.

That is two straight up lies to the NCAA. They won't take too kindly to that. And my guess is they dig and dig and dig and find some Ed Martin shit going on with Tressel having full knowledge of goings on.

erik_t

March 9th, 2011 at 12:06 AM ^

In all fariness, tOSU also has more varsity sports than any other D1A program. I don't know what fraction of secondary violations are the women's curling coach saying 'oops, I called that girl on the wrong day', but it's something to keep in mind.

mjw

March 9th, 2011 at 10:49 AM ^

Per the article:

Ohio State officials said they expect more violations because they police themselves well and have the most sports teams in the country at 36. But more than 75 percent of Ohio State's violations -- 292 of them -- were committed by 17 teams, including football and men's basketball.

gweb

March 9th, 2011 at 12:37 AM ^

I'm a long time reader of this blog.  I've read it everyday for three years, but rarely ever post.  What I'm about to say will be pretty controversial, but after reading all these posts about the Tressel scandal I felt compelled to share a story.  

I'm a life long diehard UM fan.  I used to live in Indianapolis and one of my clients worked for the NCAA.  As to not make thier identity to obvious I will describe them as "they."  They were involved in investigating the Clarett debacle among other things at OSU.

Here is the kicker.  The person was an OSU grad and a huge fan.  I went over to their house on two different occassions to watch the Buckeyes beat our Wolverines and let me have it they did.  When I would question them about the fact that an OSU grad investigating an OSU issue seemed like a conflict of interest they just shrugged it off and laughed.  They also shared they were very familiar with many of the people in the athletic office.

Now I readily admit I have no proof of anything, but the feeling I always had was that they were going through the motions because they had to based on what had come to light. It was kind of a wink wink situation and nothing major would come of it besides a slap on the wrist.  I found it very disturbing the NCAA would have no problem sending a fan and graduate to investigate the school they attended.  

Their has been more smoke around OSU than any other school that I'm sure anyone can think of but time and time again nothing happens.  There are reasons for this and I would not expect any of you to think it will be different this time.  Let's just hope the media does the digging and investigating because the NCAA wants no part in investigating OSU.  They know it will be messy.  They went after UM because they knew not much would come up and it would give the illusion that they mean business.  It is too scary for them to go after problem schools because they are fearful for what they will find.  

The last thing I will say about my client was that they were overwhelmed with the amount of research, interviews, and red tape they had to go through.  I always had the sense that they were just overmatched and couple that with being graduates, it was not conducive for them to find anything worth doing something about.  I lived in Ohio for three years and I have been to numerous UM-OSU games.  If I were the NCAA investigating OSU, I would be scared and I have a feeling investigators are too.

Sac Fly

March 9th, 2011 at 1:09 AM ^

I can't remember the full details, but I think it has something to do with this loophole. If they self report player violations they do not have to include the players name. How can the NCAA punish a player if they don't know who it is?

Bb011

March 9th, 2011 at 2:00 AM ^

They BETTER not get the death penalty. A death penalty to them means a death penalty to the greatest rivalry in sports.

Salinger

March 9th, 2011 at 7:24 AM ^

Maybe I missed it so forgive me (or neg me) if this has alreayd been covered, but why has no one said anything about vacating wins?  If Tressel knew about this back in April and he didn't report it until the end of the year, doesn't that make those players ineligible?

 

Just wondering...

ToledoBlue

March 9th, 2011 at 7:47 AM ^

This isn't pointed at you persay you just brought it up and I always wondered: Why people have such a hardon for vacating wins? I mean it's not like if they were to ever play the games on ESPN classic somehow the scoreboard is going to show any different. Cheating or not everyone knows who won the game on the field. I don't know maybe it's the competitor in me but if they announced today that all of last years wins didn't count and we "won" I still wouldn't feel better.

toomer18

March 9th, 2011 at 8:04 AM ^

LACK OF INSTITUTIONAL CONTROL!!!  The more I read about all of this, the more pissed off I get.  Just becuase you report it, it's OK?  The NCAA better bring the hammer!