Ellis to talk with NCAA investigators.....

Submitted by ArchieF16 on

Big deal or yawn.......

 

the torg
myguythetorg the torg
 
Mr ellis the si source informs me he will b in indy thurs w/ his lawyer+ will interview w/ 3 investigators + is showing them all the pics
 
the torg
myguythetorg the torg
@
@FUnkymoses17 no the ncaa said nothing new at this time. This will b something new and not good. I hope those players told the truth
 
the torg
myguythetorg the torg
@
@bg4545 he wanted money for the pics and si backed out after the article was out now he doesn't care about the money just wants it over with

ILwolverine

August 15th, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^

I am not going to get too excited until something actually comes of this like a new NOA, but this can't hurt the cause.  Why would they bother inerviewing this guy if they knew the whole situation and thought they had everything wrapped up.  

Also the Torg guy is not the only one saying this ESPN reported it last week as well in case anyone is skeptical.

1464

August 15th, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^

This is from a previous post of mine:

A lot of people have posted wondering about the reliability of these guys when addressing the ongoing situation in Columbus. I've been listening to these guys for probably 4 or so years now. Lately, they've caught on and become pretty popular in central Ohio, and their schtick level is higher than it used to be, but they're still easily my favorite sports personalities, be it local or national. They are obviously OSU biased, even though neither grew up in Ohio. However, they routinely call a spade a spade, and are the first to criticize OSU athletes and the last to dismiss UofM athletes out of hand. If you get past all the OSU love, which I have been subjected to for almost 6 years now, they're actually pretty hilarious at times, and usually spot on with their takes on situations.

I can't see them discussing this stuff on the air unless they honestly believe it to be true. They may not vet their sources as well as a George Dohrmann type, but I'm sure some level of diligence was paid. This is not to say that their sources aren't snowballing them, but I know enough background to comfortably say that these guys aren't making this stuff up. I know this isn't breaking news or anything, but I thought I'd lend some background perspective on this OSU situation.

Any other Columbus people out there that have any take on this?

Lac55

August 15th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^

Man I tell ya...somebody wake me up when the FINAL verdict comes down. It pains me to think that this could all be a big huge tap on the wrist.

1464

August 15th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^

Why this is good:

 

Scene 1

Mr. Ellis:  I got these pictures here.

NCAA: What do they show?

Mr. Ellis: I'll show ya when you get here.

NCAA: OK, let's make a trip out.

 

Scene 2

Mr. Ellis: I got these pictures here that detail this, this, and this.

NCAA: And you are sure they show that?  This may be something we can use to build a case...

 

One of those makes more sense than the other.  Granted, this is the NCAA.

 

 

Picktown GoBlue

August 15th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^

by Dohrmann; not sure how incriminating these pix might be:

 

Ellis showed SI pictures of players -- Pryor, Gibson, Herron and Solomon Thomas -- being tattooed or showing off their artwork. Rife appears in one photo with a player. Ellis also produced a photo of 11 plastic bags filled with what appears to be marijuana; he says the photo was taken at Fine Line Ink. The letter the DOJ sent to Ohio State in December stated, "There is no allegation that any of these players were involved in or had knowledge of Mr. Rife's drug trafficking activities." Ellis says that is true but that he did witness four other Buckeyes trade memorabilia for weed. Three of those transactions involved a small amount of the drug, he says, but in one instance a player departed with what Ellis was told was a pound. (Rife's lawyer denies that his client provided marijuana to any players.)

Not holding my breath.

Franz Schubert

August 15th, 2011 at 6:32 PM ^

They make this guys testimony more believable because in order to have the pics he was obviously in Rifes click. I dont think the pictures are the smoking gun, but the value of them should not be understated. If the NCAA believes the guy like SI did his testimony could be very damning to OSU.

dennisblundon

August 15th, 2011 at 6:41 PM ^

When this story first broke I thought man is OSU going to get it this time. Now I have resigned to the fact that they will escape without sanctions yet again. This reminds me loosely of the OJ case. So much evidence only to be wasted on a few stupid people with no balls.

NeilGoBlue

August 15th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^

Their head coach is gone. It's big. One year ago if you said tressel would be fired. And they had to name an interim coach that no one ever heard of and wasn't even a coordinator, we'd all would have been happy. If you then said that only three players in the top 10 Ohio recruiting list goto Ohio, AND Hoke gets a top 5 class.....
<br>
<br>You'd be peeing yourself you'd be so happy.
<br>
<br>Just think back 1 year......

dennisblundon

August 15th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^

You are absolutely right. Although I think the bar is set some what lower now on what makes us happy due to the last several years. If I stepped back from the situation and someone gave me all the information available on OSU but didn't tell me it was them, I would still feel the same way. If I am on the West coast, this would just reaffirm the East coast bias in my opinion. It's basically OK to chop off USC's head but OSU skates, just seems a bit off to me.

clarkiefromcanada

August 15th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^

Dennis,

This whole thing is literally miles from being over. Dohrmann didn't get his literary awards by accident because he's an idiot. He's gloating all day over this Ellis thing with the NCAA although one suspects he knew all along that he'd eventually deal with the NCAA. Here's the thing, the NCAA isn't going to interview the guy unless he's indicating something substative to them. So there's the first part. The second is that he's still Dohrmann's source and it's only a matter of time before those pictures end up in Sports Illustrated. That's win version 2.0 and it keeps the general media heat on Ohio whenever that happens.

Better yet, we have no idea about Dennis Talbott and where he might sit with the IRS and/or if and when he plans on flipping on Pryor. Heaven help Storm Klein's dad if there is a picture of his boy at Fine Line...

The point is, there are so many balls in the air for Ohio to juggle and any one of them crashing down, any opening in the once closed Omerta, any potential for Terrelle Pryor to need to meet with a media member for an 'exclusive' over the next year and boom goes the dynamite.

I am not worried about this ending up like the OJ case; my friends (god help them) who support Ohio worry more accurately about this stuff *never* ending.

Picktown GoBlue

August 15th, 2011 at 6:55 PM ^

The Michael Ellis episode is one of my favorites.

Anyways, even though Torg is supposed to be gigging with his high school buddies in the Twin Cities, he's still tweeting:

the torg
 

Ricordati's comment (Common Man) today was pretty funny: "Hope Pryor is allowed to go in the supplemental draft. Otherwise, he's sitting around for a year with nothing to do and he might start talking."  I think he, like most in these parts, would rather see TP at the Citgo, though.

The Blue in Ohio

August 15th, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^

The NCAA will definately deal out LOIC to tosu. Plus Im sure they will get bowl bands, and loss of scholarships. I can't wait to hear what will happen if and when he does infact talk with the NCAA.

Tater

August 15th, 2011 at 7:53 PM ^

I'm not holding my breath.  The "sacred brotherhood" has three days to make him "change his mind."  That's a lot of death threats.

elaydin

August 15th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^

I give it 3 fakes out of 5.

The NCAA was in and out of Columbus all summer, yet doesn't bother sending someone 3 hours down the highway to interview "Ellis"?

Isn't "Ellis" poor?  How is he paying for this day trip with his lawyer?

What can a still photo possibly show?  Is someone holding up a sign saying "I'm trading this autograph for a tat... suck it Emmert!"

What does "Ellis" have to gain?  Didn't Dohrmann say he was intimidated before?  Why now? If anything, isn't this costing him money and potential safety?

If the NCAA let OSU off the hook for 5 guys getting tats, why would they care if 7 guys got tats?  All the NCAA seemed to care about was that OSU had proper education about trading memorabilia .