Hate week: To hell with OSU - Jim Tressel edition
Now that Jim Tressel is back in the news as a potential candidate for university president at OSU, I decided to revisit the fantastic SI article that came out around the time he resigned. If you haven't read it, the story is fantastic, and thoroughly documents the state of buckeye football and its embrace of shoveling money and benefits (via boosters) to players since the days of Woody Hayes. FYI, there was a lot more to Tressel's resignation than a few tatoos and memorabilia swaps. The shit runs deep in Columbus.
In case you didn't know, Tressel has always been a total scumbag, and was crooked since (at least) his days as an assistant for Earle Bruce. One of the many money quotes from the article (https://www.si.com/vault/2011/06/06/106075840/the-fall-of-jim-tressel) that refers to his faux-sanctimony, dishonesty, and corruption: "In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That's Jim Tressel."
That quote comes from a fellow assistant that worked with "the vest" in the mid 80s. The guy has been a cheat and a liar since the beginning, and these traits likely played a role in his hiring. After his time as an assistant uner Bruce, Tresel coached at Younstown State and eventually got caught up with connecting players to a booster providing cash and improper benefits; naturally he got hired at OSU immediately after the shit hit the fan at YSU. Urban Meyer makes a cameo in the article as well, and in 2011, Urban "bristled at talk that he would become the Buckeyes' coach". I don't think anyone here needs any more reasons to hate Urban Meyer, who was also an assistant under Bruce, but uh... seriously fuck that guy too.
Wouldn't it be fitting if OSU hired their disgraced (to some) former coach to run the university and continue along the Buckeye path of "whatever it takes"? I think it's a perfect fit for a school that clearly hasn't changed much since the days of Hayes, other than getting better at keeping a lid on their shady program. Chase Young only got caught because he (allegedly) got ratted out by a Maryland coach, btw.
To sum up: fuck Ohio State, most of their coaches (wrestling and football), and their fans.
Go Blue!
November 26th, 2019 at 12:30 PM ^
Sweater vests belong to Mr Rogers. And I need some free tattoos!
November 26th, 2019 at 12:48 PM ^
Fred Rogers wouldn't be caught dead in a sweater vest.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:57 PM ^
That's right, he's a cardigan man.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:22 PM ^
Well, if Mr. Rogers was caught in a sweater vest, that's how he'd be.
(Unless it is one of them fancy resurrecting sweater vests.)
November 26th, 2019 at 2:19 PM ^
Well shit.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:58 PM ^
Sorry to post on the top, but this is a must-watch if you haven't seen it. The song starts at 2 min if you don't want to hear their OSU tattoo jokes. Especially at 3:50 if you just want to hear the Tressel slamming.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:31 PM ^
I just wish we prepared and treated the game the way Meyer obsessed over it. There is an article over at 11W with an interview. He was fanatical about his preperation. He followed all the UM recruits...every one. He took time to educate the kids on the rivalry. He'd play videos over the monitors around the football facility of old games. They'd have a portion of practice devoted to the rivalry. He'd expect everyone's demeanor change to be serious. He made sure everyone in the program knew you don't lose that game. He said he preps for the game 365 days a year.
I'm sure we take it seriously and want to win, but I doubt we go to that extreme. I wish we would.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:39 PM ^
I agree here and I am kind of sour on posts like this that just throw shade on the OSU program for the sake of doing so.
College athletics is a dirty business, no argument here, that isn't news. To me, I am impressed with the unflinching dedication that Ohio State has shown to remain on top in this rivalry. I badly want Michigan to beat them, but I want it that bad because they are a consistently great team with great players who play with a lot of will, poise, and discipline, not because Jim Tressel may or may not have been an asshole.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Gonna have to break ranks on this topic because I have met Tressel on several occasions socially and actually worked with him a bit during his stint at University of Akron. I was on the BOD of their Business School so we interfaced with Tressel on more than one occasion and my interactions with him were always pleasant, respectful and I found the guy to be more than a little likeable. And yes, he knew full well I was a Michigan graduate and liked to tease me about it (in a nice way). Ask anyone who has personally interacted with Tressel and you wont hear a bad word spoken about the man.
Sorry - I know its the time of year to demonize all things Ohio State, especially the guy who started this run of football dominance, but he's not evil incarnate - he's just not. And I actually know him a little bit.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:03 PM ^
This does not change the fact that he ran a dirty program, AND did not possess the qualifications to become a university president if he hadn't also been a successful football coach.
I'll put it this way: Do you think Bo could have gone and become the president at, say, Grand Valley State? Do you think he thought himself that self-important that he should?
November 26th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
I have no way of knowing if the OSU football program is as dirty, dirtier or cleaner than anybody else's nor do i know what qualifications a person must possess to be considered qualified to be President of lowly MAC city-school so I cant debate you on those points. I can tell from 92-94 they were clean because I recruited for Michigan against OSU down here and never had an issue.
From what I could see, Tressel had a major soft-spot for players he liked so he found it easy (my opinion, not a fact) to look the other way on things he should've stepped in and stopped.
I do know, however, that I do value my own personal interactions with people over postings from anonymous strangers on a message board. I think you would as well.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:25 PM ^
Tressel did not coach at Ohio State from 1992 to 1994. So that means, well, nothing here.
A football coach is not qualified to be a university president. A cursory look at his CV, posted below, would make any academic hiring committee laugh their way to the circular file. Except it's Ohio and a former OSU head coach is some kind of magical talisman that makes all other reality dissipate.
And I don't know how you look at Ohio State's program from 2001 on and say "well, I don't know if they're dirty..."
In other words, cumong man.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:41 PM ^
Well.....based on this debate I now have a bit of an idea of what qualifications a University President should possess and according to the first site Google presented me with he sort of does meet the criteria -especially if you value fund raising (Akron did) over all other job duties
https://study.com/articles/What_Qualifications_Should_Your_College_President_Have.html
For example, when Ball State University was look for a new president in 1999, among its preferred qualifications were that the person had been previously successful at fundraising, could form a management team and held a terminal degree, preferably a Ph.D.
In 2007, when Valparaiso University was going through a similar search, it wanted a president who had executive, management and leadership skills, fundraising experience, familiarity with tenured faculty work and a terminal degree.
As far as the program being dirty I think you have to ask "compared to who?" If cheating at recruiting was the speed limit Michigan drives 53 miles per hour, Ohio State drives about 80 and the entire SEC drives at 120+
November 26th, 2019 at 1:48 PM ^
Jim Tressel does not have academic experience (besides teaching some bullshit "football" class at OSU, IIRC), does not possess a PhD or terminal degree (he has an MA in education, earned while he was a GA), and does not possess any other qualification masquerading as such unless (like he does) you consider visiting the troops and selling a few thousand books as a qualification.
There's a lot to be said for presidents-as-fundraisers. That's part of their job. But they're also the academic face of the university. Any institution that takes its academic credentials seriously, from Ivy League institutions down to community colleges, knows what they're looking for in a president. And Jim Tressel is not it.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:59 PM ^
University of Akron is ranked 293 out of 381 nationally so maybe they dont take the academic credentials seriously. And he was one hell of a fund-raiser.
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/university-of-akron-3123
November 26th, 2019 at 4:35 PM ^
this site breeds retards
November 26th, 2019 at 1:34 PM ^
I don't know the guy like you do, just what I've read about him, his players, and his sanctimonious personality. As I said in the OP, he's a perfect fit for the president of OSU. Despite his crooked nature, he can convince people he's a good guy and has just enough credibility to get away with the aw-shucks willful-but-not-willfully blind act. Why would a former colleague essentially call him two-faced twenty-five years after working with him? Because rigging a raffle for top recruits stuck in his head as an act of whatever it takes. Why do his players continue to get involved with criminals wherever he coaches? Hard to say for certain, I guess. It could all be a coincidence, and Tressel really is an honest guy like you allude to, but the evidence doesn't point in that direction.
November 26th, 2019 at 7:16 PM ^
"I know the guy."
I guess I'll take your word for it over the suspicious pile of damning evidence. There are a ton of nice people in the world who also cheat their asses off. Every successful OSU coach has been forced into resignation. Fuck their "win at any cost" morality and their devolved group think.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:23 PM ^
Well, Bo did go on to become the Detroit Tigers' president and made one of the most bone-headed moves in Detroit sports history - he fired Ernie Harwell.
I certainly do wish Tressel the same amount of success and decision-making prowess as president of OSU (if he gets there) that Bo "enjoyed" with the Tigers.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:26 PM ^
MLB front office job =/= University presidency. And at least Bo had experience in athletics administration, both as a coach and as an AD (even though he was, charitably, a figurehead in that role).
November 26th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
I've also spent time with him on several dozen occasions. I don't have a single bad word to say about him other than the fact that his personality is fraudulent. This doesn't mean he's evil or even bad. He's a nice guy. Also, a fraud.
November 26th, 2019 at 2:57 PM ^
Conmen and sociopaths tend to be charming and pleasant in personal interactions.
November 26th, 2019 at 5:40 PM ^
Sociopaths are like that.
November 26th, 2019 at 7:46 PM ^
Will have to second this from my brief conversation with him at Akron. At least then he did appreciate the blue and (gold) on my hat.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:01 PM ^
There would be significantly fewer posts by people wringing their hands over the morality (or supposed lack thereof) of Tressel and Meyer if we didn't lose to those coaches more often than not.
November 26th, 2019 at 2:00 PM ^
If Meyer had been fired (like he should have) for covering up domestic violence , then I wouldn’t be saying anything. Since he was not fired and is still a public employee, I will point out that he enabled domestic violence until those ill gotten wins are vacated.
November 26th, 2019 at 2:08 PM ^
How did he not earn those wins? I think saying he "enabled" domestic violence is a little much. Or more likely, a lot much, but I admit I have not read much about his private life.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:47 PM ^
I really doubt that we haven't been able to beat OSU because tv screens haven't been showing old renditions of The Game in Schembechler Hall 24/7 for the last few years.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:52 PM ^
There is something to it though. It is clear that Urban Meyer hates Michigan, but it is also clear that he really appreciates Michigan too. That is really somewhat of an enlightening interview. When he said that the Michigan '18 and '16 teams were great teams, it wasn't just coach speak like "yeah, Michigan has a good team, going to be a tough battle," it was clear that there was actually some, dare I say, reverence for those teams. I feel like he could have named every Michigan starter on both of those teams right now during that interview.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:56 PM ^
I really doubt that we haven't been able to beat OSU because tv screens haven't been showing old renditions of The Game in Schembechler Hall 24/7 for the last few years.
Yes and no. Prioritizing the game probably wasn't going to overcome the talent discrepancy in 2015, our QB issues in 2017, nor help us stop Haskins in 2018. But, I do think it would have made the difference in a game between so evenly matched teams in 2016. And just one win would go miles to making us feel differently. I think it has the ability to do so this year if they can come up with a game plan to work around Young as well. At some point you have to recognize your primary rival is working harder at beating you than you are at beating them and make a change.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:18 PM ^
Such a DERP comment... he was using that as an example of the all encompassing doctrine at OSU regarding the rivalry.
So... either A) You know this and you're being a trite little penis, B) You're too stupid to understand the point he was making C) A combination of A & B in which case you're in need of a prostate exam by the following dr.:
November 26th, 2019 at 1:39 PM ^
My point is that they aren't winning because they care more. They're winning because they've had a better football team than us for 15+ years.
And the claim that they prioritize it more than we do is dubious at best.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
I've never had more hatred in my heart than being at an OSUMB Skull Session in Columbus before The Game when Tressel brought in his team to rouse up the crowd. Honest, pure hatred.
When people talk about Jim Harbaugh being a "fraud," the fact that people like Tressel and Urban can preach values and leadership when running a program like... that... Let's talk real frauds.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:31 PM ^
It took every ounce of energy - and deep-seated pride for Michigan - to grit my teeth through the two Skull Sessions I attended as an MMB member.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:44 PM ^
Honestly, really irks me a lot that the MMB no longer goes. Really builds the institutional understanding of the rivalry. Plus makes the MMB above the pettiness that is the OSUMB celebrating on the field for a while, then bailing on the postgame show every time they come to A2.
November 26th, 2019 at 6:37 PM ^
They stop going? That's a bummer. I mean, I felt dirty being there, but it definitely gave me a stronger sense of the boiling hatred.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
The nickname “The Senator” is fitting for a man this corrupt.
His facade of acting like he is above cheating is truly infuriating.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:40 PM ^
The fact that this man secured a university presidency with a CV that was written in a goofy sans-serif font, whose qualifications were quantified in football victories and visits to the troops and motivational book sales figures...
https://www.scribd.com/embeds/213773172/content
Ohio is just a strange, strange state.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:51 PM ^
is... is that his actual cell number?
Gonna send a few poop emojis, brb
November 26th, 2019 at 12:54 PM ^
Seconded. If I were a YSU alum I'd be displeased to put it mildly.
November 26th, 2019 at 12:32 PM ^
And in stark contrast, Harbaugh kicks LTT off the team for videotaping himself with a young lady. At a massive position of need.
I know moral victories are bullshit, but you know what? I'll stand on that high ground; and if there's any justice left in this universe, the good guys get a win on Saturday.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:09 PM ^
the good guys may get a win, but there is no justice in this universe and there never has been .... pretty convinced of that
November 26th, 2019 at 1:42 PM ^
^^^This is the sad truth
November 26th, 2019 at 1:11 PM ^
I dont think there is any justice left, but that doesnt mean we cant win this game
November 26th, 2019 at 1:05 PM ^
Pictures worth a thousand words. Need someone to post Tressel/Pryor “theGIF”. Ohio State is the guy who wins powerball and gets to have strippers and booze every night and walk around like the Dumb and Dumber guys in silly outfits.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
You had me at the first sentence, OP.
Wait, what?!?!? They can't be serious.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:14 PM ^
Still comes down to the play on the field. The preparation all year beginning with spring. Just because Chase borrowed money to send his girlfriend to the rose bowl doesn't some how help him get more sacks or tackles for losses. Lineman need to block him whether or not his girlfriend is in attendance.
Same goes for the OSU players selling their gold pants or championship jewelry. How does that make them play any better? Is still about dedication, preparation, and focus.
November 26th, 2019 at 1:19 PM ^
"Borrowed money to send his girlfriend to the Rose Bowl" is still the most bogus explanation of all time. Anyone who legitimately believes that is a sucker of epic proportions.
And having a permissive, break-any-rule-you-like culture is what attracts those guys to a place like Ohio State in the first place. Yes, they're good football players and have been through the last two decades. Why are they at Ohio State and not some other place? Are the reasons legitimate or do they have to do with being attracted to a place where the rules don't matter?
November 26th, 2019 at 2:40 PM ^
The NCAA vetted Chase and believed his explanation. You think the NCAA compliance is just going to give a slap on the wrist if he took money from an agent?
As to why the players go to OSU, really? #1 rated program of all time by the AP. Every Sunday in the NFL is like a commercial for OSU. Last 10 years ruled the B1G and won a national title. It's like asking why would a player want to go to Alabama.
November 26th, 2019 at 3:38 PM ^
You think the NCAA compliance is just going to give a slap on the wrist if he took money from an agent?
Yes, I do. They also believed North Carolina's explanation that their phony classes that their football and basketball players were all "taking" was totally a non-athletic problem. They'll believe anything if it means they can stop investigating.
You really believe that buying the girlfriend a flight requires the money to go through Young instead of just having the "family friend" buy the flight directly?