Reax to SI's pt. 4 of OSU Story ("Sex")? Anyone not shocked?

Submitted by superstringer on

The fourth part of the SI expose on Okie State is about a small subset of official hostesses who'd seek out recruits for sex.  I found this part of their investigation just ludicruous -- like, let's blame them for breathing oxygen while we're at it.  I mean -- not condoning it -- but, athletic guys, pretty girls at college... it's going to happen, right.

Basically, I would guess this is NORMAL conduct on virtually EVERY big time football campus.  Whether its official hostesses, or just girls who regularly go to parties w/ football players and recruits, I would think this is part of the culture.

Anyone disagree, or think its isolated?

Even on our own campus -- I remember stories from my time on campus that, after a win, at a certain frat party, a girl was known for offering, uh, services of the oral kind to any football player that wnated them -- they'd just line up for her outside some room in the house.  And then there was a story of some sorority sister at UM being picked or volutneering to, uh, 'entertain' TP on his official visit.  (Thank god she was a lousy lay, huh.)

samsoccer7

September 13th, 2013 at 1:44 PM ^

I think "official" is what does it for me. If this was some type of sanctioned group, I think it's ridiculous. Sure it may happen on all campuses as an informal thing, but if the football program is sorta behind it, holy smokes that's just grimy.

MI Expat NY

September 13th, 2013 at 1:48 PM ^

I agree.  I'm 99.99% sure that on every campus athlete-hosts know of girls who are willing to have sex with playaers/recruits and have no problem ushering a recruit who is interested to the right place.  But it's just creepy when those girls are working for the program and are officially involved in a recruit's visit.  

enlightenedbum

September 13th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^

Wink wink nudge nudge say no more.  When the football coach is involved and he wants more "personality" from the hot girls he's recruiting to meet with recruits you know what he wants.

SI sucks though and couldn't get a single woman to say she felt pressured to sleep with recruits, and that's all they needed.

MI Expat NY

September 13th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^

I agree that it's the least damning, but there's at least some implication that the conduct was officially sanctioned.  All the talk about Miles/Gundy taking control of the program.  Setting up certain hostesses with certain recruits.  You're right, there's nothing explicit that says the program knew what whas happening, but SI clearly wants you to read between the lines.  

True Blue Grit

September 13th, 2013 at 3:07 PM ^

didn't sanction it or encourage it.  If they know it's going on and do nothing about it, they're sanctioning it in my opinion.  A lot of these less-than-ethical programs get away with stuff by letting others (boosters and various shady supporters) do the dirty work and pretend they know nothing about it.  There's almost never any direct proof other than hear-say that it's going on.  The coaches can say we didn't do any of that crap nor did we encourage anyone to do it.  And technically they're right - someone else did it.  

 

Gameboy

September 13th, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^

I don't know about that. First, the other three allegations all had much more direct involvements by the coaches and school. Second, it is not hard to imagine some girls seeking out sexual relations in some deranged combination of school pride and naughtiness. Sex between consenting people is not against the law, not even NCAA law. Third, just because school does not actively stamp it out does not mean they endorse it. If that case, Michigan is responsible for under age drinking since it is prevalent on campus and the school does not actively stamp it out. This may be salacious, but it is nowhere near as serious as other allegations.

bronxblue

September 13th, 2013 at 9:15 PM ^

Yeah, that was the part that sounded off to me.  If it is sanctioned/understood by the university, then I'm sorry, that really shouldn't happen.  I'm not trying to be overly reactionary, but that is basically the definition of an escort service, and last time I checked the back of the Village Voice they are both totally awesome and slightly illegal.

JeanClaudeVanD…

September 13th, 2013 at 1:45 PM ^

Or is this 'story' becoming less interesting with each article they put out? ESPN has apparently poked some holes in the credibility of it and now it sounds more like "this is a systemic problem in college sports" type article.

charblue.

September 13th, 2013 at 3:24 PM ^

is neither shocking nor particularly newsworthy. The fact is it happens on most every campus in the country: Sexual connections. 

If you read Three and Out, you might recall a conversation that Bacon had with Denard and Devin about their recruitment, and how party girls were made available to them at an undisclosed school. All you would have to do is go back and look at their recruitment, to see what the candidate schools were. 

The most intriguing aspect of college football is not that athletes might be paid, get special treatment in various forms, or act their age, but understanding that in essence they are slaves to their sports.

The most ridiculous contention that student-athletes are like other students is the idea that scholarship athletes wouldn't have the same interests or desires as their counterparts. The fact is, if they want to succeed at the highest level in their sport, they simply can't. They don't have the time or, better yet, the same time to waste.

I was watching the Big Ten Network the other night, and they had an interview with Dick Butkus, and he talked about his recruitment in the 50's. And during his interview, he said that he went to Notre Dame for a visit and asked about married housing, because Butkus got married early. The officials at ND wouldn't even acknowledge the request. So, he went to Illinois where they told him they had just upgraded their married student housing.

So, whether this Chicago kid was preordained to go to Illinois, apparently, the fact that it offered married student housing was kind of a big deal.  

 

Mabel Pines

September 13th, 2013 at 1:56 PM ^

but who are these women????  At the risk of sounding stupid, I was not aware that this was a common occurrence.  What the hell.  Had no idea so many college gals were that....ummm..."invested" in recruiting and their football program.  Times have changed.  I could barely drag my fellow sorority sisters to a game.

bwlag

September 13th, 2013 at 2:07 PM ^

is what we called them when I was an RA at South Quad in the early 90s. Two athletes moved into my hall at the semester break, and I was told that part of the reason was to get away from some of the jock-a-matics. The first day the new telephone directories (hooray 90s!) were published for the semester, I counted no fewer than 8 young women on my hall with the directory in hand, checking where the guys lived.

bronxblue

September 13th, 2013 at 9:20 PM ^

I remember people usually referring to it as "Jersey chasing."  When I was living in South Quad and working in the food services area, I remember a couple of times football players wouldn't leave their dining room until a particular woman waiting at the exit was shooed away.  There is a cache with dating/snagging certain people on campus that can be incredibly enticing.

AriGold

September 13th, 2013 at 1:59 PM ^

athletes hookup with jersey chasers on the regular...i personally know of a couple of ho-bags that hooked up with a current player and his girlfriend (who was also a student athlete) found out about it and blew out the windows of her car and tried to beat her up....i won't give names or dates, but it would not surprise me at all if OSU did in fact have paid "escorts" that were also students....this is a business, and in the words of Major Payne: "Bus-ness is GOOOOD!"....so yeah, nothing surprising to me even though it is incredibly stupid to do this if in fact OSU paid them

His Dudeness

September 13th, 2013 at 2:03 PM ^

Well on some recruiting visits recruits would walk into their hotel rooms in the evening to find two co-eds waiting for them... that doesn't seem "ok" to me. It doesn't seem "part of the culture." It actually seems really wrong and gross an a lot of levels approaching PSU-like substances. IME, of course.

Zone Left

September 13th, 2013 at 2:03 PM ^

This SI series is just the worst expos ever. No one of consequence is on the record and there's no smoking gun evidence. With the exception of the pay for plays deal, this stuff happens at literally every campus across the country. I know not every school has a hostess program, but I would be shocked if a subset of visiting recruits at every school in the country aren't introduced to the football groupies as an unofficial part of their offical visit.

Coaches spend time thinking about which players to pair with which recruits too. The party guys are going to be paired with the party guys, education-focused guys with education-focused guys, etc.

Yeoman

September 13th, 2013 at 7:45 PM ^

That all may be. But most of the coaches aren't spending time figuring out which girl should sleep with which recruit.

This isn't a story about sex, or even a story about using sex as a recuiting inducement--it's a story about head coaches acting as pimps. I wouldn't say it's shocking but to me it's more than a little creepy.

EastUGoBlue

September 13th, 2013 at 2:43 PM ^

I was a student around the time this happened and was moderately aware of this after the visit happened. I'd love for people to give their versions of the TP story so we could compare. I'm certainly not claiming to have the hardened truth but I'd love to hear all the variations.

triangle_M

September 13th, 2013 at 2:09 PM ^

I think everyone is numb to this now.  SI also looks pretty amateur with all their innuendo and "sources" when Wetzel drops his well-documented (you can view the docs themselves) stuff the same week.  Yahoo! wins again.

Bombadil

September 13th, 2013 at 2:27 PM ^

I'm curious to hear ESPN's reaction to Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian's new book "The System" when it comes out next Tuesday. On Point had a good interview with them that's worth the listen. LINK

JimBobTressel

September 13th, 2013 at 2:34 PM ^

Girls are going to have sex with popular guys. Maybe not all, but plenty. It literally happens on campuses across America (except BYU) the fact that people are shocked at this -  I mean, are they living under rocks? 

Yes fathers, your spoiled little princess that you sent to campus with the sense of entitlement, the BMW and the high limit credit card often lets athletes exploit all three, along with her body, as well.