ESPN First Take Destroys tosu

Submitted by neoavatara on

Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith both called for the firing of Tressel, and virtually called for a death penalty for the football program.

Ouch.

Going to be fun today watching Buckeye boards attacking those guys.

wolverine1987

May 27th, 2011 at 10:54 AM ^

Couldn't get two worse guys to criticize them. Nonetheless, more credible media types are heading in that same direction. Will be very interesting to see if the administration there will continue to resist what will be growing pressure for him to step down.

James Burrill Angell

May 27th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^

Still waiting to hear about the NCAA doing ANYTHING other than going after Tressell for lying. As much as I'm enjoying the beating being doled out to Ohio, I would sure like to hear SOMETHING from the NCAA about the car thing and all the other fires that are burning right now.

I know that the NCAA taking down Tressel would have to put OSU in a position to clean house which would logically somewhat damage the program depending on who they hire, but nothing the NCAA has on the table right now specifically calls for sanctions against the program. With the new rounds of allegations that seems warranted but yet nothing heard from the NCAA.

jtmc33

May 27th, 2011 at 10:57 AM ^

I don't want an SMU-type death penalty.   I want them decimated with sanctions and forced to field a shitty team year-end-year-out that demonstrates the price of cheating.

I want their fans to watch their beloved team lose to Minnesota and Indiana, and then get crushed by UM in the last three weeks of a 4-8 season, forcing them all  to contemplate "was it all worth it..."

I

jtmc33

May 27th, 2011 at 11:18 AM ^

True.

But this would be a great time for someone to post the pics of Pryor standing next to his 'Vette and Dickerson standing next to his Pontiac "T A&M" Trans AM.

I guess SMU had to pay Dickerson above-and-beyond A&M's cars, whereas OSU got their men for the mere price of "discounted" vehicles.  And lots of Tatts.

theyellowdart

May 27th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^

 

 SMU did a whole lot more than just that to get the Death Penalty though.  I don't disagree that there is certainly some very questionable stuff going on at OSU.  It's just not even in the same ballpark as what SMU  did to get the DP.   Even if every allegation ends up being true.

maizenblue92

May 27th, 2011 at 11:36 AM ^

I'll start off by saying I don't think they will get the death penalty. But it will be close. You should start by comparing them to USC's sanctions. They gave benefits to one guy and look what they got. They had the TV ban as an option.

Now look at OSU's possible laundry list of troubles: Selling memborabilia, car deals, vacations, pay for play, housing deals, and lying to the NCAA. 

Listing all of it off sure sounds like at least a similar ballpark to SMU.

And on top of that they are looking a possible repeat violator rule because of what the BBall team did and the fact they are on probation for that.

EDIT: I forgot to add to OSU's that they are also accused of paying girls to sleep with recruits and paying Ted Ginn Sr. (Glenville HS Coach) to funnel recruits.

COB

May 27th, 2011 at 1:39 PM ^

the NCAA has only accused them of the original 5 player infractions and Tressel's 10.1.  While serious, you are making up a huge laundry list that the NCAA has not accused OSU of.  The NCAA doesn't just say "rabble rabble we hear there is other stuff too!"  That's not how this works. 

This is how it works

  • Possible violation discovered
  • Letter of inquiry sent
  • Investigation
  • Institution notified of alleged violations
  • Institution responds
  • Case summary compiled
  • Committee on Infractions hearing
  • Decision on penalties, if any
  • Appeals committee hearing

So everyone's guesses about penalties 2 months ago, are still pretty valid.  Those claiming that the NCAA is going to increase penalties multiple scales due to accusations is not familiar with the process.  Not to say that penalties COULD come from the accusations but that the NCAA hasn't notified OSU of any additional infractions so far, and Ray Small was already listed in the original report as taken extra benefits.  The "girls, houses, pay for play" is honestly a pipe-dream.  That's not to say serious penalties still couldn't occur, just saying that if you think SMU is running in Columbus in 2011, you are just clueless. 

theyellowdart

May 27th, 2011 at 12:04 PM ^

 

OSU's current violations are similar to what SMU did when they were caught a second time.   That's the main reason they got the DP, they were caught, sanctioned, and didn't stop doing anything.     They also had some extremely solid evidence against SMU.

 

OSU's situation is similar, but at the same time drastically different.   They are not at risk for the DP due to the Baskeball Teams history.  There is no hard evidence linking anyone but Tressel... and the only thing he is really linked to is lying and playing inelgiable players (Major issues, but nothing close to DP worthy).  And the majority of the accused violations are still smoke with no fire.   Nothing hard has come out about the cars yet, nothing about pay to play, nothing about housing.... just rumors and smoke thus far.      And even if all that comes out to be true, unless they don't stop what they are doing like SMU did, they'll survive.

theyellowdart

May 30th, 2011 at 2:23 PM ^

Ray Small didn't necessarily confirm it like the quote that is being cherry picked makes it seems.

 

This quote atleast implies that not only student athletes were getting the hookup:

"(People say) ‘Oh you got a deal, it's because you're an athlete,'" Small said. "Playing for Ohio State definitely helps. But I know a lot of people that do nothing and get deals on their cars."

double blue

May 27th, 2011 at 11:21 AM ^

i don't need them to suffer for long, but i don't think 4-8 is bad enough.  maybe something like, 3-9, 5-7, 7-5 and then whatever as long as we beat them every year (and of course finish ahead of them)

James Burrill Angell

May 27th, 2011 at 12:03 PM ^

Not to be repetitive but the NCAA doesn't have anything in front of it but Tressell lying and any sanctions related to that will be personal to him. I'm still holding my enthusiasm until they start lobbing around inquiries at the program rather than just Tressel.

Maybe I'm paranoid after a decade of watching their teflon-like ways but I somehow fear this coming down on Tressel with no sanctions against the program, he being fired or resigning at some point and then OSU making some kind of wonder hire like Urban Meyer or another huge name and just continuing to roll on.

SanFrancisco_W…

May 27th, 2011 at 1:08 PM ^

I don't see a Death Penalty in their future.  Remember, this is the NCAA dealing with it and they are all about the $$$$.  As much as we love to hate OSU and their fans, they travel well and bring the NCAA gobs of money come bowl season.  That makes me believe that OSU might lose one year of bowl eligibility but not much more than that.

Bill in Birmingham

May 27th, 2011 at 11:01 AM ^

I they are corrupt (and I believe it will be proven that they are), they should be hammered. However, I don't pay attention to anything Skip Bayless says. He makes Jim Rome look like a serious journalist.

superstringer

May 27th, 2011 at 11:11 AM ^

So, my understanding of the Death Penalty (which I will NOT abbreviate by its initials, lest it be twisted into something sexual) is that, if a program is on probation for a major violation, and then during the probation period commits the same offense, it is liable for Death.

Right now, tSIO is already on probation for having paid basketball players money.  Thus, if the SI story turns out to truthfully report that more hoops players were paid, then that would qualify for Death of the hoops program.

Here is my question.  What if no hoops players were P2P, but only football players (within the probationary period)?  Does that mean the football team could get the Death Penalty based on previous violations of the basketball program?

Stated another way -- is the entire tSIO athletic department on probation such that a repeat violation by ANY sport subjects that sport to Death, or must it be the same sport repeating the violation.

BTW, guys, if there is Death or even a TV ban, we lose a game where we can watch us crush a bunch of walkons.  Rather they have no scholie players and field an IM team.  Which brings us a new arch-rival, the Huskers.

wolverine1987

May 27th, 2011 at 11:57 AM ^

that under this future, it will be no fun beating them. I'm sure there are many M fans that will love beating them under any circumstances, but I'm not one of them. To me, the fun of the rivalry is when we are roughly equal (maybe not in a single year, but over a few years period)

TheOnlyOne

May 27th, 2011 at 4:09 PM ^

So in your opinion they shouldn't count their current winning streak? They're going to be punished because players were receiving ridiculous benefits and therefore wanted to play for them, making it an advantage. When you're recruiting at an alarming rate for years on end it's not hard to beat your opponents down, so their wins were "no fun".



The NCAA should put them in their grave, especially considering how badly they punished USC, and I'm going to celebrate it.

GoBlueInNYC

May 27th, 2011 at 11:26 AM ^

Regarding the probation issue, it's my understanding that athletic departments are put on probation, not individual teams. During the Michigan investigation there was the possibility that Michigan would be labeled a "repeat offender" because the athletic department was still on probation from the basketball scandal. The NCAA had to explicitly state that Michigan was not a repeat offender at the end of their investigation. (I could be wrong, because my understanding is based entirely on Michigan's recent ordeal.)

Regarding the death penalty, there's no way OSU gets the death penalty. What SMU did was a lot worse than what OSU has been (so far) accused of. In addition, in the wake of the SMU ruling, the NCAA has admitted that if they knew the long-term effects of the death penalty, they wouldn't have handed it down. It will take something even worse than the SMU scandal for any team to be dealt the death penalty these days. Even if what OSU was doing ends up being worse than SMU, I still doubt they get the death penalty, simply because of the NCAA's reluctance to use it and the fact that SMU was a literal repeat offender, in that the NCAA found violations, sanctioned them for it, put them on probation, and SMU just never stopped what they were doing.

mghorm

May 27th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^

The death penalty idea is fucking retarded and there are two main reasons. First the NCAA realized that they killed an entire program and have basically stated that they will never do that again. Second they got caught with a legitimate payroll while on probation for having a legitimate payroll. They were the most arrogant cheaters on the planet even after getting caust. tosu may have been cheating forever but they've been smart enough, until this point, to not get caught. but thank god for Ray Small. i'm going to send flowers to his funeral when some crazed bucknut kills him

mackbru

May 27th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^

Yes, the NCAA did say it would probably never do that again. Which speaks to the idiocy of the NCAA. SMU got the death penalty because it deserved the death penalty. For crissake, it had a payroll -- even after it had been warned. If a program cheats, then cheats more, of course the program should be disbanded.

It's not the NCAA's problem that SMU took a long time to recover. That's the point of the death penalty. SMU is lucky it was ever given a second chance. I'm glad it got one in the end. But the timing, to me, seems fair. SMU needed to start from scratch, or else. Having a football program isn't a right; it's a privilege. 

 

 

 

coastal blue

May 27th, 2011 at 11:15 AM ^

I always thought these two never got enough credit for their work. 

Total vindication. 

Wolverine318

May 27th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^

From the looks of it tsio has completed step 1 in it's goal of a death penalty. Smu was caught in pay for play, went on major sanctions, put on a major show that they were cleaning up, but then got caught with their pants down again. The only way a death penalty could happen is if this stuff continues after Ohio state is under major sanctions and probation.

neoavatara

May 27th, 2011 at 11:24 AM ^

that  a death penalty is likely...heck, if USC didn't get one, tosu won't.  

But severe penalties, on the line of USC?  Completely possible.