Eleven Warriors piece on Tressel

Submitted by MichFan1997 on

http://www.elevenwarriors.com/2011/05/the-man-who-wasnt-there#more

It paints a picture of Tressel being a very sympathetic figure. Here's my problem with it though. All the good things you do, don't change the rules you decided knowingly to ignore. If Jim Tressel is a truly good person (and I don't suspect that he's an "evil" person) then he can continue these types of things without actually being the head coach. The two things aren't exclusive to each other.

SchrodingersCat

May 31st, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^

He is a liar and cheat. This has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Many have done this before and they had to deal with the consequences of their actions. He will do the same. They will cry on each others shoulders about how much of a good guy he is, but we all know that I will not ask my children to model thier lives after JT, and I doubt the majority of Buckeye fans would either. It is funny that TSIO has had a bad guy as coach for the past 100 years. They hire filth and cover it up as long as possible. I hope the school gets the death penalty, but 20 or 30 schollies wouldn't be too bad either. NCAA knows it has to get this shit undercontrol. The media circus surrounding this will ensure that some form of harsh punishiment is issued.

 

Waters Demos

May 31st, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^

I'm doing that crap right now as we type.  Well, not quite, as that was the video lecture this morning. 

Right now I could use a good football metaphor for the Art IV Privileges & Immunities Clause (the one still alive, not the 14th Am version that Slaughter House basically killed). 

BiSB

May 31st, 2011 at 5:06 PM ^

It's sorta like the NCAA's impermissible benefits rules.  So if you were, say, a car dealer in suburban Columbus, you couldn't offer better deals to "your guys" than you do to outsiders.

The 14th amendment version is easy: Notre Dame.  Every year, people are like, "maybe they'll do something this time?" And every year... not so much.

Waters Demos

May 31st, 2011 at 6:21 PM ^

This only goes to show that in order to pass the bar exam, I need to watch more sports and spend more time on MGoBlog. 

Now if you can do the same thing with the rule against perpetuities . . .

Well actually, something is hitting me. 

Say a car dealership in Columbus conveys an escalade to Pryor "for collegiate career" with remainder to Boom Herron, but if NCAA penalties are ever imposed on OSU, to Kirk Herbstreit.

Now, under the common law, the conveyance to Herbie is void because it may never come to pass that NCAA penalties will be imposed on OSU.  It's outside lives in being + 21 years. 

But under the laws of the great state of Michigan, which takes a "wait and see" approach for 90 years (I haven't, nor will I, look up the Ohio RAP statute), it's clear that that fucking escalade would now almost certainly be going to Herbie. 

I wonder if there's an "unborn quarterback" variation. 

jackw8542

May 31st, 2011 at 3:14 PM ^

As long as the NCAA DOES DO a complete investigation, that will be fine with me, regardless of outcome, but it should be COMPLETE.  From what has been uncovered up to this point, the NCAA cannot limit its investigation to whether Tressel lied and the appropriate punishment for that.  This investigation has to go deeper to find out (a) whether the 28 athletes did what the article says, (b) whether Pryor got his 8 cars in a ways that are consistent with NCAA rules, (c) whether the things the author now suggests he could not adequately establish but suspects did in fact occur and (d) whether the other sorts of things rumored did go on (girls, housing, etc.).  The NCAA has to do more than merely investigate what has already come to the surface.

gobluednicks

May 31st, 2011 at 4:03 PM ^

but i can't stand it when people say things like this.  so, really?  regardless of the outcome you just want a proper procedure to be done?  reminds me of the old saying "it's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game."  Bullshit!

wolverine1987

May 31st, 2011 at 2:49 PM ^

Nice judgement you've made. And even more distressing that it got many up votes. Tressel is a man like another other, which is to say fallible, and sometimes the fallible don't just make mistakes, they do things to succeed that they shouldn't.

He should have gotten fired, OSU should be penalized for lack of institutional control, which will require major penalties. All warranted. But your attack, contempt and blanket judgement is ridiculous.

OSUMC Wolverine

May 31st, 2011 at 1:47 PM ^

I am sure he aspires to be a good person and in most accounts likely is.  However, win if you can, lose if you must, but cheat all the time, cannot be the core of a coach's psyche.  Two decades of shady practices show more than just a few poor decisions...it is either intentional or the man needs some serious therapy.

2plankr

May 31st, 2011 at 1:50 PM ^

cmon you guys, everyone knows that breaking the rules is somehow necessary for helping kids.  and god told him to do it, ncaa rules dont apply to god.  duh

/buckeyelogic

AKMuskie

May 31st, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^

He deserves all the flack coming at him. The cover up, not the infraction, led to his demise and crushed his friendly guy image. I used to admire him, despite his allegiance and employment at TSIO, but this is something that cannot be forgotten. 

3rdGenerationBlue

May 31st, 2011 at 1:51 PM ^

"Evil happens when good men do nothing". Tressel knew that bad things were happening and did nothing (according to NCAA rules). You can't claim to be a good man if you aren't willing to step in to stop something that isn't right.

ontarioblue

May 31st, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^

The program was on fire,and as Eleven Warrior states, Tressel wasn'r there.  The sad truth is, he should have been.  He is 100% responsible for this mess and it will live with him forever. Good riddance, hypocrite.

readyourguard

May 31st, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^

"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."

There you have it, in a bucknut shell.

nyc_wolverines

May 31st, 2011 at 2:54 PM ^

The cleat cheat is perhaps the most damning action - cheating kids at your own camp after leading Bible prayer.

I give credit to 11W for pointing out this event, they went so far as to lead it in a story. At least someone down there is pissed there school looks like the Hurricanes of the 80s.

- The OSU program has made a mockery of sportsmanship, the B1G Ten Commish should rethink his equivocating comments yesterday re OSU and Tressel

- Musberger's PR flakking for Tressel yesterday on a live phone call ("I would have my son play for him" "He was acting in the best interest of his boys") was obliterated by Spielman's "No University is bigger than it's football team"

- Desmond was right - if Tressel had don the right thing for OSU football he would still be coach and the program wouldn't be starting down the barrel of a pissed-off NCAA

flmaize

May 31st, 2011 at 1:57 PM ^

I posted these comments under Brian's post.  It just doesn't add up that he is looking out for the best interest of others.  

 

I listened to Herbie, Spielman and Smith speak (I'm assuming) after sweatervest resigned but before the SI article came out.  

I would love to hear their opinions now.  They were stating how he is still a good upstanding person and just made a bad decision on not forwarding the email etc.

But the SI article showed he made arrangements with boosters, signed memorabilia to be sold, fixed raffle's, had an open door policy with the equipment room, let his kids hang out in a shady area of town, lied and turned a blind eye to everything else.

This is not the definition of a good person, moral person, leader, father figure or mentor.

pharker

May 31st, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^

Tressel has had a positive impact on many people. Ramzy's completely right about that. 

Tressel lied, then lied again about his lying, then lied again about the lying about his lying. And he has feigned ignorance and gotten away with it on several known occasions. 

When the announcement came out yesterday morning, early on Memorial Day, I was angry. I wrote a reply to a post a couple of days ago on this very blog where I praised Tressel for the care he's shown our military (while, of course, simultaneously beating up on him for his flaunting of the rules.) Now, in what appeared to be an effort to sneak his resignation out on a slow news day, he made a day that should be about our heroes into a day about Jim Tressel.  

I'm glad people can find good in his works. I hope they can focus on that part of his lesson. The scale has tipped for me now to where the errors and omissions completely overwhelm the good he's tried to do.   

Steve Lorenz

May 31st, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^

I call bullshit. He's clearly been involved with shady dealings at his last two stops and was able to sweep them under the rug because he was winning. Given that there's at least a partial correlation between recruiting classes and success on the field, him turning the other cheek during this "Money, Cash, Hoes" fiasco while the five stars continued to commit leads me to believe he's just a weasel coach who is a master at fabricating a false image. 

markusr2007

May 31st, 2011 at 2:10 PM ^

No one denies that Jim Tressel and Ohio State football players didn't do (or are doing) some amazing things for the local communities and for young fans (both healthy and sick). They certainly did and are. And Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa and other football players also visit local children's hospital wings with little more than presence, a smile and an ear.

It's meaningful stuff and it pull the heart-strings.  Of course it does.

But the argument was ruined the moment Ramzy wrote about ESPN applying the same investigative resources anywhere else and finding similar or equivalent dirt there too. 

That was a very dumb thing to write and not a little bit insulting to teams who lined up against Ohio State (especially when one removes Michigan from the list).

People get pissed off about getting a speeding ticket, and flail about yelling at the police officer saying "well, everybody does it!".  Yes, everbody speeds.  But you got nabbed. Deal.  A lot of schools probably turn a blind eye to improper benefits and official equipment theft.  But Tressel's feigned ignorance finally caught up with him so that OSU was nailed going 95 mph - and as luck would have it -in a freaking construction zone.  Now a very thick book will be thrown at their heads, and everyone will watch.

OSU fans like Ramzy are pissed off and disappointed, but they fail to realize that there are teams that really do follow the rules or at the very least follow the rules considerably more ardently than OSU.   Are they stupid to do so?  The NCAA is their own worst enemy , and one can debate the fairness of the rules all day long, but even OSU, Smith, Gee and Tressel signed up to the same rules as everybody else.

But children and families with terminal illness, facing cancer and death? Yeah, it's a helllish blackhole that I don't even like talking about.  But I can kind of understand why an OSU fan this week would try to reconcile his current emotions and draft up something related to darkness and lack of hope.

 

Feat of Clay

May 31st, 2011 at 8:20 PM ^

....Just wanted to remind folks that it's not just football players. Several people have mentioned that football teams across the country do this, which is true. While we are giving credit we should also acknowledge that many athletes from other sports do Mott visits; I'll bet that's true at other schools as well.
<br>
<br>Sorry for the tangent.
<br>
<br>/pedantry

the Bray

May 31st, 2011 at 2:13 PM ^

RRod (and Carr before him) did a ton for Mott's.  The Michigan players did and continue to do a ton of work for Mott's.  Surely that means we can overlook some extra practice time, doesn't it?  They aren't cheating... they visit kids at the hospital!  On their own time!! 

meghan

May 31st, 2011 at 4:39 PM ^

Brian Griese took a sick girl he met at Mott to her prom.  Didn't I just read that the football team, former coaches and players raised a sick amount of money for the hospital?  Like, 6-digits worth?

So we should be able to pay our players too, right?

Six Zero

May 31st, 2011 at 2:14 PM ^

that the guy felt so untouchable that he knowingly let so many loose ends open to his deception.  There's no way he could conceivably control every person involved in all of this mess, so as far as I could tell he either a.) put it in the hands of someone else, who let him down, b.) simply believed that none of it was going on as long as he didn't know about it (yeah right), or c.) put all his faith in the "sacred brotherhood" philosophy, which sooner or later breaks down at the foundation.

Either way, guy had to know this day would come if it's been so widespread.  Or is it a case of believing your own lies, to the point that he felt he was immovable?

jdcarrtax

May 31st, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^

A Buckeye has high personal regard for another Buckeye.  What was that bible passage: "Even sinners love those who love them".

(I probably violated a board rule by interjecting religion into my comments.  Sorry.)