Ozone column about Urban Meyer after suspension decision
I have always enjoyed Michigan Mondays articles from the Ozone and was pretty much the only OSU football blog I actively read.
The author Tom Orr basically repeats Brian's previous post, "It is Meyer’s job to know." and is quite critical about the report of findings from the committee. However, the author doesn't quite argue specifically how Meyer should have been fired. I guess it's really hard for an OSU football fan to imagine a Meyer-less team. He did end the column with how Meyer finally lost the benefit of the doubt, I wonder how the tone of his writing will change as the season progresses.
Even with this pretty subdued column the few comments that did show up is now questioning Orr's 'loyalty' to OSU football... wow.
https://theozone.net/2018/08/column-urban-meyer-and-the-benefit-of-the-doubt/
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:29 PM ^
wow - the comments just show what degenerates their fans are
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:46 PM ^
They do have even more Walmart Buckeyes than we do, but regardless, embarrassing. Definitely seems to me that lack of intelligence and the ability to separate oneself from facts and reality are related. I definitely don't think our board would be responding in the same way if somehow the tables were turned.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:43 PM ^
I have to object to your categorization of their fanbase and description of them as "Walmart Buckeyes."
Yes, of course, we have our share of Walmart Wolverines, but I submit to you that OSU's fanbase is more like "Dollar General Buckeyes" or "Golden Corral Buckeyes."
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:49 PM ^
Big Lots Buckeyes! Big Lot's headquarters are also in Columbus.
August 24th, 2018 at 11:55 AM ^
Their basketball arena is named "Value City," so I think that is fitting.
But to add on about their fans, even after the report came out that made Urban look even worse to everyone in the country outside of Columbus, they think this whole thing is still all a lie. I have seen so many of them claiming that Meyer is going to go after McMurphy and ESPN and sue, for who knows what. Most of them are even taking the stand that Zach Smith did absolutely nothing wrong, and should clear his name of false DV accusations.
The only positive in this whole situation is that everyone is finally exposed to the vile scummyness of Meyer and that fan base.
August 23rd, 2018 at 11:49 PM ^
Need to know your definition of a Wal-Mart Wolverine, though. I only thought that was a concept heard from sparty, so curious to know how it's viewed by one of our own...
August 24th, 2018 at 9:01 AM ^
Its not just the big lots buckeyes. You think the university administration and BoT is scared of them? It's the same shit as at Penn State, if you subtract the moralizing and replace it with 73-8.
EDIT: Actually it's not quite the same cause PSU actually canned Paterno, et al before the cultists could get the crazy into high gear.
August 23rd, 2018 at 8:11 PM ^
My favorite comment:
Tom Orr, I must say your article was a huge surprise for me. You being a reporter on this site should know what Urban Meyer is all about and the moral and ethics that he stands for.
Evidently it's completely beyond this guy's understanding that a person might, in fact, be a hypocrite.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:31 PM ^
those comments are fucking grim
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:35 PM ^
The few comments on that board already are disgraceful. I would be disgraced to be a fan and see some of the comments I've seen or heard in the past couple weeks. I live in Columbus and the people at work trying to justify this can't take off their scarlet and gray glasses. They just keep saying "he didn't break the law".
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:52 PM ^
I have seen countless r/cfb OSU posts suggesting the same, i.e., he didn't break his contractual obligations. Well, for one, yes he did, but more importantly, that's not the point. They refuse to acknowledge or address the difference between doing what's right vs. doing the absolute least required by contract, which again, Smith and Meyer didn't even do.
It may sound silly, but I keep thinking of this exchange:
Downey: Colonel Jessup said he ordered the Code Red! What did we do wrong?
Galloway: It's not that simple...
Downey: What did we do wrong? We did nothing wrong!
Dawson: Yeah, we did. We were supposed to fight for people who couldn't fight for themselves. We were supposed to fight for Willie.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:58 PM ^
You don't need a patch on your arm to have honor.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:36 PM ^
I've heard the word "tribalism" thrown around a lot when talking about OSU football today. I think "cultism" might be a better word. Anyone who questions the leader of the cult questions its core principles, and thus must be cleansed.
I don't hope, I know for a fact that if something like this happened at UM, I would give no more benefit of the doubt to Harbaugh than to Meyer. I might not come on here everyday to piss people off and call for his firing, but that's what I'd want...
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:07 PM ^
Have you seen the Leah Remini show about Scientology? There are some eerie similarities to how OSU fans operate.
August 24th, 2018 at 1:22 AM ^
I just posted in another thread questioning how this is even possible and wondering if the same would happen here. I'm losing faith in humanity. Joke is on me that I had any left.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:38 PM ^
The Buckeye mob is out with torches and pitchforks and will attack anyone who says anything bad about their beloved coach. Sad.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
And now I am dumber for having read those comments.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:45 PM ^
*dumberer
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:40 PM ^
Of all the atrocious things I think what grinds my gears the most is when people say "if you were in their shoes you'd feel the same way."
No! I wouldn't! And I know for a fact that a lot of fellow fans would be the same way. If you want to accuse me of riding a high horse go ahead. You don't have to be a genius to put yourself in their shoes imagining our coaches behaving this way. And yet the overwhelming majority of their fans actually have no idea why everyone is so appalled.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:54 PM ^
Spot on. Morality...maybe that is the Michigan Difference.
Come on though, does this really surprise anyone? Meyer has a track record of being a scumbag hypocrite. OSU has a track record of being loose with the rules.
Just Urbz being Urbz, and OSU fans being the cooler poopers they've always been.
I look at the bright side. Urbz and THE Ohio State "Buckeye Nation" have been exposed as the frauds they are, plus we Michigan fans get to see Harbaugh's juggernaut he is building ruin their year(s) until Meyer develops another heart condition and moves on ND.
August 23rd, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
I think at this point that Urban Meyer would be a no go for ND even if he became available. As someone living close to ND, I think that they feel more like UofM fans about morality than like buckeye fans.
August 23rd, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^
As much as I dislike ND, I will credit them in that they don’t fuck around with their academic reputation. They suspend kids who deserve to be suspended, and expel who should be expelled.
I think in the crazy alternate world where Meyer would be out of a job and ND would be looking for a coach in the same year, I think ND would look at Meyer and say the cons just outweigh the pros.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:10 PM ^
Maybe the fans who are disgusted with Meyer are less vocal. I know of two that I work with who are disgusted and embarrassed. It seems like most of the adamant Meyer supporters in these comments sections are — I can’t think of a good term. They’re the guys who put fake nutsacks on their trucks.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
Yeah, but do they get a ball lifter for the truck too?
August 23rd, 2018 at 7:21 PM ^
That is hilarious because I actually worked with a Buckeye fan that had one on his truck.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:41 PM ^
JFC those people are delusional and disgusting. I am so happy that I no longer have to live in that state amongst them. Makes my skin crawl.
August 23rd, 2018 at 5:37 PM ^
Pray for me
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:42 PM ^
Blame the victim and shoot the messenger. That's what happens when you encounter cult members.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
These fans are blindly following a man that they think can do no wrong. They always have an excuse for him no matter how bad it may be.
It's like arguing with a stupid person, you're never going to get them to see your point.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:17 PM ^
This seems to be the zeitgeist today doesn’t it?
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:43 PM ^
" I wonder how the tone of his writing will change as the season progresses."
Continued winning by Urban Meyer this fall will cure, substantiate set everything back to rights.
They have a great football team this fall, and will probably be 9-0 heading into East Lansing in November.
Just read those comments. Holy shit dude.
And as Brian stated, do we even care anymore?
I don't think we do. Not really.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
Assuming nothing else comes out, this will all be forgotten in a month when he starts winning again, and will be nothing more than a footnote should he ever win a national championship.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:04 PM ^
This is certainly the popular sentiment, but I wonder if it's true. What's the precedent for a scandal with this much attention, where the subject's punishment is nearly universally (outside the immediate fanbase) considered too lenient? I can't think of any that were quickly forgotten.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:16 PM ^
To answer your question, the Ray Rice situation. He initially got a 2 game suspension if memory servers me correctly. The blow back from that incredibly light slap on the wrist, resulted in him getting more games and the NFL looking foolish. But Ray Rice basically lost his career as no NFL team would touch him after the season.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^
And didn’t this happen to Tressel also? We went from Gordon Gee saying “I hope he doesn’t fire me” to him getting fired.
The revelation that he had his texts/emails deleted is surely leading to some investigating right now.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
The deleted text messages were known to the committee per the report.
August 23rd, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
the committee is not the NCAA though. or hungry reporters
August 23rd, 2018 at 6:02 PM ^
Yes, but the public and the media did not know. I wonder if OSU is going to feel pressure now that they do.
The first punishment for Tressel was 2 games. It got increased to 5 games because of the public reaction. Then he was fired once the NCAA announced their intention to get involved. I don't believe any important new facts emerged since the initial decision.
Ray Rice was handled by the NFL and the Ravens much like OSU is handling Meyer. The NFL gave him a two game suspension and deliberately avoided digging deeper. Public outcry led to them toughening their DV policy. Then they came down hard on Rice when a second video become public. The 2nd penalty was for misleading Goodell about what happened.
August 23rd, 2018 at 8:08 PM ^
They had them retrieved? I thought they only knew that the texts were deleted.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:12 PM ^
Not so sure. I think there could be some real tension with various VIPs in the community right now. Let's say Haskins isn't sweet, they lose to TCU, lose to us, drop another. There could be enough animosity going around Urban goes elsewhere.
If they beat us again and go to the playoffs, fine, all will be forgiven.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:44 PM ^
With all the crap that Zach Smith did I find it very odd that he was able to keep his job - even with being Bruce’s grandson. Something doesn’t seem right here. Makes me think that Zach had some dirt on Urban or was Urban’s boy for doing things that the NCAA doesn’t like. Why else would this screw up keep his job so long?
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
Yeah, something fishy about that. Why was his staying power so much?
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
Doesn't seem like Smith has any resentment for Meyer though. Even if he does have dirt, I wouldn't expect anything to come of it.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^
Let's just pretend for a minute that you wanted an assistant coach as your bagman.
You would want a coach with no qualifications for the job, other than lifetime explicit loyalty, not only to you, but the program overall.
A guy that would rather look like say - an alcoholic wife beater to the entire country rather than to reveal he was your longtime bagman.
Just saying.
August 23rd, 2018 at 3:51 PM ^
Those commenters would definitely ask a woman what she was wearing when she reported a sexual assault.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:00 PM ^
And then blame her and say, "well, what did you expect"?
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^
Yes, the Ozone says it made a FOIA request to obtain emails between the coach and his assistant, which Meyer conveniently erased shortly after his remarks in Chicago lying to the local media.
And now the local media says Meyer may not get the benefit of the doubt. Wow, really? You guys are tough.
How many times do you need to be lied to before offering that opinion? What a joke. Seriously. Lying to the media, is the same as lying to the audience you work for, write for and ask questions for.
Meyer is a liar, period.
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:13 PM ^
After this I won’t even engage with Ohio St fans. They can yap all day long about beating Michigan. For the most part that fan base is trash. The whole country thinks Meyer is trash now. Good luck!
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:45 PM ^
My wife (OSU fan) is disgusted by Meyer, and always has been. As an Ohioan by birth, I just cut off people. One of my best friends flipped his view of Meyer as an SEC scumbag as soon as he was hired. He usually has a moral compass, but I’m too disgusted by the possibility he’ll maintain the same talking points as all those cultists—“There was never an arrest! If she was abused, why didn’t the cops arrest Smith?” It is like dealing with certain— fans, who cannot hear a recording of him saying immoral isms, read his tweets, etc., and who cannot see that everyone around him has committed crimes at his behest and his request. Yes, this is America. Michigan fans are not above it, as we know the mere insinuation will make some pout about “politics” not being appropriate on this site as they sit on a moral high horse with regard to Meyer that has already been argued to be less about football, and more about social justice!
August 23rd, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
I wonder what drug Meyer takes that makes him forgetful. I bet it’s a benzo like Klonopin.