Feldman interview on Sportscenter
Bruce Feldman was interviewed this morning on Sportscenter. Came down pretty hard (appropriately so) on Tressel. Said that if what happened with Dez Bryant is any indication of what the NCAA is going to do, that they're going to suspend him for more than the self imposed punishment (if you want to call it that) that OSU imposed last night. I've transposed the exchange for anyone who missed it.
I saw this this morning also. It is interesting, as many have already said in other posts, that Tressel was such an ethical coach and now the truth comes out. I will be interested to see what the NCAA does in the end. I love how so many fans from that school down south still support him and love him; it just proves again how so many fans are idiots.
Feldman is from O-H-I-O I do believe. I'm watching Mike & Mike and will have a summery on Joe Schad/Bob Knight/Chris Spielman when they finish.
Action News van and give summaries all day like you did during Harbaugh-gate
With the asshat alumni (Herb leading that charge) that will be talking about how it's just a distraction and that nothing really happened worth punishment and that Tressel is a gem amongst vermin and the other side that will be indignantly pointing out his shortcomings.
Ie:
1. While the coach at Division I-AA Youngstown State, quarterback Ray Isaac was accused of accepting improper benefits including cars from boosters. Years later, the university admitted to the infractions and faced minor penalties.
2. The player who would lead Ohio State to its first national championship in 34 years, tailback Maurice Clarett, also involved Tressel in some NCAA problems. After the Buckeyes completed a 14-0 season by beating Miami 31-24 in double-overtime in the 2002 season national championship game, Clarett was suspended for receiving improper benefits from Buckeyes boosters. He never played another collegiate game. Clarett also accused the university of academic fraud in its dealings with athletes’ academics.
3. Troy Smith, Tressel’s quarterback who won the Heisman Trophy in 2006, was suspended for the Alamo Bowl at the end of the 2004 season and for the first two games of the 2005 season for taking money from a booster.
4. Tat-Gate
Hopefully that second group grows to a large number as the NCAA takes the right side...
I don't know how many people, aside from the diehard OSU fans, are going to be lining up to defend Tressel. He's an admitted liar, you could probably derive admitted cheater from that, and the media is throwing him under the bus already.
Kirk Herbstreit seemed to be pretty down on OSU for Tat-gate. I would be surprised if he comes down on Tressel's side on this issue, but we'll see...
Personally, I think Herbstreit does a pretty good job of being unbiased. Unlike Lou Holtz.
My recollection re: Herbstreit and Tat Gate was that he was really down on TP and that was the piece that he hammered. I'll be interested in seeing his response to this.
Two games definitely is not enough, especially with the cans of corn that OSU opens up the 2011 season with.
Very recently I brought up the Mark Dantonio/Mike Hart spat, and we pretty much all agree that a 50+ year old coach should be held to a higher ethical standard than a 21-year-old kid. If Pryor and the other kids got five games, then I don't see how Tressel can just be banned for the first two games.
The Dez Bryant thing was something that I hadn't thought of previously, but that's a great point by Feldman.
I agree. And as pointed out by those above this post, this is not the first time that Tressel has been involved with non-compliance issues. I hope the NCAA looks at the past also and brings the hammer.
I really think this is the major program that we were talking about acouple weeks back. Major program from the midwest area that will become irrelevant for sometime. That sounds so good. I know the rilvary is supposed to be intense but we need this to reel in some recruits. OSU has been kicking ass in recruiting this is our chance to take over again.
I don't think it is. It doesn't fit the profile or the rumors that were floating around.
It was supposed to be a program that would be unexpected. Ohio State has been shady for years.
It was supposed to give dates, times, and monetary amounts. This doesn't really do that.
That rumor came out a couple weeks ago. Meanwhile, the authors gave OSU three hours to respond before they ran with the story.
and it's not like people in Ohio haven't known for a long time that Tressel wasn't spotless. They've just chosen to ignore it because Tressel, for all of his ethical faults, is a pretty damn good coach.
A neighbor of mine is from Ohio and has a brother who was recruited by OSU soon after Tressel got to Columbus. However, he was aware of the stuff that had been going on at Youngstown State and wanted no part of the Tressel program, and instead played for Pitt.
I think Tressel deserves more, but I'll believe the extra sanctions when I see them. The NCAA has been pretty impotent lately, and now we're talking about one of the golden boys of college football. I have to believe the outside counsel they hired recommended the suspensions, and thus they don't believe the NCAA will come down much harder. I was amazed that they didn't put themselves on probation, and I expect the NCAA to add that because they always do when a major violation occurs. The only caveat here is that this seems to be a rare time when the NCAA will actually have hard evidence of both the knowledge and the cover up. But I expect there to be a loop-hole somewhere.
It's not just that he didn't tell the NCAA of the violations. He signed paperwork stating he had disclosed all potential violations. There's the direct proof of lying to the NCAA. I think the punishment is going to be severe.
That's the big kicker in my opinion. If we're going to be punished quite severly for over practicing I would think that the NCAA will punish this infraction just as severely, if not with a heavier hammer