On Jim Tressel and Hating the Buckeyes

Yesterday, the debacle that has become THE Ohio State Football program came to a head with head coach Jim Tressel handing in his resignation. It doesn't really matter if that resignation was forced or voluntary, the important thing for the school is that he's now gone. What will remain, however, is the fallout of an investigation that gone gone much more deep than anyone at OSU would have liked.

When the news first broke in March that Tressel did, in fact, know about what was happening at his university and failed to inform the NCAA, the local radio shows around these parts were certain that his two game suspension and $250,000 fine would make it all go away. Nothing more would come out of it, they were sure. I knew better. These things tend to come to life once the first revelations are made public. Shortly thereafter, word came trickling out about shady car deals for athletes, one of them being a Chrysler 300 that sold for $0 according to the title transfer. A few days later, it was reported that that deal was actually for $13,000. This was a car that was two years old and had less than 20,000 miles on it. I work at a Chrysler dealership and I can tell you as fact that at the time of that sale, the car in question retailed for over $26,000. Whether the price was zero or $13,000, the athlete clearly received a deal that you and I could not get and that is a major NCAA violation.

Through all the tiny bits of news that trickled out about the car deals and the tattoos and who knew what and when, Ohio State stood by their embattled leader. All that changed when Sports Illustrated reported that the tattoo dealing were much more widespread and went back much further (as far back as 2002) than Gene Smith and Gordon Gee would acknowledge. If you haven't read the SI report, you should. It's an eye-opener for most, especially the fans that turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the rumbling about Tressel that went back to his days at Youngstown State.

There is no question that Tressel's reign at OSU would have gone down as one of the greatest coaching performances of all-time, at any school. But when you find out that he knowingly and willingly used ineligible player for an entire season, despite knowing full well the issues four months before the first game, the curtain is opened to reveal the scoundrel that Tressel truly is. Former players will come to his defense, just as Beanie Wells already has, but the verdict is already in and now OSU must pay the price for the callousness and carelessness with which Tressel ran his ship.

The NCAA committee on infractions won't have a ruling on Ohio State before the end of this coming season, in all likelihood, so they probably won't feel the pinch this year. Interim head coach Luke Fickel will get 12 games to make his case to retain the job. Ohio State fans are already dreaming of names like Urban Meyer and Bob Stoops as the next coach at OSU. You're kidding yourselves, folks. There isn't a respected head coach in the country that would willingly walk into a situation like the one facing that university. Sanctions will be coming and they will very likely include a loss of scholarships, a ban on post-season play, possibly even a ban on televised games. These sanctions will not only adversely affect the on-field product of the football team, but they will also be used by other schools when recruiting Ohio's best talent. Think about it: if you are a five-star recruit and you have coaches coming into your home to give their sales pitches, are you going to a school that won't have the chance to play in a bowl game, or one that will? Rival coaches will not only be pushing their schools on that kid, they'll be telling tales about the doom that faces Ohio State and about how that kid will be forgotten by scouts when they don't see him on TV.

I have lived my entire life in the belly of the beast, so to speak. I was born and raised in Lima, Ohio, surrounded by thick-headed buckeye fans. I have taken a fair amount of punishment for my allegiances to Penn State and the Detroit Tigers. But I never missed a chance to walk into a bar wearing my Nittany Lions jersey on game day. Sometimes the Lions would beat the Buckeyes, sometimes they would lose. I was always in the vast minority, but that was okay. It was always a good day when Ohio State would lose, no matter the opponent. Those days when Penn State would beat the Buckeyes were great days to sit in those bars, surrounded by the enemy.

Today is another one of those great days for me.