Ohio State Football NCAA Consequences: The Option You've Never Considered

When listening to Columbus' 97.1 The Fan on the radio, the show hosts broached an interesting solution to the Buckeyes' impending NCAA violation consequences:

Community service.

These two words, mostly associated with boy scouts and convicted criminals, could provide the win-win situation that Ohio State needs.

To begin, community service could be completed two different ways: The football team could perform a valuable service, or the school could donate all profits from an event (say, a bowl game) to a deserving charity.

The first option, performing a service, seems the most obvious. The team is not being "punished," rather, it is rewarding others with goodwill. This could range from volunteering at a pee-wee football camp to helping at a local shelter.

Under coach Jim Tressel, football players would help bag groceries at Kroger and deliver the food to locations in need. Giving back to the community would be infinitely beneficial for the school's image; after all, there would be no "losers" in this scenario.

The second form of community service would be to donate the profits from a large event to a worthy charity. Every year, Ohio State makes millions of dollars off of bowl games through ticket sales and merchandise. This solution would allow athletes to play in the postseason.  

Either way, both options are actually quite viable. After all, only six individuals on the team were involved in Tattoo-gate. Why should the other 100-plus players be punished with postseason bans or a loss of scholarships?

In addition, some are speculating whether there will be recruiting restrictions placed on the team. Again, why should these future stars be punished for what happened before they even stepped foot in the 'Shoe?

Some pessimists will cry out at this solution: "Community service? It has nothing to do with the sport! Blasphemy!"

But isn't the goal of higher education to create productive, proud members of society? 

With the NCAA declaring that Ohio State will not be charged with failure to monitor, Buckeye fans are anxiously waiting to hear the final ruling during the hearing on August 12.

Most people are excited to hear that the school will not face the most severe charges, but it is certainly inevitable that something else will be done.

Community service. It has a nice ring to it.