College Football: Jim Tressel's Punishment Fits the Crime

I am a Notre Dame graduate living near Ann Arbor, Michigan, so naturally I hear the Buckeye hate-mongers endlessly spew on about Ohio State as a know-nothing party school that is the biggest cheater ever.

On the other hand, two of my family members have advanced degrees from OSU, and my sister in Dayton would take a bullet for the place.

I personally respect Ohio State as an accepted member of the BIG 10, acknowledge it as one of the largest schools in the country with some of the best student and athletic facilities in the world, and know it as a fine addition to this country’s higher education system.

I hear it is a great place to get a college education, and for many, an even greater place to watch a college football game. I see their football team succeed year after year while other programs ebb and fall, both a testimony to OSU's continued excellence and a source of endless frustration for its competitors.

More recently, I also hear the rabid critics and rival factions calling for head football coach Jim Tressel to be lynched.

And I say stop it. You’re hanging the wrong guy.

Jim Tressel Made a Mistake

I don’t know Jim Tressel. But I do know this.

I have two great kids. Yet, once a month there is something that hits the fan and we have to deal with it.

Tressel has 85 kids, and at one time some of them may have jacked a car radio to help make ends meet. I for one can’t imagine watching over 85 kids that you barely know, that come from diverse backgrounds, and often have limited means. Even with a huge compliance staff, it’s just not possible to police everyone.

Sometimes somebody is going to screw up and you just have to deal with it.

So what happened here?

Tressel knew his players were involved in selling bling and getting tatts. Tressel knew that the right thing was to report it as clearly required by the rules. It's the school's decision on what to do about it. Not Jim Tressel. He coaches football.

So what did Tressel do?

He ignored that his star players violated rules, then withheld that information from his superiors. That’s what happened. Period. He knows it, you know it, and it's a matter of record.

He made a self-serving decision to “protect” his players, and presumably, to ensure his own success. Tressel has long known that he is judged by his wins, not by his strength of character, so he made the decision that would make him a winner, not a saint, and it backfired on him.

So let’s go get the rope and lynch him.

I don’t have a problem with that, as long as we hang the NCAA on the next limb.

The Lawmakers Are Worse Than The Law

Frankly, the whole business of fines and suspensions and loss of jobs for non-criminal violations of NCAA's ill-defined and often hypocritical rules and practices makes me sick.

The NCAA and its member schools can make untold millions on a kid’s jersey but if the kid sells the one he’s wearing for gas money he's suspended half the season? Patently ridiculous.

The same rule violations that the morality posse wants to use to end Tressel’s career were selectively applied by the NCAA to ensure a competitive bowl game between Ohio State and Arkansas.

Under similar circumstances, without millions in TV revenues and bowl money at stake, no such leeway was given to North Carolina earlier in the year, effectively wrecking their season.

With a Heisman and a national title involved, Cam Newton could have shot his mom and the NCAA would have suspended him for a practice. Next spring.

I won’t even mention Cecil Newton.

The Punishment Fits the Non-Crime

So go ahead and hate Jim Tressel, for whatever reasons you choose. What Tressel did was wrong. He knew the rules and he chose not to follow them.

I don’t condone it, nor do I expect you to either. It was a violation, and it should be punished.

But what really happened here? Five dumb kids got some tattoos and sold a few bucks worth of bling, and Tressel didn’t tell on them when he should have.

None of these acts are illegal, just violations of the NCAA’s self-serving rules selectively enforced by an institution that has never let a little thing like principles get in the way of its wallet.

Yes, he was wrong, but despite the public outcry, Tressel is not a criminal.

Tressel is also not our employee. He works for OSU, and if the sports pages can be trusted, it appears he’s been a pretty damn good employee.

Tressel’s failure to report the NCAA violations was a breach of his contract with Ohio State University. If his employer believes a $250,000 fine and a two game suspension is sufficient punishment, then that’s up to them.

And I also believe the NCAA should keep their hypocritical nose out of it and agree with the penalty.

It’s a mistake we’re talking about here. Maybe a big mistake, but not a murder. And under any circumstances, its not a hanging offense.

If it is, in my opinion, the NCAA should be strung up right next to him.