Jim Tressel Turmoil: Ohio State Ought to Be Credited as Innovators

There are Freeze Warnings in Hell. The apocalypse could definitely be upon us.

This writer is about to defend the indefensible. He is about to defend The Ohio State University. Hearing the condescending way alum say its name is like hearing nails go down a blackboard, for those of you who remember chalkboards.

Hate does not describe how much he loathes Ohio State and Buckeye fans.

However, the athletes suspended for trading meaningless trophies for tattoos and/or cash in order to do something so juvenile like pay for food or go to a movie—how dare them—is considered indefensible.

The timing of the suspensions by the NCAA was an abomination. There is no explanation for allowing the five Ohio State players that will be suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season after being allowed to play in the 2011 Sugar Bowl.

Ohio State’s suspended players, namely quarterback Terrelle Pryor, leading rusher Dan Herron, important wide out DeVier Posey, All-League tackle Mike Adams, and reserve defensive end Solomon Thomas, were treated different because the Buckeyes had qualified for a bowl in the Bowl Championship Series.

It just so happened the BCS bowl games in 2011 were a first in television history, a major sporting event available only exclusively on cable. Even with a majority of NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games on cable in 2011, at least there was a remaining network television option available.

There is no logical explanation to allow Pryor to play other than getting better ratings in households outside of Ohio for Bristol, Connecticut, the Nation’s Capitol of College Football.

Had Pryor and Herron not been available in the Sugar Bowl, Arkansas would have undoubtedly rolled the Buckeyes. Bristol could not have that.

If you had crystal ball available in December 2010 when these suspensions were announced, anybody with half a brain would know what the response in Bristol would be after the BCS checks had already been long cashed.

ESPN was going to take the lead in the story to bury Ohio State, Jim Tressel, and the Ohio State players by failing to let this story rest as we get into Spring Ball. As Ohio State should be preparing to be without five key figures for five games next season, Tressel is dodging questions about why he did not bring up "Tattoogate" sooner, despite having knowledge of the event occurring.

Why did not he turn himself in? Only because Ohio State was a strong candidate for a national championship in 2010. ESPN’s own Ohio State puppet Kirk Herbstreit could not stop ranting and raving about the Buckeyes and Pryor coming into the season. You almost wondered if Herbstreit was going to go into a Dick Vitale tangent as if Vitale was talking about Duke.

Tressel not only cheated the system, but he was also rewarded for it with another BCS victory under his belt. Wonder how much his contract pays out for a BCS bowl win?

Worst-case scenario, Ohio State goes 10-2 next season and plays in the Gator Bowl. Had Ohio State been in the Gator Bowl this season, the aforementioned law-breakers would have been suspended for the bowl game.

Not with Bristol calling the shots, mind you.

Back to the five athletes, who were suspended for essentially selling their personal awards acquired while at Ohio State on the football field. In today’s give-everybody-a-trophy society, for these athletes it was basically free money.

ESPN wants us to believe these athletes are bad apples because, depending on what you believe, there is evidence out there to suggest Pryor used the money to help his mother with some bills. Pryor being a person that has a close relationship with one of the richest athletes in the world, LeBron James.

For Pryor, James is probably on speed dial and an automatic answer from one of the greatest basketball players in the history of mankind.

In 2010, this writer quit watching college football entirely. He used to be one of the biggest Nebraska football fans known to mankind. When he talks about how much he really hates Ohio State, he is sort of kidding. But he didn't mean it, especially after a BCS loss in the past, when he heard some fans that demanded for Tressel’s head.

Bristol’s original intentions were good, but it ended up resulting in over-indulgence and a watered-down product.

Just 25 years ago, not every big game was on television. Just the really, really big games. If Ohio State played Oklahoma, it was on national television. If Ohio State played Western Michigan, the only cameras in the stadium were from the local news.

Now, Texas is on television playing Rice.

Really?

People are making a killing off this product where they don’t even play to determine a true champion. Realistically, college football is nothing more than a real-life version of a Play Station game where you simulate the seasons.

Everything you see, the national championships, the Heisman trophies, the BCS bids, are bought and paid for. It’s the same money-driven society that tells the nation that TCU is not the national champion despite an unbeaten season.

Had TCU and the Mountain West had a television contract with Bristol, could the result have been different?

Interesting question.

Tressel should be applauded for playing the system to perfection, a system designed to make millions of dollars off players that cannot see a dime from their efforts.

In other cultures and at one point in ours, that is called slavery.

slavery [ˈsleɪvərɪ]

n

1. (Law) the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune

2. the subjection of a person to another person, esp in being forced into work

3. the condition of being subject to some influence or habit

The players at Ohio State were not only in the right, they are innovators in some ways.

It is really quite creative.

The NCAA needs to put up or shut up. Everybody is doing it, so you might as well make it law.

Pay the kids, please.

Then, this writer will return. (He will just avoid Bristol spending 10 minutes breaking down a 5-yard run in the third quarter of a 53-10 game by the 10th string running back at LSU. )

How our government continues to allow this is beyond this fellow American. 

Stunning.