It has been a long week for The Ohio State University athletic department and its enormous football fan base.
If you would, please give me a little time here, and deal with a little rambling, as I start out as an obnoxious Buckeye fan but try to gain some perspective so that I can offer a reasonable opinion on what the suspension for Coach Tressel should be and why.
This kind of thing takes time. You see, nothing rational comes out of Buckeye Nation’s collective mouth less than 72 hours after the fact. It takes the public flogging in the sports world for a whole week to realize your do no-wrong-coach actually will do wrong.
And for once with Jim Tressel, I am not talking about any BCS losses.
Image credit: Getty via The Big Lead
See, Brutus the Buckeye has it right. And we always trust Brutus. I mean every time he throws up an O in the air we yell Ooooooo!!!! If he mispelled O-H-I-O you would have a whole arena of people yelling for the OiHo State Buckeyes to beat another higher educated university.
Anyway, Brutus tweeted/quoted about Bobby Knight (Ohio State alum) having Jimmy Tressel’s back in all of this. See even Coach Knight cheated and lied when he coached! (Just kidding @JerodMSF.)
In reality, the “not knowing the rule” defense is not seen as legit by the majority. Facts being, JT refused to focus on his contractual obligation and NCAA rules and follow due process. And Bob Knight is apparently okay with this. And it makes sense; being a stubborn ass, looking out for the safety of the kids (star players), a similar pension for red sweater tops, and whatever else…Knight and Tressel have a lot in common and Knight will have Tressel’s back.
I, for one, have Tressel’s back because he won a National Championship in my lifetime and is 9-1 versus Michigan. Why? Because my first memories growing up in Columbus are of my first kiss to a girl named Angelique and Earle Bruce getting canned but still beating Michigan the following Saturday. What proceeded from there? Angelique moved away forever and I suffered through the John Cooper era (2-10-1 versus Michigan) while he called Ohio Stadium “Buckeye Field”. That said, I deserve Jim Tressel as Ohio State’s head football coach. In Tressel We Trust I say! He was looking out for the safety of the kids. What a great guy. AN S.E.C. COACH WOULDN’T DO THAT
But…those with this opinion are a dwindling faction in Buckeye Nation now.
Bob Hunter of the Columbus Dispatch, analyzes the number of fanatic Buckeye Nation emails he has gotten since the press conference. He found the “In Tressel We Trust” defense was only 20% out of them all so far, with plenty of ridiculous reasons the emailers trust him now and probably forever (as in the as long as you beat Michigan forever sense of forever). I have to say I am in the same boat. And that’s what makes me a Buck Nut. I bet the majority of us live in a bubble in Columbus though. Nationally I bet about 1% of the public would ever use the “In Tressel We Trust” defense. And Ohio State pumps out a lot of alumni every year.
So what is the most significant detail in all of this that a Buckeye fanatic should look at to gain perspective? I found it in the emails. (Here are clearer images from NBC4 if you need it for mobile device or print outs, you crazy investigative web journalists)
May the BCS crush Dan Wetzel from Yahoo and the others for all that their novelty store detective disguises are worth! I’m still waiting for the AOL investigative team to report something that everyone already knows. (“Source: Charlie Sheen Goes On Benders.”)
Sherlock Wetzel
Seriously, at what point when Wetzel and his Yahoo team are digging someone for information, will people starting zipping their mouths shut? Simple answer here is, probably never. And if you read the April emails between attorney Christoper T. Cicero and Jimmy Tressel, Cicero seems to take the situation way more seriously than any of the Sweater Vest’s responses.
In one, the former Buckeye walk-on goes on a little rant about how sacred the championship rings and the golden pants awards for beating Michigan are that were sold. So when Tressel publicly said he was first made aware of the situation in December, Cicero must have felt a little betrayed. He probably was more than willing to give his story to the Yahoo team after that. It’s not that he wants to bring down the whole program, he just wants the truth out there and does not like the Tressel, Sweater Vest, Senator, do no wrong, oh golly-gee, facade.
Being a walk-on at Ohio State in the 80s, Cicero really does think the items sold were more than just memorabilia; to him they are sacred artifacts to cherish between family members forever. Cicero even makes the point to JT about keeping these awards and rings within the family and that they should never be sold for profit.
But this probably happens at many schools, and it probably irks other old school guys like Cicero, so yes, we will probably see more Yahoo news stories divulging lying and cheating in NCAA athletics. Let’s hope it is not for a long time. I feel for a guy like Cicero after reading his emails and seeing how Coach Tressel handled the timeline of events.
As a Buckeye fanatic trying to maintain at least some perspective, I say this to the NCAA: suspend Jimmy T for five games like the kids are suspended. How is that not a fair punishment and one that could help put an end to public outcry against the NCAA? (see Newton, Cam; Bryant, Dez; etc.)
