A tough day for Ohio State fans

dennisking

I know that Ozzie is one and of course myself. There are some more OH peeps in here as well. Just wanted to vent that today was a very hard day to watch an honorable man who I respect step down as coach of The Ohio State University football team. I became an Ohio State fan partly because of Tressel and I think he made a mistake by covering for his guys but I'm not sure that I wouldn't do the same.
I know that things will work out but I can't wonder what may come of Tressel's career. As a fan, I hope that they can overcome all of this and have a successful season but what a shocking blow.
Just had to vent about this whole deal. Oz, I'm looking forward to your input on this as well. It's a tough deal for sure.

Lakota72

I agree that it has been difficult for many fans across the nation whose head coaches have either known their players were involved with scouts or covered up NCAA violations. It has always been common practice since the beginning of sports recruitment. I will say the NCAA is getting more and more involved and conducting investigations at a rapid rate to put an end to future violations. Take the whole USC scandal. They had 30 scholarships taken away over the next 3 years. It just sucks that players are willing to risk their reputation to get paid. It is difficult for the coach to keep track of all their players. They shouldn't have to babysit spoiled players who are just trying to make a quick buck. The players job is to get an education, play ball to the best of their ability and hopefully make it to the bigtime.

Luko

After reading the Sports Illustrated article about him,I will say that the things that happened under his watch, even at YSU, made me wonder why OSU would have hired him. Good and bad, they knew what they were getting. But maybe it's naive to think there are coaches out there doing it the honest route.

Vulchor

I am TRULY suprised any actions (by the university, coach himself, or NCAA) were taken in this case. Ohio St. (sorry to say) is one of "those programs" and can get away with stuff 95% of other programs cant. Not to mention they can get BCS games with a 7-4 record (or so it seems). It does tarnish a record though I must say, as until this point I always trusted a man in a sweater-vest.

dennisking

I think of this as a big game changer. I imagine that in the following 12 months, you will see a lot of SEC and other Big Ten schools under fire for the same type of violations. It's fairly commonplace for guys to sell memorabilia and boosters to give guys "jobs" to buy the stuff they need.

Vulchor

I totally agree Dennis. I also THINK (though Im not sure yet, as I havent thought it all out) its good for the game as a whole. The push since the BCS has been toward the mega schools and mega programs. Granted, Boise-Utah-Hawaii-TCU----there is a Cinderella every year....but not really. I think this changes recruiting a bit, certainly how you can lure and keep players, ect. Team this with the BCS anti-trust type B.S. they keep talking about-----gotta be good for the game, no?

dennisking

Vulch, I was talking to an ex college coach this morning and he said that because of this, they will probably change the rules and do some "smoke and mirrors" to keep the rest of the programs from going thru the same thing since there is so much money tied up in division one football

fla-gypsy

Corruption is corruption and is never honorable, just saying

Vulchor

agreed gypsy.

dennisking

fla-gypsy:

Corruption is corruption and is never honorable, just saying

I may catch heat for this but just because a guy sells his own personal items isn't corrupt, even if the NCAA says so. Tressel should've never protected his guys but that's a tough call because I would protect my own from getting in trouble if I could. Its a moral dilemma but I feel that the NCAA's idea of morality and mine differ

babsdpu

As an Ann Arbor native and Michigan fan, I'll take a little pleasure in this but not too much. It should make this year's rivalry game interesting with two new coaches, but hey, the guy was an expert at kicking my team's ass. Can't argue with success, so there's a part of me that's a little disappointed to see him fall like that.