Goodbye, Columbus – The Blame Game

Michael —

Well done yet again. It is impossible for me to feel bad for these kids. I put myself through college without the benefit of a full ride scholarship to pay for my tuition, fees, room & board and books. Its inexcusable that this stuff occurs, and lets face it—its confined to football and basketball. You don’t hear/see/read these things about any other sport.

All that being said, I have said in the past and will maintain that I am not against all scholarship athletes getting a small stipend every semester ($500-750 or so) to cover living expenses (clothing, food, personal goods, laundry, etc). Other students are able to make ends meet while in school by holding a part time job (work study or other) and that amount is essentially what they would make over the same time period. There are other scholarship programs that offer similar living expense stipends.

The most interesting point of the article are the comments from John Cooper. This speaks volumes about the university, the community and its fan base. It reaffirms what Herbstriet said (and got lambasted for) in that the message is clear—win at all costs. Bend some rules, blatantly disregard others and if you beat Michigan, win titles and play for national championships, we (the university) will look the other way.

One final point about the quotes is this—no where in the article do you see Tressel say anything about actually graduating players. I don’t believe I have heard him say that was one of his priorities. Meanwhile, BK said that from day one, and ND continues to graduate over 95% of its football players. There is something to be said for doing things the right way, and while it may not always be perfect, every ND fan will continue to support the Irish because of the way it is done just as much as for the results on the field.

I still think Tressel has to shoulder the most blame, followed by the university itself.

If we are to blame the players (as many OSU fans are doing) we inevitably have to point the finger back to Tressel who recruited all of them. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the relationship between Tressel and Pryor.

From day one Tressel was practically on bended knee for Pryor. Numerous articles have shown how much of a cancer Pryor was from the beginning, and more importantly, how much of a cancer he grew into during his time in Columbus. Yet, there was Tressel protecting and making excuses for Pryor at each and every corner.

We talk about it all the time in regards to recruiting at Notre Dame and the responsibility the coaches and administration have in accepting upstanding student-athletes. Heck, we’ve had the RKG mantra pounded into our skulls over the past 17 months or so. It’s clear that Tressel and OSU were not bringing in many RKG’s.

That’s not to say that all ND players are angels, but you know we’ll stay away from certain players. I don’t think OSU had any such reservations and it came back to bite them in the ass.

I wonder whether Tressel deliberately fooled OSU’s compliance department, or if the department was so in love with Tressel and his senatorial image that they didn’t feel the need to do their job fully. Perhaps it was a little of both?

Spare me the sob stories from the players and parents who feel the need to force guilt on the NCAA and fans everywhere, as if they are living in famine-ravished Rwanda. Even if the amateur status of these athletes is somewhat hypocritical, it’s hard to really feel bad for people who are getting free tuition, get treated like kings on campus, and then spend the illegal money on bling bling.

Ohio State and Tressel could have stopped all of this a long time ago, and chose not to. Instead, they fostered a culture in which all of these activities were allowed to flourish. I’m certain Pryor was fully aware of all the perks Buckeye football players received before he committed. And the same goes for dozens of other high profile recruits who chose to come to Columbus.

So, in the end I think it’s OSU and Tressel that are the “fake Buckeyes.”

If that had happened at Notre Dame and Clausen was Pryor in this situation, we’d be directing the bulk of our anger not at Jimmy or other players, but the school and coaches for allowing of all this to happen. It was the leaders who let the cancer into our house.

Blaming Pryor for OSU fans is convenient, because it allows them a scapegoat and the ability to refuse to accept the problems with their leadership. Pryor was always a cancer and everyone knew it….except no one cared before as long as he was winning games and nothing was wrong.

People suspected that OSU’s leadership and Tressel especially were cancer, but good luck getting many Buckeye fans to accept that notion.

I liked the part of the story where numerous players hung out at the tattoo parlor. Smoked dope, played video games like it was their man cave. This culture is pretty well ingrained and it’s going to take a while to change it in my opinion. It’s like everybody in Columbus knew things were going on but nobody was saying anything because the team was winning.

I was in grad school, I was at Princeton and one of my office mates was a Notre Dame grad. Watching Princeton play “football” was a little difficult for a boy from Texas, and I used to tell those fellers up there that – my opinion, mind you – the Texas HS 5A tournament had at least two or three teams that could beat the Tigers. Pissed ’em off when they realized that I was serious and not to be dissuaded. Words like “bigger”, “stronger”, “faster”, abd “better coached” fueled my opinions.

Sorry, bit of a digression there.

Anyhow, my office mate was a studious little guy who only knew two things about football: (1) Notre Dame was the best team in America, every year, and (2) Notre Dame players had to take a pay cut when they turned pro.

He mighta been half right.

Hmmm, should we listen to the guy who “only knew two things about football?”

Totally agree with Eric Murtaugh.

Jim Miesle is wrong about the stipend on so many levels. You’re talking well over a million per year per school. Where does the $$ come from? The NCAA? They should be spending on compliance and enforcement. The Universities? Almost all are supported by the tax payers. Higher ticket prices? Most programs don’t sell out their stadiums now. Would you give every athlete on scholarship the money, or just football and basketball? Title IX would force $$ to go to all. Do those on partial scholarship get it?

What about the personal expenses? EVERY meal is covered for the athletes, unless they CHOOSE to walk away them. Someone paid for their clothes, laundry and personal goods when they were in high school. Those is serious financial difficulties can apply for Pell Grants. Its never enough. Julie Posey sounds pathetic. The booster handshakes and the antics that occurred at Ohio St and USC would still continue. A completely free college education and being treated like kings and queens on campus is a great deal. Anything else is trouble. Check out Lou Holtz’s remarks at the recent ND reunion weekend.

I worked through college to pay for part of my tuition (I did have some scholarship money) and all of my food/rent/gas/etc. To make up for what I couldn’t earn myself I took out student loans. I’m not paying those back (hopefully just a few more years left!).

Can student athletes not take out student loans? With food, tuition, and rent being paid by their scholarship it seems like that would be more than enough to cover other epxenses during the year, and it is some what regulated. It wouldn’t be a benefit because they’d have to pay it back.

There is so much blame to go around, its hard to even get a bearing as to where to start. But when you consider how long it has been going on and to what extent, it’s hard not to imagine that the NCAA won’t consider it a total lack of institutional control.

I do agree somewhat with DeVeir Posey’s mom that the items were given to them, not stolen (not including any shoulder pads, equipment, etc that has been mentioned towards TP) and therefore their personal property. But the rules are specific and they know exactly what they are. Furthermore to suggest they “need” the money is ridiculous. Tell me, the inner city kid who attends college on a strictly academic scholarship, how does he survive semester to semester? I’m sure he’s not being asked for autographs. However will he or she survive?

As Colt McCoy’s wife recently noted, these athletes (I would apply her statement to all major programs) are being asked to have their meals purchased, or given discunts, etc. It would be impossible to control, but the level at which it was running rampant at OSU points to a program gone amuk.

Eric asks if Tressel had the compliance dept fooled, or rather if they were in love with Jim? Maybe instead they saw what was going on but no one was ballsy enough to challenge him. Its one thing to cite an infraction, its another to be the one to open pandora’s box and bring down the entire football program.

I’m sure all major programs have their issues monitoring and complying with these rules. Not having been in that position myself, I guess I can’t imagine how hard it might actually be for a BMOC college student/athlete to control ones self with all that is available to them. But I think we’d all agree that of all the college football powers, ND does hold itself to a higher standard; I believe BK holds himself and his staff and his players to that higher standard, and certainly the fans and alumni are for and believe in maintaining that higher standard.
At least that is the expectation.

Jim,
   Thanks for your comments. As always, they contribute to the discussion. I’d take the stance the NCAA does with regard to player stipends. The means are there for financially disadvantaged players, who can qualify to have their cost of attendance that’s not covered paid for by their scholarships, but on a need-based criteria. With need-based situations covered, giving stipends to any athletes puts them in the status as employees with employee rights and separates them further from other students. Most big-time universities house them separately, provide training tables at which they eat very well, and provides state-of-the-art training facilities, while giving them the exposure that let’s them optimize their “work-study” into opportunities for lucrative pro careers.

   Sadly, that is not enough for some athletes. It’s difficult to use the term “scholar-athletes” when a school like Ohio State graduates 56% of its football players, 49% of its African-American players. (The Overall student graduation rate at Ohio State is 73%.) Five years ago Ohio State was graduating 49% of its football players and only 35% of its African-American players. So, there is improvement under Tressel and Smith.

   But, at some point, don’t the Buckeye fans have to say football wins are not enough and demand better graduation rates and improved opportunities for the former players? Coaching resumes rarely highlight improved graduation rates. That sort of change is on the University, the Athletic Department and the culture.

TexLong,
    Thanks for your comment. Someday your office mate’s observation may be half right. Irish fans hope sooner than later, but we can wait for it to be done right.

Eric,
    You’ll remember the article I wrote that said it was time for a pro league for players with no interest in academics or college and who wanted to get paid for their athletic abilities. Lacking that, the NCAA and its universities has to struggle with the admission of some players who do not have education as one of their top priorities and will utilize any available resource that wants to provide them with money – agents, boosters, people under federal investigation, etc. The NCAA will sanction those programs that admit and do not monitor those players.

   The rules by the NCAA are hard and fast, which Jim Tressel said he and Compliance would go over numerous times. I’m sure his contract stipulates he can be fired for knowing about major NCAA violations and not reporting them. At this point, we’ll have to assume there was no settlement, which would protect the University and the taxpayers of Ohio. The Freedom of Information Act will disclose the specifics of his departure in the future.

   I’ll let the Ohio State admin work through the changes that need to be made. I imagine they’ll suffer some very serious sanctions because of it and will not be able to place most of the blame on Pryor and the other players. There’s plenty of blame to go around.

Uncle Beer,

     At times like these, I have to agree with some that athletic scholarships should be done away with. You wonder what the professors of a university and students think about runaway football programs where the University President wonders if the football coach would fire him.

    Why not put everyone on the same footing? You get funding for attendance at a university based on academic achievement and/or need.

    Giving someone an athletic scholarship, then trying to get those who don’t care to attend class and get a degree or make up classes that will keep them eligible to play until they head to the NFL or NBA does not seem to be the idea of a university.

Damn, you fellas take things too seriously.

I figgered ol’ Francis was prolly right when he had a visit from a then-current player and we went out to grab some lunch with him. He was driving a ragtop Cadillac – lipstick red – and when I commented on it, he pointed first to his all-white outfit and then to his car, and said he was ready for anything, Cardinal or Pope. It got even better when he picked up the tab. I didn’t ask how a boy from a Pennsy coal town could afford to drive a Caddy and buy lunch for his old tutor and friend. I’m pretty sure it was all legit, and I don’t recall any tattoos…

Now – seriously, boys – I join you in looking forward to Notre Dame’s return to football prominence. It’s a little different game now than it was then, but it could still happen.

Tex,
    Not too much is taken seriously on this board. Not too long ago in college football, players had the summers off and could work in coal mines and oil fields making some good bucks. Maybe it would be best to go back to those days where players in the offseason had to work to earn their summer income. No more fake jobs arranged for that they did not have to show up for.

   We appreciate your well wishes. We, of course, wish Texas the same. We’re looking forward to our games with the Longhorns.

Does anyone here think that what Ohio St did was worse than what USC did to deserve their sanctions?

Does anyone here think that there will be sanctions given to Ohio St by the NCAA and what those sanctions could possibly be…( same as or worse than USC?)

I have to believe they will be punished as severely, or worse, than USC.

Just have to be.

While I agree that OSU’s transgressions are worse than USC, it was the “lack of instituional control” due to mens basketball (Mayo) just as much as the Bush situation that led to the punishment. Unless the NCAA uncovers other issues at OSU, I don’t see how they justify a punishment as severe unless the uncover just how rampant and widespread this was during the Tressel era AND that the compliance office/university knowingly turned a blind eye. While I certainly believe what has come out and there is plenty of substance to the rumors, what the NCAA can actually use as a basis for punishment has to be a bit more concrete.

Also, to follow up on the disagreement over athlete’s stipends that I proposed earlier (both here and elsewhere) I have to argue with the “millions” of dollars it will cost universities. Let’s assume a major university has 500 scholarship athletes (which is fair, albeit somewhat conservative). If you give each “athlete” (since some sports use equivalents for scholarships—anywhere between 0.25 and 0.75 scholarship per individual) $1000/year (or $500 a semester), that is still only $500K. Most college football coaches make at least twice that in a year, and any D1 football school should be able to cover that from ONE home football game ($50/ticket X 10,000 fans = $500,000). If you disagree with the practice of covering “actual cost of attendance” vs. “full ride scholarship”, that is one thing, but if you say it will financially hamstring universities/athletic departments it is quite another thing. Sure grants are available for disadvantaged student athletes, but that is only a portion of the population.

Bill,
   Sanctions are something we all wonder about, but my personal opinion is that we have to wait and see. First, because I want to respect Ohio State, which is bigger than Pryor or Tressel or football. But also, we were all on track before the SI article that these were isolated incidents. Much could change either way as investigations continue.

   What mitigates the degree of sanctions may be that the AD did not know about this and that they followed the process of investigation that the NCAA wants. What may worsen it is if it is discovered that Compliance was very lax and if Tressel had a history of hiding other violations or even if the AD or Compliance knew and contributing to covering up. We just don’t know which way this will go, though a thorough investigation will be done.

    As for USC, I feel the severity of their sanctions was due to denial, poor compliance investigations which always exonerated USC. When the NCAA finds out Compliance is acting against enforcing the regulations or even participating in stonewalling the NCAA, the consequences are quite severe. Ohio State will want to show how diligent they are investigating these new revelations and their whole program.

Jim,
   Besides the argument that for any student who qualifies for need-based scholarship can get it, the history of the NCAA shows that they tread some fine lines. Stipends just for athletes comes pretty close to legal arguments that athletes are employees of the universities, should be entitled to the benefits and rights of employees, and approaches rewarding different sports athletes differently. The NCAA has been sued over that issue and settled to avoid a court deciding the issue.
   Also, once upon a time, the NCAA had no divisions. Having changes that are mandated for Eastern Michigan (5,000 per game), Miami (Oh) (11,000 per game), Western Kentucky (14K per game) as well as Notre Dame and Ohio State would risk further stratification and new divisions. Some BCS schools have smaller attendance figures – Wash St (25K per game), many Big East schools and BC (in 30Ks), etc. Raising ticket prices won’t help them. Without any other added income, such as from the NCAA for a playoff which is not in the near future, the added costs threatens to further break up the FBS divisions – the haves and the unable to compete. Recruiting, of course, at the haves will improve.
   Finally, the last thing University presidents want is any semblence of professionalism on campuses. They may bend to provide great facilities, large stadiums, top salaries for coaches, recruiting budgets, etc. This is more of a historical opposition.
   And if you are really just giving stipends to some who don’t really need it, then why not stick to need-based programs for those who do?

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer reports that JIm Tressel was warned about Dennis Talbot, a professional photographer, in 2007 and again in 2009 by concerned Buckeye fans. The first warning, by e-mail, was sent to Jim Tressel’s email and said: “He (Talbot) has sold over 50 items with underclassmen signatures before their eligibility expires and would seem to be someone that both you and the university is aware of. I have a full report of his eBay activities if you would like to explore further or require documentation.” The Plain-Dealer reports Talbot received tickets to eight home games from a player or players for 2008 and had on the field access as a photographer for 2009. The 2009 report was to the Ohio State Athletic Department from a concerned fan about Talbot golfing with Pryor at a private club. In 2010, Talbot did not get free tickets nor on the field access at home games. Talbot was the subject of the ESPN report on Pryor allegedly receiving $20-40K for signed memorabilia.

I’m sure the NCAA will focus on what Tressel and the Athletic Dept did about these reports and how they followed through in determining any violations. Any pattern developing of not reporting possible violations, not properly investigating them or continuing to allow access by a potential violator to players would worse the situtation for Ohio State. The fans who reported these to Ohio State AD and Tressel clearly were doing so to keep OSU from major violations.

http://www.cleveland.com/osu/index.ssf/2011/06/ohio_state_football_program_wa.html

No way…. A Columbus TV station, WBNS TV 10, is reporting that Ohio State Athletic Director, Gene Smith, and their Director for NCAA Compliance, Doug Archie, received free cars. Smith, who receives $800,000 a year in salary, gets a Cadillac as part of his contract. Archie, who monitors possible NCAA violations, received a free Jeep from a former Buckeye player at a dealership in exchange for free season tickets. Archie receives $117,000 a year from OSU. Numerous car purchases by Buckeye players and family were reported to Archie without details the NCAA requires like purchase price, dates of purchase, etc.

Ohio State does not forbid Compliance officers from receiving free cars. In the Big Ten, the TV station reports only three other schools – Iowa, Michigan and Michigan State – permit free cars to compliance officers. The other eight schools do not permit it, as well as universities like Texas, Oklahoma and UCLA.
http://www.10tv.com/live/content/teninvestigates/stories/2011/06/16/story-ohio-state-university-compliance-cars.html?sid=102

With Pryor driving dealer provided cars with dealer license plates, allegations by other players that improper benefis in terms of cars were provided, the NCAA investigations, and incomplete records of car purchases sitting on Archie’s desk, why would Ohio State do this? What kind of example does this set?

Could Smith with his $800K and free car lose his job? Archie’s car and job probably hinges on how thorough his investigations were, especially the allegations on improper benefits of cars.

In other Buckeye news, the lawyer, Chris Cicero, who first reported the tattoos for memorabilia to Jim Tressel in e-mails, could face punishment for violating attorney-client privilege. Cicero, a former football player also, was appointed by the federal judge in a case on drug charges against the tattoo palour owner. He met with the client twice, learned of the connection to memorabilia, which was confiscated by federal agents.

“Immediately after the meeting, Cicero emailed Tressel and told him about the raid and the seizure of $70,000 in cash and OSU memorabilia.
Cicero and Rife met again on April 15, 2010. The next morning, Cicero sent a second email to Tressel, giving the coach a detailed accounting of the number of jerseys, footballs and championship rings that Rife had.
In a third email, sent the same day, Cicero told Tressel that he would try to get the memorabilia returned if Rife retained him, and he suggested that Tressel keep the players away from Rife’s tattoo parlor and tell them not to call Rife because authorities were likely to review his phone records.” according to the Columbus Dispatch.

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/06/14/tressel-emails-could-cost-lawyer-his-license.html?sid=101

They received free cars? And this goes on at other places too?

This is crazy.

I agree with you, Michael, that there is a lot of shifting of blame going on, and few accept any responsibility. I can understand that because the NCAA is so messed up. Until those problems are solved the blame game will continue because the arcane rules just don’t make sense and the enforcement process is not fair. Here are solutions that would go a long way to fix this mess: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/741984-ncaa-and-amateurism-are-a-joke-how-to-fix-the-college-football-mess

Great article Michael! As an ardent USC fan, I find it interesting that the standards applied to OSU in terms of interest from the ncaa were so dramatically different than those applied to USC. Violations have been rampant in the Buckeye program yet for the most part, the ncaa looked the other way.

I also find the premise of comparing what happened at USC with what occurred at OSU inherently flawed. Granted, the Mayo part appears to be fairly straight forward but in terms of the Bush aspect of the case, all of these comparisons are based on the premise that the ncaa conducted a fair investigation, which they did not. The ncaa went into the investigation with a preconceived determination as to the Trojans guilt and then conducted the investigation to suit that finding.

Great job Michael!

Bill N,
    Thanks for lending us your opinion. I’d like to provide everyone with your most recent piece, too, containing comparisons on the Ohio State vs, USC violations plus how you feel about the NCAA, Compliance, and its consistency. . http://bleacherreport.com/articles/726926-usc-football-ohio-state-compliance-fallacy-compared-to-trojans-ncaa-case.

   Rather than respond to each individual point you make, overall I feel college football is at a crossroads with numerous third parties more or less attached to some programs contributing to undermining the premise of amateurism in big time college sports.

    I don’t see too many ways punishing schools without punishing athletes who did not participate in the violations. Bush, Pryor and Carroll all headed for greener pastures. My solutions include having the schools sanctioned where it hurts – the pocketbooks. Have USC, for instance, pay back their BCS money for 2004 plus another $5-10 million instead of sacrifice a championship or have such a severe cut in scholarships. Have coaches sign contracts that reimburse the school for a year’s salary for extreme violations like lack of institutional control that was their responsibility. As for players, I have suggested that it is time for a semipro league. Parents can decide which road their student takes. If they need the money their son would make, send them to the semipro league.
http://onefootdown.fantake.com/2010/11/23/usc-notre-dame-week-semipro-football-isnt-it-time/

   There will still be violations, but maybe not the kind that USC and Ohio State have to deal with. Perhaps Bush and Pryor would have moved on to that league by now. Another solution is with the NFL’s help, those players with those violations sit out a year from the draft. Maybe they will think twice about knowingly committing violations for quick money that punishes their teammates.

Rick,
    Thanks for the compliment and your always valuable insight. Some will always make comparisons with violations in different programs. I agree that, for the most part, going down those roads results in little consolation and are flawed.

    As a U of O graduate has frequently told me, the NCAA only goes after successful programs – USC, Ohio State, Oregon, Auburn, Alabama, Oklahoma, Florida State, North Carolina, Michigan, Boise State…. I do want to wait to see what they do to Ohio State before coming to conclusions.

     However, the Auburn/Cam Newton cases have me scratching my head. Have you read this? http://www.tigerdroppings.com/rant/p/22778676/As-the-Plains-Burn———-Updated-1-23-2011-pg-925.aspx