Athletic directors, head coaches, players and fans – don’t let this happen at your beloved university. Turning a blind eye for the sake of winning never works. At some point, you always pay. Someone always slips. Someone always rolls over.
Ohio State had their share of success this past decade. Miami folks choose to focus on the controversial call that led to the Buckeyes’ national championship in 2002, but Tressel’s success continued on as the Canes faded under Larry Coker and Randy Shannon.
Ohio State reached the BCS seven of the next eight seasons, including two more title games, though no more championships were earned as the SEC’s Florida and LSU prevailed, taking the Buckeyes to the woodshed. Still, the Buckeyes have owned the Big Ten, rival Michigan and have remained a major player on the main stage since Tressel’s second season.
But again, at what price?
For who want the torrid details of the Tressel era, Sports Illustrated has the story here. They didn’t have the stones to go with a “Why The Ohio State University Should Drop Football” type cover like Miami got back in the summer of 1995, but the piece by George Dohrmann and David Epstein goes into great detail about what happened on Tressel’s watch – going back to the blind eye he turned when head coach at Youngstown State prior to taking over at Ohio State.
Deep as any Hurricane hatred might run for all things scarlet and gray, this isn’t the time to pile on. There but for the grace of God goes any other college program. Are Ohio State fans a bit over the top and does Columbus’ lifeblood come from their football factory of a program? Yes, but behavior of this magnitude is happening nationwide and it’s a sad day for college football when a program of this magnitude is exposed as a fraud, putting athletics over academics, saying that it’s alright to lie, cheat and steal, as long as the wins and money keep rolling in.
A message to new Miami athletic director Shawn Eichorst, head coach Al Golden and all administration who interacts with student athletes at the University of Miami, heed the warning and drive this message home with your players. Force them to read this Sports Illustrated piece – and even dig up that slanderous piece on the Canes, by Alexander Wolff, for good measure.
Just like high school parents who take a time out to talk to their kids when a tragedy happens to a fellow student, this is the time for coaches and teachers nationwide to make an example out of the Tressel and the Buckeyes’ demise.
Talk openly about what happened. Put it under a microscope. Realize that it can happen to anyone. Show how the selfish nature of the me-centric player can ruin a team and how cover ups by adults (who should know better) can take down a program.
Again, as much as any Miami fan has disdain for Ohio State, at day’s end we’re all fans of a great game, share a sense of pride for our respective universities and on a day when one program is in shambles, while another rebuilds, it’s not time to point fingers. It’s time to say, “better them than me” and to hope that our beloved program hears the message loud and clear and makes sure that nothing of this nature is going on in Coral Gables.
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been thinking that same thing - vigilanc is required, especially at the U where we are always the target!
A classy blog from a top notch individual. As always you manage to put things into a perspective that all should take note of. In an age when every "fan(atic)" with a laptop can spew forth a so called blog, you continue to show your journalistic integrity and bring us great stuff...but you do take your shots where appropriate and manage to keep things fun a well. Keep up the good work and Go Canes!
You linked the Tressel story twice. The slanderous SI piece is here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9487/index.htm
They can ROTT in hell for all I care. They the reason i have anger issues. ;)
Hey All Canes,
Just an fyi...where you linked "slanderous piece on the Canes", it looks like you linked the wrong article. (It shoots to the same Tressel article mentioned earlier)
Anyway, keep up the good work.
Chris,
The funny thing up here is that these Suckeye fans are still believing that Tressel did nothing really wrong, and that he's still a man with great ethics and integrity (including ex players such as Chris Spielman). To me you don't judge a person by what they say and show, but by their deeds and actions. Talk is cheap.
Tressel is being given an overall pass for "protecting" his players like a fahterly figure, while Pryor specifically is being villified. Is Terrell a hard-headed, cocky guy who doesn't seem to get it? Absolutely.
The situation is multi-layered and there were many mistakes made by many people. The bottom line is Jim Tressel is a multi, multi millionaire. Don't pity him. He blatantly lied many times including in writing and he paid the price. Terrell Pryor will pay the price as well. I honestly don't think he will play for OSU again, and his remaining time in Columbus will be uncomfortable to say the least. The majority of the fans up here now loathe him and I can see the hostility rising. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to enter the Supplemental Draft just to get away from the environment. Either way, those fans no longer welcome him, yet still revere Tressel. Go figure.
Columbus Cane
John - The delusional nature of Ohio State fans doesn't even need to be mentioned. It's a coin toss regarding Buckeyes and Gators and in the end, I think OSU enthusiasts might win that race by a nose.
The world wouldn't be right if they WEREN'T defending Tressel -- their head coach for a decade who made BCS games the norm and "won" them a national title, after such a drought. JT will always walk on water in Columbus, like Urban in Gainesville or the legacy of The Bear in Tuscaloosa.
As Beast mentioned in his piece, it's a bigger problem in college athletics and Tressel was just speeding and keeping pace with everyone else - and to Dave Hyde's point, how can you expect morals and the right thing to come into play when you're merging academics with athletics and big business?
Had Tressel benched those five guys and blew the whistle last year, OSU loses several games, doesn't sniff the BCS and millions of dollars are left on the table.
Tressel did what any shady CEO would do for the sake of his 'company' and turned a blind eye to keep 'shareholders' happy. Now he got caught and is paying a price.
In time Tressel's legacy will be defined by Ohio State backsliding. Right now the wins and success are still fresh, but once probation hits, games are lost and these fans are feeling the pain for years to come, the name Jim Tressel won't be as revered as it is now.
As for Pryor, always easy to throw a player under the bus as they come in, do their time, leave and are replaced. Fans believe that Pryor can go and that someone will easily step in and take over, so making him a scapegoat is understandable.