Tobias Fünke;920915 wrote:Pathetic isn't a strong enough word to describe these thoughts.

How about you fire the AD, scrap the coaching staff, clean out the whole damn place, and get someone in there who will actually tell kids that Ohio State et al. don't owe them entitlements and illegal benefits, they owe Ohio State for the unbelievable privilege of being a Buckeye.

Stop making excuses. Stop saying let's just be like "everybody else" and fix that damn program. It's embarrassing that a university as awesome as Ohio State can have a program filled with corruption. Get some players who will hold student-athletes (BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE) to some standards and develop some God damn character.

I've said it before but I hope Gee puts the hammer down on the athletic department quickly and the rebuilding process can begin in earnest. If he doesn't, the NCAA should blast this program.

This plus 1,000,000,000.

Gene Smith should be unemployed, with no severance. He's a buffoon that is ruining the university's rep.

I believe TP blew the whistle on all these guys. The gift that keeps on giving.

These players are dopes and need to be given their walking papers. However, TP is a piece of garbage and is a rat

se-alum;920923 wrote:I believe TP blew the whistle on all these guys. The gift that keeps on giving.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. But TP and the recruitment process definitely had a role. OSU can learn from this. No player is bigger than the program. Clean it up now.

se-alum;920923 wrote:I believe TP blew the whistle on all these guys. The gift that keeps on giving.

From what I understand the investigation started when the booster said he had employed lots of players over the years, so they went and audited the players' summer jobs.

I didn't think TP ever spoke to the NCAA? And as bad of a black eye he gave OSU, we can now realize there were other guys in the boat with him.

Fickell has been laughable as a head coach with his game coaching, but his biggest mistake is not booting these guys day 1 that he got the job.

I have a feeling the NCAA continues to dig and I see no possible way they don't get slapped with lack of instititional control.

LJ;920954 wrote:From what I understand the investigation started when the booster said he had employed lots of players over the years, so they went and audited the players' summer jobs.

The fact that guys from Cincinnati have summer jobs in Cleveland tells me all I needed to know. Didn't Clarett blow the whistle on this years ago?

ESPN wants us hammered, we know how you feel ESPN really:
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/34763/systems-failure-osu-keeps-saying-no

Manhattan Buckeye;920922 wrote:This plus 1,000,000,000.

Gene Smith should be unemployed, with no severance. He's a buffoon that is ruining the university's rep.

One would think Smith's walking papers are on the way. Perhaps OSU is waiting for the NCAA to finish with everything so the new guy can start fresh after all the penalties are finally levied.

I think the NCAA is missing the obvious....Bollman got paid for not showing up to work last Saturday, why isn't he suspended for the Nebraska game?

cats gone wild;920745 wrote:Wont be playing this game. Basically, thats all thats been said.

why do you care again?

Tobias Fünke;920915 wrote:Pathetic isn't a strong enough word to describe these thoughts.

How about you fire the AD, scrap the coaching staff, clean out the whole damn place, and get someone in there who will actually tell kids that Ohio State et al. don't owe them entitlements and illegal benefits, they owe Ohio State for the unbelievable privilege of being a Buckeye.

Stop making excuses. Stop saying let's just be like "everybody else" and fix that damn program. It's embarrassing that a university as awesome as Ohio State can have a program filled with corruption. Get some players who will hold student-athletes (BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE) to some standards and develop some God damn character.

I've said it before but I hope Gee puts the hammer down on the athletic department quickly and the rebuilding process can begin in earnest. If he doesn't, the NCAA should blast this program.

I'll bookmark this post for when allegations against Notre Dame are announced. You'll be amazed at your own hypocrisy.

I used to believe it could be done right -- now I think it's all a joke. There isn't a clean program out there, and some (Alabama, LSU, Auburn) are making a total mockery of the NCAA and getting away with it.

Since the NCAA is a hypocritical sham and can't do things the way they're supposed to be done, I don't care if OSU plays the game or not. Obviously, self-reporting and trying to be transparent gets you nothing but grief and more penalties.

Writerbuckeye;921107 wrote:I used to believe it could be done right -- now I think it's all a joke. There isn't a clean program out there, and some (Alabama, LSU, Auburn) are making a total mockery of the NCAA and getting away with it.

Since the NCAA is a hypocritical sham and can't do things the way they're supposed to be done, I don't care if OSU plays the game or not. Obviously, self-reporting and trying to be transparent gets you nothing but grief and more penalties.

The problem lies in the media too. Since OSU self-reports, it gives the media more material to pile on when something happens. The average fan(read: hater) will take it and run with the whole "OMG cheaters SO DIRTY HAMMER THEM", and the media wants to generate readership so it'll drum the same line.If you don't self report there is less the media has to run off of.

sleeper;921091 wrote:I'll bookmark this post for when allegations against Notre Dame are announced. You'll be amazed at your own hypocrisy.

You'll be waiting a long time.

I don't doubt that this happens at most places. The difference is how programs react to it. It all comes down to discipline; it's all about how you handle players who break team rules. I am a Notre Dame fan and I love the character that their players and coaches typically have, and the extra rules they abide by. There is no question that kids fuck up everywhere. But how do you continue to instill character. Notre Dame treats their student-athletes by the same rules as the students, with some additional ones. They are put in the random dorm lottery and room with the regular students. They have to go to class--hell Notre Dame's five-star DE was just benched for a whole game because he, that's right, skipped one class. Notre Dame actually has some discipline.

You won't remember this because it was 500 years ago, but in 1988 when Notre Dame played USC in the last game of the season, as the #1 team in the country facing the #2 Trojans at the LA Coliseum... Lou Holtz and the team went to play them without Ricky Watters (team's leading WR, selected to some all-America lists and is a future NFL HOF'er at RB) and Tony Brooks (the teams starting RB I believe). Now that is teaching kids a lesson: follow the rules. Even this year with Michael Floyd, Kelly made him live on campus as a senior in the dorms surrounded by the regular freshmen students to be away from alcohol.

Notre Dame's players go there because they know that when they graduate they'll be making $100,000+/year due to their degree. They graduate every player who enrolls (with a few exceptions). They know that something like 2% of football players make it to the NFL, and ~80% of them are broke within three years...so really only .4% of football players make their millions and keep their millions.

So yeah, I like to think Notre Dame is a bit different in that regard. But please bookmark this and when a Notre Dame coach covers up violations intentionally, or when some players except cash and break NCAA rules and aren't kicked off the team, let me know. I think it would be a very very very rare occurrence at Notre Dame.

This was meant for sleeper and not an attempt to start some Notre Dame vs Ohio State horseshit. But I do think there are some things Ohio State could learn, and more specifically it is even more puzzling that Gene Smith is such a dumbass being that he graduated from there. I think Ohio State should start take the football players down from the seclusionary (not actually a word..) pedestal they put up for them. Make the players realize that they have a great opportunity, not that they are bigger than the university. Guys like Pryor thought they were bigger than the world and it is costing Ohio State big time.

sleeper;921146 wrote:The problem lies in the media too. Since OSU self-reports, it gives the media more material to pile on when something happens. The average fan(read: hater) will take it and run with the whole "OMG cheaters SO DIRTY HAMMER THEM", and the media wants to generate readership so it'll drum the same line.If you don't self report there is less the media has to run off of.

It's pretty damn simple: if you don't have kids breaking the rules then you don't have to self-report yourself (as much).

thedynasty1998;920956 wrote:I didn't think TP ever spoke to the NCAA? And as bad of a black eye he gave OSU, we can now realize there were other guys in the boat with him.

Fickell has been laughable as a head coach with his game coaching, but his biggest mistake is not booting these guys day 1 that he got the job.

I have a feeling the NCAA continues to dig and I see no possible way they don't get slapped with lack of instititional control.

Fickell doesn't even decide what QB plays. Do you honestly think he could have booted them off the team if he wanted?

Tobias Fünke;921153 wrote:It's pretty damn simple: if you don't have kids breaking the rules then you don't have to self-report yourself (as much).

An even simpler solution is the word "no." Tell recruits if they want to play at OSU they need to go to class, need to stay in dorms at least for freshman year, that if they accept jobs or money for goods that it goes through the compliance department. If they wish to deviate from this, tell them no. Someone needed to tell Pryor no.

Many schools manage to do this, and be successful.

I can't comprehend how these guys didn't get kicked off the team. They broke the rules, were caught, and suspended, then after all of that happened, they went out and broke the rules again. I'm all for forgiveness and second chances, but what they did was arrogant and willfully disobedient. This is the individual equivalent of SMU continuing to pay players after being caught. They should no longer be Buckeyes.

Writerbuckeye;921107 wrote:I used to believe it could be done right -- now I think it's all a joke. There isn't a clean program out there, and some (Alabama, LSU, Auburn) are making a total mockery of the NCAA and getting away with it.

Since the NCAA is a hypocritical sham and can't do things the way they're supposed to be done, I don't care if OSU plays the game or not. Obviously, self-reporting and trying to be transparent gets you nothing but grief and more penalties.

Where is the self reporting?

The catch 22 with OSU is that it is a big time city without a professional sports team. OSU gets the attention and financial backing that comes along with a pro team, yet they are not. For a top 20 city in the US the only other city similar is LA with USC and we saw their problems. Most colleges are in smaller cities where it's much easier to control things.

The worst part of it all is the OSU release said they are appealing to the NCAA for immediate reinstatement. What a disgrace.

thedynasty1998;921182 wrote:Where is the self reporting?

The catch 22 with OSU is that it is a big time city without a professional sports team. OSU gets the attention and financial backing that comes along with a pro team, yet they are not. For a top 20 city in the US the only other city similar is LA with USC and we saw their problems. Most colleges are in smaller cities where it's much easier to control things.

thedynasty1998;921192 wrote:The worst part of it all is the OSU release said they are appealing to the NCAA for immediate reinstatement. What a disgrace.

The self reporting is in how the NCAA got this information to begin with -- and probably since. I'm sure as OSU has gone through paperwork and e-mails, they've uncovered some of this crap. I doubt very much the NCAA has done all the legwork; it's not what they do in most of these cases. They have the schools provide the documents and then they verify stuff and accept it or they don't.

By the way, Columbus has two major league teams: An NHL franchise and a major league soccer team. Now, while I don't particularly think soccer is major league, there's a lot of people (and cities) that disagree. There is no disputing the NHL is major league, though. Do you know nothing about Columbus?

As far as reinstatement goes: I'd prefer they just boot the repeat offenders off the team and move forward, but it's not my call. Just another example of how Gene Smith has not done things the right way in much of this fiasco. I'm sure it will all be part of the reasons given when he's forced to resign or retire after the final NCAA rulings come out.

Writerbuckeye;921107 wrote:I used to believe it could be done right -- now I think it's all a joke. There isn't a clean program out there, and some (Alabama, LSU, Auburn) are making a total mockery of the NCAA and getting away with it.

Please inform us on the dirty stuff LSU is getting away with.

I used to believe it could be done right -- now I think it's all a joke. There isn't a clean program out there, and some (Alabama, LSU, Auburn) are making a total mockery of the NCAA and getting away with it.

Since the NCAA is a hypocritical sham and can't do things the way they're supposed to be done, I don't care if OSU plays the game or not. Obviously, self-reporting and trying to be transparent gets you nothing but grief and more penalties.

Yeah, writer,,,I've been posting this all summer and got nothing but shit for it. The NCAA rulebook is a joke, and almost impossible to comply with...,...over the years it has become a bloated mess...400 pages of picayune regulations that even the most well intentioned institutions violate. Only 4 BCS schools have never committed a major infraction....three are private institutions whose records are not open to public inspection.( Northwestern, Stanford, Boston College) Penn State is the only public institution.

In a den of thieves, there is no honor. All that matters is whether you get caught trying (or inadvertantly) circumventing the "rules". To the ones that cover their tracks the best goes the spoils.

I am a 'booster' of Ohio State University. I donated an extra $150 to the athletic scholarship fund when I purchased my football tickets. For that I recieved from OSU a 2 page long E-mail informing me that I am a 'booster' and as such I'm subject to NCAA regulations. Do you know that I cannot invite a local high school kid for dinner to promote OSU? I cannot even SPEAK to him about OSU without a coach being present if he is a POSSIBLE recruit. The list goes on.

It's stupid. Period. And for that we hold good people (Gene Smith, Jim Tressel) accountable....and we expect 19 year old kids to be perfect in compliance.

^^^

Care to tell me what major infraction Vanderbilt has had, other than ensure their athletes go to class and graduate and have among the highest SAT scores of any program?

And if Gene Smith is a good AD, I'm Mickey Mouse. He should be fired. Now.