Throw The Book At The Buckeyes

The Ohio State saga has reached its climax. The dramatic play, which originally people thought it was just five players being dumb and trying to make money could not have been farther from the truth.  Jim Tressel knew what happened and took over six months to inform the NCAA about the issue which means there is some real trouble.  Here are the specifics according to ESPN

In a 13-page indictment of Tressel's behavior, the NCAA alleged that Tressel had "permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics while ineligible." It also said he "failed to deport himself ... [with] honesty and integrity" and said he was lying when he filled out a compliance form in September which said he had no knowledge of any NCAA violations by any of his players.

All this time, I felt Tressel had class in college football, but I could not have been more wrong as he is a snake just like others in the college sports profession. With the latest case against Tressel, I think we need to start looking at college coaches the way we looked at baseball players when we got the idea that everyone took steroids.  All of these guys are cheaters. They lie, cheat, and steal in order to make their teams collectively better. The way Major League Baseball shut down steroids is they punish the players in a harsh, and made these players out to be pariahs of the sport.

The NCAA gave USC the business for having one illegal player (Reggie Bush) on the field therefore if Ohio State doesn't get a three-year bowl ban, I find it ridiculous.  Even if Terrelle Pryor and friends did not deliver the National Championship to Columbus, it doesn't excuse the fact these guys should not have been playing, and Tressel should have been suspended from the get-go.  People are calling for a year-long suspension for Tressel, but it's clear to me that he needs to be fired.

Remember when Eric posted a poll asking if Tressel needed to get fired a couple months ago?  An overwhelming amount of people said he would not get fired. I do wonder if things are different today, and it's funny to hear every Ohio State fan make up excuses for this why this happened.  If you want to find the truest form of how someone feels, it's ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit. Here are some of his comments via USA Today 

Just like I did, Kirk thought his alma mater had one of the good guys in college football when in reality, Tressel is no different than the other snakes lying in the weeds.

-Charlie.