Surprise! Jim Tressel resigned this past Monday. In the wake of new allegations, set forth by a Sports Illustrated "ground breaking" article authored by George Dohrmann, Ohio State sits under more scrutiny from the NCAA, national media, and fans. Apparently this was supposed to be some sort of in depth investigation that was going to reveal a bunch of new information that would lead to the further demise of the present Ohio State Buckeyes. Really?
This article has already been discredited by one of the "sources" listed, Ray Isaac refuted information listed in this article. Dohrmann eludes to the fact that everyone knew about Isaac's dealings with a well known booster. The problem is, nobody knew about those dealings until that booster was indicted for felonies, and Isaac was tied to it. The rest of Dohrmann's attacks on this issue are all opinions. On what he actually knew, or that he was just ignorant to everything, these are opinions. There are no facts laid out that accurately identifies that Jim Tressel did or did not know about dealings with his quarterback at Youngstown State. Opinions... that's what wins a Pulitzer Prize.... really? I have a lot of opinions... this guy's a tool.
Moving to present days, Dohrmann spans the past 10 years of Tressel's reign at Ohio State. He references how adored Tressel is/was in Ohio, because of the image he portrays. Then he "digs deep" into the past of Ohio State players and their dealings. There's a bunch of "anonymous sources" who wished to not be named in fear of "retribution." Credible. Anonymous sources say that Dohrmann wrote a huge editorial on why he hates Ohio State. He references Maurice Clarette, and his wrong doings. Clarette initially plead the fifth (basically) in interviews about his dealings, but a year later, when he was out of OSU and the NFL (and on his way to jail), he said he didn't want to say anything because he didn't want to rat out coaches or players. He didn't actually say it, but he implied that coaches knew.... obviously that means that Tressel had to know about it. Oh.. and then Maurice went to jail for awhile, got out, went back to OSU for a quarter, and then joined the UFL. Guess what he didn't do? Answer questions for this article. He declined to comment.
Troy Smith was suspended for two games for receiving a staggering and appalling $500 from a booster. He was suspended, rightfully so (regardless of how ridiculous the rules are, they are the rules). Why would Tressel have to know about that type of transaction? What can you really do with $500 that would raise eyebrows? Chris Gamble was allegedly linked to receiving improper benefits, but nothing was ever found on him. Tressel must have covered that up too, he's like Houdini.. or Penn... or Teller.
And then the tattoos. From 2002 through 2010/today, apparently almost 40 current and former players traded memorabilia for cash, tattoos, and weed. How do we know this? Because 3-5 current or former felons said so. Have you ever watched Law and Order: SVU? Or probably any of the Law and Order Series... I only watch SVU, it's the best. Did you know Stabler is leaving?! I don't know what I'm going to do without Elliot's classic one liners, like when a body was found in a septic system, and he spit out this masterpiece: "He must have really known his crap." Who writes these!? Genius!
Alas, I digress... The point I'm making is the hot D.A. never banks on testimony from other/former Pedophiles and drug addicts. Why? Because they're not credible. Oh, it's okay, the guy who is still in jail said "Why would I lie?" Never mind, he's obviously proven that he's a trustworthy individual.. in his third stint in jail. It's funny, because there were people who refuted those claims, except they're quotes were far smaller than the quotes of the people alleging the wrongdoing.
Dohrmann did do us the favor in specifying how much tattoos are worth, and how expensive those sleeves are you see on all of the Ohio State football players. How could they afford such tattoos? These thug Ohio State football players and their tattooed arms, how could Tressel not suspect anything about those? Um.... have you watched any of team in NCAA, football OR basketball? Have you noticed the tattoos? Ohio State is not the only school that has athletes with tattoos. Why weren't those tattoos investigated? Dohrmann is such a top-notch investigative reporter, why wouldn't he look into the dealings of any player with tattoos? Have you gone to a school that wasn't Ohio State? Have you seen the cars they drive? Have you seen their tattoos? Did you care? I didn't think so.
Here's the thing: Tressel, as much as we love him, did deserve to resign/get fired. You can't lie to your boss. There is no circumstance where lying to your bosses for your own benefit, or anyone else's benefit, is okay, unless you're telling the truth to your boss's boss. I would have still cheered if he stayed, but the more that these slanderous articles come out, the bigger hit OSU would take if Tressel was still the face of the Buckeyes. Slanderous, I say? Yes, slanderous, because most of what is written is opinion meant to deface the reputation of Ohio State, by implying that OSU conducts business in an unethical manner. If a McDonald's associate messes up your order, and you write an article saying that McDonald's Corporation intentionally serves the wrong items and has maximum age of 18 OR a maximum IQ of 30, then that's slander. Maybe that's not a great example.. but you get the point. I worked at Best Buy, I no longer do. I can't make generalizations about the company because I may, or may not, have had bosses that I didn't like, and did things in a way I disagreed with. Sure, I could find other current, or former, employees with axes to grind, but that doesn't make it true. The only truth in all of this that has been proven, is that Tressel covered up an instance involving 6 players, directly relating to a specific Tattoo parlor, indicated by email conversations.
Here's another thing: Pryor needs to go. We don't need him. He's going to miss AT LEAST 5 games this year. We have a backup who is capable, and a 4 star recruit to replace him. He's caused more problems than he's worth (since we didn't win a BCS Championship, it's true) and is completely oblivious to his image. How do you show up to a press conference in a new pimped out ride with huge rims, when people were just speculating that you've had at least 8 different cars over the past 3 years? Really? Come on man, get smart. Have fun playing quarterback in the CFL.
The biggest problem I have with Dohrmann's article is the political tactics within it. The selective drops of "Ohio State declined to make Pryor available for comment" are clever. These are sprinkled throughout the article, to make it sound like the people who decline to comment have something to hide. It is written in a way that you hear allegations, and testimony, but you don't get the cross-examination. Only witnesses who had testimony to support Dohrmann's stance were given a spot in the article. Are you telling me that everyone agreed with everything these witnesses said? This was supposed to be a ground breaking article, revealing facts that nobody knew existed. Surprisingly, most of my Sports Radio people brushed this article off. Even Colin Cowherd, who notoriously takes shots at OSU, said this article didn't reveal anything compelling. It's a bunch of opinions, all towards the same goal, written in a way to make you want to hate Ohio State, much like many of my opinionated articles are written to make you hate the Miami Heat. At least I admit that I'm anti-Heat... maybe this Pulitzer Prize winner should admit that he's anti-Buckeye. Good work, Chief.
This article has already been discredited by one of the "sources" listed, Ray Isaac refuted information listed in this article. Dohrmann eludes to the fact that everyone knew about Isaac's dealings with a well known booster. The problem is, nobody knew about those dealings until that booster was indicted for felonies, and Isaac was tied to it. The rest of Dohrmann's attacks on this issue are all opinions. On what he actually knew, or that he was just ignorant to everything, these are opinions. There are no facts laid out that accurately identifies that Jim Tressel did or did not know about dealings with his quarterback at Youngstown State. Opinions... that's what wins a Pulitzer Prize.... really? I have a lot of opinions... this guy's a tool.
Moving to present days, Dohrmann spans the past 10 years of Tressel's reign at Ohio State. He references how adored Tressel is/was in Ohio, because of the image he portrays. Then he "digs deep" into the past of Ohio State players and their dealings. There's a bunch of "anonymous sources" who wished to not be named in fear of "retribution." Credible. Anonymous sources say that Dohrmann wrote a huge editorial on why he hates Ohio State. He references Maurice Clarette, and his wrong doings. Clarette initially plead the fifth (basically) in interviews about his dealings, but a year later, when he was out of OSU and the NFL (and on his way to jail), he said he didn't want to say anything because he didn't want to rat out coaches or players. He didn't actually say it, but he implied that coaches knew.... obviously that means that Tressel had to know about it. Oh.. and then Maurice went to jail for awhile, got out, went back to OSU for a quarter, and then joined the UFL. Guess what he didn't do? Answer questions for this article. He declined to comment.
Troy Smith was suspended for two games for receiving a staggering and appalling $500 from a booster. He was suspended, rightfully so (regardless of how ridiculous the rules are, they are the rules). Why would Tressel have to know about that type of transaction? What can you really do with $500 that would raise eyebrows? Chris Gamble was allegedly linked to receiving improper benefits, but nothing was ever found on him. Tressel must have covered that up too, he's like Houdini.. or Penn... or Teller.
And then the tattoos. From 2002 through 2010/today, apparently almost 40 current and former players traded memorabilia for cash, tattoos, and weed. How do we know this? Because 3-5 current or former felons said so. Have you ever watched Law and Order: SVU? Or probably any of the Law and Order Series... I only watch SVU, it's the best. Did you know Stabler is leaving?! I don't know what I'm going to do without Elliot's classic one liners, like when a body was found in a septic system, and he spit out this masterpiece: "He must have really known his crap." Who writes these!? Genius!
Alas, I digress... The point I'm making is the hot D.A. never banks on testimony from other/former Pedophiles and drug addicts. Why? Because they're not credible. Oh, it's okay, the guy who is still in jail said "Why would I lie?" Never mind, he's obviously proven that he's a trustworthy individual.. in his third stint in jail. It's funny, because there were people who refuted those claims, except they're quotes were far smaller than the quotes of the people alleging the wrongdoing.
Dohrmann did do us the favor in specifying how much tattoos are worth, and how expensive those sleeves are you see on all of the Ohio State football players. How could they afford such tattoos? These thug Ohio State football players and their tattooed arms, how could Tressel not suspect anything about those? Um.... have you watched any of team in NCAA, football OR basketball? Have you noticed the tattoos? Ohio State is not the only school that has athletes with tattoos. Why weren't those tattoos investigated? Dohrmann is such a top-notch investigative reporter, why wouldn't he look into the dealings of any player with tattoos? Have you gone to a school that wasn't Ohio State? Have you seen the cars they drive? Have you seen their tattoos? Did you care? I didn't think so.
Here's the thing: Tressel, as much as we love him, did deserve to resign/get fired. You can't lie to your boss. There is no circumstance where lying to your bosses for your own benefit, or anyone else's benefit, is okay, unless you're telling the truth to your boss's boss. I would have still cheered if he stayed, but the more that these slanderous articles come out, the bigger hit OSU would take if Tressel was still the face of the Buckeyes. Slanderous, I say? Yes, slanderous, because most of what is written is opinion meant to deface the reputation of Ohio State, by implying that OSU conducts business in an unethical manner. If a McDonald's associate messes up your order, and you write an article saying that McDonald's Corporation intentionally serves the wrong items and has maximum age of 18 OR a maximum IQ of 30, then that's slander. Maybe that's not a great example.. but you get the point. I worked at Best Buy, I no longer do. I can't make generalizations about the company because I may, or may not, have had bosses that I didn't like, and did things in a way I disagreed with. Sure, I could find other current, or former, employees with axes to grind, but that doesn't make it true. The only truth in all of this that has been proven, is that Tressel covered up an instance involving 6 players, directly relating to a specific Tattoo parlor, indicated by email conversations.
Here's another thing: Pryor needs to go. We don't need him. He's going to miss AT LEAST 5 games this year. We have a backup who is capable, and a 4 star recruit to replace him. He's caused more problems than he's worth (since we didn't win a BCS Championship, it's true) and is completely oblivious to his image. How do you show up to a press conference in a new pimped out ride with huge rims, when people were just speculating that you've had at least 8 different cars over the past 3 years? Really? Come on man, get smart. Have fun playing quarterback in the CFL.
The biggest problem I have with Dohrmann's article is the political tactics within it. The selective drops of "Ohio State declined to make Pryor available for comment" are clever. These are sprinkled throughout the article, to make it sound like the people who decline to comment have something to hide. It is written in a way that you hear allegations, and testimony, but you don't get the cross-examination. Only witnesses who had testimony to support Dohrmann's stance were given a spot in the article. Are you telling me that everyone agreed with everything these witnesses said? This was supposed to be a ground breaking article, revealing facts that nobody knew existed. Surprisingly, most of my Sports Radio people brushed this article off. Even Colin Cowherd, who notoriously takes shots at OSU, said this article didn't reveal anything compelling. It's a bunch of opinions, all towards the same goal, written in a way to make you want to hate Ohio State, much like many of my opinionated articles are written to make you hate the Miami Heat. At least I admit that I'm anti-Heat... maybe this Pulitzer Prize winner should admit that he's anti-Buckeye. Good work, Chief.
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