J. Hall, C. (Pittsburgh) Brown, and T. Howard reinstated for Miami

[MaxBuck]

Yeah, God forbid some people voice some displeasure with the inconsistencies of cfb's governing body on a message board.

Maybe you could read all the shit I've written bemoaning this same thing. What peeves me is the mournful whine of fans who think it's all about them and some sort of vendetta they think the NCAA has toward them personally.

 

[NateG]

I understand both sides. I guess I fall more on the side of, if you break the rules at all, you leave yourself open to the NCAA screwing you and you really don't have any legs to stand on because you broke the rules. In the same way that if you lose a game in the regular season, you put yourself in a position to be left out of the title, it applies here too. Just learn that you can't break rules expecting to get away with it anymore. That might have worked in the past, but not anymore. The constant thing in life is change and college football is no different. Yesterday's methods do not work anymore. And when it's all said and done, if sitting them out one more game prevents further issues, then sit them and let's move on. It's Toledo not Sparty or Nebraska. We get Berry in the mix this week. Cryami will have no tape on what Hall was working on. Howard should be pissed and ready to go. I think this builds our depth going into the B1G conference and will be good for the team on the field. Hopefully this is the end of it all, small potatoes and get back to football.

 

[Bestbuck36]

So, since they are not suspended by the NCAA, what happens if the NCAA doesnt respond by next weekend? Do the coaches actually tell these kids that they cant play again next weekend vs Miami?

The NCAA could technically drag their fucking feet and not render a verdict before next Friday and the coaches have to make a decision. What then if the assholes contact tOSU on the following Monday, 10 days from now, and say, "Oh they should be reinstated. The typical suspension for that offense is only one game and they could have been reinstated last week."

Who tells the kids then that they should've been back to full privileges but were held out anyway? That would piss me off if I were a family member or player. 'Course, I wouldnt have taken the money without saying something about it a long time ago in the least.

 

[Gatorubet]

I don't know why anyone is surprised by anything the NCAA does anymore. The most shocking thing they could ever do is be consistent. Until then, expect complete and utter bull[Mark May]. Nothing more, nothing less.

Jacory & co. got 1 game for $150 (a number that I'm highly skeptical of, since a "night on the town" for other players reached over $1,000 on numerous occasions.) And although the circumstances may be different, Sharrif Floyd* accepted benefits of around $2,700 and got 2 games.

Keep it up NCAA, you've done well enforcing your Nazi rules.

* note: Sharrif should've never been suspended, IMO. But rules are rules.

I hear you. One difference is that Sharrif took his benefits before he committed to any program - before he enrolled in any University - before he sat through any compliance classes at his new school - and certainly not after his team mates and program had been the subject of fierce scrutiny and criticism for taking improper benefits, causing him to sit through remedial and intensive instruction on that very subject.

I get rules are rules - do an extent. That is why Sharrif is sitting again Saturday. What boggles my mind is how any one of those guys - after the [Mark May] storm fallout after December 2010 - could conclude it was a good idea to take cash from anyone, much less three of them.

 

[Steve19]

The recent revelations about cash payments put this matter in a different light. How could anyone, especially on an Ohio State team that is clearly under the microscope, take a cash payment?

The original story was that these guys were supporting a charity altruistically, and got nabbed when they took a goodie bag that all conference attendees received.

Now, we learn that they took cash payments and that they do not tell a consistent story about (a) who paid them and (b) why they were being paid (i.e., employment by the organizers).

So, I get why the NCAA is asking more questions. And I understand why they might very much be thinking about a stronger response to the matter under consideration. Their rules are not being considered by players across the USA, and this is a chance to make a statement with a "name" program that supposedly subscribes to high ethical ideals.

I also get why Ohio State fans are so angry. It seems like such an unfair situation. But, hasn't Ohio State always been under a microscope? Weren't these kids told repeatedly about stuff like this? With whom should Ohio State fans be most disappointed: the NCAA or these players?

I think the NCAA rules and their enforcement are a horrible, unjust joke and I am not in any way bashing these players. But, they brought this on themselves and their team. Avoiding this was as simple as using their cellphones to call OSU compliance officials before they took the cash. Are they really victims?

As frustrated as I feel with the NCAA, it seems clear to me that every one of these problems has been self-inflicted by Ohio State players. The means to end this nonsense is in the control of Ohio State players.

 

[BrutusBobcat]

At some point, one has to wonder if perhaps the compliance department here isn't quite the model of excellence it has been claimed to be.

You have failures in this case at several levels, including, apparently, the documentation of the incident sent to the NCAA. While you can't control what players do, there's no excuse for leaving ambiguity in the reporting process. This second game is all on someone's head in the athletic office and not on Indianapolis, from what I'm inferring from this story.

 

[bassbuckeye07]

 

[RB07OSU]

The recent revelations about cash payments put this matter in a different light. How could anyone, especially on an Ohio State team that is clearly under the microscope, take a cash payment?

The original story was that these guys were supporting a charity altruistically, and got nabbed when they took a goodie bag that all conference attendees received.

Now, we learn that they took cash payments and that they do not tell a consistent story about (a) who paid them and (b) why they were being paid (i.e., employment by the organizers).

So, I get why the NCAA is asking more questions. And I understand why they might very much be thinking about a stronger response to the matter under consideration. Their rules are not being considered by players across the USA, and this is a chance to make a statement with a "name" program that supposedly subscribes to high ethical ideals.

I also get why Ohio State fans are so angry. It seems like such an unfair situation. But, hasn't Ohio State always been under a microscope? Weren't these kids told repeatedly about stuff like this? With whom should Ohio State fans be most disappointed: the NCAA or these players?

I think the NCAA rules and their enforcement are a horrible, unjust joke and I am not in any way bashing these players. But, they brought this on themselves and their team. Avoiding this was as simple as using their cellphones to call OSU compliance officials before they took the cash. Are they really victims?

As frustrated as I feel with the NCAA, it seems clear to me that every one of these problems has been self-inflicted by Ohio State players. The means to end this nonsense is in the control of Ohio State players.

I was going to post a long-winded speech until I read this, and it covered everything. As sickened as I am with everything...c'mon guys, one simple call would've told them taking straight cash is NOT ok (if their common sense in the area didn't predicate such notions in the first place). At a point, whether you agree with the rules or not, you have to accept them and abide by them. If you don't, you pay. In this particular instance...you pay.

 

[zrooster99]

Why and how does Gene Smith still have a job right now????

 

[ysubuck]

Why and how does Gene Smith still have a job right now????

The fact that Jim Tressel lost his job and Gene Smith is still employed after this shit storm continues to swirl is borderline criminal.

It's obvious that compliance and Smith are not capable of getting the message across.

 

[sepia5]

I hear you. One difference is that Sharrif took his benefits before he committed to any program - before he enrolled in any University - before he sat through any compliance classes at his new school - and certainly not after his team mates and program had been the subject of fierce scrutiny and criticism for taking improper benefits, causing him to sit through remedial and intensive instruction on that very subject.

I agree with all of this except the bolded part. The sins of the program shouldn't affect an individual player's punishment for his discrete violation of NCAA rules. Punish the program with losses of scholarships and bowl bans for endemic problems if you will. However, that sort of problem shouldn't affect the punishment for an individual player.

I know people are going to laugh at this, but does the NCAA even have attorneys working these cases? It's as if the NCAA has no grasp of concepts like procedural and substantive due process, relevancy, equity, precedence, and transparency. It's like they've got a bunch of monkeys stowed away in a dark room in a hidden corner of South Dakota throwing darts at a poster with various penalties scribbled on it.

I get rules are rules - do an extent. That is why Sharrif is sitting again Saturday. What boggles my mind is how any one of those guys - after the [Mark May] storm fallout after December 2010 - could conclude it was a good idea to take cash from anyone, much less three of them.

If this did just happen recently (I haven't seen that determined definitively, but I assume I just missed it), I can't agree enough. It's time for the school to have a zero tolerance policy with the football scholarship athletes, IMO. You knowingly take impermissible benefits, you're done for the year. That can be relaxed at a latter time, but this [Mark May] is beyond comprehension at this point. Being presented with a gift bag at a charity event is ambiguous; being handed $200 in an envelope is not.

 

[BB73]

Once again, it seems like the way tOSU handled this has made it worse. If they had said in the original press release that the guys had taken $200 cash, it could have been dealt with in one news cycle. Instead, we're allowed to hope that it might have been just gift bags, and then the story gets worse a few days later, and another negative news story gets released.

Can't they figure out what happened, completely disclose it in one fell swoop, and have the length of the suspension determined properly? And since the $200 still falls in the $100-$300 (10% of the season) window, the reason for the suspension being more than 1 game may still not have been revealed. The NCAA is acting like there is something else involved.

The folks in charge of compliance and PR areas have had a succession of failures over the last several months, and that all falls under the control of Gene Smith.

As an aside, I think the 2 game suspension for Sharrif Floyd is appropriate. It was a large amount of money, but the hardship clause to cut it from 4 games to 2 games was the proper move in that case.

 

[Pheasant]

Once again, it seems like the way tOSU handled this has made it worse. If they had said in the original press release that the guys had taken $200 cash, it could have been dealt with in one news cycle. Instead, we're allowed to hope that it might have been just gift bags, and then the story gets worse a few days later, and another negative news story gets released.

Can't they figure out what happened, completely disclose it in one fell swoop, and have the length of the suspension determined properly? And since the $200 still falls in the $100-$300 (10% of the season) window, the reason for the suspension being more than 1 game may still not have been revealed. The NCAA is acting like there is something else involved.

The folks in charge of compliance and PR areas have had a succession of failures over the last several months, and that all falls under the control of Gene Smith.

As an aside, I think the 2 game suspension for Sharrif Floyd is appropriate. It was a large amount of money, but the hardship clause to cut it from 4 games to 2 games was the proper move in that case.

There's a guy in every workplace that drops jaws at his ability to not get fired despite overwhelming evidence he can't do his job. Gene Smith is that guy at Ohio State.

 

[Taosman]

There does seem to be some confusion about "the minimum punishment" for benefits. Miami players are getting just a one game suspension?
How does that work? Maybe the NCAA will "clarify" it's stance to The U and their players will get the minimum 2-fer?

 

[Wingate1217]

Once again, it seems like the way tOSU handled this has made it worse. If they had said in the original press release that the guys had taken $200 cash, it could have been dealt with in one news cycle. Instead, we're allowed to hope that it might have been just gift bags, and then the story gets worse a few days later, and another negative news story gets released.

Can't they figure out what happened, completely disclose it in one fell swoop, and have the length of the suspension determined properly? And since the $200 still falls in the $100-$300 (10% of the season) window, the reason for the suspension being more than 1 game may still not have been revealed. The NCAA is acting like there is something else involved.

The folks in charge of compliance and PR areas have had a succession of failures over the last several months, and that all falls under the control of Gene Smith.

As an aside, I think the 2 game suspension for Sharrif Floyd is appropriate. It was a large amount of money, but the hardship clause to cut it from 4 games to 2 games was the proper move in that case.

Playing devil's advocate here.....What if the players were not forthcoming and gave OSU the impression that it was just gift bags only for them to recant their story after additional investigation and pressure by OSU and the NCAA......then I could see the reason for the multiple changes in the press releases and the NCAA taking their time on this one....