Jim Tressel (National Champion, ex-President, Youngstown State University, CFB HOF)

[muffler dragon]

Re: Dan asked Tressel which he'd ideally like to have join the Big Ten. Tressel wouldn't comment directly on the odds of Notre Dame joining the conference. Tressel said one downside is that Notre Dame wouldn't enlarge the geographic reach of the conference. Tressel asked if Notre Dame would add market. Tressel also said there are lots of other factors.

That's not exactly true, as Notre Dame has a substantial "national following". There are a significant number of Notre Dame fans in every state in the union.

I changed the emphasis, because I actually got to hear this conversation. The biggest factor I gleaned was regarding the educational standpoint. It's been written about quite a bit on this forum, but not many know it outside: ND is NOT a great graduate/post-graduate academic institution. Regardless of what a school may bring for one or more sports, they must be the entire package. ND is not even close.

 

[generaladm]

Re: Dan asked Tressel which he'd ideally like to have join the Big Ten. Tressel wouldn't comment directly on the odds of Notre Dame joining the conference. Tressel said one downside is that Notre Dame wouldn't enlarge the geographic reach of the conference. Tressel asked if Notre Dame would add market. Tressel also said there are lots of other factors.

That's not exactly true, as Notre Dame has a substantial "national following". There are a significant number of Notre Dame fans in every state in the union.

Notre Dame is already in the Big Ten footprint. Adding a team in a non B10 state (NY, PA, WV, KY) would force those regional network affiliates to show more B10 games than they do now, as compared to Big East, ACC, or whatever. ND fans in CA are unlikely to affect that sort of change in coverage, although some of the big name games (OSU, PSU)) would probably get wider audiences. Just speculating, but I'd think that aspect would be a big consideration.

 

[MaxBuck]

... Adding a team in a non B10 state (NY, PA, WV, KY) ...

 

[Buckskin86]

Buckeye Banter | Jim Tressel In Iraq On Goodwill Mission
by Kristofer Green (Senior Writer)
May 29, 2009

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel had to ask his wife if he still had a passport.

"I've never been overseas in my life, even though my kids have," Tressel said. "I had to get a passport one other time, maybe seven or eight years ago, for a Nike thing in Mexico. I've got one stamp on it."

Tressel now has a few more stamps in his passport.

The coach, along with fellow coaches Mack Brown (Texas), Houston Nutt (Ole Miss), Rick Neuheisel (UCLA), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Troy Calhoun (Air Force), and former Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville departed for Iraq on Wednesday.

The eight-day tour, a Goodwill Mission sponsored by the Department of Defense and Armed Forces Entertainment, marks the second straight year that college football coaches will visit military installations overseas, including those in the Middle East.

Besides Iraq, the group is also expected to visit sites in the United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan, Germany, Turkey, Kuwait, Africa, and possibly Spain. Exact bases and dates are kept confidential for security reasons.

Tuberville, who made the trip in 2008, described the immediate adjustment the coaches would have to make.

The flight time to the Middle East is about 20 hours, all on a military cargo plane flying into a hostile environment and the average temperature in Iraq this time of year eclipses 100.

"It's a real hard trip in terms of the travel and the nine-hour time difference," said Tuberville, who still described the 2008 trip as gratifying. "It did more for us as coaches than it did for the troops."

Tressel acknowledged his father is one of the reasons he is making the trip.

In 1943, Tressel said his father, Dr. Lee Tressel, had been one of the standouts in Ohio State's spring game, throwing and catching touchdown passes with Les Horvath.

Though he had been recruited by coach Paul Brown, the elder Tressel enlisted in the Navy shortly after and headed to Northeast Ohio for training. He ended up serving in the South Pacific, although not in the heat of battle.

Tressel also gives credit to legendary Buckeye coach Woody Hayes.

''I remember growing up when coach [Woody) Hayes went over to visit the troops and I thought that was an awesome thing,'' Tressel said. ''We all grew up watching Bob Hope's USO tours.

''For our men and women serving, it's almost like Groundhog Day. Every day they get up and have got to do the same thing. It's tough duty. To bring a little bit of home to them and talk football and wear their colors, it's a tremendous honor. I'm sure it's going to be an extraordinary experience.''

Buckeye Banter | Jim Tressel In Iraq On Goodwill Mission | Bleacher Report

 

[sparcboxbuck]

Never have and never will count as part of the B10...

Chicago ESPN (yeah, I know...) evening drive last night some ass gets on the radio and starts talking about the Rose GPA / SAT story... starts talking about how clean some programs are and then cites Blo-PA and his staff... It's a good thing I was in the middle of shifting at that point, I would have face-punched my radio.

Screw Blo-Pa and his staff... yeah, and tsun still sucks.

Wow... that feels much better.

 

[Buckskin86]

Coaches visit Ramstein
By Jennifer H. Svan, mStars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, May 31, 2009

Ben Bloker / S&S
Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Hagemann, center, with wife Debbie and sons Dalton and Dylan, watches as football coach Jim Tressel of Ohio State signs a copy of his book Friday at Ramstein Air Base's Southside Fitness Center. Seven current and former college football coaches from across the U.S. made the stop during their e 2009 coaches tour that will also take them to Turkey, Djibouti and Iraq. Hagemann, a soldier assigned to U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, is from Columbus, Ohio.

Ben Bloker / S&S
Chase Casidy, wearing a Future Buckeye shirt, hangs out with dad, Chris Casidy, during a question-and-answer period with seven curent and former NCAA football coaches from across the U.S. Friday at Ramstein Air Base's Southside Fitness Center. After the Q-and-A, coaches signed T-shirts, hats and other memorabilia for all the fans. Their visit was part of the 2009 coaches tour that will also take them to Turkey, Djibouti and Iraq. RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany ? Houston Nutt wasn?t the only nut in the crowd.

Brown and Ohio State University?s Jim Tressel drew the longest lines of the day. They sat at a long table strewn with team memorabilia, flanking coaches Jim Grobe of Wake Forest, UCLA?s Rick Neuheisel, Troy Calhoun of the Air Force Academy, Nutt and former Auburn head coach Tommy Tuberville.

"I got a shirt, a book, and I got my (Ohio State) lunch box signed," said Master Sgt. Robert Williams, 39, with a hearty laugh, "so I make sure I take care of that."

Of all the Buckeye fans lined up to see Tressel, the Hagemann family in their various-sized team jerseys were most noticeable. And they had stories to back up the uniform. Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Hagemann, 29, and his wife, Debbie, drove almost two hours from Wiesbaden with their two young sons. That was nothing, however, compared to the trans-Atlantic flight they made to watch Ohio State play ? and lose to ? Florida in the national championship title game two years ago, they said. The couple from Columbus, Ohio, got engaged in "the Shoe" ? the Buckeyes? stadium ? and 3-month-old Dylan met Tressel Friday wearing a red Ohio State bib.

"We?ve got about a dozen of these at home," Hagemann said. "I wanted him to wear the one that says ?I slobber scarlet and gray,? but that one was dirty."

Coaches visit Ramstein | Stars and Stripes

 

[Buckskin86]

June 1, 2009
Live from Iraq. . . .it's Jim Tressel
Coach Jim Tressel is on his tour of American military bases in the Middle East. He left last Wednesday and is due to return late this Thursday.

Many thanks to Patrick Hoeffel for sending us this write-up and photo of Tressel's visit.

http://blog.dispatch.com/buckeyesblog/2009/06/live_from_iraq_its_jim_tressel.shtml

June 01
GO BUCKS! 2009 Coaches Tour
O-H --- I-O

"O-H" came the voice again, booming over the buzz of the air conditioners and the chatter of the collected assembly of college football fans. "I-O" came the refrain again, louder than last time. "O-H" again, rising to a shout. "I-O" rose the chorus, feverish and full.

It could have happened anywhere in America, and does, I suspect, on Saturdays in the Fall. Not often does it happen in Iraq, but today it did! One other team had a supporter that tried her best to sing her fight song, but no one came close to the typically vociferous offering of the Buckeye faithful. Baghdad or back yard, Buckeye Nation lives wherever hearts bleed scarlet and gray.

It's very fun to walk across a parking lot and out of nowhere have someone greet you not with, "Hello," or, "Good morning," but with a cheerful, "O-H." The reply of, "I-O," is now automatic, almost involuntary. "Go Bucks!" you find yourself saying as the two of you pass. My buddy from California just shakes his head, secretly wishing he could be part of the couture that is being a Buckeye.

GO BUCKS! 2009 Coaches Tour - Windows Live

 

[generaladm]

O-Zone (free)

Email from soldier in Iraq.

Update on OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel's Visit to Iraq

By The-Ozone Staff The-Ozone received the following email from Iraq this morning:

Mr Ed

​

My name is Tom Byrd and I am the Battalion Commander of the 93D Military Police Battalion. We are responsible for training the Iraqi Police in western Baghdad from Taramiyah in the north, Abu Ghraib in the west and to Mamudyiah in the south. I can tell you that I am truly humbled that I have the distinct honor and privilege to serve with young men and women that display the type of caliber that our Soldiers demonstrate here each and every day in Iraq.

Ground hog day is a term that is used often over here except for today, today, we had guests from the states that for a few minutes distracted our thoughts from the heat and risk that we face each day as well roll out the wire. The Sweater vest himself, Coach Tressel was here in Camp Liberty (Baghdad) as part of the 2009 coaches tour along with Mack Brown and a few others. He looked very tired, but he was hanging tough signing flags/pictures etc....for the Soldiers. Don't think that he understands what this means to our young troops (even old ones like me) and how this affects the morale...especially on days when it is starting to hit 110+ outside, add another 30 degrees with the body armor. What is amazing is Coach and the others freely give of their time to come over here and see our young hero's and short of the smiles and handshakes, they get nothing in return.

As a Battalion Commander with 1300 Soldiers, a Commanders coin is used to recognize outstanding performance. After Coach Tress autographed a picture congratulating my spouse and I on 18 years of marriage, I presented him a commander's coin of excellence for all the significant accomplishments since his arrival at OSU...including a 7-1 record against Michigan. I will try to forward a few pictures, if you want to hang on the board then hooah, I have no issue with it.

Regards

Tom Byrd

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features​

Return to the-OZone Front Page​

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif](c) 2009 The O-Zone, O-Zone Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
[/FONT][FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]This material may not be published, rebroadcast,rewritten, or redistributed. [/FONT]​

 

[Buckskin86]

Pics from Ozone...

The-Ozone, Ohio State Football, Wrestling, Softball, Basketball, Hockey, Baseball and More

 

[osugrad21]

ABJ

Tressel inspires Buckeyes in Iraq By Jim Carney
Beacon Journal staff writer

Published on Thursday, Jun 04, 2009

U.S. Army 1st Lt. Christopher C. Shaffer had a Buckeye moment in Baghdad.
Shaffer got to meet Ohio State University football coach Jim Tressel this week during Tressel's visit to Iraq, as part of what is called Coaches Tour 2009.
During the meeting, Shaffer, 25, a 2002 graduate of Twinsburg High School who earlier attended St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, along with Tressel and two others did what Buckeye fans around the world tend to do: They made the O-H-I-O formation.
Shaffer, son of Jamie Maloy of Lake Township and Chris Shaffer of Twinsburg, is a 2006 OSU graduate who majored in history.
The coach's visit, Shaffer said, was a great opportunity and morale booster for the troops.
''It is really great to know that he supports our efforts over here,'' Shaffer said.
Cont...

 

[BB73]

Some video of JT on the Coaches tour.

Official.site

 

[osugrad21]

DFP

Ohio State's Jim Tressel among coaches to sleep in Saddam's palace

POSTED BY KIRKLAND CRAWFORD ? FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER ? June 4, 2009


While visiting U.S. troops abroad several college football coaches got the chance to spend a night in one of Saddam Hussein's old palaces.

One name that may stick out the most, at least to folks around Michigan, is Ohio State coach Jim Tressel.

The Buckeyes boss joined fellow national champion Mack Brown, of Texas, along with UCLA's Rick Neuheisel, Wake Forest's Jim Grobe, Air Force's Troy Calhoun, Mississippi's Houston Nutt and Tommy Tuberville, formerly of Auburn.

The coaches were scheduled to return states-side today, according to the Los Angeles Times. Sorry, U-M fans, that includes Tressel.

 

[osugrad21]

CPD

As for Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, he hasn't even heard of Twitter.com, the social media site that allows people to express their thoughts in bursts of 140 characters or fewer.
"[Is that] like if I say, I get on my little phone deal and I say I just finished my press conference, I'm going out to lunch, so that the whole world knows that?" Tressel asked when someone questioned him about his Twitter abilities. "I don't have one. Do you do it on your phone? I don't. I don't have a Twitter on my phone, if that's what it's called."
Count Tressel among the minority of celebrities who don't "tweet" these days. Twitter allows fans to hear the minute-to-minute musings of celebrities and athletes who typically are inaccessible, and it allows athletes to share their thoughts with fans without going through traditional media.

 

[Buckeye86]

from ourhonordefend.com

 

[BB73]

Here are several dozen shots of JT on his tour.

Official.site