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NOT another one.....More piss poor Journalism

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AkronBuckeye

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OSU fans turn blind eye to Tressel's troubles.....:mad2: :mad2:


Published January 14, 2005

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel .....

It doesn't matter that his program is perceived as one of the dirtiest in college football. About 100 members of the local Ohio State booster club still raucously cheered Buckeyes Coach Jim Tressel the other day at the Citrus Bowl as he approached them after putting his North squad through practice for Saturday's Villages Gridiron Classic.

They sat and laughed at every joke Tressel told, stood in line for his autograph, waited to have their picture taken with him. What's a few possible NCAA violations when you've brought a football-fanatical school its first national title in more than three decades?

"Doesn't matter where you are, there's always a bunch of Buckeye fans," said Maurice Hall, a tailback from Ohio State who's on the North team. "Our fans are the best. They love us."

As Maurice Clarett has shown us, sometimes Ohio State boosters love their team too much. Way too much.

Predictably, Ohio State's administration at first tried to paint Clarett as a lying malcontent after he told ESPN the Magazine that he and others had received free cash, cars and grades at OSU. Athletic Director Andy Geiger even went so far as to call Clarett and other former players who corroborated the story "colossal failures."

A few weeks later -- after Ohio State suspended starting quarterback Troy Smith from the Alamo Bowl for taking cash from a booster -- Geiger looked like a colossal idiot, and Clarett looked like a prophet. Geiger since has announced his retirement and will leave behind a program that seems bound for the NCAA jailhouse.

But what about Tressel? Why is he still working? The booster who gave money to Smith is an acquaintance of Tressel's and once played football for Tressel's father. One of the free loaner cars Clarett alleges to have received was given to him by Tressel's car dealer.

Tressel is so slick, you almost believe him when he explains the reason he set up a meeting between Clarett and the car dealer. It wasn't to break the rules; it was to keep from breaking the rules.

"I knew the person I was sending Maurice to would know the rules," Tressel says. "The last thing you want is for your players to go somewhere where they might get preferential treatment."

Uh-huh.

Tressel isn't just a great coach; he's a great salesman. When he came to Ohio State from Division I-AA Youngstown State (where -- surprise, surprise -- charges since have surfaced about boosters paying players on Tressel's watch), Tressel sold himself as a disciplinarian who would clean up the sullied program left behind by former coach John Cooper.

Looking like Mister Rogers in his sweater vest and boyish haircut, Tressel required his players to stay on the field and sing "Carmen Ohio" -- the school alma mater -- after every game. He said his players would make Ohio State proud "on and off the field."

Uh-huh.

In Tressel's four years, 15 players have been arrested, and there is strong evidence boosters paid his players, tutors wrote papers for his players and instructors fixed grades for his players. Congratulations, Buckeyes; you have completed the transgressional hat trick.

A coach can't know everything a player does off the field, but is it too much to ask for a coach to know something?

Then again, it doesn't matter to the fans. Not when Tressel has delivered them a national title and is 3-1 against Michigan.

"We love you, Coach," one booster called out as Tressel left the Citrus Bowl the other day.

Love is blind.

Almost as blind as coaches who close their eyes to the corruption around them.

[email protected].
Copyright © 2005, Orlando Sentinel |
 
and there is strong evidence boosters paid his players, tutors wrote papers for his players and instructors fixed grades for his players.
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I think this part is a stretch......if their was evidence, the NCAA would be all over it. Just another reporter who wants to pile on. The article paints Coach Tressel as a liar and questions his integrity. Its pathetic.
 
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Jacksonville Times Union.

He got pissed at me when I wrote to him and asked him what's it like not even being the best sportswriter in his own household? (His wife is Kelly Whiteside of the USA Today).
 
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Brutus1 said:
Jacksonville Times Union.

He got pissed at me when I wrote to him and asked him what's it like not even being the best sportswriter in his own household? (His wife is Kelly Whiteside of the USA Today).
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When he got the job I e-mailed him and asked if this was the same MF that was dishonest on his resume and he responded back with 'yes, like you didn't know'. Something like that.
I was surprised he e-mailed me back.

I just e-mailed this jerk and noted his lack of journalistic integrity by bashing JT with no facts or truth's to back it up.

Also had fun with the TS thing corroborating MoC.
 
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It's Mike Beeyatchi folks, does this surprise you? He was the guy that even Herbstreit ripped a new one on his radio show for the crap he was writing prior to the championship game. There is no bigger Buckeye hater, so what do you expect? Below is an article from 2003 where he said we should give the title back:

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/colleges/6378461.htm?1c


Who gives a crap what this Dungeons and Dragons outcast has to say?



Time for <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> to forfeit national title<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>

<?xml:namespace prefix = v ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" /><v:shapetype id=_x0000_t75 stroked="f" filled="f" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" coordsize="21600,21600"><v:stroke joinstyle="miter"></v:stroke><v:formulas><v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0"></v:f><v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight"></v:f><v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0"></v:f></v:formulas><v:path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t" o:extrusionok="f"></v:path><o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit"></o:lock></v:shapetype><v:shape id=_x0000_i1025 style="WIDTH: 0.75pt; HEIGHT: 0.75pt" type="#_x0000_t75" alt=""><v:imagedata o:href=\"http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif\" src="file:///C:biggrin:OCUME~1CHRIST~1.NELLOCALS~1Tempmsohtml11clip_image001.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>
BY MIKE BIANCHI
<v:shape id=_x0000_i1026 style="WIDTH: 0.75pt; HEIGHT: 0.75pt" type="#_x0000_t75" alt=""><v:imagedata o:href=\"http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif\" src="file:///C:biggrin:OCUME~1CHRIST~1.NELLOCALS~1Tempmsohtml11clip_image001.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape>
The <st1:City><st1:place>Orlando</st1:place></st1:City> Sentinel
<v:shape id=_x0000_i1027 style="WIDTH: 0.75pt; HEIGHT: 0.75pt" type="#_x0000_t75" alt=""><v:imagedata o:href=\"http://www.charlotte.com/images/common/spacer.gif\" src="file:///C:biggrin:OCUME~1CHRIST~1.NELLOCALS~1Tempmsohtml11clip_image001.gif"></v:imagedata></v:shape><o:p></o:p>

<st1:place><st1:City><!-- begin body-content -->ORLANDO</st1:City>, <st1:State>Fla.</st1:State></st1:place> - (KRT) - Hello, <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> fans.<o:p></o:p>

It's me again.<o:p></o:p>

Remember?<o:p></o:p>

I'm the guy who predicted <st1:City><st1:place>Miami</st1:place></st1:City> would stomp you in the Fiesta Bowl, then received more than 2,000 of your indignant e-mails afterward calling me an idiot.<o:p></o:p>

Well, I've been checking my e-mail for more than a week now, and I have heard from nary a one of you about the latest academic fraud involving the player who led you to that tainted title. Not one apology. Not one fan willing to stand up and say, "You were right. We cheated to win that national championship."<o:p></o:p>

It's time for you Buckeyes to do the right thing: Forfeit the title. Give it back. You won it for two reasons and two reasons only: 1. A fraudulent call. 2. A fraudulent student.<o:p></o:p>

The New York Times reported last week that <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>'s best player, tailback Maurice Clarett, was given preferential treatment last fall in an introductory class in African-American studies. Professor Paulette Pierce said Clarett walked out of a midterm exam and did not take a written final exam. But he somehow passed after taking oral exams instead.<o:p></o:p>

Pierce told the Times she worked directly with Clarett and administered two oral exams because his lack of academic preparation required her to use unconventional means to test his knowledge. She also said she has taken similar steps with non-athletes.<o:p></o:p>

But Pierce acknowledged Clarett did flee his midterm without completing it. "He looked at it and didn't know a thing," she said. Furthermore, two teaching assistants said Clarett was given preferential treatment and was the only student in a class of 80 to be given an oral exam.<o:p></o:p>

Let me see if I've got this straight: An unprepared student walks out of the midterm because "he didn't know a thing," yet is allowed to take an "oral" exam at a later date? Question: Why didn't all the students who did poorly on the written exam get a chance to take the oral exam?<o:p></o:p>

We can only imagine what some of the back-breaking, mind-bending questions were on Clarett's specially prepared oral exam.<o:p></o:p>

Question 1: Who is the most famous African-American civil-rights activist? A. Martin Luther King. B. Billie Jean King. C. Burger King.<o:p></o:p>

Question 2: Who is the second-most famous African-American activist? A. Malcolm X. B. Malcolm Y. C. Malcolm Z.<o:p></o:p>

Extra credit: When the Buckeyes band marches out for the traditional "dotting of the I", what word is being spelled? A. Ohio. B. Oahu. C. Utah.<o:p></o:p>

Another university might deserve the benefit of the doubt, but not <st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Ohio</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. This is the same school where former tailback Robert Smith quit the team for the 1991 season because a coach encouraged him to skip a chemistry class because it was causing Smith, a premed student, to miss too much practice.<o:p></o:p>

This is the same school where former All-America linebacker Andy Katzenmoyer miraculously avoided academic ineligibility by somehow pulling out the necessary grades in a challenging summer curriculum that had classes in - ahem - golf, music and AIDS awareness. It's a good thing "Kat Man" passed or he might have had to take a makeup course in Intro to Making Necklaces Out of Fruit Loops.<o:p></o:p>

And remember the quote from Katzenmoyer's Buckeyes teammate, Damon Moore, who said at the time: "Not everybody comes to college to be in college. . . . I've had some grades changed; other people have, too. Now we're headed to the NFL, which is what we came here to do."<o:p></o:p>

That comment was uttered a few years ago, but, sadly, it's truer now than ever.<o:p></o:p>

Especially at the place where the defiled national championship trophy now resides:<o:p></o:p>

<st1:place><st1:PlaceName>Oahu</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.
 
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Bucklion said:
It's Mike Beeyatchi folks, does this surprise you? He was the guy that even Herbstreit ripped a new one on his radio show for the crap he was writing prior to the championship game. There is no bigger Buckeye hater, so what do you expect?
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Do you mean this article?

The name looked familiar to me, any of you recall this?


TEMPE, Ariz. -- The desert will be overrun with Ohio State fans. It will look like a Buckeyes home game. Miami fans will be outnumbered at least 5 to 1.

And you know what? It won't matter.

By the time the Fiesta Bowl is over, the scarlet on the shirts of the tens of thousands of Ohio State fans will match the color on their faces. The famous "Script Ohio" will look more like a "Scrapped Ohio." The traditional dotting of the "I" will be replaced by the burning of the game tape.

Mark my words: The Buckeyes players will get hit in the mouth so hard and so often, they'll think Woody Hayes still is coach.

These simple, poor, plodding people are getting ready to step into another realm beyond their comprehension. Maestro, cue the Twilight Zone music, please:

There is a sixth dimension beyond that which is known to Buckeyes. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the sunlight of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area that might be called the . . . Hurricane Zone.

The Buckeyes will find out in the Fiesta Bowl this season what Nebraska found out in the Rose Bowl last season. They will learn that there is college football, and then there is Miami football. They will learn that there is intensity, and then there is angry, ratcheted-up, wild-eyed Miami intensity.

Miami football does not get intimidated when fans from bigger, more traditional college powerhouses pour into a stadium. When the 70,000 Nebraska fans flooded the Rose Bowl last year, you know how the 'Canes responded? They were so flustered they jumped out to a 34-0 lead.

When 86,000 Florida fans crammed into the Swamp earlier this season, you know what the 'Canes did? They beat the Gators like Ricky Ricardo's conga drum.

"We relish going on the road and playing in this type of atmosphere," Miami strong safety Maurice Sikes said after the 43-16 thrashing of Florida. "We're the 'Canes. We believe players create mystique, not stadiums and fans."

When more than 104,000 Tennessee fans jammed into Neyland Stadium earlier this season, you know what the 'Canes did? They scored on their first five drives and knocked three UT starters out of the game. Locals claimed it was the most devastating setback in Tennessee since a limit was placed on how many deer you could kill.

"What were there, 108,000 people here?" snickered Miami center Brett Romberg after the 26-3 victory over UT. "I'll give 'em this: They were loud for the first 35 or 40 seconds."

It doesn't matter how few are cheering for them and how many are cheering against them; the 'Canes remain unaffected. They've won national championships in the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Rose Bowl; this season, they'll win one in the Fiesta Bowl, too.

The 'Canes have won national championships with established coaches and they've won national championships under rookie coaches.

No matter what, no matter where, no matter when, no matter who, the 'Canes know how to win big games.

Ohio State's resurgence is a great story, but the story will end badly in the Arizona desert. The Buckeyes aren't going to come within three touchdowns of winning this game. Not with a quarterback who couldn't start for any of the five Division I-A teams in the state of Florida. The Buckeyes, bless their boring little Big Ten hearts, couldn't throw change into a tollbooth receptacle.

The Buckeyes run their offense to set up punts. Seriously. They punt, play phenomenal defense, get the ball back, then punt again -- this time a little deeper into enemy territory. This traditional field-position game might work against Michigan; it won't against Miami.

The Buckeyes of today play football like the Buckeyes of 30 years ago, when Woody Hayes said, "There are three things that can happen when you pass, and two of them ain't good."

Ohio State will find out that their old-school ways simply won't work against a program that wrote the book on new-age football. They will find out this isn't just a bowl trip; it's a trip into another sphere, another dimension.

Maestro, cue the music.

This highway leads to the shadowy tip of reality. You're on a through route to the land of the different, the bizarre, the unexplainable. Go as far as you like on this road, as far as you dare. It is a domain somewhere between sight and sound, a middle ground between science and superstition.

Next stop -- the Hurricane Zone!

Mike Bianchi can be reached at [email protected].
 
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