November 17th, 2004
Dear Messrs. Shapiro, Hoenig, Friend, ESPN Executives, and Staff,
I write this letter as a concerned alumnus of The Ohio State University. While I do not claim to represent the individual opinions of the Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, Fans of the Football Program, or other members of the Ohio State community, I am confident that they share some of my concerns and frustrations regarding your organization.
Not surprisingly, this letter concerns recent allegations directed by Maurice Clarett at Jim Tressel, the Ohio State Athletic Department, and members of the academic faculty of The Ohio State University. Without rehashing each of the alleged incidents outlined by Mr. Clarett, I think it is fair to say that at face value, these allegations are extremely serious in nature, and I take each of them very seriously. I also understand the need in sports journalism to report stories may that relate directly to the integrity of competition, whether it be in College Football, the NFL, Horse Racing or whatever field of play.
The concern, as I see it, from the Ohio State perspective is what we believe to be a less than thorough, and indeed biased, investigation by ESPN in regard to this matter. I, for one, am not surprised in the least that Mr. Clarett would say whatever he feels necessary to injure those that he feels have hindered his career. While I am disappointed that ESPN would provide him a platform to further his personal agenda, I am more disappointed that you would also expend so many resources to back Mr. Clarett's position by conducting interviews with Marco Cooper, Sammy Maldonado and others. Mr. Hoenig has been quoted as saying, "Did we think everything (Clarett) said was absolutely credible? We're asking the readers to make that judgment for themselves... But, there's certainly enough there to make it worthwhile to have the public make the judgment." Fair enough, but, I ask, how does Mr. Hoenig expect the public to make an informed judgment while reporting only Mr. Clarett's story and the stories of others who stand only to serve themselves by criticizing Ohio State?
While I'm sure that ESPN's position is that Mr. Geiger and others have been invited to comment on the matter in ESPN's various outlets, and declined. On the other hand, both Mr. Friend and Mr. Hoenig have made it clear that the investigation in this matter is ongoing. I for one, have yet to see ESPN take an active role in continuing to cover this matter in any kind of active or balanced manner. The little reporting that I have seen on espn.com that refutes any of the allegations made in ESPN interviews has been paraphrased from wire reports, and oftentimes they are posted on the espn.com website with less than flattering headlines compared to the actual content of the wire story. I do understand that having an actual ESPN correspondent in Columbus to follow the story would take a commitment of ESPN's resources, but I tend to think that expenditure would end up being insignificant compared to the resources Ohio State will be expending to assist the NCAA with their investigation of these charges.
Furthermore, considering the points I have outlined above, I find it interesting to that Mr. Shapiro was quoted as saying, ''For anyone to accuse us of having an agenda against Ohio State is absurd." But, I am at a loss to understand how ESPN's actions could be construed in any other way. The only absurd part of this would be for ESPN to consider their recent actions as 'fair and balanced.'
It is also no surprise to me that Mr. Geiger has reacted to these situations in a manner that does little to mask his frustrations. I empathize with him completely. As much as ESPN has provided a vehicle to attack that which he takes so much pride in, the Ohio State University Athletic Department, it also puts a black eye, not just on that Athletic Department, but the entire University. It is a very personal thing, for proud Alumni such as myself, and administrators such as Andy Geiger, to have an institution of which they are so proud, and in which have so much emotionally invested to be slandered in such a way as it appears that ESPN has facilitated. This point I cannot emphasize enough.
Finally, I said earlier that I take the allegations made by Mr. Clarett through ESPN the Magazine very seriously. I am confident that Dr. Holbrook, Mr. Geiger, and Coach Tressel take them seriously as well. If any of them prove to be true, we will accept those consequences and move forward a better program. However, I am confident that some, if not all of them, will be found to be either completely unfounded or at least very exaggerated. I challenge ESPN and all of it media outlets to report those allegations which are inaccurate and give them as prominent platform as the interview that has provided fodder for so many to act as judge, jury, and executioner and pronounce Ohio State guilty without any verified facts. The damage you have already caused to our reputation is all but irreparable, but I believe it is incumbent on you to try as hard as you can to get it right with the actual facts, however those reflect on us. We will welcome the effort.
Sincerely,
Dear Messrs. Shapiro, Hoenig, Friend, ESPN Executives, and Staff,
I write this letter as a concerned alumnus of The Ohio State University. While I do not claim to represent the individual opinions of the Alumni, Students, Faculty, Staff, Fans of the Football Program, or other members of the Ohio State community, I am confident that they share some of my concerns and frustrations regarding your organization.
Not surprisingly, this letter concerns recent allegations directed by Maurice Clarett at Jim Tressel, the Ohio State Athletic Department, and members of the academic faculty of The Ohio State University. Without rehashing each of the alleged incidents outlined by Mr. Clarett, I think it is fair to say that at face value, these allegations are extremely serious in nature, and I take each of them very seriously. I also understand the need in sports journalism to report stories may that relate directly to the integrity of competition, whether it be in College Football, the NFL, Horse Racing or whatever field of play.
The concern, as I see it, from the Ohio State perspective is what we believe to be a less than thorough, and indeed biased, investigation by ESPN in regard to this matter. I, for one, am not surprised in the least that Mr. Clarett would say whatever he feels necessary to injure those that he feels have hindered his career. While I am disappointed that ESPN would provide him a platform to further his personal agenda, I am more disappointed that you would also expend so many resources to back Mr. Clarett's position by conducting interviews with Marco Cooper, Sammy Maldonado and others. Mr. Hoenig has been quoted as saying, "Did we think everything (Clarett) said was absolutely credible? We're asking the readers to make that judgment for themselves... But, there's certainly enough there to make it worthwhile to have the public make the judgment." Fair enough, but, I ask, how does Mr. Hoenig expect the public to make an informed judgment while reporting only Mr. Clarett's story and the stories of others who stand only to serve themselves by criticizing Ohio State?
While I'm sure that ESPN's position is that Mr. Geiger and others have been invited to comment on the matter in ESPN's various outlets, and declined. On the other hand, both Mr. Friend and Mr. Hoenig have made it clear that the investigation in this matter is ongoing. I for one, have yet to see ESPN take an active role in continuing to cover this matter in any kind of active or balanced manner. The little reporting that I have seen on espn.com that refutes any of the allegations made in ESPN interviews has been paraphrased from wire reports, and oftentimes they are posted on the espn.com website with less than flattering headlines compared to the actual content of the wire story. I do understand that having an actual ESPN correspondent in Columbus to follow the story would take a commitment of ESPN's resources, but I tend to think that expenditure would end up being insignificant compared to the resources Ohio State will be expending to assist the NCAA with their investigation of these charges.
Furthermore, considering the points I have outlined above, I find it interesting to that Mr. Shapiro was quoted as saying, ''For anyone to accuse us of having an agenda against Ohio State is absurd." But, I am at a loss to understand how ESPN's actions could be construed in any other way. The only absurd part of this would be for ESPN to consider their recent actions as 'fair and balanced.'
It is also no surprise to me that Mr. Geiger has reacted to these situations in a manner that does little to mask his frustrations. I empathize with him completely. As much as ESPN has provided a vehicle to attack that which he takes so much pride in, the Ohio State University Athletic Department, it also puts a black eye, not just on that Athletic Department, but the entire University. It is a very personal thing, for proud Alumni such as myself, and administrators such as Andy Geiger, to have an institution of which they are so proud, and in which have so much emotionally invested to be slandered in such a way as it appears that ESPN has facilitated. This point I cannot emphasize enough.
Finally, I said earlier that I take the allegations made by Mr. Clarett through ESPN the Magazine very seriously. I am confident that Dr. Holbrook, Mr. Geiger, and Coach Tressel take them seriously as well. If any of them prove to be true, we will accept those consequences and move forward a better program. However, I am confident that some, if not all of them, will be found to be either completely unfounded or at least very exaggerated. I challenge ESPN and all of it media outlets to report those allegations which are inaccurate and give them as prominent platform as the interview that has provided fodder for so many to act as judge, jury, and executioner and pronounce Ohio State guilty without any verified facts. The damage you have already caused to our reputation is all but irreparable, but I believe it is incumbent on you to try as hard as you can to get it right with the actual facts, however those reflect on us. We will welcome the effort.
Sincerely,
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