RB Jaamal Berry (Transfer to Murray State)

[BayBuck]

Not to take this off track, but any time the 97.1 guys start talking about incoming recruits, or kids who might verbal (I'm thinking about Pryor last year, mostly) they are completely uninformed. It's annoying. Hooley still has to work hard to say the word "pryor" without making some kind of back handed insult.

They have spent countless hours in the recent weeks complaining about the MySpace pages of Berry and other Buckeyes. The entire Fan lineup sucks any more, but Hooley in particular even makes me miss Ian Fitzsimmons! Good thing we've got Mark the Shark and his team for some positive Ohio sports talk radio in Columbus.

 

[HailToMichigan]

Not sure how anyone can say that Jaamal's actions are any indication whatsoever of our program, i.e., being "out of control", seeing as he technically isn't even in our program yet. Now once he sets foot on campus and becomes an OSU student and a member of the football team, then his actions could be deemed reflective of the program...but not until then.

Whoa whoa whoa....OK, I'm a little late on this, but you people grilled the shit out of RR for Pat Lazear, and of course, Michigan by extension for hiring a guy that had recruited Pat Lazear.

 

[jwinslow]

Whoa whoa whoa....OK, I'm a little late on this, but you people grilled the shit out of RR for Pat Lazear, and of course, Michigan by extension for hiring a guy that had recruited Pat Lazear.

So you're equating marijuana possession to armed robbery? Cute.

 

[Mr_Burns]

Not to take this off track, but any time the 97.1 guys start talking about incoming recruits, or kids who might verbal (I'm thinking about Pryor last year, mostly) they are completely uninformed. It's annoying. Hooley still has to work hard to say the word "pryor" without making some kind of back handed insult.

The time that comes to mind for me was when they were interviewing Cris Carter well after Duron had verballed. Hooley asked Cris if Duron was going to stay in Florida, or if he was going to consider coming to tOSU. There was a brief pause, and Cris explained that Duron had been a verbal to tOSU for awhile. Once they hung up, Hooley made a comment to the effect of "I don't follow high school recruiting. Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I don't know. But I could care less."

I just remember thinking, how in the world could someone have a radio show in Columbus, Ohio, during the peak listening hours of 4-7, largely based around Ohio State sports, and be so clueless? Not only did he botch an interview with one of the best receivers to ever come through tOSU, but then he had the audicity to hang up and say that he could care less about Ohio State recruiting.

As far as Jaamal's situation is concerned, Hooley and Spielman spent 3 or 4 days harping on what could have been covered in one day, if that. I understand the whole "good cop/bad cop" format that AKAKBUCK is talking about, but when people are turning off their radios because the "bad cop" is a complete moron with nothing but negative things to say, it's counterproductive.

 

[BayBuck]

Whoa whoa whoa....OK, I'm a little late on this, but you people grilled the [censored] out of RR for Pat Lazear, and of course, Michigan by extension for hiring a guy that had recruited Pat Lazear.

Pat Lazear had already been charged and pleaded guilty (to conspiracy to commit robbery) before he signed his LOI, Berry has long since been signed and will eventually plea down to a misdemeanor before he has a chance at seeing the field. Nice try.

 

[HailToMichigan]

So you're equating marijuana possession to armed robbery? Cute.

No, I'm pointing out the silliness of claiming technicalities like "he wasn't officially enrolled yet." What if the guy'd been taking bribes from boosters and such? The school would be punished. Severity notwithstanding (I'm not even trying to make a thing of Berry) this is a guy who the coaches had had a long relationship with and had signed to an official LOI - you can argue all day long about the severity of the case or lack thereof and I'd probably even agree with what you say, but trying to slough it off entirely and claim no responsibility because he "technically isn't a member of the program" is weak sauce.

 

[BayBuck]

No, I'm pointing out the silliness of claiming technicalities like "he wasn't officially enrolled yet." What if the guy'd been taking bribes from boosters and such? The school would be punished. Severity notwithstanding (I'm not even trying to make a thing of Berry) this is a guy who the coaches had had a long relationship with and had signed to an official LOI - you can argue all day long about the severity of the case or lack thereof and I'd probably even agree with what you say, but trying to slough it off entirely and claim no responsibility because he "technically isn't a member of the program" is weak sauce.

He'll get the same treatment any other member of the program who gets a misdemeanor drug charge without any relevant priors would get. This is not a guy who was recruited with a rap sheet, and he's also not going to skate by without any repercussions from the OSU coaching staff. How this will reflect on the program will be determined by how he is dealt with over time, not by the simple fact that he got caught with some weed. This isn't taking money from boosters, and it's not signing a convicted felon, so cool it.

 

[HailToMichigan]

Pat Lazear had already been charged and pleaded guilty (to conspiracy to commit robbery) before he signed his LOI, Berry has long since been signed and will eventually plea down to a misdemeanor before he has a chance at seeing the field. Nice try.

If Berry had committed armed robbery in between signing his LOI and enrolling, instead of marijuana possession, I strongly suspect the vast majority of you would be clamoring for his immediate removal from the program rather than claiming it didn't matter because it happened after he signed his LOI.

If you want to keep Berry because his crime was minor, fine. I would too. There's a difference between that and claiming it doesn't matter because of when it happened rather than what happened.

 

[jwinslow]

No, I'm pointing out the silliness of claiming technicalities like "he wasn't officially enrolled yet."

There's a difference between that and claiming it doesn't matter because of when it happened rather than what happened.

So you're being a stickler over technicalities because you dislike how we're handling those technicalities.



I also think this is partially about getting to switch roles from the Lazear thread.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

If Berry had committed armed robbery in between signing his LOI and enrolling, instead of marijuana possession, I strongly suspect the vast majority of you would be clamoring for his immediate removal from the program rather than claiming it didn't matter because it happened after he signed his LOI.

If you want to keep Berry because his crime was minor, fine. I would too. There's a difference between that and claiming it doesn't matter because of when it happened rather than what happened.

Actually, it does matter.

If Tressel was recruiting a kid he knew to be a felon, then it would be the same fact scenario as Lazear.... who, incidentally, OSU dropped out of the "race" for....

It does "matter" on one level, but the hacking on RR isn't that he kept Lazear after the fact.. it's that he went to get him even knowing before hand. Tress didn't sign Berry, or keep recruiting him, despite knowledge that he was on the hook for a possession crime. Berry had already signed.. is already a "member" of the team... and then got busted.

 

[BayBuck]

If Berry had committed armed robbery in between signing his LOI and enrolling, instead of marijuana possession, I strongly suspect the vast majority of you would be clamoring for his immediate removal from the program rather than claiming it didn't matter because it happened after he signed his LOI.

If you want to keep Berry because his crime was minor, fine. I would too. There's a difference between that and claiming it doesn't matter because of when it happened rather than what happened.

YOu are completely misconstruing Mili's post. If he committed a serious crime that would be worth kicking him off the team during this summer, it would not be the crime itself which would reflect on the program--it would be the program's response, or lack thereof, which would reflect on the state of the program and whether it was "out of control."

 

[daddyphatsacs]

Guy on the mid day show here in Columbus (Mike Riccordati) wasted no time in spouting off about Jaamal.

"Cut ties with him now."

"You already know what he's about."

"This is Ohio State. You don't need projects. Let Kirk Ferentz and Tim Brewster get the projects."

Disagree. He's a kid, he made a mistake....

A lot of the guys on the radio (Ricker, Spiels, Hooley) are dorks. Of course they are going to be fans of booting him off the team. Then again, these are also the kinds of guys who show up at a party with a Bon Jovi cd, sporting jean shorts, carrying a case of Pepsi.

 

[Steve19]

Blah, blah, blah. My coach is a douchebag. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. He recruits street punk robbers. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Your guy smoked dope. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Hey, Louise, did you see this story about that Buckey recruit in the newspaper?

 

[NFBuck]

Whoa whoa whoa....OK, I'm a little late on this, but you people grilled the shit out of RR for Pat Lazear, and of course, Michigan by extension for hiring a guy that had recruited Pat Lazear.

Wow, seriously? You're bringing up Pat Lazear?

Been hittin' the sauce this afternoon HTM?

 

[zincfinger]

...you people grilled the shit out of RR for Pat Lazear, and of course, Michigan by extension for hiring a guy that had recruited Pat Lazear.

If Berry had committed armed robbery in between signing his LOI and enrolling, instead of marijuana possession, I strongly suspect the vast majority of you would be clamoring for his immediate removal from the program...

So what exactly is your point, then?