Well-- I was Googling around to see if I could find some evidence that Tom Friend and Mike Freeman were secretly gay lovers, when I ran across this article... its somewhat amusing
Oops, Maurice's Is At It Again
Robert A. Ekblaw, Senior Columnist
Earlier this season I criticized ESPN analyst Trev Alberts for his ignorance and bias against the Big Ten. I thought Alberts was an aberration among the ESPN staff. I may have been wrong. The big news during halftime of the college football games this week has been an article appearing in ESPN – The Magazine. It’s an interview by staff writer Tom Friend with former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett. In it, the disgraced former player attempts to blame his woes on Coach Jim Tressel and university officials rather take responsibility for his own behavior. He makes serious allegations, statements that can be proven to be lies with just a small amount of investigation. Friend did not bother to investigate the statements, repeating them as facts. ESPN has not bothered to prove the true story during their telecasts, either, instead pumping up the hype to help sell their magazine. Welcome to the days of sensationalism.
Therefore, it falls upon me to declare the truth and expose this interview for what it is – a blatant attempt by Clarett to shift blame to the university in a thinly-veiled attempt to improve his reputation with NFL scouts. Ironically, his plan is backfiring. Several NFL representatives have expressed concerns about Clarett, stating that his behavior is too erratic and his attitude too cavalier to risk a valuable draft pick. It seems the ripples of the Ryan Leaf affair continue to permeate the league.
The NFL hasn’t come out and admitted that Clarett is a liar, but I suspect many of those NFL representatives are clear that he is. To make it clear to all of the faithful readers of SportsBytes, I’ll provide the information in the interview that ESPN has released, and provide the contrary evidence, taken directly from articles (including my own – see the TOTK Archives) written two years ago, at the time that Clarett was suspended from the Ohio State football team, then subsequently suspended from school.
Clarett’s claims in the ESPN article constitutes three main areas: he was given a hotel room upon arrival at the university because he was assigned a dorm, he was given advisors to do his homework and take his tests for him, and he was given four cars for use when he blew the transmission in his own car. All of these claims are NCAA violations. Ironically, the NCAA investigated Ohio State two years ago for academic improprieties and inappropriate booster contributions. They found no grounds for charges.
Let’s look at Clarett’s charges one by one. First of all, he was never supposed to have a dorm. Clarett, in a unique form of self-awareness, knew he didn’t have the patience to live in a freshman dorm with a stranger. He had arranged for an off-campus apartment, sharing with a friend. His friend had already attended Ohio State for at least a year. He had not yet moved his possessions into the new apartment, nor had he signed the lease. Thus the apartment wasn’t ready for Clarett to move into when he arrived on campus. He did go to Coach Tressel to state that he had no place to stay. Coach Tressel did help find him a hotel room until the apartment was ready, but Tressel did not pay for the hotel room – Clarett’s roommate did.
On to his second claim. Clarett was assigned tutors when he joined the football team. It’s standard procedure for most colleges, as football players tend to miss classes due to practice sessions and away games. The “advisors” he mentioned in the interview were those tutors. The “advisors” were NOT supposed to do his homework or take his tests, but that was apparently what Clarett thought. Two years ago, when he was suspended from school, one of the reasons was “academic insufficiency.” He refused to attend class and he refused to take tests. That’s right, his professors told him that he needed to take tests and he refused to take them. Obviously, at that time he learned that the “advisors” were not there to take his tests for him – interesting that his pea-sized brain couldn’t retain that fact for two years.
The last claim, the most damning one, is actually the easiest claim to disprove. Simply put, Clarett NEVER had cars donated from local car dealerships, or at least not ones arranged by Coach Tressel or boosters. You see, the OTHER reason Clarett was suspended from Ohio State two years ago was the “commission of fraudulent and potentially illegal activities.” When the transmission blew in Clarett’s car, he borrowed the car of a friend. After two weeks, the car disappeared. Clarett filed an insurance report, claiming the car was stolen. Five days later the car was recovered. Everything was intact: tires, radio, etc. There was nothing missing that a car thief typically stole. The only items missing were personal affects from inside the car. Some belonged to Clarett, some belonged to his friend. When his roommate found some of the supposedly “stolen” items of Clarett’s in their apartment, the friend who donated the car accused Clarett of stealing his possessions. Clarett eventually admitted to filing the fraudulent insurance claim, but maintained that he did not steal any of his friend’s items. It didn’t matter. Clarett was suspended from school.
Now, let’s look at the timetable and prove Clarett’s deceit. In the ESPN interview, he claims that he went to Coach Tressel the day after his car blew, asking for help. Tressel supposedly called the dealer of a local car dealership, who asked Clarett the type of car he’d like. Clarett mentioned that he liked trucks. The car dealer mentioned the types of trucks they had, and Clarett picked one. He was allowed to drive the “loaner” car, free of charge, even though his original car was not being repaired. Over the period of eleven or twelve weeks, he drove three other such “loaners”, donated from that dealer and one other.
Our more attentive readers will already note the inconsistencies. According to accounts from Clarett and Ohio State University officials two years ago, Clarett never went to Tressel when his car blew. He asked a bunch of friends (including teammates) until he found someone willing to loan him their car. He drove that one until he staged the false “disappearance”. Less than a week passed until the bottom fell out of Clarett’s plan, and he was discovered and suspended from school. Nobody would loan him a car after that, and it certainly would not be due to influence from officials at Ohio State University. It wouldn’t have come from anyone on the football staff either, as he had already been kicked off the football team a week earlier due to his academic improprieties.
Thus, Clarett lied through most of that interview. Tom Friend and ESPN apparently didn’t bother to check the veracity of his claims, other than going to OSU and practically accusing them. OSU, as any NCAA institution would do when faced with such an accusation, denied that the charges were true, and stated that the NCAA thoroughly investigated such claims two years ago and cleared the school. That’s true, and Clarett is not. Instead of restoring his reputation, Clarett has succeeded in solidifying it, but the reputation he is solidifying is one of an irresponsible self-absorbed crybaby. Hopefully, after this interview and the revelation of the truth, the NFL won’t trust this man-child at all. He won’t get drafted, he’ll be banned from the NFL, he’ll be rejected by the CFL (who have a much lower tolerance for bull), and he’ll end up where he deserves – in a gutter somewhere.
http://www.totk.com/section_front.asp?arttypeid=579
Oops, Maurice's Is At It Again
Robert A. Ekblaw, Senior Columnist
Earlier this season I criticized ESPN analyst Trev Alberts for his ignorance and bias against the Big Ten. I thought Alberts was an aberration among the ESPN staff. I may have been wrong. The big news during halftime of the college football games this week has been an article appearing in ESPN – The Magazine. It’s an interview by staff writer Tom Friend with former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett. In it, the disgraced former player attempts to blame his woes on Coach Jim Tressel and university officials rather take responsibility for his own behavior. He makes serious allegations, statements that can be proven to be lies with just a small amount of investigation. Friend did not bother to investigate the statements, repeating them as facts. ESPN has not bothered to prove the true story during their telecasts, either, instead pumping up the hype to help sell their magazine. Welcome to the days of sensationalism.
Therefore, it falls upon me to declare the truth and expose this interview for what it is – a blatant attempt by Clarett to shift blame to the university in a thinly-veiled attempt to improve his reputation with NFL scouts. Ironically, his plan is backfiring. Several NFL representatives have expressed concerns about Clarett, stating that his behavior is too erratic and his attitude too cavalier to risk a valuable draft pick. It seems the ripples of the Ryan Leaf affair continue to permeate the league.
The NFL hasn’t come out and admitted that Clarett is a liar, but I suspect many of those NFL representatives are clear that he is. To make it clear to all of the faithful readers of SportsBytes, I’ll provide the information in the interview that ESPN has released, and provide the contrary evidence, taken directly from articles (including my own – see the TOTK Archives) written two years ago, at the time that Clarett was suspended from the Ohio State football team, then subsequently suspended from school.
Clarett’s claims in the ESPN article constitutes three main areas: he was given a hotel room upon arrival at the university because he was assigned a dorm, he was given advisors to do his homework and take his tests for him, and he was given four cars for use when he blew the transmission in his own car. All of these claims are NCAA violations. Ironically, the NCAA investigated Ohio State two years ago for academic improprieties and inappropriate booster contributions. They found no grounds for charges.
Let’s look at Clarett’s charges one by one. First of all, he was never supposed to have a dorm. Clarett, in a unique form of self-awareness, knew he didn’t have the patience to live in a freshman dorm with a stranger. He had arranged for an off-campus apartment, sharing with a friend. His friend had already attended Ohio State for at least a year. He had not yet moved his possessions into the new apartment, nor had he signed the lease. Thus the apartment wasn’t ready for Clarett to move into when he arrived on campus. He did go to Coach Tressel to state that he had no place to stay. Coach Tressel did help find him a hotel room until the apartment was ready, but Tressel did not pay for the hotel room – Clarett’s roommate did.
On to his second claim. Clarett was assigned tutors when he joined the football team. It’s standard procedure for most colleges, as football players tend to miss classes due to practice sessions and away games. The “advisors” he mentioned in the interview were those tutors. The “advisors” were NOT supposed to do his homework or take his tests, but that was apparently what Clarett thought. Two years ago, when he was suspended from school, one of the reasons was “academic insufficiency.” He refused to attend class and he refused to take tests. That’s right, his professors told him that he needed to take tests and he refused to take them. Obviously, at that time he learned that the “advisors” were not there to take his tests for him – interesting that his pea-sized brain couldn’t retain that fact for two years.
The last claim, the most damning one, is actually the easiest claim to disprove. Simply put, Clarett NEVER had cars donated from local car dealerships, or at least not ones arranged by Coach Tressel or boosters. You see, the OTHER reason Clarett was suspended from Ohio State two years ago was the “commission of fraudulent and potentially illegal activities.” When the transmission blew in Clarett’s car, he borrowed the car of a friend. After two weeks, the car disappeared. Clarett filed an insurance report, claiming the car was stolen. Five days later the car was recovered. Everything was intact: tires, radio, etc. There was nothing missing that a car thief typically stole. The only items missing were personal affects from inside the car. Some belonged to Clarett, some belonged to his friend. When his roommate found some of the supposedly “stolen” items of Clarett’s in their apartment, the friend who donated the car accused Clarett of stealing his possessions. Clarett eventually admitted to filing the fraudulent insurance claim, but maintained that he did not steal any of his friend’s items. It didn’t matter. Clarett was suspended from school.
Now, let’s look at the timetable and prove Clarett’s deceit. In the ESPN interview, he claims that he went to Coach Tressel the day after his car blew, asking for help. Tressel supposedly called the dealer of a local car dealership, who asked Clarett the type of car he’d like. Clarett mentioned that he liked trucks. The car dealer mentioned the types of trucks they had, and Clarett picked one. He was allowed to drive the “loaner” car, free of charge, even though his original car was not being repaired. Over the period of eleven or twelve weeks, he drove three other such “loaners”, donated from that dealer and one other.
Our more attentive readers will already note the inconsistencies. According to accounts from Clarett and Ohio State University officials two years ago, Clarett never went to Tressel when his car blew. He asked a bunch of friends (including teammates) until he found someone willing to loan him their car. He drove that one until he staged the false “disappearance”. Less than a week passed until the bottom fell out of Clarett’s plan, and he was discovered and suspended from school. Nobody would loan him a car after that, and it certainly would not be due to influence from officials at Ohio State University. It wouldn’t have come from anyone on the football staff either, as he had already been kicked off the football team a week earlier due to his academic improprieties.
Thus, Clarett lied through most of that interview. Tom Friend and ESPN apparently didn’t bother to check the veracity of his claims, other than going to OSU and practically accusing them. OSU, as any NCAA institution would do when faced with such an accusation, denied that the charges were true, and stated that the NCAA thoroughly investigated such claims two years ago and cleared the school. That’s true, and Clarett is not. Instead of restoring his reputation, Clarett has succeeded in solidifying it, but the reputation he is solidifying is one of an irresponsible self-absorbed crybaby. Hopefully, after this interview and the revelation of the truth, the NFL won’t trust this man-child at all. He won’t get drafted, he’ll be banned from the NFL, he’ll be rejected by the CFL (who have a much lower tolerance for bull), and he’ll end up where he deserves – in a gutter somewhere.
http://www.totk.com/section_front.asp?arttypeid=579
