If there truly is a silver lining here it is this:
Up until this point, most programs that have been found to have committed these types of violations have denied denied denied until it was proven that they had in fact done the deed. tOSU did not do this. They self reported everything as soon as they found out. They complied fully with the NCAA investigations, and self-imposed just punishments upon themselves. So what did the NCAA do in response to this? They dropped the fucking hammer.
Compare this scenario with, say, Auburn. A school who is clearly dirty. A school who bought Cam Newton as sure as O.J. committed murder, but, just as with O.J., could simply not be proven to have done so. Deny deny deny. Oh, you can't find hard enough evidence? Great! Then I'll be leaving your momentary microscope now, NCAA, just let me grab my Heisman Trophy and crystal ball.
Deny deny deny- it might work, it might not. But even if it doesn't, you'll still only receive the same punishment as you would have had you told the truth.
So I ask you, even as this is THE Ohio State University where we hold ourselves to higher standard than the scum of the south, after this ruling, why in the fuck would anybody, ANYBODY, EVER self report anything to the NCAA?
I think this is the beginning of a long and unwinding road for an institution trying to control it's members far too much. They had a chance here to set an example, to say "If you self report and comply fully, you'll get the ruler instead of the hammer." But they blew it, and now more than ever the path of most will be deny deny deny, and I for one am ecstatic knowing that they have just made their own jobs exponentially more difficult.
