YOUNGSTOWN BOYS

[BUCKYLE]

When you pull kids from inner cities to play for your university, they're going to have questionable friends. Who the fuck gets to decide which funerals you attend? This conversation is absurd

 

[jlb1705]

If Clarett ran like Lydell Ross, all the "moral ambiguity" about his situation would never exist.

 

[MaxBuck]

If Clarett ran like Lydell Ross, all the "moral ambiguity" about his situation would never exist.

Which kind of underscores my point: star athletes are treated differently. Lydell Ross wasn't a star; Clarett undeniably was. Are we hypocrites? Sure, but we are entertained as a result of our hypocrisy in a way we could not be if we were to behave consistent with our stated beliefs. And it's all about our being entertained.

 

[OhioState001]

Absolutely! I can't think of anything better for my alma mater's reputation than letting a spoiled self-indulgent brat fly off at university expense to attend the funeral of a gangbanging drug dealer. I'm sure the national press would have given us a pass on the whole matter.

Really? If Geiger had done this, I would have no problem with Wexner and John Ong and Bill Lowery and every other eight figure donor to the university saying, "fuck this I'm outta here." I certainly know that it would have made me question my donations (lifetime five figure) in the future.

So if his dad was a drug dealer he shouldn't be allowed to go to his funeral either?

 

[jlb1705]

Which kind of underscores my point: star athletes are treated differently. Lydell Ross wasn't a star; Clarett undeniably was. Are we hypocrites? Sure, but we are entertained as a result of our hypocrisy in a way we could not be if we were to behave consistent with our stated beliefs. And it's all about our being entertained.

Absolutely. I know I'm not above it. But I also believe that more than ten years after the fact it's OK to look back and see that situation for what it was, and to be thankful that there were some people who were willing to put an end to it when it had gone too far.

 

[Onebuckfan]

We had star running backs before and after Clarett, from what I can see it was a Clarett problem not some pattern of behavior by the AD and University.

 

[MaxBuck]

We had star running backs before and after Clarett, from what I can see it was a Clarett problem not some pattern of behavior by the AD and University.

We've not really had a star back at the level of Clarett since his departure IMO (though Hyde could've been without this season's suspension), but I agree with what you're saying: the problem was Clarett's, rather than the Ohio State athletic department. And he would agree that he was responsible for his own actions and for their consequences. I salute him for accepting responsibility, and wish him well.

 

[CookyPuss]

We had star running backs before and after Clarett, from what I can see it was a Clarett problem not some pattern of behavior by the AD and University.

I thought one thing this piece did well was to say that the issue is bigger than the individuals. You put 18-21 year old kids, many of which do not come from the best backgrounds or have the best supports, into this amazing pressure cooker with grown ass men wanting to rub elbows with them... things are going to go bad sometimes. I give Mo C credit for owning up to his part in it and taking responsibility for his own missteps and trying to make something better of his life.

 

[ExpatAkronite]

Absolutely! I can't think of anything better for my alma mater's reputation than letting a spoiled self-indulgent brat fly off at university expense to attend the funeral of a gangbanging drug dealer. I'm sure the national press would have given us a pass on the whole matter.

Really? If Geiger had done this, I would have no problem with Wexner and John Ong and Bill Lowery and every other eight figure donor to the university saying, "fuck this I'm outta here." I certainly know that it would have made me question my donations (lifetime five figure) in the future.

Uh, Woody punched an opposing player under the face mask. You don't know what you're childhood friends are going to grow up to be but more so it seems like he was led to believe they were looking in to him being able to go.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

So if his dad was a drug dealer he shouldn't be allowed to go to his funeral either?

There's two metaphors in this picture. See if you can figure them out.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Uh, Woody punched an opposing player under the face mask. You don't know what you're childhood friends are going to grow up to be but more so it seems like he was led to believe they were looking in to him being able to go.

Uhhh, Woody was shitcanned the next morning despite 28 years of loyal service to The Ohio State University as opposed to 4 months of spotty service to the same by young Mr. Clarett.

Next up?

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

When you pull kids from inner cities to play for your university, they're going to have questionable friends. Who the fuck gets to decide which funerals you attend? This conversation is absurd

Well, when you're asking to leave the team on the eve of a university's national championship game and have the university pay for your flight back to the drug dealer's funeral, I think that university gets to decide whether you go or you do not go.

As to your overall sentiment, I agree with it in a way. I agree that universities take in far, far too many athletes who should never step foot onto a college campus for both academic and socialization reasons. It's why I'm so adamant that the NFL should create a true minor league system for them. It's also--despite my disgust for him at the time--why I fully supported MoC's lawsuit against the NFL. Had he won it, I think things would be a lot better for everyone, both the universities and those athletes with neither the desire nor the skills to attend one.

 

[ExpatAkronite]

Uhhh, Woody was [Mark May]canned the next morning despite 28 years of loyal service to The Ohio State University as opposed to 4 months of spotty service to the same by young Mr. Clarett.

Next up?

Yeah he was fired as coach....he stayed on as a university employee (and it kind of gets to me how this is glossed over. I grew up with Woody as a hero. And Jim Brown. Both are flawed but I think Brown may have nailed some things here). There seems to be a bit of a double standard....sure we'll recruit a high risk/high reward kid but we'll throw him under the bus the moment it goes south.

And I agree 100% with your other post about there being a minor league for the NFL. Let's get back to student athletes.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Yeah he was fired as coach....he stayed on as a university employee (and it kind of gets to me how this is glossed over. I grew up with Woody as a hero. And Jim Brown. Both are flawed but I think Brown may have nailed some things here). There seems to be a bit of a double standard....sure we'll recruit a high risk/high reward kid but we'll throw him under the bus the moment it goes south.

And I agree 100% with your other post about there being a minor league for the NFL. Let's get back to student athletes.

There's tons of high risk kids that we recruit that we do quite well with. That all the support and infrastructure allow them to succeed above and beyond the football field--Troy Smith is a shining example. So, I think it's simplistic to assume that everyone that we recruit for football, we subsequently throw away or under a bus. Perhaps Clarett wasn't so much tossed under that bus but was rather diving towards it of his own volition and, given his quite public actions, had done nothing to garner any support on behalf of the university to step in and check his glide path.

Actually, Woody was never kept on as an "employee" of the university. He was given an office in the ROTC building but that was the extent of any university dollars that went his way, all of which paled against the money that Woody subsequently raised for the History department and the Mershon Center for National Security Studies.

Let's also keep in mind that Woody never accepted any pay higher than that of an average full Professor at Ohio State. At the time he was fired, he was the lowest paid coach in the Big Ten.

 

[ExpatAkronite]

There's tons of high risk kids that we recruit that we do quite well with. That all the support and infrastructure allow them to succeed above and beyond the football field--Troy Smith is a shining example. So, I think it's simplistic to assume that everyone that we recruit for football, we subsequently throw away or under a bus. Perhaps Clarett wasn't so much tossed under that bus but was rather diving towards it of his own volition and, given his quite public actions, had done nothing to garner any support on behalf of the university to step in and check his glide path.

Actually, Woody was never kept on as an "employee" of the university. He was given an office in the ROTC building but that was the extent of any university dollars that went his way, all of which paled against the money that Woody subsequently raised for the History department and the Mershon Center for National Security Studies.

Let's also keep in mind that Woody never accepted any pay higher than that of an average full Professor at Ohio State. At the time he was fired, he was the lowest paid coach in the Big Ten.

Oy, this is going in different directions and is not helped by the fact I'm multitasking--beer, wine, now over Sunday Night game, a video game and this forum...but...

Woody. It has taken me years to try and put this in perspective but it doesn't matter how long he was there, how little he was paid, how much he accomplished---he punched a kid (and on national tv). Yet, Clarett and the tatgate lads are the ones who were the real threat to the program? Bullshit. And my question--several pages ago--was did they lead Clarett to believe they were looking into options to get him back for the funeral? It really doesn't matter if he was a purported gangbanger. It does kind of matter if they spooned him a line of bullshit (with a MNC on the line and all).