[DARTH AUDIO]

Say goodbye to a real dirt bag!! He resigns under School pressure!! Now come the sanctions!! Equal to USC??

[Phil A]

So I take it you're not going to get an Ohio State tatoo?

"Edward Rife, the Columbus, Ohio tattoo parlor owner who allegedly gave discounts to and bought memorabilia from Ohio State football players, will plead guilty to federal charges of money laundering and conspiracy to distribute marijuana, The Columbus Dispatch reported Friday."

He just got caught in my opinion.  I think many teams do similar things.  Emphasis is placed on winning vs. integrity and that is the issue.

[TomS]

Maybe he'll get a new car on the way out...

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2010-12/osu-suspensions/story/car-dealer-osu-compliance-director-called-me-over-50-times

[murphy11]

Maybe he'll get a new car on the way out...

http://aol.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/feed/2010-12/osu-suspensions/story/car-dealer-osu-compliance-director-called-me-over-50-times

"OSU compliance director Doug Archie told The Columbus Dispatch that he had spoken to Kniffin only once and that he never sends players to dealerships.

then... "Jim Lynch, of Ohio State media relations, told Sporting News: “There was a misunderstanding with the original Dispatch story. While Doug Archie did in fact only speak to Aaron Kniffin once while he was at the first car dealership he worked at, they spoke often when Mr. Kniffin changed jobs and moved to the second dealership he worked at.”

Wow - amazing how the media relations guy tries spin this one. He must have worked in politics before getting this job.

[Stu Pitt]

I've worked in college athletics for about 15 years, having spent about 10 of them at the NCAA Div I level.  I never worked at a BCS school, but I have many friends/colleagues who do.  I've worked basketball for the majority of them.  I'm also an Ohio State football fan, so maybe I'm a little biased...

This stuff goes on at all the big time schools.  I don't think it's right at all, but I can't blame the athletes.  Just because they're getting a full scholarship doesn't mean that they're getting their fair share.  They get perks like equipment, meals, and some gifts and/or "profit sharing" from conferences, but it's no where near enough.  The profit sharing thing (not sure technically what it's called) is needs based, like financial aid, and looks good on paper.  It's not enough, nor is it fair.  How much money did OSU football bring in last year?   Adding up the scholarship money spent and Big 10 money, how much did the athletes get?   College athletics at that level are a huge business.

If the NCAA really wants to end this stuff, they'll allow more money to the athletes and/allow the school to buy them things.  What's wrong with paying for an athlete's airfare to and from home during the summer and holidays?  What's wrong with buying a decent suit/outfit for job interviews upon graduation?  What's wrong with giving athletes laptops for homework while on the toad? iPods?

The NCAA should allow schools to do these things.  It's like paying them, but not really.  They should have stipends for stuff like this with set limits - say $1k for a suit, alterations, shirt, tie, and shoes.  $500 for a laptop.  2 or 3 round trip coach tickets home per year.  Stuff like that could curtail some of it, along with a weekly 'allowance' of some sort.

The smaller schools fight that stuff because they claim if widens the gap between them and the big schools, as they can't afford to do those things. VT eyre full of crap.  My most recent basketball school played Texas A&M, Maryland, and Georgetown in the same year (don't hold me to Georegtown that year; if not it was another of similar stature).  Each school paid us full expenses - flight, hotel and meals.  In addition, 2 paid us $85k, and one paid $90k.  That's why the BCS schools can schedule small time non-conference teams to fill in their schedule.  If it was football, multiply the guarantee money by at least 8-10.

With a lot of the BCS schools, the school tries to stop the handouts by outsiders.  They really don't have much control over what goes on outside their walls.  One of my former athletes' friend played basketball at an ACC school.  The guys would stop by a local store, where the owner or one of his friends would ask the athlete if he could go out to his (the owner's) car and grab him a pen from the glove compartment.  Their would be an envelope with a few hundred dollars in it next to said pen.

The athletic department most likely knew what was going on, but what can they honestly do?   Keep in mind that alumni and boosters have huge pull at those places.  Wonder why Bobby Knight kept his job at Indiana for so long?  Do you really think the AD wanted a guy around who he had zero control over?  A physician I worked with did his sports med fellowship there.  You have no idea how much of a psychopath Knight was there.  The chair throwing and choking incidents are nothing compared to what else went on.

In s nutshell, big time college athletics are a huge business.  I don't agree with what goes on, but I'm pretty empathetic to it.  Being 18-22 years old and not having much, I'd take what was handed out too, hopefully within reason anyway.  It's not easy to see a school making millions of dollars from your work and talent, relatively speaking get nothing in return.

If it was Michigan who got busted for this, I'd do the right thing and still post this.

[DARTH AUDIO]

Rich Rod tarnished the Michigan program and that's why he is gone!! Plain and simple!!

[rklein]

Rich Rod tarnished the Michigan program and that's why he is gone!! Plain and simple!!

With all due respect...Rich Rodriguez got fired as fast as he did because he couldn't beat Ohio State.  You really don't think that Michigan would have been so fast at the trigger had he beat OSU the majority of the time?

Randy

[TheChairGuy]

Adding a little more to Stu's statements above ....did anyone see South Park recently?

http://www.thesportnews.info/2011/05/26/eric-cartman-stu-dent-ath-o-leets-oh-that-is-brilliant-sir/

Some of you may want to have a change of undies, handy 

[DARTH AUDIO]

With all due respect...Rich Rodriguez got fired as fast as he did because he couldn't beat Ohio State.  You really don't think that Michigan would have been so fast at the trigger had he beat OSU the majority of the time?

Randy

He couldn't beat anybody, let alone OSU!! His style of football didn't fit the Big 10!! He also put the program under investigation. Like Tressel, he was booted out!!

[Stu Pitt]

Thanks for that clip, Chair Guy.  Even though it's comedy, it definitely makes a point.

I'm not saying the athletic departments have a slave owner mentality at all.  Most I know of take very good care of their student athletes, and I've never seen anyone treated as expendable or as a meal ticket.  A few bad Apple's may have thought so, but they were the type that will have issues with anything they do.  I've seen more than my fair share of coaches riding guys harder than they should have been.  But I can honestly say I've never questioned the motives behind it.  Some of the athletes didn't see it that way or didn't want to see it that way. 

[Stu Pitt]

I do however think that if something doesn't change, we'll see a class-action suit from the athletes within a decade.  Maybe that's what the NCAA is waiting for, as that way they can say they had no choice but to pay them.  Who knows?

I'd say when college basketball really became a big business was when the Fab 5 came around.  I think whoever didn't realize it's true potential before then figured it out awefully quick. 

[thunderbrick]

With all due respect...Rich Rodriguez got fired as fast as he did because he couldn't beat Ohio State.  You really don't think that Michigan would have been so fast at the trigger had he beat OSU the majority of the time?

Randy

Maybe, but there was that little issue of Appalachian State. 
Wasn't that under Richie R?

[Mudslide]

I've worked in college athletics for about 15 years, having spent about 10 of them at the NCAA Div I level.  I never worked at a BCS school, but I have many friends/colleagues who do.  I've worked basketball for the majority of them.  I'm also an Ohio State football fan, so maybe I'm a little biased...

This stuff goes on at all the big time schools.  I don't think it's right at all, but I can't blame the athletes.  Just because they're getting a full scholarship doesn't mean that they're getting their fair share.  They get perks like equipment, meals, and some gifts and/or "profit sharing" from conferences, but it's no where near enough.  The profit sharing thing (not sure technically what it's called) is needs based, like financial aid, and looks good on paper.  It's not enough, nor is it fair.  How much money did OSU football bring in last year?   Adding up the scholarship money spent and Big 10 money, how much did the athletes get?   College athletics at that level are a huge business.

If the NCAA really wants to end this stuff, they'll allow more money to the athletes and/allow the school to buy them things.  What's wrong with paying for an athlete's airfare to and from home during the summer and holidays?  What's wrong with buying a decent suit/outfit for job interviews upon graduation?  What's wrong with giving athletes laptops for homework while on the toad? iPods?

The NCAA should allow schools to do these things.  It's like paying them, but not really.  They should have stipends for stuff like this with set limits - say $1k for a suit, alterations, shirt, tie, and shoes.  $500 for a laptop.  2 or 3 round trip coach tickets home per year.  Stuff like that could curtail some of it, along with a weekly 'allowance' of some sort.

The smaller schools fight that stuff because they claim if widens the gap between them and the big schools, as they can't afford to do those things. VT eyre full of crap.  My most recent basketball school played Texas A&M, Maryland, and Georgetown in the same year (don't hold me to Georegtown that year; if not it was another of similar stature).  Each school paid us full expenses - flight, hotel and meals.  In addition, 2 paid us $85k, and one paid $90k.  That's why the BCS schools can schedule small time non-conference teams to fill in their schedule.  If it was football, multiply the guarantee money by at least 8-10.

With a lot of the BCS schools, the school tries to stop the handouts by outsiders.  They really don't have much control over what goes on outside their walls.  One of my former athletes' friend played basketball at an ACC school.  The guys would stop by a local store, where the owner or one of his friends would ask the athlete if he could go out to his (the owner's) car and grab him a pen from the glove compartment.  Their would be an envelope with a few hundred dollars in it next to said pen.

The athletic department most likely knew what was going on, but what can they honestly do?   Keep in mind that alumni and boosters have huge pull at those places.  Wonder why Bobby Knight kept his job at Indiana for so long?  Do you really think the AD wanted a guy around who he had zero control over?  A physician I worked with did his sports med fellowship there.  You have no idea how much of a psychopath Knight was there.  The chair throwing and choking incidents are nothing compared to what else went on.

In s nutshell, big time college athletics are a huge business.  I don't agree with what goes on, but I'm pretty empathetic to it.  Being 18-22 years old and not having much, I'd take what was handed out too, hopefully within reason anyway.  It's not easy to see a school making millions of dollars from your work and talent, relatively speaking get nothing in return.

If it was Michigan who got busted for this, I'd do the right thing and still post this.

I surely agree with you.  BUT, lest you forget...the reason Tressel got the boot was because he lied to the NCAA and attempted a cover up.  One can't find a justification for that.

[Stu Pitt]

I surely agree with you.  BUT, lest you forget...the reason Tressel got the boot was because he lied to the NCAA and attempted a cover up.  One can't find a justification for that.

I agree, no justification at all.  He got what he deserved.  Being upfront and honest from the get go may have saved his job.  Probably not though.

The difference between him and the overwhelming majority of others out there is he got caught.  Not making excuses as an OSU fan, just trying to be objective. 

[Afterimage]

Pathetic that a school with so many resources like Ohio State has the cheat. 

[DARTH AUDIO]

Maybe, but there was that little issue of Appalachian State. 
Wasn't that under Richie R?

Lloyd Carr

[Bigfish]

I surely agree with you.  BUT, lest you forget...the reason Tressel got the boot was because he lied to the NCAA and attempted a cover up.  One can't find a justification for that.

I agree with both posts. 

Ken

[thunderbrick]

Lloyd Carr

My bad.  Still fun to watch the game. 

[chester_audio]

I am just happy I won't have to see that damn sweater and tie anymore. 

[Mudslide]

Sports Illustrated has a pretty scathing article about the matter.  Apparently there is a pretty seedy and criminal underbelly dragging at the OSU story.  http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/magazine/05/30/jim.tressel/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_t11_a5

I can imagine that this is all pretty tough to take for Buckeye fans.  Kids need guidance and will screw up everywhere, however, no matter what system is in place.  (I'm an Oregon Duck fan...so I know! )  But for certain NCAA rules need some changing when it comes to financial support for jocks.

Regarding Tressel...the following is part of the same article's suggestion that Tressel has been complicit in one way or the other for a long time.

"The Clarett and Baker scandals were further evidence that Tressel was, at best, woefully ignorant of questionable behavior by his players and not aggressive enough in preventing it. At worst, he was a conduit for improper benefits, as Clarett alleged. The latter interpretation is suggested by a story that has long circulated among college coaches and was confirmed to SI by a former colleague of Tressel's from Earle Bruce's staff at Ohio State in the mid-1980s. One of Tressel's duties then was to organize and run the Buckeyes' summer camp. Most of the young players who attended it would never play college football, but a few were top prospects whom Ohio State was recruiting. At the end of camp, attendees bought tickets to a raffle with prizes such as cleats and a jersey. According to his fellow assistant, Tressel rigged the raffle so that the elite prospects won -- a potential violation of NCAA rules. Says the former colleague, who asked not to be identified because he still has ties to the Ohio State community, "In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That's Jim Tressel."  Ouch!

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/magazine/05/30/jim.tressel/index.html#ixzz1NwMT1rw2