Ohio State and Coach Jim Tressel. Quite a show.

Great pieces of drama are said to have it all. They make you laugh, they make you cry.  They bring out a plethora of emotions. Yes, I used the word plethora. The recent drama at Ohio State certainly brings out multiple emotions. I’m laughing and I’m insulted, which makes me angry.

Seinfeld’s George Costanza put it best. “That is CA-MI-DEE!”.  OSU President Gordon Gee seems to have made the wrong career choice. Oh yeah, stand up might have been Gordon’s calling. Gee was asked if he would consider firing Coach  Jim Tressel. His response? Gee only hoped that Tressel wouldn’t fire him. That’s a statement on who is running the show, huh?

I hate being talked down to, patronized, treated like an idiot. With a passion. Why didn’t Tressel act on the information he had been given? Let’s understand that the “information” was an email from an attorney who notified Tressel that in the course of a federal investigation into the drug trafficking of a tattoo parlor owner, a lot of OSU football memorabilia was discovered. The attorney informed Tressel that his players, among them star QB Terrelle Pryor, apparently had sold the memorabilia to the tattoo parlor owner. This is not someone telling Tressel that his 4^th string nickel back was skipping some classes. This involved his star player and would be a clearcut and serious NCAA violation.

So why didn’t Tressel act? He didn’t know who to bring this information to. I know, you’re rubbing your eyes. You’re thinking you must need glasses or at least new ones. Nope. You read it right. I’ll repeat it. Ohio State Head Football Coach Jim Tressel would like us to believe that when told his star player and others might have committed a serious NCAA violation, he didn’t know who to bring that information to. So of course, he did nothing. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! On top of everything, you’re going to insult us like that?

OSU responded by suspending Tressel for the first two games of the 2011 season. I have no idea how the Buckeyes will manage to compete against Akron and Toledo without their head man. They fined him $250,000 also. What a joke. The players were suspended for the first five games.

Look I’m not saying Tressel is the devil. But here is a guy who is pushing his new book about faith and integrity and doing things the right way. Really? There were issues with the NCAA while he was not only coach but athletic director at Youngstown State. He brought in Maurice Clarett after reportedly being briefed extensively by Clarett’s high school coaches about his off field issues. Interesting that Clarett allegedly had his own apartment at OSU despite the school requiring freshmen to live in a dorm. Troy Smith was suspended for taking money from a booster. Again, nothing that isn’t found at most schools, but Tressel is supposed to be different.

Doesn’t seem different to me. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck..........