1. St. Tressel - CONSPIRACY!
If you haven't been following, last Friday, OSU released information that Tressel in fact forwarded the "confidential" e-mails to Terrelle Pryor's Main Man, (read: Booster) Ted Sarniak, in some sort of helping gesture. I guess Tressel figured if he couldn't rein Pryor in, who better than the guy that holds Pryor's leash? Unfortunately for St. Tressel, that information is now out and visible to the world. So, let's run down what the NCAA has on Tressel and tOSU:
1. He lied about knowing when he knew about the sale of the items to the Tat-Shop.
2. He lied about keeping it to himself as it was a federal investigation.
3. He lied again when the story came out and the players were subject to getting kicked out of the Sugar Bowl.
4. Gene Smith and Gordon Gee lied at the press conference announcing Tressel's intial punishment stating that they understood that he had kept the e-mail confidential. That's Conspiracy
5. tOSU must now be looked at as being in alliance with Tressel on this, or, more or less, part of the cover up.
The problem with lying is you have to keep lying to support the first lie. It's always there, just aching for support. Which leads to the next one and the next one...And St. Tressel and tOSU are still telling them. George Castanza, in one of the greatest lines in TV history, once told Jerry how to beat a lie detector by stating,
"Jerry, its not a lie if you believe it."
Aparently, all of the hierarchy within tOSU "believes" that St. Tressel should not be blamed for any of this as he didn't really do anything wrong. Corruption, lies, old boys club...it's all great fodder for the NCAA meat grinder that has to deal with this and make tOSU an example. If Tressel manages to keep his job after everything in this ordeal is said and done, well, we will all then know that it's not about how you do it, it's whether your winning or losing.
2. The End of the Fiesta?
This is something right out of a Hollywood movie script. The CEO of the Fiesta Bowl, the guy's last name is John Junker (seriously), was so blatantly open about the financial abuses that he was committing with the Fiesta Bowl's revenue that he tried to openly justify, and get this:
1. A weekend birthday party for himself in Pebble Beach for $33,000 that he expensed to the Bowl.
2. A $1,200 strip club tab that he attended with friends because, "big athletes like to hang out at these places and business was definitely conducted." Business was definitely conducted....I'm thinking (insert the word or pleasure of your choice here) : _____________JOBS. Your list to choose from: Hand, Blow, and Booby
3. $46,000 or so in political contributions (read: bribes) and subsequent hush money paid to cover it up.
I'm not sure what Junker could have been thinking. Bowls are supposed to be non-profit organizations that "do good for the community". After this fiasco, and there's really no other term for it, I'm willing to bet that investigative journalists countrywide are going to start looking up the collective rear ends of the Rose, Orange and Sugar and find all sorts of juicy tid bits. Whether or not they find anything that even begins to compare to the sins of Junker is a moot point. They'll find something. Is this a portent to the end of the BCS? Wetzel seems to think so... You know, the guy who wrote the book "Death to the BCS." And the alternative?
The Cotton Bowl at JerryWorld. Yeah, sure....That'll fix all the corruption and abuses that are occuring in the BCS. I can't help but wonder if Mark Cuban isn't somehow behind all of this....
3. Auburn = Cash
MSU = Cash
tOSU= Sexual Favors
Remember the above equations as there will be a test later. HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel ran a show about former Auburn players being offered all of the above in exchange for playing with the respective teams that were recruiting them. The biggest problem I had with the story was the fact that the former players were paid for their appearance and several players that played with these guys have come out and said that they were more or less all liars. Not that I mind MSU and tOSU's names getting dragged through the mud some more and Auburn is part of the "Super Excellent Cheaters" conference anyway. But Auburn's reputation of "throwing duffel bags full of cash" at kids is getting a lot of play in the media. Where there's smoke, there's bound to be a small fire. I just wonder if anyone will eventually be able to make anything stick at that institution. A few choice cuts (Provided by SBN): McClover says there were money handshakes from boosters at other football camps too. At Auburn for a couple hundred dollars and at Michigan State. All the schools denied any wrongdoing. And things really started heating up a few months later when he went to Ohio State for an official visit where schools get a chance for one weekend to host prospective athletes.
McClover: "They send girls my way. I partied. When I got there I met up with a couple guys from the team. We went to a party and they asked me to pick any girl I wanted."
Kremer to McClover: "I think in one game you had four sacks, what did you earn in that game?"
McClover: "Four thousand. Against Alabama."
Noice.....Maybe Michigan should start paying for sacks against tOSU?
4. And Finally, one that slipped most noticeably under the radar except by your alert MMQ (MANY THANKS to Greg over at M-Victors) we have this photo:
Don't panic and don't get excited. Apparently the Former Gator Coach turned ESPN special analyst wanted to tour the Michigan facility and see the Wolverine operation up close and personal.
Hmmmmmm....What a gig for a couple of years. Go tour all the major Division 1 programs, look at what they have, what they do best, investigate the traditions and then go back to work after your recuperative hiatus and take it all with you. Urban Legend is a genius....unfortunately.
Phew...I think that's it for awhile....
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