M-Borg vs. THE Flavortown U Thread, Orig. by Buckeye Paul, absconded w/by talent.

[iam416]

WRT Michigan and their NCAA issues, I'd guess they received the same type of letter Ohio State received. I'd guess any school with a scheduled hearing receives the same type of letter.

[JRB]

It really doesn't matter anyway. ohio has pretty much dodged the bullet on this one. Good friends pay dividends, and ohio's good friends within the NCAA have held their hands all the way thru this process. It wouldn't surprise me to see the NCAA accept ohio's 'self punishment' as sufficient, considering Tressel and Pryor are gone. Friday's inquiry will be a mere formality.

The NCAA's selective outrage will be evident the next time that Michigan is accused of a major infraction.

I don't know that I buy that, either. The NCAA COI may hold what it suspects but can't prove against Ohio State(it wouldn't be the first time that happened), and the resulting sanctions may be harsher than the charges listed in the NOA would otherwise merit. I see little chance the NCAA simply accepts Ohio State's self-imposed sanctions. I suppose it's possible, and that's certainly a more likely outcome now than I thought it would be a couple of months ago, but I still think the NCAA has to issue a comprehensive penalty here. It's as much a matter of enforcement credibility as anything else-- after all the attention the reports out of Columbus have gotten, the NCAA almost has to hit Ohio State with something of substance.

[Optimus Prime]

DSL, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water....

NCAA protocol does allow for the Committee on Infractions to add penalties if it sees fit.

Salacious speculation at this point, but IMO opinion there is something substantial to follow otherwise it would wrap tomorrow.

If my instincts prove correct (again) Smith &/or Gee end up quietly "swimming with the fishes" so to speak, stay tuned.......

[hack]

I hope they keep Smith around and screw themselves again in the future.

[Jamie H]

I was going to say, would losing Smith or Gee really be a penalty?

[Mackenzie]

When would results of the NCAA meeting with Duh Ohio Skate College be made public?

[Optimus Prime]

I was going to say, would losing Smith or Gee really be a penalty?

No it wouldn't just further embarrassment, perhaps making Fickell's job more difficult and let's hope it lingers long enough to screw recruitment next year too. Regrettably college football is full of guys paid handsomely to turn a blind-eye, "firing" them when you get caught by the NCAA is a mere formality so it seems.

[SeanB]

When would results of the NCAA meeting with Duh Ohio Skate College be made public?

My understanding would be probably sometime in October.

[Jeff Buchanan]

talent is probably reasonably correct when he opines that ESPN has an ax to grind and that they may not be a trustworthy source with regard to the current problems for osu.

We lap it up it because the ESPN pitch plays right into our base emotions about all of this ..... i.e., we know those f'ers have been cheating; how else could they have dominated for a decade?

Well, they had a great coach, albeit one who, I feel pretty confident, acted as if he was an overly protective father who would rather have his children skate than face the consequences of rule breaking. A terrible, terrible example if you ask me but nonetheless the one he chose to make and one that cost him his job, his coaching legacy, severely damaged the reputation of osu and likely the reputation of some pretty high rollers in the persons of gee and smith.

As to the disclaimers coming out of osu over the ESPN talk today ..... if their handling of the initial allegations is any indication, they are going to screw this one up too. There may or may not be anything to the ESPN claims. Who cares. This is great theater.

..... not only that, it continues to cast a justifiable cloud over the program for recruiting. If Dunn is thinking about jumping to M, this only helps. Hopefully, the chatter will continue well into the season. Nothing serves my heart's desires more than this.

I know the osu faithful began to feel sorry at the later stages of M's shitfest under RR's head coaching tenure. It just wasn't fun anymore for them to watch M make fools of themselves on the field Saturday after Saturday, demonstrating a level of defensive and ST coaching incompetence that was beyond the pale.

But, I'll never tire of this. I never headed warnings that the B1G needs a strong osu. No they don't. Let them suffer as Sisyphus for the same greed and lying for which he suffered.

[iam416]

We certainly learned that the B10 doesn't need a strong M over the past 3 (soon to be 4) years.

Anyway, the reality is that ESPN now has a very definitive financial stake in CFB. They're no longer the network of all conferences, but rather have huge interest in the SEC (and now Texas) and, conversely, have far less interest in the B10. Personally, I think their relationship with the conference will cease when the current ABC/ESPN deal ends. And that's fine by me. But it's clear they have a financial interest in the B10 being "down" or "maligned" or whatever other negative word you can put to it. Whether that bleeds into their coverage, I dunno. But I'd certainly tread lightly b/c it's not irrational to think the worldwide leader has the B10 in its crosshairs. (The wishy-washy conclusion brought to you courtesy the Jeff Buchanan school of conclusions...heh).

[Mike]

"I never headed warnings that the B1G needs a strong osu. No they don't. Let them suffer as Sisyphus for the same greed and lying for which he suffered."

Amen, sir.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Interesting take on ESPN/ABC...........

If you haven't already, take a look at the post today from the NW board at Rivals moved to our board by Entropy:

http://www.detroitlionsforum.com/for...t=5097&page=25

If UT were to move to the B1G with some kind of arrangement involving broadcast rights remaining with the LHN, that certainly muddies the waters regarding this take you raise on ESPN/ABC. I don't think there is a chance in hell anything like that would happen so, its probably moot.

It's fun to be standing on the sideline though watching all this go down. Seismic changes in the CFB landscape are coming and sadly it is all being driven by broadcast rights and the big money associated with them.

[iam416]

When pigs fly, Buchanan. My apologies -- not to kill the messenger. But, when pigs fly.

Anyway, we'll see. I still think Fox will be a huge player for B10 TV rights when they come back up. Even as it currently stands, it's a massively valuable entity. If we're in the land of unicorns and eskimos, heh, then it's a preposterously big entity. And man, I'd love to see Delaney stick it to ESPN.

But I can't fathom aTm joining the B10 and I can't really even fathom UT making the move.

[hack]

``acted as if he was an overly protective father who would rather have his children skate than face the consequences of rule breaking.''

If ever I need someone to publicly spin my bad behavior, name your price and I'll pay it. Would you characterize Bernie Madoff as ``overly protective of his oldest and most-loyal clients''?

[SeanB]

I still think Fox will be a huge player for B10 TV rights when they come back up.

So does this mean we'll get to see robots playing air-guitar, running in place, sliding on the ground creating sparks or flying across the screen firing missles at an exploding Big10 Logo? I can't wait!