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

[geo weidl]

Another example of the religious beliefs of saint jim.

Given the self-made pickle Jim Tressel finds himself in, and the basketball team’s loss in the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed, it’s not been the best of months for two of the Ohio State University’s flagship athletic programs. And, apparently, the negativity surrounding the school is set to continue.
Wednesday night, the HBO show Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, a release from the cable network states, departs from its traditional format to present a special hour-long edition dedicated to the state of college sports in America. Basically, the show will delve into the sticky issue of whether college athletes — football players in particular — should be paid, as well as delving “into the controversial and complex subject of premium college-bound athletes receiving benefits that are prohibited by the NCAA.”
Oh, and sex.
The New York Daily News reports that former college football player Stanley McClover will also appear on the show, and reveals that he received not just cash but (gasp!) sexual services during a recruiting visit to Ohio State. McClover ultimately signed with Auburn, so we don’t know if that says more about quality of the school on The Plains or about the quality of the services (allegedly) rendered at the Columbus school.

[entropy]

Carr didn't beat OSU, copper beat OSU. That said the talent is down in AA

[Tony G]

Ent,

My recollection is he beat his girlfriend and dragged her down 3 flights of stairs by her hair.

I can see TO still trying to be a mentor in his life but I can't see LP suiting up again.

With the benefit of hindsight (I know, always 20/20) LP never seemed to grasp that there are consequences to laying your hands on people and it is wrong. Would he have stopped if things had been done differently? We'll never know.

[Clashmore Mike]

Brian Baldinger, ESPN radio 950 in Philly is claiming souces that have Tressel being released today...

...I'm just passing along. Heard this a couple times now.

[Hannibal]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with DSL. Tressel's cheating is only one very small portion of the picture. His 2001 and 2004 teams were inferior to ours. Especially when you consider that his starting QB sat out the 2001 game. Navarre cost us the 2001 game and Jim Hermann cost us the 2004 game. We had the game in hand in 2005 until Carr's stupid decision to punt the ball on 4th and 4 from inside the Buckeye 40 yard line. Then Ron English shit the bed in 2006. If the NFL is any indication, our 2006 team had more talent than Ohio State's. The 2007 team underacheived horribly. And since then, it doesn't take a cheater to beat Rodriguez. Tressel owned Carr in the coaching department. Completely outcoached him in every game except 2003. Take away all of Tressel's cheating and maybe we win one or two more contests at the very most.

[Hannibal]

With that said, there have been some indications lately that another Big Ten school is going to get hit hard with a story that has yet to break. Rodriguez hinted at this lately in a radio interview, and one of the guys from Yahoo sports has said that a scandal that is a 10 on the Richter scale is going to break this summer. He mentioned that it is a "top 12 program". Which points potentially to MSU, Iowa, or Wisky. Remember, Dantonio is a Tressel disciple who was with him at Youngstown State and OSU, and he clearly runs a thug program, if not a dirty program. If any shenanigans come to light in East Lansing, it might be significant enough for me to rethink the Rodriguez era.

[Rocky Bleier]

I'd love it to be MSU, but my money would be on Iowa. I think their list of transgressions is longer. There are definitely cracks in the-square-jawed-one's football foundation. Danphonio's time will come.

[Tony G]

http://www.freep.com/article/20110329/COL08/103290417/0/FEATURES07/Drew-Sharp-Tressel-s-stupidity-damages-close-friend-Dantonio?odyssey=nav|head

Drew Sharp: Ohio State's Jim Tressel damages close friend Mark Dantonio, other coaches

But the Tressel controversy hits MSU coach Mark Dantonio much closer than it does others because of the pair's longtime relationship.

[Hannibal]

I'd love it to be MSU, but my money would be on Iowa. I think their list of transgressions is longer. There are definitely cracks in the-square-jawed-one's football foundation. Danphonio's time will come.

Iowa would be my first guess too. There has been a lot of smoke coming out of that program for a while now. Not "pay for play" type stuff, but the police blotter issues and the brown pee episode are big warning signs. But the huge uptick that MSU has gotten in recruiting the past few years raises some red flags too.

Rodriguez on his radio appearance said that we'd be "hearing more" about a program that was negatively recruiting against Michigan. I'm not sure if he has inside info, or what.

[Rob F]

Brian Baldinger, ESPN radio 950 in Philly is claiming souces that have Tressel being released today...

...I'm just passing along. Heard this a couple times now.

I've looked online at several sources, including that radio station, I'm seeing nothing about that story, Clash

[entropy]

Iowa would also be my guess.

or the entire SEC not named Vanderbilt. Just saying.

[Hannibal]

Listening to WTKA this morning. They read the letter that OSU sent to the NCAA self-reporting Tressel lying. In that letter, OSU lied and said that Tressel did not notify anyone of Tat-gate to protect the confidentiality of the lawyer and avoid hindering a federal investigation. But we now know (and Gene Smith knew at the time) that Tressel at least forwarded the e-mail to Terrelle Pryor's sugar daddy. So now it is in black and white that Gene Smith has lied to the NCAA too.

And this is just what we know about publicly right now. Lots of FOIA products still to come.

OSU should consider themselves incredibly lucky if they get off with less than USC-like sanctions. I'll be shocked if Gene Smith survives this scandal. Tressel still has a chance, but I think that it's unlikely now.

[lineygoblue]

Yow ....

[Jamie H]

While Iowa has had more smoke coming out, I would actually guess that Wisconsin is more likely to be described as a top 12 program than Iowa. I'd also think that Ferentz would have jumped ship already if bad **** was coming down the pipe at Iowa, given that he has clearly been a candidate for some jobs.

I'd be very surprised if it is MSU, because I don't think they have won enough recently to be labeled a top 12 program. Wisconsin is really the only other Big Ten team to be consistently good enough to get that label.

[Rob F]

we used to have a top 12 program at Michigan....