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

[Mike]

Depends on how much power the ivory tower academics have I suppose.

[entropy]

Gee is guilty of bad form due to the position he holds. Other than that, I agree with pretty much everything he said 100%. It just comes off as low-brow from a university president. That said, I'm glad he did it. The comments get out there and osu takes the heat. Perfect scenario actually.

Yea.. I agree. Though I think he's wrong on ND. ND is about pride

[Mike]

Gee's complete remarks. Some really good stuff in there. Again, I really like what he has to say and it's nice to get some behind the scenes stuff with regard to expansion.

http://college-football.si.com/2013/05/31/ohio-state-gordon-gee-controversial-comments/?sct=uk_t11_a4

• 1:28: “My view, very candidly — and I’ve said this to you before and I’m not certain if [athletic director] Gene [Smith] shares this, we haven’t really talked about this — but I think we’re moving precipitously toward about three or four superconferences of about 16 to 20 teams. And the possibility of them bolting from the NCAA is not unlikely.”

• 3:07: “And I want to make it very clear, we have never invited Notre Dame to join the Big Ten. And the reason is the fact that they — first of all they’re not very good partners. I’ll just say that. I negotiated with them during my first term and the fathers are holy on Sunday and they’re holy hell on the rest of the week. You just can’t trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or Friday. Literally, I can say that.”

• 4:56: “[The addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten] gives us 40 to 50 million more viewers, makes the BTN worth more money than God. I did say that. It’s a very powerful instrument for us.”

• 6:05: “The blocking strategy is that we simply have now put the ACC in an almost no-win position. So who do they immediately go to? Louisville. They may think about Cincinnati. They may think about Connecticut. But they’ve lost their foothold in that middle part of the area, in that middle part of the Atlantic coast.”

• 9:14: “I think the Big Ten needs to be predatory and positive rather than waiting for other people to take away from them. Very candidly, I think we made a mistake. Because thought about adding Missouri and Kansas at the time. There was not a great deal of enthusiasm about that. I think we should have done that at the time. So we would have had Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and then moved into that other area. I think, by the way, that that can still happen.”

• 9:42: “I also think this. This is a high possibility. If the ACC continues to struggle, and Florida State goes off to the SEC or something like that, and Clemson moves in a different direction, all of a sudden Virginia and Duke, which are very similar institutions to — and North Carolina — which are very similar institutions to the Big Ten, there is a real possibility that we may end up having that kind of T which goes south. And I could see them joining us. And I could see them having a real interest in joining us.”

• 11:03: “You know Penn State just abhors Pitt. It would be the same way. Even though we love Cincinnati as a city, we want it to be an Ohio State city. They’d have to take Gene out and shoot him to let Cincinnati into the Big Ten. There are some things that we just would not to. And that’s the way that Penn State also feels about Pitt.”

• 11:49: “I would see potentially Missouri and Kansas. By the way it goes without saying this all has to be speculation that remains right here. And I could also see a T that goes south all according to what happens with the ACC, but we need to be ready to move.”

• 14:30: “Someone was saying to me, well, you know, Bret Bielema leaving … that was a blessing for Wisconsin and they knew it. Because he was under tremendous pressure. They didn’t like him. Barry Alvarez thought he was a thug. And he left just ahead of the sheriff.”

• 18:44: “The smaller schools in the Divisions II and III, which have substantial power but no power in terms of television draw or anything else, they have increasingly become rigid about the way that we change some of the rules in support of the revenue-generating institutions. And eventually that’s gonna drive us all into a new kind of a configuration. And that’s where I think we’re going.”

• 19:52: “I think the presidents of the institutions are very clear that their number one criteria is to make sure that we have institutions of like-minded academic integrity. So you won’t see us adding Louisville … or the University of Kentucky.”

• 23:44: “The NCAA is a cacophony and it’s not a chorus. Until we can get a chorus, we’re not going to be able to deal with this arms race in the right way I think.”

• 24:54: “Well you tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write then they can figure out what we’re doing. I’ve been down there. I was the chairman of the Southeastern Conference for two years. I’ll tell you something. It’s shameful. It really is.”

[SeattleLionsFan]

That view of the BTN adding so many viewers is sooo wrongheaded and shortsighted it makes me sick.

[Mike]

It sounds like breaking up the ACC's east coast monopoly was just as important. The two go hand-in-hand. It's just such a damn shame it had to be total dogs like Rutgers and Maryland that were the keys to the geographic puzzle.

[Optimus Prime]

Talent, how did D Hand's unofficial visit to Ohio go this weekend?

With fresh stink on Gee I doubt he got the customary envelope full of Benjamins from Ohio A & M.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Talent, how did D Hand's unofficial visit to Ohio go this weekend?

You've apparently not heard. OSU isn't interested in D.Hand. Hand doesn't "fit" the type of player Meyer is looking for. [This part is true honest to goodness "reporting"}

As far as I can tell, OSU is looking for players that want to play for OSU, and Hand doesn't fit that so OSU dropped him.

[entropy]

I'd rather see KU and Missouri..

[entropy]

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State's top trustees say insensitive comments by the university president have embarrassed and divided the university.

The trustees say in a letter to president Gordon Gee that his comments risk diminishing the collective efforts of the university and of Gee's own good work.

The March 11 letter was obtained Friday by The Associated Press. It lays out several steps Gee must take following the revelation of remarks he made last year jabbing Notre Dame, Roman Catholics and the Southeastern Conference.

“

The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they're holy hell on the rest of the week. You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that.
” -- Ohio State president Gordon Gee, speaking at a December meeting of the school's athletic council

Gee, who has taken heat previously for uncouth remarks, told members of the school's athletic council late last year that Notre Dame never was invited to join the Big Ten because the university's priests are not good partners.

Gee said he negotiated with Notre Dame officials during his first term at Ohio State, which began more than two decades ago.

"The fathers are holy on Sunday, and they're holy hell on the rest of the week," Gee said to laughter at the Dec. 5 meeting attended by athletic director Gene Smith and several other athletic department members, along with professors and students. "You just can't trust those damn Catholics on a Thursday or a Friday, and so, literally, I can say that," said Gee, a Mormon.

Gee apologized in a statement Thursday and again on Twitter Thursday night.

"I am truly sorry for my comments-such attempts at humor do not reflect Ohio State values, nor my role as its president," the tweet said.

In their letter, the trustees laid out steps Gee must take including issuing personal apologies, getting help from professionals to revisit his personal communications and speechwriting processes and rethinking what speaking engagements he accepts.

Trustees told Gee that his attempts "to bring a bit of levity" to significant issues have had the opposite effect at times.

"As a result, instead of your words promoting and uniting us, they have sometimes embarrassed and divided us," trustee chairman Robert Schottenstein and trustee Alex Shumate, who led the search committee that hired Gee in 2007, said in the three-page letter obtained through a records request.

"Such comments are not befitting a great university like Ohio State or its leadership," the letter continued. It added: "Although we do not believe that you intended harm, such comments risk diminishing the effectiveness of our collective efforts and of your good work."

The letter said Gee is making progress on the board's list of requirements.

"Your willingness to seek guidance and counsel on multiple levels, from a variety of sources, on how to adapt and grow is a hallmark of your leadership style and one that we value highly," the letter said.

University and athletic conference officials have almost universally called Gee's remarks inappropriate but also said his apology has been accepted.

During his comments to the athletic council, Gee took shots at Arkansas coach Bret Bielema and Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, and questioned the academic integrity of schools in the SEC and the University of Louisville. Gee has since emailed an apology to Bielema.

“

Someone was saying to me, well, you know, Bret Bielema leaving ... that was a blessing for Wisconsin and they knew it. Because he was under tremendous pressure. They didn't like him. Barry Alvarez thought he was a thug. And he left just ahead of the sheriff."
” -- Gee on former Wisconsin and current Arkansas coach Bret Bielema

Bielema was the coach at Wisconsin before leaving for Arkansas and the SEC in a surprising move after last season. Gee said that was a good thing for the Big Ten.

"Someone was saying to me, 'Well, you know, Bret Bielema leaving ... that was a blessing for Wisconsin and they knew it,' " Gee said, according to the full tape published by SI.com. " 'Because he was under tremendous pressure. They didn't like him. (Wisconsin AD) Barry Alvarez thought he was a thug. And he left just ahead of the sheriff.' "

Alvarez released a statement Friday saying Gee had called him to apologize last week.

"I have never said that about Bret, nor had those feelings toward him. I accepted Gordon's apology and consider the matter closed," Alvarez said in the statement.

Arkansas AD Jeff Long was not so quick to dismiss the comments, saying in a statement Saturday that he was "deeply troubled by the unfounded and slanderous remarks."

Delany's name also came up when Gee answered a question about preserving Ohio State's financial interests in light of Big Ten revenue-sharing plans.

"No one admires Jim Delany more than I do -- I chaired the committee that brought him here," Gee said. "Jim is very aggressive, and we need to make certain he keeps his hands out of our pockets while we support him."

Gee also spoke a lot about the Big Ten's expansion plans during the meeting.

The top goal of Big Ten presidents is to "make certain that we have institutions of like-minded academic integrity," Gee said. "So you won't see us adding Louisville," a member of the Big East conference that is also joining the ACC.

After a pause followed by laughter from the audience, Gee added that the Big Ten wouldn't add Kentucky, either.

“

You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we're doing.
” --Gee, when asked how to respond to SEC fans who say the Big Ten can't count because it now has 14 members

Gee said he thought it was a mistake not to include the Big 12's Missouri and Kansas in earlier Big Ten plans. Missouri has since joined the SEC.

"I think the Big Ten needs to be predatory and positive rather than waiting for other people to take away from them," Gee said. "Very candidly, I think we made a mistake. Because (we) thought about adding Missouri and Kansas at the time. There was not a great deal of enthusiasm about that. I think we should have done that at the time. So we would have had Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and then moved into that other (Midwest) area. I think, by the way, that that can still happen."

When asked by a questioner how to respond to SEC fans who say the Big Ten can't count because it now has 14 members, Gee said, "You tell the SEC when they can learn to read and write, then they can figure out what we're doing. I've been down there. I was the chairman of the Southeastern Conference for two years. I'll tell you something. It's shameful. It really is."

Gee also expressed enthusiasm about the Big Ten moving into the ACC's territory on the East coast. Maryland's defection to the Big Ten has left the ACC vulnerable in the mid-Atlantic region, Gee said, and makes Virginia, Duke and North Carolina possible Big Ten additions.

"This is a high possibility," Gee said. "If the ACC continues to struggle, and Florida State goes off to the SEC or something like that, and Clemson moves in a different direction, all of a sudden Virginia and Duke, which are very similar institutions to -- and North Carolina -- which are very similar institutions to the Big Ten, there is a real possibility that we may end up having that kind of 'T' which goes south. And I could see them joining us. And I could see them having a real interest in joining us."

Schools already in Big Ten territory, such as Pitt and Cincinnati, were out of the question as expansion targets.

"Even though we love Cincinnati as a city, we want it to be an Ohio State city," Gee said.

Gee intended that his speculation on expansion "remains right here," according to the tape.

[entropy]

Sipple/LJS

Sorry, I can bite my tongue no longer.

The Associated Press' Jim Litke put me over the top in this column regarding E. Gordon Gee's inappropriate comments that, strangely, seem to have much of the sporting world aghast.

Litke writes that Gee "is Exhibit A for why university presidents can't be trusted to run college sports."

That's quite a remarkable leap -- throwing an entire constituency under the bus because a single president made some flip remarks that were meant to be humorous. They weren't humorous. Nor were they malicious. Or hurtful. Not even close.

In the context of the setting -- a meeting of Ohio State's Athletics Council -- Gee's remarks obviously were inappropriate. I agree with Litke that Gee perhaps feels a little too cozy in his powerful and important position at the university.

But that Gee's comments became a major national news story screams hypocrisy to me. We live in a society where folks routinely lapse into attack mode in various forms of social media -- with comments that are intentionally malicious. And hurtful. I'm guessing many of those same folks expressed righteous indignation that Gee dared to dismiss Louisville and Kentucky as schools academically unworthy of joining the Big Ten Conference. Oh, the horror.

Gee obviously crossed the line when he slammed "those damn Catholics" who run Notre Dame athletics as untrustworthy. But if Catholics (including myself) are truly hurt by Gee's comments, well, they're awfully thin-skinned.

Gee also suggested the Southeastern Conference should devote more of its resources to teaching reading and writing skills. Once again, it was a poor attempt at humor, and in the wrong setting. But jokes about SEC academics have become cliche'. Are people genuinely offended by Gee's remarks? Really?

What's more, Gee is notorious for making inappropriate comments. It doesn't make it right, but it does lessen the impact -- or so one would think.

Congrats to the Associated Press, which enthusiastically patted itself on the back for obtaining notes and a recording from the Athletics Council meeting (under a public records request). The AP presented Gee's comments as a major news story. And of course most people reacted as if that were in fact the case, as opposed to simply rolling their eyes and moving on.

Perhaps I'm a bit calloused and simply see it for what it is: Unfortunate behavior by a man who should know better.

[Pasadena Blue]

All kidding Talent and DSL, I am not that bothered by Gee's comments. Yes they were stupid, unbecoming things for a University president to say, but not much less dumb than saying "I hope Jim Tressel doesn't fire me." The guy is the best fundraiser in Ohio history and has overseen really the greatest era in Ohio athletics. This will all blow over. It would be stupid for Ohio to get rid of him.

[Pasadena Blue]

Talent, how did D Hand's unofficial visit to Ohio go this weekend?

I can answer my own question.

http://www.annarbor.com/mi/wolverines/2013/06/no_1_recruit_dashawn_hand_not/

Looks like Urbie did not make great in roads.

I get the sense Hand is a lean to us, but so so long to go in his recruitment, Urbie or Beamer could still reel him in.

[The Oracle]

Beamer/Foster, yes. Urbie.....

[Optimus Prime]

Urbie has no need for #1 ranked player in the nation, probably doesn't meet Meyer's higher standards.

However, Wouldn't surprise me to see Tebow back in the college game now that the NFL appears to have spurned him. Meyer has Gee "doctoring' the paperwork as we speak, according to Meyer "God wills it".

Enroll him in Seminary College in Columbus and boom back on the field, God would approve.

Rekindle a little magic, Meyer & Tebow in Gainesville, a match made in Heaven.

[Mike]

Maybe Tebow could be the QB coach for osu!