You've got to hand it to Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and football coach Jim Tressel. Using the old sports adage "the best defense is a good offense," they recently lamented the "severity" of the sanctions slapped down on six players found guilty of trading or selling football memorabilia for tattoos or cash to a tattoo parlor owner. The dynamic duo promised to appeal the "unjust" penalties, which includes five-game suspensions for five prominent players and a one-game suspension for the sixth. They blamed themselves and the school for not making more explicit the off-the-field rules for players. How ironic, considering Mr. Smith has been a member of both the NCAA Football Rules Committee and the NCAA Committee on Infractions. How ludicrous, considering the violations occurred over a year ago and the NCAA could have given the school a well-deserved spanking with suspensions including next week's Sugar Bowl and the forfeiture of all its 2010 wins. Obviously, to any casual observer with half a brain and some semblance of common sense, the penalties were not severe enough.
Smith and Tressel are aware of the perception of arrogance and special treatment for the Buckeyes. After all, what other school gets away with the official title of THE . . .University? What other school has a pompous pro-BCS blowhard for an athletic director? What other school has such conflict-of-interest ties with its governing body (besides the aforementioned committees, Smith also serves as the NCAA Division One Basketball Committee Chairperson and served on the NCAA Management Council)? Smith learned about arrogance early, having played at and graduated from Notre Dame.
To deflect any cries of cronyism or "special treatment" for its school, Smith and Tressel launched this seemingly sincere bemoaning of the harshness of the penalties befalling their players. They launched an offensive. It's outrageous. A team of attorneys will appeal, trying to reduce the penalties to one or two games. Hey, appeals work in the NFL. Just ask the Steelers and Rothlisberger. Speaking of the NFL, that's exactly what THE. . .University is trying to avoid: the early exodus of several star players to the pro league, encouraged by the half-season suspension.
Naturally, this blogger has long admired the tradition of tough football that Ohio State represented and still represents, from Woody Hayes, Jack Tatum, and Archie Griffin on. Most of its other sports are very competitive as well. But no school should be treated more equal than others. No school should allow its athletic director to rant about the fairness of the BCS bowl system at the expense of non-BCS conferences when said A.D. also has "member of Rose Bowl Management Committee" on his c.v. As Devo used to sing, sarcastically, it's a beautiful world.
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