This is just a brief update of my lengthy School for Scandal blog. What has happened at The Ohio State University since the prior post? There have been three actions.
First, the NCAA dismissed the school's appeal of the six player suspensions as being without merit. Second, Coach Jim Tressel has publicly apologized for not being more straightforward/less disingenuous in covering up Tattoogate between the time he first received knowledge of it in April of 2010 and the time he was confronted by school officials with the e-mail evidence in January of 2011. Third, Coach Tressel has voluntarily modified his own suspension, boosting it from two games to five games to match the suspensions of five of the six players involved. What a messel!
Of course, the problem remains. Tressel's reaction reminds me of the Raymond Burr character in the classic Rear Window, who grows more and more paranoid as people and canines start sniffing and digging around the garden where he buried the dismembered remains of his wife.
Naturally, the NCAA continues to investigate Tattoogate and The Ohio State. Further sanctions could arise, especially if the school takes no further self-policing actions. Forfeiture of all wins in the 2010 season, including the Sugar Bowl, could be the result.
Loss of scholarships similar to USC's could also be a penalty.
Two more interesting items have surfaced since the previous post. First, former Buckeye star and excellent ESPN/ABC analyst Kirk Herbstreit made public the reasons for moving his family from Columbus to Nashville: a small percentage of rabid Buckeye fans who felt he wasn't homer enough when discussing all things Ohio State football. Sometimes, the truth hurts. Even Herbstreit was fed up with the persecution from the vocal minority.
Second, while the local media may be sugarcoating Tattoogate, the national media has been ratcheting up the scrutiny. One Fox Sports national show has implied that Coach Tressel's superiors must have been informed of the scandal by Tressel last spring and joined in the cover-up, or else Tressel would have been fired for lying to them. Does anyone recall Bruce Pearl's recent firing at Tennessee? This week, an Orlando Sentinel reporter has forecasted Tressel's firing and replacement with, get ready for this, former Florida coach Urban Meyer.
Speculation and rumor flourishes in such an unsettled environment. Will Coach Tressel become the fall guy for a massive conspiracy, or is Tressel truly the only guilty party among Buckeye officials? Certain Ohio State individuals could pop a blood vessel when contemplating this messel! Pursue justice; do not obstruct it.
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