Sweet Victory

For anyone who gets sick of hearing about "THE Ohio State University" (i.e. anyone not associated with OSU, and/or anyone with any sense of decorum or decency):

I love it.  I guess the editors voted down, "F U OSU"

Buckeyes Stumble

Pat Forde:

If you want to know how badly the Big Ten championship loss wounded Ohio State, consider this:
After Michigan State had finished harmin' Ohio, the Buckeyes bagged "Carmen Ohio."
At a school that takes its traditions seriously, that will be considered sacrilege by some fans. Under former coach Jim Tressel, the ritual was non-negotiable: Win or lose, the team would gather postgame before the marching band and sing the song, written more than a century ago by an Ohio State student.
For 24 games under Urban Meyer, that continued. Game ended, players gathered, song was sung. Meyer, a self-proclaimed lover of Buckeye lore, was always front and center, flanked by players on either side.
Made for a nice photo op, at the very least.
Of course, for 24 games there was never a loss, never a chance to test the commitment to tradition in a time of adversity.
Saturday night, that changed. Saturday night, Meyer's Buckeyes finally lost – and did so in shocking fashion. They fell behind the Spartans 17-0, roared back for a 24-17 lead, then were hit with another 17-0 flurry in a devastating 34-24 loss.
National title aspirations vanished. The program that had dominated a diminished Big Ten finally played an opponent of consequence – and was exposed as a cut below championship mettle.

This part is brutal:

This game reinforced what many of us suspected: Ohio State's winning streak was a house of cards, built on soft competition. The non-conference schedule was awful, and the conference has been at a low ebb. For this team to have skated into the BCS championship game would have been a disservice to college football.
The Buckeyes hadn't played a single top-10 opponent since Tressel's last game as coach, the 2011 Sugar Bowl. Their victories shouldn't have impressed anyone, but poll voters are seduced by brand-name programs with perfect records.

And so, after scraping past a hugely disappointing Michigan team by one point last week, a team ranked second by the polls and BCS computers came to Indy with everything within its grasp. Just win this game – in front of a crowd that was 70 percent scarlet-and-gray – and the Buckeyes would go to Pasadena and play for the national title.

It was all right there for the taking. And they blew their chance, ceding a spot in the title game to Auburn – and giving the Southeastern Conference a shot at a great eight straight championships.

The Big Ten has not been very good for a while now.  I think the Buckeyes are lucky they weren't exposed by a non-conference opponent in the BCS Championship.  The four team playoff makes things more rational, but it probably ought to be a requirement for power conference teams to play a serious non-conference opponent each season, so you can tell who the pretenders are.

The Double Bird

Charles Pierce gives a beautiful description of Marcus Hall's two-handed salute to Michigan fans on Saturday:

In the second quarter of what already had been a carnival of a first half, Michigan had just scored to take a 21-14 lead. Ohio State's Dontre Wilson fielded the kick at his own goal line and ran it back 16 yards. However, deep in the pile, ill feelings mysteriously arose. Family relationships were disputed loudly. Within seconds, a WWE card broke out. Helmets flew, as did at least one punch. An exaltation of penalty flags took wing. By the time the game officials had finished approximating who had done what to whom, and whose mothers had been most grievously insulted, two Ohio State players and one Wolverine found themselves dismissed.
"I was disappointed in that," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer grumped afterward.
(It is devoutly to be hoped that the Buckeyes followed the direction of their governor, John Kasich, regarding the letter "m" and remembered to call people "otherfuckers" in the scrum. These are the things I worry about.)
One of the expelled, offensive lineman Marcus Hall, was particularly exercised. He slammed down his helmet. He kicked what I can only hope was the bench. And then, as he was being led off into exile up the tunnel, Hall enthusiastically flipped off the Michigan crowd with both hands. This being Thanksgiving weekend, there were a lot of people out there watching with nothing in their hands save beer, and nothing on their hands but time. Within two minutes, Hall's gesture had been GIF'ed approximately 9,678 times. This guaranteed him the kind of instant fame only the Internet can provide. It also guaranteed that Marcus Hall never will have to pay for a meal in Columbus for the rest of his life — whether he and the Buckeyes play for the national title or not. He demonstrated vividly that he don't give a damn for the whole state of Michigan. I know I'm supposed to be outraged by this, but I can't be. That would require me to be a TV drone and worry about things like The Image Of The Sport. Hell with that. Marcus Hall lived the dream of every Ohio State fan since the series began in 1897.

I love the part about otherfuckers, even though I find Kasich's recommendation to be a stupid bit of demagoguery.

Going Map-Crazy

Wired has a couple of cartography stories up.  First, several planning maps from the past:

1941 Development of the Central Area West and East of the Capitol – Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. was masterfully designed by Pierre L’Enfant as a grand capital for the new nation. But as time passed and the needs of the city changed, the optimism of the original plan gave way to industrial slums and a growing federal government gobbling up free space within the city. The burgeoning capital required a new urban plan.
The 1941 redesign is notable because it strikes the balance between the City Beautiful movement, an effort to preserve monumental grandeur in cities like Washington D.C., with the needs of a growing federal government during and after World War II. Much of the plan for west side of the Capitol came to pass in some form, often using more modern designs. The east side of the Capitol, however, called for a second mall lined with government offices, schools, museums, and a vast sports complex. While such large scale urban renewal took place in cities across the nation after the war, including in other parts of Washington D.C., this vast plan for the east side was never carried out.

Then,  a profile of a "guerrilla cartographer" who made this map:

Some are mostly fun and informative, including a map of regional variations in dulce de leche across Latin America; “The American Beershed,” which maps U.S. malt, hops, and yeast production; and “Global Spaghetti,” a global map of pasta consumption paired with data on Google searches for the word spaghetti (Filipinos and Singaporeans are apparently very curious about this exotic food, consuming little of it themselves but searching for it often).

For a map nerd like me, this is catnip.

The Bow Tie Retires

Bye, Gordon:

Ohio State University President Gordon Gee is calling it quits.
Following the revelation of recorded remarks in which he criticized Notre Dame, Roman Catholics and the Southeastern Conference, Gee announced his retirement Tuesday through the university. He will make his official announcement in an email to students, faculty and staff this afternoon. His retirement is effective July 1. Executive vice president and Provost Joseph A. Alutto will be named interim president. Alutto previously served as interim president in 2007. Gee's success as a college president has often been overshadowed by verbal gaffes. During the meeting in December, he referred to "those damn Catholics" and joked that priests at Notre Dame are holy on Sunday but "holy hell" the rest of the week. Additionally, he once called Ohio's governor a "dummy" and likened the job of running a university to the Polish Army.

His retirement isn't going to break me up.  However, it will probably put a dent in Ohio State's fundraising efforts.

Gordon Gee Stays Classy

Yahoo:

Gee, who has taken heat before for uncouth remarks, told members of the council that 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, several other athletic department members, 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.
The Big Ten had for years courted Notre Dame, but the school resisted as it sought to retain its independent status in college football. In September, the school announced that it would join the Atlantic Coast Conference in all sports except football and hockey but would play five football games each year against ACC teams.
In the recording, Gee referred specifically to dealing with the Rev. Ned Joyce, Notre Dame's longtime executive vice president, who died in 2004.
''Father Joyce was one of those people who ran the university for many, many years,'' Gee said.
Gee said the Atlantic Coast Conference added Notre Dame at a time when it was feeling vulnerable.
''Notre Dame wanted to have its cake and eat it, too,'' Gee said, according to the recording and a copy of the meeting's minutes.

Gordon is a money grubbing Orville Redenbacher wannabe who makes me look cool.  Way to try to be funny, dork.

Inside The War Room, Sort Of

Chuck Klosterman spends part of draft day with the new management of the Cleveland Browns.  He describes the wretched history of the Browns:

The last time the Browns won an NFL championship was 1964. This feels distant to everyone in America except those living in Northeast Ohio. To them, it seems like last weekend. If you try to annoy a Browns fan by noting how Cleveland has never won a Super Bowl, he will tell you that they've actually won four titles (1950, '54, '55, and '64) and that the only problem is that the term "Super Bowl" had not yet been invented. He will go on to tell you that the greatest football player who ever lived was a Brown, and that his name was Brown, and that the greatest player who ever lived is still only the second-most important person named Brown in the history of the franchise. He will tell you that he'll always root for the Browns, under any circumstances, no matter what happens, forever.
And then he will proceed to tell you how much the Browns suck.
This is the central dichotomy of Cleveland football: No other fan base is so deeply loyal and so self-consciously negative at the same time. Locally, there just seems to be a universal belief that — somehow, either by human error or random chance — the Browns will fail at whatever they try. Longtime fanatics have code words for all the moments that have crushed their souls. "Red Right 88" denotes the fatal play call from the 1981 divisional playoff against the Oakland Raiders, when — trailing 14-12 with less than a minute to play, inside the red zone — the Browns tried to pass instead of running the ball and attempting a field goal. The ensuing end zone interception ended the season. That squad was (arguably) Cleveland's best team of the modern era, unless you consider the '86 Browns (who were killed by John Elway and "The Drive") or the '87 Browns (whose hopes were dashed by "The Fumble" in the AFC championship). There are no code words for things that went right, because those things never happen. In 1996, owner Art Modell moved the franchise to Baltimore, a move so devastating to the community that some citizens openly expressed glee when Modell died in 2012. For three seasons in the '90s, there was no football team in Cleveland, although the nonexistent Browns remained just as popular as the Indians and more popular than the Cavaliers. (This three-year stint was actually an excellent era for Browns fans, since nothing bad could possibly occur.) The club was reintroduced in 1999, highlighted by a new $300 million downtown stadium and the first overall pick in the draft, Kentucky quarterback Tim Couch. In the 14 years that have since passed, the team's record is 73-151.
Still, the team sells out virtually every home game. This is not Jacksonville. When it comes to football, Ohio is just a colder version of Texas.

That is the one beautiful thing about being a Bengals fan.  At least I'm not a Browns fan.  Of course the best professional football team in Ohio is at The Ohio State University.

Ohio State-Kansas Preview

From Club Trillion:

Ohio State's narrow victory over Winthrop on Tuesday night — a game in which the Buckeyes were favored by 28 points — probably raised a lot of questions. What the heck happened to Ohio State? How can they be the seventh-best team in the country if they barely beat Winthrop? As a former Ohio State benchwarmer, perhaps I can shed some light on why they played so poorly.
You see, the thing that sets Ohio State's basketball program apart from every other program in the country is that we strive for greatness in the classroom. Academics have always and will always be a top priority for Thad Matta, which is why we never practiced for more than 30 minutes on any given day during finals week.
"I want you guys going home and hitting the books hard," Coach would always say. "I don't want you thinking about our next game. I want you thinking about how you're going to ace your finals. In fact, I don't even want you to know who we're playing until the game tips off."
"But, Coach," I'd cut in. "Do we have to get all A-pluses on our finals? What if I get an A-minus in my advanced molecular biomechanical physics engineering calculus science final? Even though I tutor everyone in the class because I'm obviously the smartest, I'm afraid I might miss a question or two. That class is pretty tough."
"I think you've mistaken me for someone who gives a damn," he'd snap back. "For every A-plus you don't get, you're running 10 miles. That goes for everyone on this team."
I trust you now understand why Ohio State played poorly against Winthrop. Clearly, the Buckeyes were hitting the books hard all week and Winthrop was an afterthought. I've always tried to tell Coach Matta to lighten up and let the players focus more on basketball, but he never listened. Oh well. I guess it's comforting to know that there's at least one program in the country that cares about its players graduating.
Oh, and by the way, everything in this section is complete bullshit. It's just my way of trying to explain how Ohio State could look like complete ass four days before the biggest game of the season thus far (against Kansas on Saturday). Is it too late to postpone the game? I heard it might get humid in Columbus this weekend, and I'd hate for there to be condensation on the court. Safety first.

I'm sure he's right about the academics first, even if he covers up by calling bullshit on himself.  Nothing says academic excellence like Ohio State athletics.

Weekend Football Roundup

Notre Dame's defense managed to carry them to the BCS Championship game, while Ohio State's tattoo scandal prevents them from joining the Irish.  If there was ever a year when I'd like to see Notre Dame play the Buckeyes, it is this one.  Instead, they will be meeting the winner of the Alabama-Georgia game.  That won't be nearly as good for the Irish.  Also on the college front, Purdue blew out Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket, Northwestern beat Illinois for the Land of Lincoln trophy, Tennessee beat Kentucky in the former Beer Barrel game and Alabama crushed Auburn in the Iron Bowl.

In Division III, Mount Union and Widener moved up to meet next week, as did St. Thomas and Hobart, Linfield and Wisconsin-Oshkosh,  and Mary Hardin-Baylor and Wesley.

Up north, Toronto and Calgary meet today in the Grey Cup final at 6:00.  For any of the dozen or so folks in the States who want to watch it, it is supposed to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.

In the NFL, I am forced to root for the Browns to beat the Steelers to give the Bengals a chance to creep into the playoffs in spite of their pathetic loss to said team from Cleveland.  I will feel extremely dirty today.

Update:  Browns give up on white flag giveaway: 

The Browns have waved the white flag on their white-flag giveaway for tomorrow's game against the Steelers.
Sponsored by Ticketmaster, the Browns planned to give every fan in attendance an inflatable white flag with the Browns name and an orange helmet on it.
But the symbol of surrender -- especially against the Steelers and their Terrible Towels -- met with great resistance from fans and players.
"After further and careful consideration, we felt it was in the best interests of everyone involved that we not have a giveaway item at tomorrow's game,'' said Browns spokesman Neal Gulkis. "It is something that was intended to be fun for our fans and that they could rally around, and we regret that some didn't perceive it that way. We want to thank all of our fans for their tremendous support and we look forward to seeing them out in force at the stadium tomorrow.”

That is hilarious.

Soon To Be Vacated

Bob Wojnowski gets in his annual digs against Ohio State prior to this year's OSU-Michigan matchup:

I want to make something perfectly clear here. I wouldn't waste all this valuable time and space mocking our Buckeye friends if I didn't respect the program's history, determination and relentless obnoxiousness. There simply aren't enough things you can count on in college football anymore, and Buckeye irrationality is one of them. According to my sources, they're so offended by being called "Ohio," the band planned to introduce a new halftime formation: Script "T-H-E O-H-I-O S-T-A-T-E." Unfortunately during practice, a half-dozen tuba players were treated for exhaustion. Now they'll try something more emblematic of Ohio State fandom: A script finger. The Buckeyes also are marking the 10-year anniversary of their 2002 national championship this weekend. That means Tressel will be there, along with several key players, pending work-release approval. To commemorate it, the team will be introduced, and approximately three minutes later, officials will throw penalty flags. Hoke knows it will be a tough environment, but anytime you give the Buckeyes something to think about, you have a chance. Near as I can tell, Michigan's starting quarterback will be Devin Gardner, Denard Robinson, Brian Griese or John Navarre. I'm sure if Meyer wins, he'll immediately launch a whiny campaign to face Notre Dame in the national title game. For the right price, Delany might even allow it. Pick: Ohio State 24-17*
* Estimated to be vacated in 2016

line about the result being vacated makes the piece for me. Earlier in the piece he forecasts Notre Dame staying undefeated until getting mauled on the order of 37-3 by Florida in the BCS Championship game. That wouldn't surprise me much.

Student-Athlete Speaks The Truth

At least someone is being honest about big-time college football:

Just pay the dudes, give them access to classes if they want them, and call it what it is, a development league for the NFL.

The Malleable History of College Football

Bryan Curtis:

For most of history, A&M has claimed a single national title, in 1939, when German Panzers were rolling into Poland. This year, A&M decided it had won two more national titles, in 1919 and 1927, and added them to a display at Kyle Field. Let's look at the 1927 title. That year, judging by A&M enrollment data, the university had around 2,500 students. All of them were men. Dana X. Bible’s Aggies played a nine-game schedule, which included an impressive five shutouts. One of those shutouts was a 0-0 tie against TCU. When the season ended, various outlets — there was no AP poll yet — gave the national title to Illinois and Notre Dame.
Nearly 60 years later, as Barry Petchesky notes, Jeff Sagarin created a computer formula to rank college football teams. He retroactively declared A&M the 1927 national champs over Illinois et al. So in 1927, Texas A&M won a national title, even though that title wouldn’t exist for almost 60 years and the Aggies wouldn’t brag much about it for 85 years.
It gets stranger. This year, the Aggies also claimed new conference titles, for 1997 and 2010. I was in college in 1997, at Texas, so I can testify about that one. A&M lost the December 6 Big 12 title game to Nebraska, 54-15. Readers of the next day’s Dallas Morning News would discover a headline that read, "Ineffective offense stages A&M’s loss." The Nebraska-A&M game was so uninteresting that it doesn't even rate a Wikipedia page — though that might be the result of UT fans and our co-conspirators in the media.
An A&M spokesman later said the school would add a “South” next to the ’97 and ’10 titles on the display. By this point, the Internet had noticed.

---

Making the past more glorious than it was is one way college football changes history. Another way is to make the past disappear completely. Thanks to Reggie Bush’s NCAA violations, USC did not win 12 games in 2005. I was at the Rose Bowl that year, so I must have been on a Dickian amphetamine binge when Bush lateraled the football to nobody. Also retroactively, Bush did not win the 2005 Heisman. And USC's athletic department has — forgive the Bidenism — literally painted Bush out of the program's history.

He doesn't even touch on the lunacy with vacating all of Penn State's results from 1998 because that is when people at the school found out an assistant coach was raping little boys.  Or stripping Ohio State of a season's wins because Jim Tressel tried to cover up that his players were getting free tattoos.  Anyway, we may as well ignore all college sports records, because most of the good teams will have their wins vacated anyway.

Is Allen Pinkett A Bengals Fan?

ESPN:

"I love this school as much as I love my kids and would never want to compromise the ethics and morals of my alma mater, Notre Dame," Pinkett said in a statement. "I would again like to offer my most sincere and heartfelt apology to all those affected by my inappropriate comments, particularly the university, the school's hard-working and courageous student athletes, all Fighting Irish fans and team supporters, our friends at The Ohio State University, and my colleagues at IMG Notre Dame Radio Network.
"This offering of forgiveness is an extremely humbling life lesson. I will work very hard to make the most of this second chance in representing the high standards and proud tradition of Notre Dame football."
No announcement has been made on who will work as play-by-play man Don Criqui's partner for the next two games. Jeff Jeffers filled in for Pinkett for the Navy game.
Pinkett included Ohio State in his apology because he mentioned the Buckeyes by comparison in his "bad citizens" analogy.
"That's how Ohio State used to win all the time. They would have two or three guys that were criminals and that just adds to the chemistry of the team," Pinkett told WSCR-AM 670 last week. "I think Notre Dame is growing because maybe they have some guys that are doing something worthy of a suspension, which creates edge on the football team. You can't have a football team full of choirboys."

It's funny Pinkett mentions Ohio State, but the Bengals would be the best analogy around here.  I'm not one to get extremely particular about the citizenship of my athletes.  Sure, it'd be nice if they were good guys, but we're really only interested in their football skills.

Ohio State Receives Sanctions

LA Times:

The NCAA's Committee on Infractions on Tuesday handed down sanctions against Ohio State's football program, penalizing the Buckeyes with a one-year bowl ban and the loss of nine scholarships over the next three years.
Former Coach Jim Tressel, who resigned before last season, was found to have engaged in unethical conduct and was issued a five-year, show-cause order.
The NCAA found that eight players received more than $14,000 in cash payments or preferential treatment from the owner of a Columbus, Ohio, tattoo parlor. In addition to free or discounted tatoos and cash for memorabilia, one player also received a loan and a discount on a car, the committee said.
The NCAA also found that Tressel concealed the violations when he was notified of the situation.

Slightly more than a slap on the wrist.  I think more corruption was left uncovered.

Worst Kept Secret Evah

ESPN:

Former Florida coach Urban Meyer has taken the head coaching job at Ohio State, sources confirmed to ESPN on Monday.
Ohio State will hold a news conference at 5:15 p.m. ET at the Fawcett Center to introduce its new coach. It did not mention Meyer, a native of Ashtabula, Ohio.
Meyer, who led the Gators to two national championships before stepping down to spend more time with his family amid ongoing reports of health concerns, had worked as a game analyst this season for ESPN. But he asked to be taken off his assignments for the network this weekend as reports swirled of his imminent hire by Ohio State, a program with a glittering past that has suffered through a difficult year of NCAA violations, suspensions and a 6-6 record.
Columbus will be the fourth stop in the 47-year-old Meyer's coaching career. He had a 104-23 record over 10 seasons with Bowling Green, Utah and Florida. From 2001-10, he had five 10-win seasons, the two BCS titles with the Gators and a 7-1 record in bowl games -- including the Gators' 41-14 victory over unbeaten and top-ranked Ohio State in the 2007 title game.
Sources told WKMG-TV in Orlando last week that Meyer will receive a seven-year, $40 million contract.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith and other university officials did not respond to requests for comment.

We'll see how things work out, but if the pressure was getting to him at Florida, it's going to be worse in Columbus.  I wouldn't give the job to my worst enemy.

Three Buckeyes Suspended

Hee hee:

 Ohio State is in trouble with the NCAA again, this time because three Buckeyes players -- including two who have already been sitting out for taking cash and free tattoos -- accepted too much money for too little work in their summer jobs. Last year's leading rusher, Dan Herron, and the top returning receiver, DeVier Posey, along with offensive lineman Marcus Hall will not be permitted to play when the Buckeyes play at No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday.

Sorry, I can't help but laugh.

Exploitative Colleges

Taylor Branch on big-time college athletics:

In 2010, despite the faltering economy, a single college athletic league, the football-crazed Southeastern Conference (SEC), became the first to crack the billion-dollar barrier in athletic receipts. The Big Ten pursued closely at $905 million. That money comes from a combination of ticket sales, concession sales, merchandise, licensing fees, and other sources—but the great bulk of it comes from television contracts.
Educators are in thrall to their athletic departments because of these television riches and because they respect the political furies that can burst from a locker room. “There’s fear,” Friday told me when I visited him on the University of North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill last fall. As we spoke, two giant construction cranes towered nearby over the university’s Kenan Stadium, working on the latest $77 million renovation. (The University of Michigan spent almost four times that much to expand its Big House.) Friday insisted that for the networks, paying huge sums to universities was a bargain. “We do every little thing for them,” he said. “We furnish the theater, the actors, the lights, the music, and the audience for a drama measured neatly in time slots. They bring the camera and turn it on.” Friday, a weathered idealist at 91, laments the control universities have ceded in pursuit of this money. If television wants to broadcast football from here on a Thursday night, he said, “we shut down the university at 3 o’clock to accommodate the crowds.” He longed for a campus identity more centered in an academic mission.
The United States is the only country in the world that hosts big-time sports at institutions of higher learning. This should not, in and of itself, be controversial. College athletics are rooted in the classical ideal of Mens sana in corpore sano—a sound mind in a sound body—and who would argue with that?

College football and basketball, with the assistance of NFL and NBA, have formed a cartel to make tons of money off of "student-athletes."  The massive revenues are inherently corrupting, and they tear at the legitimacy of the universities.  I don't see anything changing that in the near future.  The article breaks down the history of "amateur athletics" in the NCAA.  Not very amateur, ever.  It is beyond time when the athletes get a cut of the pie.

Ohio's Best Professional Sports Team

Mark Titus on Ohio professional sports teams and Ohio State football:

It’s no secret that pro teams in Ohio have historically had the same amount of success as Antonio Cromartie’s condoms. Sure, Cleveland gets all the publicity and sympathy because of things like The Drive, the Browns’ move to Baltimore, the 1997 World Series, and LeBron fleeing to Miami so he could fulfill his lifelong dream of finishing in second place with his friends. But Cincinnati’s pro teams aren’t exactly all that great either, as evidenced by the fact that — with the exception of winning the division last year and getting promptly swept from the playoffs — the Reds haven’t done much of anything for 15 years, and the Bengals have never won a title and appear as though they’ll be in serious contention all season to land Andrew Luck in next year’s draft. Throw in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ irrelevance for their first 11 years of existence and there’s no denying that the collective pro sports scene in Ohio is shoddy at best and shitty at worst.
This is where Ohio State football comes in. It’s a big reason why the people of Ohio love their Buckeyes so much. When every other team in the state either sucks to begin with or chokes in the playoffs, Ohioans know at least they’ve always got Buckeyes football to fall back on. Really, being a sports fan in Ohio is like being lost at sea with nothing but a worn-out life jacket and the overwhelming feeling that you’re not going to make it out alive. And just when you think you should just give up and let yourself drown, a lifeboat comes along to save the day in the form of Ohio State football. Only it’s better than an average lifeboat because — surprise! — it’s actually a party yacht full of hookers and blow. After being surrounded by nothing but water and despair for so long, you’re now suddenly surrounded by luxury and a bounty of women who are ready to party. In other words, in a state where pro sports teams are a perpetual letdown, the beginning of the college football season all but guarantees the people of Ohio a chance to cheer on a contender.

The man sums up Ohio professional sports exceedingly well.  It's hard to imagine a football team paying players less than Mike Brown does, and yet still winning.  But I give you the Ohio State Buckeyes, whose players are paid, just not as much as players at USC or Miami.  As and Ohioan with a passionate hatred of Ohio State, I hope they play as badly as the Bengals will this year.  I know they won't, but a man can dream.

Tressel's Honesty Problem

Ohio State knew Jim Tressel wasn't quite up front about violations when they occurred:

Former Ohio State coach Jim Tressel was told by the school that he did a poor job of self-reporting NCAA violations years before he failed to tell his bosses that players were selling championship rings and other Buckeyes memorabilia, a cover-up that cost him his job.
In an evaluation of Tressel’s job performance from 2005-06, then-athletic director Andy Geiger rated Tressel “unacceptable’’ in terms of self-reporting rules violations in a timely manner. The coach also was warned in a separate letter that he and his staff needed to do a better job of monitoring the cars the Buckeyes were driving — an issue that would arise again this spring....

The documents were part of a mountain of public records released Friday by Ohio State dealing with Tressel and the ongoing scandal that has sullied one of the nation’s elite football programs.
Tressel received a letter of reprimand from then-athletic director Andy Geiger for giving a recruit a Buckeyes jersey — a clear NCAA violation — before he had even coached his first game.

I'm glad we're finding out about this now.  We should keep in mind that we are talking about last year's highest paid Ohio public sector employee.  One of the next highest-paid employees, his supposed boss, E. Gordon Gee, joked about how hopefully Tressel wouldn't fire him, when he appeared at the news conference in which Tressel was supposed to apologize so they could sweep this scandal under the rug back in March.  Gee should be sent packing also.  This program, like all of college football and men's basketball, is dirty.  This multi billion dollar industry has outgrown its place at universities.  We might soon be back on an even field, as it looks like major violations will be discovered at every major program, and soon many schools will have big scholarship limitations placed on them.

Be Still My Broken Heart

ESPN:

Ohio State's 2010 Big Ten championship, its 12-1 season, its victories over rival Michigan and in the Allstate Sugar Bowl -- all gone. Coach Jim Tressel is out and so is star quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Left behind: two years of self-imposed probation.
The question now is whether it will be enough to save Ohio State from more severe penalties in an upcoming trip to see the NCAA committee on infractions.

And that is only in the hope of avoiding worse punishment.  It goes deeper than 2010.  I'm smiling.