8:00 PM CSN Baltimore has video of Marcus Smith, a U.S. soldier who dressed as a minor league umpire to surprise his children at a Bowie Baysox game with a home visit from Afghanistan.
7:45 PM A Japanese Harley-Davidson motorcycle that was swept out to sea during last year's tsunami washed up on a shore in British Columbia last month. The bike's owner asked that the motorcycle be displayed at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee as a memorial to the tsunami victims.
7:30 PM Buffalo Bills receiver David Clowneytweeted the results of his HIV test which came back negative. And to the critics of his decision to share his results, Clowney added: "Some people are Ridiculously stupid ... And can't see the bigger picture about things that are important in this world."
After noting on WBNS-FM Tuesday the myriad new NCAA and alleged criminal misdeeds emanating from his beloved Buckeye football, Spielman, who called forTressel to resign weeks ago, indicated today during an appearance on WQXI-AM in Atlanta that Ohio State AD Gene Smith might soon facing the same fate. (”If I was Gene I’d be nervous.“)
A few hours after Jim Tressel resigned as Ohio State football coach on Monday, Tressel’s predecessor at the school appeared on a local Columbus television station to offer his thoughts - and pointed criticism - about the cratering state of a once-proud program.
John Cooper, who ran a major NCAA violation-free Ohio State football program from 1988-2000 and was succeeded by Tressel in 2001, did not absolve his successor from blame during his guest spot on WBNS-TV. But the former Buckeye coach, who still makes his home in Columbus, aimed most of his criticism for the school’s NCAA woes at the Ohio State compliance department.
After calmly reiterating Tressel’s grievous deeds, Cooper became heated when he unloaded on those charged to police the OSU program for NCAA rules violations: Read more…
In the aftermatch of Jim Tressel’s forced resignation today, Tressel’s replacement for the 2011 season, Luke Fickell, called a team meeting on Monday evening in Columbus.
(Monday night: NCAA-targeted Pryor in late model car with temporary tags)
During WBNS-TV reporter Dan Fronczak’s live standup outside the site of the meeting, the Columbus television station aired video of Terrelle Pryor arriving at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center for the all-hands gathering of Buckeye football players.
Part of that footage showed Pryor driving a late model vehicle outfitted with a temporary tag dated May 24. Here is a photo of the car, which is a 2007 Nissan 350Z:
The NCAA and the Ohio State University’s compliance office are conducting an independent investigation of Terrelle Pryor amid allegations that the star quarterback may have received cars and other extra benefits, sources told The Dispatch today.
Pryor has been questioned by OSU compliance officials in the past, but sources said this is the most significant inquiry to date. He already has been interviewed at least once by investigators within the past few weeks, sources said.
Pryor and the cars he drives have been an issue since he arrived on campus three years ago. Pryor has been connected to more than a half dozen vehicles during his time at Ohio State, according to sources.
OSU officials previously said that even before Pryor arrived on campus in 2008, the NCAA examined the ownership of his vehicle and how it was paid for.
In January, The Dispatch reported that three times in the past three years, Pryor was stopped for traffic violations while driving cars that were owned by a car salesman or a Columbus used-car dealer for whom the salesman worked.
The salesman, Aaron Kniffin, told The Dispatch that while working at Jack Maxton Chevrolet in 2008, he allowed Pryor to drive his SUV to his hometown in Pennsylvania so that his mother could check it out. Pryor did not buy the vehicle.
Kniffin also said he arranged for Pryor to use a 2009 Dodge while Pryor’s car was being repaired at Auto Direct, a Columbus car dealership where Kniffin worked last fall.
About two dozen autographed jerseys hang inside Auto Direct’s office, including Pryor’s.
Kniffin also sold cars to Pryor’s mother and brother as well as dozens of other Buckeye athletes or their family members.
Today WSYX-TV reporter Steve Levine paid a visit to Jim Tressel’s family home in Columbus after the news broke that Tressel had resigned as Ohio State football coach.
From WSYX: “Ellen Tressel, the wife of Jim Tressel, slammed the door in Steve’s face.”
Here’s 2008 video of billionaire business mogul and Chairman of the Ohio State Board of Trustees Leslie Wexner:
Wexner, who is the founding benefactor of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Center for Public Leadership, was talking to a group about firing an employee at the retail apparel chain he also founded, The Limited.
(Photo of OSU Board of Trustees Chairman Les Wexner and Jim Tressel)
In a statement this morning, Ohio State President Gordon Gee said:
“In consultation with the senior leadership of the Board of Trustees, I have been actively reviewing matters attendant to our football program, and I have accepted Coach Tressel’s resignation. The University’s enduring public purposes and its tradition of excellence continue to guide our actions.”
Notice how “enduring public purposes” trumps “tradition of excellence” in the Ohio State President’s statement?
The former is code for the current $2.5 billion fundraising campaign underway by the university. That campaign, called “advancement” in the latest Ohio State Board of Trustees meeting, held a prominent spot on the group’s two-day itinerary last month.
The OSU BOT is chaired by billionaire businessman Leslie Wexner. The 74-year-old Wexner founded retail apparel giant The Limited and recently donated $100 million to Ohio State - upping his personal giving to his alma mater to $200 million over the past five decades.
Wexner also happens to be friends with Tressel, with the Ohio State football practice facility bearing his name.
Tressel might be still employed today (at least at the moment) if Ohio State wasn’t right in the middle of what is scheduled to be, beginning in 2012, a very public plea by Wexner and the school for donations to help OSU reach its fundraising goal of $2.5 billion. But Wexner & Co. couldn’t afford - literally - to allow Tressel to tarnish the university’s reputation any further with his formal association to the school.
Depending on the level of NCAA penalties meted out later this summer on the OSU football program, Tressel might’ve been fired by Ohio State anyway.
But the school already had 2.5 billion reasons for him to move on - which he did today.
Today Ohio State student newspaper THE LANTERN published on-the-record comments from former Buckeye football player Ray Small, an OSU wide receiver once voted captain of the squad during the 2009 season, in which Small detailed receiving extra benefits outside NCAA rules in exchange for his Ohio State football player-only memorabilia.
“Everywhere you go, while you’re in the process of playing at Ohio State. You’re going to get a deal every which way.”
While that news may have been a revelation to some, as I pointed out here last month, Small’s documented NCAA rule-breaking, which likely happened between November 2008 to May 2010,was first made known to the Ohio State athletic department and the NCAA six months ago - and over a year ago to Jim Tressel.
On April 26 I noted that OSU’s knowledge of Small’s activities outside NCAA rules was confirmed by this (video below) March 13, 2011, ESPN report:
The ESPN report noted that attorney Christopher Cicero reported to Jim Tressel in a 2010 email that Small’s memorabilia was found in the possession of Columbus tattoo parlor owner Edward Rife. Five Buckeyes, including stars Terrelle Pryor, DeVier Posey and Daniel Herron, were suspended for five games in the 2011 season by Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith because of their association with Rife.
ESPN’s revelation came despite the fact that Small’s name had been redacted by Ohio State in its release of an initial, abridged set of emails between Cicero and Tressel. Also redacted from the email documents by Ohio State at that time was the name of former Ohio State player T.J. Downing, who left the program after the 2003 season.
Why was Downing’s name unredacted while Small’s remained hidden?
Any violations that Downing might’ve committed would’ve been considered outside the NCAA rule enforcement statute of limitations, while Small’s now-confirmed violations would still be considered applicable.
Ohio State continuing to redact Small’s name from the complete set of emails is all the more troubling considering the comments made by school Athletic Director Gene Smith in announcing penalties against the football program on Dec. 23, 2010, stemming from OSU player involvement with tattoo parlor owner Rife.
At that time, six Buckeyes were cited by Smith for taking extra benefits from Rife. But those players did not include Small, who had also committed Rife-related violations that the NCAA could consider actionable. Despite that fact, Smith said at the time:
Smith knew of Small’s NCAA rules-violating activities involving Rife, which were inside the NCAA’s statute of limitations, when he made that statement.
If Smith believed that Small’s actions were not subject to NCAA penalties, why did Ohio State redact Small’s name from the later-released, complete Cicero-Tressel email correspondence while revealing former Buckeye T.J. Downing’s name?
Clearly Smith misrepresented the situation within the Ohio State program with his comments on Dec. 23, 2010, to the media - at the very least as it pertained to Small.
Player G: Sold Big Ten championship ring ($1,500), two “Gold Pants” awards ($250 each), helmet ($150) and pants ($30) from Michigan game and Rose Bowl watch ($250) for $2,430. Received $55 discount on two tattoos. Paid $100 to obtain team autographs on two helmets. Received $2,420 discount on purchase of used vehicle and $800 loan for vehicle repairs. (November 2008 to May 2010).
Again, Ohio State AD Smith did not cite any of the applicable violations committed by “Player G.” - later certified by the NCAA’s Notice of Allegations - in applying sanctions against his own football program.
That the NCAA knew of Small’s rule-breaking actions makes the governing body’s decision not to charge Ohio State with a ‘failure to monitor’ violation in the same Notice of Allegations letter to the school all the more puzzling.
In the case of Small, thanks to the Cicero-Tressel emails and DOJ letter, the NCAA knows that Tressel also knew about Small’s rules violations but did not report them - and later lied to OSU investigators about any knowledge of Small’s activity. (The fact that Small had left school was immaterial because his actions were still well within the NCAA’s statute of limitations as it pertained to rules violations.)
If the NCAA does eventually charge OSU and its current football coach with a ‘failure to monitor’ violation, which is well within the governing body’s rights, Tressel’s situation would be a virtual mirror image of the 2008 NCAA case involving former Indiana basketball coach Kelvin Sampson.
Sampson, like Jim Tressel, was charged with the NCAA’s Cardinal Sin: violating NCAA Bylaw 10.1.
“It was reported that Jim Tressel, head football coach, failed to deport himself in accordance with the honesty and integrity normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics and violated ethical-conduct legislation as required by the NCAA legislation and violated ethical-conduct legislation when he failed to report information concerning violations of NCAA legislation and permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics competitions while ineligible.”
Tressel was also confirmed by Ohio State to have signed the NCAA’s annual Certificate of Compliance form on Sept. 15, 2010, despite knowledge of existing NCAA violations involving Small and numerous other Buckeye football players. (A violation of Bylaw 18.4.2.1.1.4)
“From May 25, 2006, through May 24, 2007, the former head coach acted contrary to NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he (a) knowingly violated committee penalties set forth in the Oklahoma report (Findings B-1-b and B-1-c) and (b) failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing false or misleading information to the institution and the enforcement staff. (c) Over the same period, the former head coach failed to monitor the men’s basketball program for rules compliance and to promote an atmosphere of compliance within it.”
Tressel has not yet been slapped with a failure to monitor charge (11.1.2.1) but with three months to go before Ohio State defends itself to the NCAA Committee on Infractions on August 12, that could change depending on the pending NCAA investigation and continued media scrutiny.
If that additional charge is levied against the OSU coach, Tressel will face the same stunning, penalty precedent set by the NCAA in its 2008 Infractions Report to Sampson and Indiana.
A precedent that was partially set by current Tressel attorney Gene Marsh, who was a member of the NCAA Committee on Infractions that placed the unprecedented, career-wrecking constraints on the ex-Hoosiers hoops coach. (See below.)
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Indiana University, Bloomington
Public Infractions Report November 25, 2008
NCAA COMMITTEE ON INFRACTIONS
Eileen K. Jennings
Alfred J. Lechner, Jr.
Edward (Ted) Leland Gene A. Marsh (Jim Tressel attorney)
Andrea (Andi) Myers
James Park, Jr.
Josephine (Jo) R. Potuto, chair
Dennis E. Thomas
UNETHICAL CONDUCT BY FORMER HEAD COACH; FAILURE TO MONITOR HIS PROGRAM AND TO PROMOTE AN ATMOSPHERE OF COMPLIANCE WITHIN IT. [NCAA Bylaws 10.1, 10.1-(d) and 11.1.2.1]
From May 25, 2006, through May 24, 2007, the former head coach acted contrary to NCAA principles of ethical conduct when he (a) knowingly violated committee penalties set forth in the Oklahoma report (Findings B-1-b and B-1-c) and (b) failed to deport himself in accordance with the generally recognized high standard of honesty normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics by providing false or misleading information to the institution and the enforcement staff. (c) Over the same period, the former head coach failed to monitor the men’s basketball program for rules compliance and to promote an atmosphere of compliance within it.
C. PENALTIES.
a. From November 25, 2008, through November 24, 2011, the former head coach is prohibited from engaging in any on or off-campus recruiting activities or interactions with prospective student-athletes (or their parents or legal guardians) prior to their first full-time enrollment at any employing institution and whether or not they have signed a National Letter of Intent, accepted an offer of financial aid, or are recruited by the institution as these are or may be defined in NCAA Bylaws.
Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to, phone calls and phone conversations; contacts and evaluations as they are or may be defined in NCAA bylaws; electronic transmissions, general correspondence and other recruiting material as they are or may be defined in NCAA Bylaws; official and unofficial visit activities; and activities or interactions with prospective student-athletes that are prohibited to a representative of the employing institution’s athletics interests.
Further, the former head coach must provide contemporaneous and detailed records of any telephone call made to or received from a scholastic or non-scholastic organization in which prospective student-athletes participate or are members, including, but not limited to, coaches or staff members of high school, club, or nonscholastic basketball teams. These records must document the purpose of, and parties to, each telephone call and that its content neither involved discussion of prospective student-athletes nor was of a recruiting nature.
The former head coach is prohibited from using any phone to make such calls except his office phone and any additional phone assigned to him by his employing institution. He must submit his telephone logs for each of these phones to the compliance office on at least a monthly basis. The compliance office must institute strict monitoring of records.
This monitoring must include at least monthly reconciling of telephone logs with phone records and spot checking records to determine that they accurately reflect conduct. Further, at least twice annually the employing institution must review records of at least one month’s home phone calls and any personal cell phone calls of the former head coach to assure that no prohibited phone calls were made.
b. During the complete months of June, July and August, the former head coach is prohibited from any on- or off-campus recruiting activities or interactions with prospective student-athletes, or their parents or legal guardians, in the same way that he is prohibited under (a) above.
c. From November 25, 2011, to November 24, 2012, the former head coach is restricted to one-half the permissible recruiting contacts and evaluations that may be made with regard to any applicable daily, weekly, or monthly limits. (For example. Under current bylaws, a men’s basketball coach may visit a prospect’s high school once weekly during a contact period.
The former head coach is restricted to making visits once every other week.) During the same period, the former head coach is restricted to onehalf the maximum number of daily, weekly, or monthly permissible telephone calls that may be made to (i) prospective student-athletes (or their parents or legal guardians) on or after June 15 of their sophomore year in high school through July 31 of their junior year and to (ii) prospective student-athletes (or their parents or legal guardians) on or after August 1 of their junior year of high school. (For example. The current applicable weekly limit in the sport of men’s basketball is two phone calls weekly to a prospect in his senior year in high school.
The former head coach is restricted to making no more than one call weekly.) The only exceptions to these telephone penalties are those set forth in NCAA Bylaws 13.1.3.3.1 (official visit); 13.1.3.3.2 (National Letter of Intent); and 13.1.3.3.3 (telephone calls subsequent to National Letter of Intent signing or other written commitment). The former head coach is prohibited from using any phone in recruiting except his office phone and any additional phones assigned to him by the employing institution. He must submit his telephone logs for each of these phones to the compliance office on at least a monthly basis.
The compliance office must institute strict monitoring of records. This monitoring must include at least monthly reconciling of telephone logs with phone records and spot checking records to determine that they accurately reflect conduct. Further, at least twice annually the employing institution must review records of at least one month’s home phone calls and any personal cell phone calls of the former head coach to assure that no prohibited phone calls were made.
d. From November 25, 2012, to November 24, 2013, the former head coach must continue to comply with the telephone penalties and documentation set forth in (c) above and the compliance office must continue to reconcile telephone logs with records as set forth in (c) above.
e. If the former head coach is employed at a member institution at the times of the 2009 through 2013 NCAA Regional Rules seminars, then he must attend the seminar (five total possible regional seminars) and, within one month of each seminar, provide to the Director - Committees on Infractions a list of those sessions attended, together with his certification of attendance.
f. An institution that employs the former head coach during the time that any of the above-listed penalties are in effect shall submit a report to the Director - Committees on Infractions no later than 30 days after its first employment of the former head coach (or, if the former head coach is employed on November 25, 2008, then no later than December 23, 2008).
The report shall set forth the employing institution’s understanding of the above-listed penalties that are in effect at the time of initial employment and its responsibilities to monitor compliance. The report also shall set forth how the employing institution will monitor his conduct and that of the other coaches in the men’s basketball program to assure compliance with these penalties.
Thereafter every six months until November 24, 2013, an employing institution will submit a supplemental report that continues to document its monitoring of the former head coach and the other coaches in the men’s basketball program.
At the end of the showcause period imposed on the former head coach or upon termination of employment while the show-cause order is in effect, the president of the employing institution shall provide a letter to the committee affirming that the penalties were complied with during the time of employment at the employing institution. If the president is unable to so affirm, he shall so inform the committee.
g. The former head coach and any institution that employs him during the time that any of the above-listed penalties are in effect are admonished that these penalties shall be construed broadly and adhered to strictly and that the institution must institute safeguards against inadvertent violations or departures from these penalties. (For example, during the period in which the former head coach is prohibited from recruiting, prospects should not be provided his telephone number.)
Any violation or departure from these penalties, even if believed to be inadvertent and/or de minimus must be reported immediately to the Director - Committees on Infractions for review and possible action by the committee.
Should an inadvertent violation or departure from these penalties occur, the former head coach is admonished that he must immediately cease the conduct, document its occurrence, and report it to the compliance office at his employing institution for immediate submission to the Director - Committees on Infractions.
For example, if the former head coach answers the phone of an assistant coach and a prospect is on the line, the former head coach must immediately hang up. He may neither take a message nor list the name and phone number of the prospect. The only permissible conversation is for the former head coach to tell the prospect, “I must hang up as the NCAA has prohibited me from talking to prospects or taking a message. Please phone assistant coach [here insert name].”
The former head coach also must immediately document the circumstances of the telephone call and report it to the compliance office for transmission to the Director - Committees on Infractions.
Should an employing institution choose to challenge the imposition of the abovelisted penalties restricting the athletically related duties of the former head coach then, pursuant to NCAA Bylaw 19.5.2.2-(l), it must do so by scheduling an appearance before the Committee on Infractions to show cause why it should not be penalized for failure to comply with the penalties.
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The above penalties do not include additional sanctions that were placed on the IU hoops program and assistant coaches.
Safe to assume OSU officials are well aware of this precedent - and know that if Tressel were to be dealt a fraction of the penalties suffered by Sampson, there’s no chance he could continue as Ohio State coach.
So if additional NCAA rules violations by the Ohio State football program continue to surface before the school’s August 12 appearance before the NCAA Committee on Infractions - thanks to revelations like the ones provided by Ray Small today - Tressel will have a lot more to worry about than a permanent stain on his Ohio State coaching record.
It’s no secret that, outside of a certain sweater-vested gent in central Ohio, the highest profile college football coach in danger of immediately losing his job is Georgia’s Mark Richt.
Normally I don’t subscribe to a coach putting a home up for sale as a sign of anything, but in this case, it might be applicable.
On May 17 Richt put his lake house up for sale. Though this is no ordinary second home.
Richt is asking $1,990,000 for a Lake Hartwell compound which features eight bedrooms and was reportedly purchased by the Bulldogs coach only two years ago.
After leading his Ohio State Buckeyes to a championship season, head football coach Jim Tressel was asked by a reporter if he felt bad that he had played an ineligible player in claiming the title.
Tressel’s response: “He wasn’t ineligible at that time.”
The Ohio State coach’s reply came despite his own school reporting numerous NCAA violations involving extra benefits during the previous, championship season.
Hard to believe that the NCAA, a coach and his school would be so brazen in its blatant disregard of its own rules.
How nuts are Buckeyes about their Ohio State football? One of the most honored positions a former OSU player can land is President of the “Gold Pants Club.”
That’s the man charged with the distribution of the now-infamous gold pants trinkets to OSU players who beat Michigan.
Currently, former Ohio State star offensive lineman and NFL great Jim Lachey is charged with the duty, and unlike the his alma mater, he’s taking a pragmatic view of what to do with the 2010 awards.
“If they vacate the win, it makes no sense to award the gold pants, at least in our minds. And if you hand them out and say, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll need to get them back if the win is vacated’ - I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be a smart way to go. And I’ll be honest: We don’t want to see any 2010 gold pants on the market right now.
“I think we’re going to start banking them and hand them out to the players after their eligibility has run out.”
Regrettable but well-measured moves by Lachey, whose business acumen has caused his legend to continue grow locally in Columbus since his decorated OSU and NFL career.
You can’t say the same for The Ohio State University though.
Despite admitting to multiple NCAA infractions, with the most serious committed by head coach Jim Tressel, the school passed out Big Ten Championship rings to Ohio State players this week.
And we got a glimpse of those rings thanks to Ohio State offensive linemen Michael Brewster and J.B. Shugarts Tweeting out images of their new jewelry.
While no one begrudges Buckeyes like Brewster and Shugart being rewarded for their hard work, at some point there has to be accountability for an institution - and coach - repeatedly breaking the rules.
Then again, if you’re Tressel, apparently that all depends on your own definition of “eligible.”
