For your Friday reading pleasure, take a look at this interesting article wherein Morgan Burke, Matt Painter and Danny Hope all discuss the topic of cheating in college sports. Yes, I know it's very hard to know what all of your players are doing, Tressel apologists. We'll give you that.
However, once you become aware of something, that's when you take action.
I know there is "fallout" and the Buckeyes will be punished by the NCAA (though how hard the NCAA will "punish" one of their cash cows remains to be seen). But it doesn't change the fact that they have dominated recently and been the face of the conference. And no, improper benefits and rules violations did not make them win more games. These guys weren't -- to our knowledge -- juicing or anything like that. So the short-sighted among us may say, well, whatever, they still won it on the field/court.
However, when you become well known as a school that will "play ball,' then the scales tip in your favor on a more grand scale. When you're the SEC school of the Big Ten, guys know that and know that the rules will not apply to them there. And not only that, since the rest of the conference isn't the SEC, well, hell! Winning will be even easier when the other schools are sticking to the rules and suspending guys for even minor team rules violations.
As more and more of the OSU mess has unraveled, the more irritated longtime Purdue backers have become. Witness this rant from B-Dowd's brother the other day:
It's impossible to compete against this. These stories explain why Purdue can only beat the OSUs of the world once every six years--and make what Purdue (and other schools that play by the rules) have accomplished--in years like 1977-1980, 1984, 1997-2000, 2003-2004--truly impressive.
I'm not kidding when I say this: if I were Purdue's president I would formally propose the expulsion of Ohio State from the Big Ten--or at least the suspension of its football program for four years. Another option would be to take away all of Ohio State's conference home games. This is the only kind of punishment that will force the necessary transformation of the entire Ohio State culture. This problem is plainly not limited to Tressel and Pryor. It is systemic, and it's unworthy of the Big Ten. At the very least, it's unworthy of Purdue.
If the Big Ten presidents didn't go for this--and I bet at least half of them would support it--I would notify the conference that Purdue will no longer play at Ohio Stadium. That probably wouldn't mean much to OSU--given that there's not much of a rivalry there--but at least Purdue wouldn't be directly contributing to the disease.
Obviously, none of those strict punishments will ever happen -- nothing even close. However, he's right about a couple of things. One, the problem is systemic and not exclusive to a couple of "bad apples." And two, short of something drastic, the culture will not change in Columbus.
11 comments:
You had me on this until the following line:
"...it's unworthy of the Big Ten. At the very least, it's unworthy of Purdue."
Sorry, but more phony moralism isn't the solution. In fact, it is the problem. The ridiculous rules of the NCAA are being broken everywhere because those rules all exist to protect the silly pretense of the "student-athlete." In other words, until we get to the point where we can all stop pretending that college sports isn't a multi-billion dollar per year industry, what happened at Ohio State will happen again, and again, and again. Why? Becauase I would bet you the number of "big programs" that could pass a full audit is shockingly low.
I want my school to follow the rules. It is obvious by reading the OSU blogs that their fans do not feel the same. If Purdue is found to violate rules, I want all involved gone. I also could care less about OSU going down. It is a reflection on them as a corrupt institution, not the Big Ten. The excuse that "everyone is doing it" is just that, an excuse. Being that college sports do bring in so much money, there should be enough for the institution to police their programs through compliance officers, etc. I am so sick of people talking about the poor "student"-athlete that needs to be able to make more money, etc. Jay Bilas seems to tweet something every hour about it- sickening. They are getting a full ride for being good at a sport. Take advantage of it!! Get rid of the one and done rule. If the athlete wants to go make money, good riddance. Otherwise, follow the rules, go to class, and earn that free scholarship!
JW -- Well, first off, I don't think it's "phony" moralism.
And yes, I know there is this opinion that everyone's doing something wrong, etc. But that's exactly my point... I know violations occur, but it's when you don't do something once you're aware of them that the difference lies in.
Student-athlete is not a "silly premise," or at least it should not be. Just because college sports is a multi-billion dollar business doesn't mean there can't be academic and school integrity. That money doesn't only pay for big stadiums, but it also helps pay for new libraries and student centers. The money related to college sports is not ONLY used on college sports. You know?
And also, I'd argue nearly all schools in the Big Ten are NOT cheating egregiously. Or breaking rules knowingly. And that, to our point here, is what makes the gap between Purdues of the world and OSU that much wider and less fair.
The issue with OSU is that eveyone knew it was going on, didn't try to stop it and lied to the NCAA about it. True, people may think all programs are "dirty" but there are schools that will stop it. As much as I hate IU, if you go back and look, IU turned themselves in when they realized Sampson was dirty. They didn't lie about it and they didn't wait to be caught. OSU did not do that. I wonder how long before their basketball program gets investigated. That may explain why they get all the Indiana recruits from Purdue and IU.
Erin -- we've implied in not-so-veiled comments forever that we think the basketball program is clearly dirty, too.
Look at the facts... Thad Matta is a marginal coach who somehow, miraculously, gets top recruiting class after top recruiting class to come to Columbus, where national titles are never won in basketball. Weird.
Also, when you know that issues are clearly "systemic," as we and others have said, it only stands to reason that boosters are being allowed to infiltrate the hoops ranks, too.
Boilergal is right on.
Integrity and truth in doing business the right way is one of the reasons I'm proud to be a Boilermaker.
Couple things,
There's a pretty big difference between kids selling things that belong to them and outright recruiting violations by a Head Coach. Tressel covering up the tattoo stuff was unforgivable, and guess what, he lost his job in the end. Do we want him tarred and feathered as well?
Throwing OSU out of the Big Ten is the dumbest idea I've heard of in a while. They make money for all of us. They fill our stadium every other year when we can't, and they add far more value to the Big Ten Network than we do.
As for OSU basketball, while I agree that Matta is a mediocre coach (at best) they've been to two final fours in the life time of today's recruits and have been more successful than us over the past ten years. They also have better facilities than we do. If you want to cast allegations at them based on a lack of national championships, be prepared to do the same for us if Painter lands a 5 star recruit.
I hate defending them because their fans are as obnoxious as anyone in the country, but let's not pretend that they were looking the other way while a player got a house (USC) or running an SMU style program.
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No, they were just looking the other way while 50-some players got deals at a local car dealership! It seems you may be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Sure you aren't a Buckeye?
It is true that I don't dislike OSU, but I am first and foremost a Boiler. That being said, point out the statement I made that was untrue.
As for the dealership stuff...
When I was at Purdue plenty of basketball players were rolling in awfully nice suv's, you sure you want Purdue to go head to head on deals at a dealership?
And the dealer in question was far shadier than the players, he consistently under reported sales values to the state in order to dodge taxes. But for sure, let's hang a bunch of 20 year olds with the crimes of a dirty businessman.
I don't think kicking O$U out of the conference (for a year or two) is a ridiculous idea at all. If $ truly makes the world go 'round, hit 'em hard where they live.
Rules are rules. If you think they are dumb, move to change them. Until then, not only don't break them, but report broken rules when you see them, whether it's a rival or your own team.
Ask the student at Purdue on a lacross scholarship if it's unfair that Ryan Kerrigan wasn't paid to play. Or a women's basketball player on a scholarship. Or the third string defensive back on scholarship who might only play a handful of downs in his entire career. I think they all cheer Kerrigan's success, because his success leads to an NFL contract for him, and a scholarship for the.
Under the current rules, a Pryor is rewarded for his hard work with a degree (altho its value, considering what we've read about the few creampuff classes he attended, is questionable in real life) AND a very lucrative pro career. If he is injured during college, his degree will help him find gainful employment.
And O$U football money Pryor helps earn pays for many many other scholarships and new buildings and programs that help other student athletes, who are ALSO rewarded for their hard work with degrees so that, once they give up their sports career, they have training for the work world - you, that world that exists for 99 percent off all student athletes who won't get a pro contract, plus all the rest of us?
If you believe this isn't a fair shake, work to change the rules, but stop dismissing rules infractions by saying the rules are unfair. That's just intellectually dishonest.
To me the REAL inequity is that Purdue is one of the few schools with an athletic department that receives NO funding from the state. If I remember correctly, schools like Minnesota receive a huge amount of their athletics department budget from the state.
Minnesota hasn't exactly set the world on fire athletically, but, were Purdue to receive state funding, things might be different. I am not saying Purdue deserves it, I would just like to see a more level playing field.
As for the spurious argument that "everybody does it," then the rules must be policed more vigorously. Like instituting a stricter definition of what classes are approved to meet degree requirements (let's start in Columbus, South Bend and Ann Arbor), of demanding more transparent financial accounting, of digging deeper when an athlete is driving a $35k SUV supposedly owned by a parent who doesn't make that much in a year.
THEN, and ONLY then will be begin to see a more level playing field.
Say what you will about Morgan Burke, but he does do a whole lot with the restrictions imposed upon him by the Trustees. I do admire that about him.
The Big Ten has always made it a priority to be a top-notch conference that prides itself on hard work, intelligence, and being above the fray. OSU is a stain on that white lining of integrity we hold most dear. OSU insiders knew what they were getting with Sweater Vest; he had a precedence for the same things at YSU. OSU will not get much more than a slap on the wrist because you do NOT kill the golden egg-laying goose of a conference if you're the NCAA. The Buckeye faithful will get another coach who will do the same things, (only better), and the wins will come back in.
The "national brands" of college athletics, (Duke, USC, Notre Dame, Michigan, Ohio State), will never be laid to waste as long as the current NCAA laws and by-laws remain. The culture of corruption that has been allowed to exist will only change when the governing body of said laws and by-laws is eradicated and replaced with a new institution altogether. Too much money is at stake here, and that is why we are all "blessed" with fallacies such as the BCS system, the proliferation of bowl games to .500 teams, and Adam Rittenberg.
OSU will take it's "hit," Kirk Herbstreit will p*ss and moan about their lost season until he's blue, (err...red), in the face, Lou Holtz will spit and slobber about how atro-shiisssh it all is, Mark May will simply shake his head and pray the spittle lands far enough from him so that he doesn't need a rabies vaccination, and ESPN will spunk all over itself giving you 24-hour coverage of the practices at OSU and life without Tereel Pryor in Buckeye Land. All the while, Danny Hope will practice harder than ever and maybe win a few games...sadly, no one will notice.
I kid...but not really.
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