Bad sports, good sports: Jim Tressel is out at Ohio State

Posted on June 6th, 2011 by Alan Spoll

The foundations are shaking in the land of the Buckeyes. The Ohio State football program, which has dominated the Big Ten and been a regular member of the top ten rankings over the last decade, is facing an uncertain future. Jim Tressel, head coach at the school since 2001, has resigned his position, effective immediately, after the tattoo scandal he certainly hoped was behind him continued to make news in new and fascinating ways. Sports Illustrated had a story that came out on Monday that revealed that the issues went far deeper than had been previously believed.

The amazing thing about this is that it would appear that it could have been avoided so easily. Yes, the SI report showed a long pattern of inappropriate behavior by players involving the trading of memorabilia for tattoos and a lot of sketchy-sounding car deals. Much of that had managed to stay under wraps for all these years, though. When the news of the tattoo scandal first came to Tressel’s attention last year, if he had simply notified the school’s athletic director (embattled Gene Smith) and the compliance office, there is a very good chance that he would have survived this thing. The NCAA’s investigation of Tressel has seemed to focus on the cover-up. I guess it’s possible that the deeper history would have come out if he had reported the details about Terrelle Pryor and the rest of them, but if he thought that trying to hide the whole thing was going to work, he was clearly mistaken.

As a fan of Penn State, I can’t say I am devastated by the news. It’s not good for the conference, of course, and a rivalry is always better when both teams are at their best. Some kind of sanctions, including post-season bans and scholarships lost, are certainly in the offing. Still, it is hard to not enjoy the misery of a team that, frankly, has owned Penn State pretty solidly for a while now. The fact that Pryor, the Buckeyes’ dynamic quarterback, may go down as well is also not something I will cry about. He represents so much of what I don’t like about college athletics, and it has been good to see him being held accountable for that.

In a demonstration of wildly misplaced loyalty, a contingent of OSU students showed up on Tressel’s lawn on Friday, expressing their love for the coach and their despair at his downfall. I guess they don’t realize that his actions have directly caused everything that is about to happen to their beloved team. Sure, he brought a lot of winning to the school over the past eleven years, but at what cost? Every conversation about Buckeye football for the foreseeable future will be about this mess. This is college football. Winning should not be the only thing that matters.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Richie Ramsay, a Scottish golfer, was playing in a U.S. Open qualifier last week in England. He was fairly far back, in his estimation, and had a wedding to get to. So after his round, he left for the airport. Nearly there, he got a call that his score had put him into a playoff for the final qualifying spot. He was so far away, though, that he could not get back in time to compete in the playoff. Oops.

3) During a scrap at the end of the first period of game one of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday, Vancouver winger Alex Burrows allegedly bit the finger of Boston’s Patrice Bergeron. Although Burrows has been cleared by the league, check out the video for yourself. Sure looks like a bite to me.

4) The parents of Hayden Walton suffered the worst nightmare of any mother or father on Tuesday. Hayden, a thirteen-year-old playing in a Little League game in Arizona, was attempting to bunt when he was hit square in the chest by a pitch . He collapsed on his way to first base and died the next day. Terrible.

5) It seems like there is always someone wanting to punch NASCAR’s Kyle Busch after a race. He is a very talented young driver, but he certainly gets into more than his share of confrontations. This week, the guy swinging at him was not even another driver. It was actually Richard Childress, the 65-year-old car owner who is best known for owning the teams that Dale Earnhardt led to six of his seven Cup championships. Sanctions have not yet been announced.

Good sports:

1) The SEC, which has long been criticized for the recruiting practice known as oversigning, where the schools bring in more football players than they will actually be able to have on their rosters, has voted to reduce the stated annual signee limit to 25 from 28. Considering those schools seem to totally ignore the 28 recruit limit, I am not sure why they feel that this will accomplish anything, but I guess it’s a step in the right direction.

2) Some great tennis was played at the French Open this week. First, the great Roger Federer finally ended Novak Djokovic’s perfect season, beating him in the semifinal to stop his winning streak at 43 straight matches. Then, number one player and clay court wizard Rafael Nadal beat Federer in the final for his sixth French Open title, tying Bjorn Borg for the most ever.

Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday

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Alan Spoll

Alan Spoll is a software quality assurance director from the suburbs of Philadelphia where he lives with his wonderful wife and children. He has spent his entire life as a passionate fan of the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Penn State. Recent Phillies success aside, you will understand his natural negativity. Follow me on Twitter - @DocAlan02