Bad sports, good sports: The state of Ohio needs to get its act together

Posted on September 5th, 2011 by Alan Spoll

In sports, we love to build up our heroes and tear down everyone else. Often, we even tear down the heroes, to be honest. It is easy to find fault in just about any athlete, especially for those of us whose signature athletic move is to get off the couch every once in a while. Sure, the guys who bring our favorite teams a lot of success are easy to put on pedestals. When those guys are found to be less than admirable in some way, though, we have a dilemma. It’s hard to forget all of the wins and the excitement, while it is also hard to ignore the reality of some kind of wrongdoing. The Ohio State University, as well as the massive sports infrastructure that surrounds it, seems to be struggling this way in the wake of the scandals that rocked the football program this past year. Former head coach Jim Tressel, while extremely successful throughout his career, was proven to be a guy who cared little for rules and propriety, and when it caught up with him, those around the team did not know how to react. A little bit of time and distance has apparently not provided perspective, though. Last week, the university put up a wall in its athletic center to recognize and honor Tressel’s contributions to the football program.

I would think maybe they would have waited a while before doing something like this. We don’t even yet know the extent of the punishments coming Ohio State’s way for the infractions that caused Tressel’s resignation. It seems like they could have waited for the dust to clear and for some time to have passed before essentially erecting a monument to the guy. The honor simply reinforces the win-at-any-cost mentality that the Buckeyes have clearly embraced, and sends a message to the fans of the team and the students of the school that all that matters is winning. The problem goes beyond the campus, too. Back in July, it was reported that the Ohio High School Football Coaches Association was recommending that its members wear clothes similar to Tressel’s typical sideline outfits in order to honor him during the first week’s games. Now there’s a great message to pass on to high school students all over the state of Ohio. Let’s make a point to honor a guy who resigned because he was found to be breaking NCAA rules.

If the Buckeye fans wanted to refrain from tearing Tressel apart, I get that. It’s a difficult transition to go from idolizing someone to recognizing that his success came at the price of his integrity. If they want to just pretend that it all never happened, good or bad, I would understand. Plowing forward with displays and events that openly honor the man, though, is simply disrespectful to the true fans of the program. It saddens me that these folks do not agree.

Bad sports, continued:

2) Pole vaulting must be scary enough without having to consider the possibility that this would happen. Dmitry Starodubtsev had to withdraw from the World Championships after the accident, as he injured his hand in the fall.

3) Following the return of a Nike endorsement deal to Michael Vick’s portfolio a few months back, his journey to athletic redemption is now nearly complete, as he was signed to a huge contract extension this week by the Philadelphia Eagles. It looks like my internal struggles with having Vick as the quarterback of the Eagles are not going to get a break any time soon.

4) Robin O’Conner, a former payroll manager for the San Francisco Giants, was arrested last week and charged with embezzling over a million and a half dollars from the club and its players.

5) Troy Evans, a wide receiver for Marshall University, doesn’t mess around with small stuff, it seems. He was arrested this week after allegedly committing four different armed robberies in Huntington, West Virginia.

6) Venus Williams was forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open on Tuesday due to symptoms from Sjögren’s Syndrome. She was just diagnosed with the autoimmune disease recently, and it reportedly affected her energy level and caused pain that prevented her from competing.

7) Wade Belak, a former NHL player who played with several teams, was found dead at a hotel in Toronto on Wednesday. He reportedly committed suicide.

8) Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson signed a big contract extension this week, but not after angering many Titans fans with some ill-advised tweets.

9) Shannon Washington, a guard for Florida A&M’s women’s basketball team, was stabbed to death on campus late Saturday night. Another woman is being held in connection with the killing.

Good sports:

1) I often root for upsets in college football, especially at the very beginning of the season. In my opinion, preseason rankings should be eliminated, as the final outcome of a team’s season can be directly impacted by rankings that are set before any of the teams have played a single game. Baylor beat TCU on Thursday night, despite the fact that Baylor began the season unranked while TCU was ranked 14th. This is why they play the games. Rankings that factor into the BCS formula should wait until a few weeks into the season before they are introduced.

2) A week after being disqualified for a false start in a 100-meter race, Usain Bolt not only won the 200-meter title, but did it with the fourth fastest time ever. Not content to stop there, he then helped Jamaica to a world record in the 4X100 relay.

3) Gehrig Dieter, a high school football player from South Bend, Indiana, somehow collected 447 yards receiving in a single game this week, which included three touchdowns. Pretty spectacular.

4) Carolina Panthers tight end Jeremy Shockey saved one of his teammates from choking on Monday. Ben Hartsock, another tight end, had a piece of his lunch stuck in his throat in the team’s cafeteria when Shockey came to the rescue.

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