I always hated that stupid sweater vest. I even told Jim Tressel in person once. Back in 2007 at the Metrodome, when my Golden Gophers were preparing to be sacrificed at the altar of the Buckeyes in a Big Ten Conference game, our slgihtly one-sided conversation went a little like this:
Me yelling from the front row at a few Ohio State coaches (including Jimbo) and straggling players passing the student section during warmups: "Hey Tressel, your sweat vest sucks! Does your mother still dress you?!"
Tressel: Turns around with raised eeybrows and a troubled look.
Honestly, I think he agreed with me. He just didn't want to give up all the advertising money he was getting from the 25 or so sweater vest shops that had set up camp around the Ohio State campus and surrounded the Horseshoe. Either that, or he really wanted to exude the good-guy persona he had so successfully fronted as the Ohio State University Head Football Coach from 2001-2010.
I say fronted because apparently, contrary to the seemingly pristine condition of OSU's football program and Tressel's image, he was just as dirty as John Calipari in a pigsty. And while this may be an over-exaggeration and it may be that Tressel himself did very little wrong and is just taking the blame for several players' wrong doings, he is still a guilty party in the ever-disappointing landscape that is currently major NCAA sports. And so I will take my frustration about this landscape out on him, one, because it is a current sports story, and two, because it just goes to prove that no seemingly squeaky clean program is ever really clean of NCAA violations.
First, I should preface the rest of this post by saying that I've always harbored a sort of distaste for Tressel, Ohio State football, and Tyrelle Pryor. Don't ask me why, all three have just rubbed me the wrong way. Tressel always seemed like he might be hiding something in that scarlet vest, OSU football always seemed to be spoiled beyond belief for no reason (and sometimes their fans quite unbareable), and Pryor always seemed like he thought he was the cat's pajamas even though he has played about two good games against good teams in his collegiate career. So, if I'm being honest, I am enjoying every minute of this fall from grace. I will enjoy watching OSU suffer under any punishment the NCAA finally does hand out. I will hope beyond hope that some how, some way, my Gophers can beat those stinking Buckeyes during a time when their program might hit a low point. I hope they get dozens of wins erased and their conference titles are tarnished forever.
You may wonder why I seem so harsh and almost heartless. It's because I am so sick of college athletes and coaches believing that for some reason, they are above the rules and regulations set forth by their governing body. People may sympathize with the athletes and say that the NCAA makes billions of dollars off of their hard work and effort, with them getting very little in return. And that makes me mad.
My response to that is that the NCAA uses a lot of its money to sponsor scholarships for lesser sports, the sports in which the future doesn't contain 8-digit paydays and massive advertising dollars. My response to that is that players choose to play sports, choose to go to college to do so, and really only have to behave themselves for two years (one in the case of basketball) before they can go their merry way into professional paydays. My response is that a college education, free room-and-board, and all the free gear and other amenities athletes get is a pretty good "payment" if you ask me. You know what other people your age are doing when you are getting catered meals and free Gatorade? They're studying their asses off to keep academic scholarship so they can finish school and one day become a doctor. Some people work two jobs to pay their way through college. They don't get time to party on weekends after the big game like I'm sure Pryor did. And sure, it's a small minority of college athletes who go on to be professional athletes with big salaries, but aren't those the only people with major NCAA violations?
I know someone will come back with some snide remark or some example of a small school with a miniscule athletic budget with several violations but that person would be missing the point. I understand the time and hard work the athletes go through. I had a semi-recent discussion about the five Ohio State players who got in trouble for selling their memorabilia with a former Divison I-FCS football player. This was obviously someone who wasn't going to get the kind of a attention that a Buckeye football player might get, making his perspective a unique and interesting one. He was sympathetic towards the players because he knows that the system is broken. He acknowledged that the NCAA and the schools get to make millions of dollars while the players don't really see any of that money. And he had some good points about the system and its flaws. There are people who can't afford college, use the athletic scholarship to get in, and still need money for food, living expenses, and other ammenities that the scholarship doesn't necessarily cover.
I can symphatize with those people because they were dealt a uneven hand. But if they complete their education, they can get a degree, get a job, pay back their loans if they needed to take any out, and be thankful for the opportunity that college gave them and the chance they got at that opportunity just because they could do something with a ball or a stick or their legs not many other people could do.
So I don't have any pity for Tressel or the players who broke the rules they agreed to follow when they accepted their scholarships. They knew what they could and could not do but they did it anyway. Rumor has it, Pryor was always driving around in different expensive cars, flaunting his status as big man on campus at clubs and VIP rooms, and basically proclaiming himself bigger than the game of college football and the campus which gave him an opportunity to play. And this is what aggrivates me the most. The ungrateful personality of a lot of college athletes who have been given such great physical skills and who believe its their right to a superior life than others.
I don't want to go on too much of a soap box rant because I'm generally quiet laid back. I love sports because they are fun, can be extremely informal, and if we're just talking about the field of play and nothing that goes on outside the games, don't really contain any great moral dilemmas. I wish the college game didn't have to struggle with these problems of dirty programs and corrupt practices. It takes away from the pure passion that is college athletics and give fuel to the fires of those who like to say athletes are spoiled and sports aren't important in the grand scheme of things.
I hate to see stories like Tressel's come out of the woodworks. It isn't good for anyone. While I may have seemed harsh on the Ohio State program earlier, I still wish it hadn't happened. I feel sorry for a dad of one of my good friends, who's favorite team has been tossed into a disconbobulated heap. I feel sorry for the Ohio State players who have done no wrong who have to deal with the media coverage. I feel sorry for the old-timer alumni because their beloved team has fallen under a dark cloud.
Most of all, I feel sorry for sports. You may say I'm a dreamer, but I wish rules violations, pay-for-play scandals, and tattoos weren't something we had to read about when we quickly scanned the headlines of Sports Illustrated or ESPN. I wish the game were clean, the NCAA system perfect, and the only thing that mattered were those kids putting their hearts on the line in arenas, fields, and rinks across the country. But sadly we live in the 21st century and it's not the case. I just hope that out of this mess we learn an important message.
Never trust a man in a sweater vest.
