If you read the article in the Dispatch blog we will be hearing soon about more players than mysterious player G. Here's the link:
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2011/04/28/0428-new-ncaa-information.html
The first half we already know about ... the TAT5 sold or traded items to Rife.
The second half of the article has my head spinning. It says that Rife has a bunch of stuff he bought from Ebay but also received 6 items as gifts from current players whose names were withheld. These were shoes, a Rose bowl plaque, a helmet, and other memorabilia. It then states that NCAA rules don't prohibit athletes from giving items away for free.
Is Ohio State's position that these players gave someone a bunch of items as gifts with no consideration in return? A man that other players on the team traded with for tatoos and cash. Seriously? Why would they do that? Because they heard he was a good guy?
Then there's the bombshell about one of the unnamed players giving 4 passes to the 2010 Rose Bowl for a 2003 Tahoe. Isn't trading tickets for a Tahoe worse than gold pants for cash? Is it permissible for players to sell tickets for cash/items? If it is then why is selling gold pants against the rules? Was this Player G?
As I'm pretty sure the NCAA had this information in December so it makes me wonder how they only picked the 5 they did for suspension.
The next few days should be a lot of fun as the press has another go at the program.
((Anyone else feel that article was rushed? Like they were trying to get it out quick to beat the competition instead of waiting until tomorrow's paper?))
Late addition - Just got this link for the actual document ... it reads a bit different than the implications in the Dispatch article so perhaps everything is just rehashing old news.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Tressel Situation
3 months ago it was unthinkable that Jim Tressel’s job could ever be in jeopardy but the way this thing has been handled has been abysmal from the start. It’s like every time there’s a choice to be made they go out of their way to make the wrong decision. My problem isn’t as much that he didn’t forward the email, it’s the way he handled it when the truth came out in December. He should have come forward at that point and didn’t. Rewatch this press conference:
Tell me after watching this that you aren’t a little bit angry. Watching that makes me feel like my dad did something stupid then lied about it. No Buckeye wants to admit it because we were all in love with Coach Tressel but he lied to us. Not only lied but admonished us for how he was handling the situation. This quote is the one that bugs me the most,
“I’ve gotten lots of help with emails and opinions. It’s been an interesting lesson for me, so many of the opinions seem to revolve around what we would look like as opposed to a lesser number that would be what would be best for the student athletes involved. As I thought about that I hope that no one has the impression that when we visit hospitals it’s because of what we might look like … It’s been an interesting lesson. It’s my 36th season of coaching and it’s just a reminder that you learn lessons as you go and there’s not a whole bunch of what we can talk about in terms of these youngsters other than they are in the family, they’re on the trip, they want to be Buckeye in 2011, they’re obviously very remorseful for misjudgments made, and they’re anxious to have a great experience at the Sugar Bowl.”
I remember that quote specifically because I thought that press conference was a masterpiece and it shamed me as I was thinking more about image than the kids. 3 months later and I am amazed at the gall Jim Tressel had in admonishing Buckeye fans for not thinking of the kids while at the same time he was lying to the NCAA. His lie may cost future Buckeye kids a lot more than one game and it has tarnished Ohio State’s image more than selling 1000 trophies would ever have done.
Despite all that I still love Jim Tressel and feel he is a good man and coach. He made a mistake and I’m willing to forgive but he owes Buckeye nation a much better apology than we’ve received so far.
Friday, December 24, 2010
Has Pryor entered the Clarett zone at THE ohio sTATe university?
Yesterday, Terrell Pryor along with 4 other players were suspended for 5 games in the 2011 season. The reason for this has been well documented on the ESPN site and you can read more about it here. I'm angry about the suspension for a few reasons.
My preference is that he goes pro so the Buckeye fans can move on the the Guiton/Miller era. No matter what happens we will look back 20 years from now and think ... it's too bad Pryor didn't have more than a 5 cent brain to go with his million dollar athletic ability?
- I'm angry at players for selling memorabilia to for money. I don't care if the NCAA says the players weren't properly advised as that seems like a poor excuse. Every player is told you can't profit from your participation in NCAA sports and selling a trophy is profit - plain and simple - end of story. The money aspect doesn't bother me as much as the fact that these players don't care enough about the team to at least keep the items until their playing days at the school is over.
- Dear NCAA - 5 games? Seriously? This is worth 5 games after Cam Newton's dad was shopping him around and you worked with the SEC to make sure he didn't miss a single game? I think the players should be punished but this seems to be a bit much and 2-3 games seems more fair.
- Dear NCAA part 2 - You are allowing these TAT5 to play in the Sugar Bowl? Hypocrisy much? Seriously? How can anyone take this organization seriously as I'm guessing that at least 3 of the 5 will now go pro and the Buckeyes will appear to have gotten off scott free. If you are going to penalize the players you do it immediately starting with the next game. What's that? It might hurt a BCS games ratings? Too f'n bad.
My preference is that he goes pro so the Buckeye fans can move on the the Guiton/Miller era. No matter what happens we will look back 20 years from now and think ... it's too bad Pryor didn't have more than a 5 cent brain to go with his million dollar athletic ability?
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Who was the best Buckeye team?
I posted the following in response to someone that pointed out that John Cooper lost to both Michigan and the Bowl game 7 times in 13 years.
So I got out my trusty Excel program and downloaded a bit of information to make the following response.
On a totally unrelated note, USC had 27 players drafted from 1968-1970 while Grambling had 25 and Alabama had 3. It would have been interesting to see Grambling play back then. If a BCS system existed at that time they might have gotten an invite.
Excluding Michigan and bowl games, Coop's 1993-98 teams were an amazing 57-5-1. 5-7 vs Michigan/Bowl.
Those teams were among the most talented in Ohio State history and it is too bad they faltered down the stretch. Tresselball is no doubt a conservative gameplan but Cooper combined conservative play with panic and it showed on the field.
The worst for me was the 1996 Michigan game. I was sure they were going to win as they dominated play in the first half. Then a few breaks go Michigan's way and the team just seemed to accept they weren't going to win. At the end it was the quietest I've ever heard the stadium.
Here's the 13 games we didn't win.To that someone responded with:
11/6/1993 @ Wisconsin (10-1-1) 14-14
11/20/1993 @ Michigan (8-4) 0-28
9/10/1994 @ Washington (7-4)16-25
10/8/1994 vs. Illinois (7-5) 10-24
10/29/1994 @ Penn State (12-0)14-63
1/2/1995 vs. Alabama (12-1) 17-24
11/25/1995 @ Michigan (9-4) 23-31
1/1/1996 vs. Tennessee (11-1) 14-20
11/23/1996 vs. Michigan (8-4) 9-13
10/11/1997 @ Penn State (9-3) 27-31
11/22/1997 @ Michigan (12-0) 14-20
1/1/1998 vs. Florida State (11-1) 14-31
11/7/1998 vs. Michigan State (6-6) 24-28
1969 osu team was THE most talented in osu history - and lost by 2 TDs to umI'm really not sure what he was trying to say and thought about remarking with a sarcastic -- Your point? But the more I thought about it it got me to thinking. Is the 1969 team the most talent in OSU history?
So I got out my trusty Excel program and downloaded a bit of information to make the following response.
Not sure you can definitively say the 1968 team was the most talented ever
There's really no good way to judge college talent but a good guide would be how the NFL rated by using the draft. Keeping in mind that the NFL had 17 rounds back then, the 1968-1970 Buckeyes had 20 players drafted in the NFL (6.7 per year) with 8 (2.7) going in the first 100 picks.
The 1993-1998 Buckeyes had 38 players drafted (6.3 per year) with 22 (3.7) going in the first 100 picks.
The 2002-2006 Buckeyes had 39 players drafted (7.8 per year) with 23 (4.6) going in the first 100 picks.I'm not sure if this proves anything but it was something I've been meaning to do for a while. I have all the NFL draft classes in Excel from 1990-2010 and now have added the 1968-1972 classes. Someday I'd like to fill in the gap.
These were all great Buckeye teams. All had great wins intermixed with a few heartbreaking defeats though I think it is safe to say that Cooper's teams underperformed the most.
On a totally unrelated note, USC had 27 players drafted from 1968-1970 while Grambling had 25 and Alabama had 3. It would have been interesting to see Grambling play back then. If a BCS system existed at that time they might have gotten an invite.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
On a whim I bought a half season for the 2000-2001 Basketball Bucks
I had never bought season basketball tickets before and haven't since. As I remember the Indiana half was sold out so I had to settle for the other half. Most of the games were in December and mostly forgettable. I didn't mind much because as I remember the Buckeyes had a pretty good team that year and were really fun to watch.
One of the other reasons I bought the basketball tickets was because the football team was so bad. It wasn't that they were a terrible team. They had talent and on occasion showed glimpses of greatness. The problem was they had no heart. At one point during the season I remember someone asking John Cooper why he didn't discipline the offenders. His response was something to the effect that without the players he couldn't win games.
I had always supported Cooper until that season. His losses to Michigan and in the bowls were tough to take but for the most part he had represented the university well. The loss to South Carolina was especially tough and for the first (and only) time in my life I rooted for the Buckeyes to lose. Not because I thought it might increase the chances that Cooper would be fired. It was because this team had disrespected all the great Buckeye teams of the past with their antics. They were playing like a bunch of punks and the head coach stood on the sideline like he couldn't do a thing to stop it. That was in stark contrast to the opposing coach, Lou Holtz. His starting running back had a disciplinary issue before the bowl game and despite the fact it lessened his chance to win he suspended the player for the game and had to start his third string running back instead. As most of you might remember it was just fate that this kid happened to be a former Mr Ohio running back that wasn't deemed good enough to wear the Scarlet and Gray. By the end of the game he had well over over 100 yards and the Buckeyes had suffered an embarrassing loss. The two teams were sharp contrasts of each other. Lou Holtz' South Carolina was what every team strives to be and we had become "The U". In my opinion this was the darkest day in Buckeye football and John Cooper was fired soon afterward.
The Buckeye basketball team was playing well and was a nice diversion from the daily coaching rumors like "Bellotti is on a plane headed for Columbus". Soon though a relatively unknown name started to appear in the newspaper. I knew about Jim Tressel's success at Youngstown State but little else. The more the papers spoke about him the more I liked. He seemed to be a no nonsense guy that said all the right things. His only downside is he'd never been a head coach in Division 1A which was in sharp contrast to most of the other candidates. Still there was something about him.
I distinctly remember the week leading up to the Michigan Basketball game. Work was crazy but there was no way I was going to miss that game since without it I wouldn't have even bought the tickets. The rumors were also strong that the Buckeyes were going to name their new head coach. I didn't think anything of it until the day of the game when it was announced that Jim Tressel was going to be the new head coach. That night there was a buzz in the arena. It was the Michigan game but all anyone could talk about was Buckeye football. It's all a bit fuzzy now but as I remember it the game started and during a timeout I saw people pointing at a man that had just entered the arena and sat down at midcourt about 6 rows up. The buzz got louder. Everyone was asking the same question, "Is that him?" About 2 minutes before the end of the half the man got up and headed for the exit. Spontaneous applause erupted in the arena which I'm sure confused the basketball team because nothing was happening on the court at that moment. I joked with my buddy, "It would be funny if he just needed to goto the bathroom." His response was, "It would be even funnier if it wasn't even him."
Halftime soon arrived and the though everyone was looking for the man he never went back to his seat. I'm sure there was some halftime entertainment but I don't remember it. All anyone was talking about now was the mysterious man. Was it Jim Tressel? Soon after someone came out and placed a microphone just in front of the press area and we saw the man walking to it. The arena erupted in cheers and it was a while before it got quiet enough so he could address the crowd. The rest of the story is now part of Jim Tressel's legend but I'll never forget when he said,
"I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field."
I can't describe the feeling but I just felt lucky I was there. The whole place was jumping up and down, laughing, crying, and cheering. It was amazing. It was like we had been held captive for 13 years even if we didn't know it and this man was going to lead us to the promised land.
Buckeye Football was back.
For what it is worth the Basketball Bucks beat Michigan that day too.
One of the other reasons I bought the basketball tickets was because the football team was so bad. It wasn't that they were a terrible team. They had talent and on occasion showed glimpses of greatness. The problem was they had no heart. At one point during the season I remember someone asking John Cooper why he didn't discipline the offenders. His response was something to the effect that without the players he couldn't win games.
I had always supported Cooper until that season. His losses to Michigan and in the bowls were tough to take but for the most part he had represented the university well. The loss to South Carolina was especially tough and for the first (and only) time in my life I rooted for the Buckeyes to lose. Not because I thought it might increase the chances that Cooper would be fired. It was because this team had disrespected all the great Buckeye teams of the past with their antics. They were playing like a bunch of punks and the head coach stood on the sideline like he couldn't do a thing to stop it. That was in stark contrast to the opposing coach, Lou Holtz. His starting running back had a disciplinary issue before the bowl game and despite the fact it lessened his chance to win he suspended the player for the game and had to start his third string running back instead. As most of you might remember it was just fate that this kid happened to be a former Mr Ohio running back that wasn't deemed good enough to wear the Scarlet and Gray. By the end of the game he had well over over 100 yards and the Buckeyes had suffered an embarrassing loss. The two teams were sharp contrasts of each other. Lou Holtz' South Carolina was what every team strives to be and we had become "The U". In my opinion this was the darkest day in Buckeye football and John Cooper was fired soon afterward.
The Buckeye basketball team was playing well and was a nice diversion from the daily coaching rumors like "Bellotti is on a plane headed for Columbus". Soon though a relatively unknown name started to appear in the newspaper. I knew about Jim Tressel's success at Youngstown State but little else. The more the papers spoke about him the more I liked. He seemed to be a no nonsense guy that said all the right things. His only downside is he'd never been a head coach in Division 1A which was in sharp contrast to most of the other candidates. Still there was something about him.
I distinctly remember the week leading up to the Michigan Basketball game. Work was crazy but there was no way I was going to miss that game since without it I wouldn't have even bought the tickets. The rumors were also strong that the Buckeyes were going to name their new head coach. I didn't think anything of it until the day of the game when it was announced that Jim Tressel was going to be the new head coach. That night there was a buzz in the arena. It was the Michigan game but all anyone could talk about was Buckeye football. It's all a bit fuzzy now but as I remember it the game started and during a timeout I saw people pointing at a man that had just entered the arena and sat down at midcourt about 6 rows up. The buzz got louder. Everyone was asking the same question, "Is that him?" About 2 minutes before the end of the half the man got up and headed for the exit. Spontaneous applause erupted in the arena which I'm sure confused the basketball team because nothing was happening on the court at that moment. I joked with my buddy, "It would be funny if he just needed to goto the bathroom." His response was, "It would be even funnier if it wasn't even him."
Halftime soon arrived and the though everyone was looking for the man he never went back to his seat. I'm sure there was some halftime entertainment but I don't remember it. All anyone was talking about now was the mysterious man. Was it Jim Tressel? Soon after someone came out and placed a microphone just in front of the press area and we saw the man walking to it. The arena erupted in cheers and it was a while before it got quiet enough so he could address the crowd. The rest of the story is now part of Jim Tressel's legend but I'll never forget when he said,
"I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field."
I can't describe the feeling but I just felt lucky I was there. The whole place was jumping up and down, laughing, crying, and cheering. It was amazing. It was like we had been held captive for 13 years even if we didn't know it and this man was going to lead us to the promised land.
Buckeye Football was back.
For what it is worth the Basketball Bucks beat Michigan that day too.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Can Ohio State pass Wisconsin in the BCS?
The BCS is made up on three equal parts: The USA Today poll, the Harris poll, and the computer rankings. After last week the Buckeyes were ranked 7th in the human polls behind #1 Oregon, Auburn, Boise State, TCU, Wisconsin, and #6 LSU. All these teams either had a win or didn't play. While yesterday's win may get us a few more votes I seriously doubt we are going to move up from the #7 spot.
That means our only hope is the computer polls. After last week Ohio State was 13th in the computers while Wisconsin was 12th. Our overall difference in the BCS was .0584 (.7258 - .6674). That would mean we'd need to improve .1752 (.0584 x 3) more than Wisconsin in the computer rankings to pass them. The way the computer part of the BCS works it throws out the highest and lowest score than averages the rest. That number is then divided by 25. If you multiply .1752 by 25 you get 4.38. That means we need to move up 4.38 spots in the computer rankings to pass Wisconsin in the BCS.
Is this possible?
Looking at Sagarin's rating you see that we moved from 17th to 11th while Wisconsin went from 11th to 9th. That's an improvement of 4 spots. That's almost the kind of improvement we need but Sagarin's poll was the one with the biggest discrepancy between Wisconsin and Ohio State from last week (6). The rest had a difference of 2,5,2,-2-1. I just don't see how the numbers can add up any way for us to make up the difference from last week's results.
The one that that would help us immensely would be for LSU to lose next weekend. That would give us about .030 improvement from a bump in the human polls. Then all we'd need is our cumulative improvement to be .0852 or an improvement of 2.6 spots. That we definitely could do. In fact we might have done that this week. I didn't post this on the OZone as I want to see how the computer polls shake out tonight before posting anything definitive but it seems our only hope to goto Pasadena is in the hands of the Razorbacks against LSU.
That means our only hope is the computer polls. After last week Ohio State was 13th in the computers while Wisconsin was 12th. Our overall difference in the BCS was .0584 (.7258 - .6674). That would mean we'd need to improve .1752 (.0584 x 3) more than Wisconsin in the computer rankings to pass them. The way the computer part of the BCS works it throws out the highest and lowest score than averages the rest. That number is then divided by 25. If you multiply .1752 by 25 you get 4.38. That means we need to move up 4.38 spots in the computer rankings to pass Wisconsin in the BCS.
Is this possible?
Looking at Sagarin's rating you see that we moved from 17th to 11th while Wisconsin went from 11th to 9th. That's an improvement of 4 spots. That's almost the kind of improvement we need but Sagarin's poll was the one with the biggest discrepancy between Wisconsin and Ohio State from last week (6). The rest had a difference of 2,5,2,-2-1. I just don't see how the numbers can add up any way for us to make up the difference from last week's results.
The one that that would help us immensely would be for LSU to lose next weekend. That would give us about .030 improvement from a bump in the human polls. Then all we'd need is our cumulative improvement to be .0852 or an improvement of 2.6 spots. That we definitely could do. In fact we might have done that this week. I didn't post this on the OZone as I want to see how the computer polls shake out tonight before posting anything definitive but it seems our only hope to goto Pasadena is in the hands of the Razorbacks against LSU.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Best Buckeye Quarterback Ever
Someone posted today that Pryor is the best quarterback the Buckeyes have had other than Troy Smith. While I like Pryor and he has some time, this is very premature. That got me thinking.... who is the best quarterbacks for the Buckeyes?
Don Lamka (71) - Don't know him so I'm probably being unfair.
Jim Pacenta (76) - Don't know him so I'm probably being unfair.
Greg Hare (72) - I do know he was a leader that tore down the banner at Michigan.
Steve Bellisari (99-01) - He had all the tools but never the mentality. Bad Offensive line.
Todd Boeckmann (07) - In his Michigan game as we stopped throwing. He was that bad.
Tom Tupa (87) - Great punter but not quarterback. It didn't help Cris Carter was ineligible.
Kirk Herbstreit (91-92) - Decent quarterback on an improving team. Had lots of moxie.
Kent Graham (91) - Strong arm but never seemed to fit into the system.
Rod Gerald (77) - The next Corny failed to live up to expectations and replaced as a senior.
Craig Krenzel (02-03) - The national championship gives him a bit of a bump.
Stanley Jackson (96-97) - Fans will never forget his 97 Michigan disaster.
Greg Frey (88-90) - It would have been fun to watch him if the team had more talent.
Jim Karsatos (85-86) - Overlooked by many Buckeye fans. Great arm. No mobility.
Cornielus Greene (73-75) - Led the Woody Hayes juggernaut.
Mike Tomczak (82-84) - One of the most complete quarterbacks.
Bobby Hoying (93-95) - Led the Buckeye resurgence in the early 90s.
Joe Germaine (97-98) - Quiet but effective and deceivingly strong arm.
Rex Kern (68-70) - Put here due to his legend. I never saw him play.
Art Schlitcher (78-81) - All time passing leader. Post Buckeye career was tragic.
Troy Smith (04-06) - Only Buckeye quarterback to win the Heisman.
Looking at the list you might notice that there isn't a single player on the list that could be considered an NFL starter let alone a hall of famer. The closest is Mike Tomczak who played as 16 years in the league mostly as a well paid backup. Kent Graham was the next best as he spent about 10 years in the league mostly as a backup. Other than that most Buckeye quarterbacks were only in the league about 3 years and none were consistent starters (Troy Smith might be the exception but it is still early). That said, I'm rating the quarterbacks based on their college QB play only.
The one question that remains is where would Terrell Pryor (08-10) fit. As of right now I'd probably put him between Corny and Tomczak but there's still a lot of time to change that rank.
Don Lamka (71) - Don't know him so I'm probably being unfair.
Jim Pacenta (76) - Don't know him so I'm probably being unfair.
Greg Hare (72) - I do know he was a leader that tore down the banner at Michigan.
Steve Bellisari (99-01) - He had all the tools but never the mentality. Bad Offensive line.
Todd Boeckmann (07) - In his Michigan game as we stopped throwing. He was that bad.
Tom Tupa (87) - Great punter but not quarterback. It didn't help Cris Carter was ineligible.
Kirk Herbstreit (91-92) - Decent quarterback on an improving team. Had lots of moxie.
Kent Graham (91) - Strong arm but never seemed to fit into the system.
Rod Gerald (77) - The next Corny failed to live up to expectations and replaced as a senior.
Craig Krenzel (02-03) - The national championship gives him a bit of a bump.
Stanley Jackson (96-97) - Fans will never forget his 97 Michigan disaster.
Greg Frey (88-90) - It would have been fun to watch him if the team had more talent.
Jim Karsatos (85-86) - Overlooked by many Buckeye fans. Great arm. No mobility.
Cornielus Greene (73-75) - Led the Woody Hayes juggernaut.
Mike Tomczak (82-84) - One of the most complete quarterbacks.
Bobby Hoying (93-95) - Led the Buckeye resurgence in the early 90s.
Joe Germaine (97-98) - Quiet but effective and deceivingly strong arm.
Rex Kern (68-70) - Put here due to his legend. I never saw him play.
Art Schlitcher (78-81) - All time passing leader. Post Buckeye career was tragic.
Troy Smith (04-06) - Only Buckeye quarterback to win the Heisman.
Looking at the list you might notice that there isn't a single player on the list that could be considered an NFL starter let alone a hall of famer. The closest is Mike Tomczak who played as 16 years in the league mostly as a well paid backup. Kent Graham was the next best as he spent about 10 years in the league mostly as a backup. Other than that most Buckeye quarterbacks were only in the league about 3 years and none were consistent starters (Troy Smith might be the exception but it is still early). That said, I'm rating the quarterbacks based on their college QB play only.
The one question that remains is where would Terrell Pryor (08-10) fit. As of right now I'd probably put him between Corny and Tomczak but there's still a lot of time to change that rank.
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