Spaghettigate looks to be drawing to a close.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting the NCAA’s Bob Williams said, “If it’s determined that money did not go to either family, then one would deduce that there was no extra benefit.”
Therefore, since the money from the fund raiser went to a nonprofit Pee Wee football league, it appears Beanie and Pittman are in the clear.
This has been a silly, frivolous waste of time. Two families living close to (or below) the poverty line have a one in a million shot to see their sons play for a national championship, so their friends and neighbors gather together to help find a way to help them afford the trip. Next thing you know, someone finds an obscure passage in the telephone-book sized NCAA rulebook that forbids it, so the players have to leave and the families have to give the money away.
This is exactly the type of thing that the NCAA should allow. A community helping its members is a pretty noble thing. This type of heavy-handedness is exactly why collegiate boosters have so much power & temptation over star players. “C’mon, take it. You know the NCAA won’t allow your family to raise money to come see you play.”
All this has done is give the media another chance to throw darts at OSU and give UM fans something else minor to add to their “zOMG teh OSU iz criminalz one!!11eleventyone!” lists.
I’d also bet that this situation has hardened Pittman’s stance on returning for another year. Would you come back to deal with this kind of hilarity, if you had an opportunity to be free from it?
UPDATE:
OSU’s investigation is complete; they’ve declared that no wrongdoing occurred.
Great Piece. Especially the part about this being some sort of an influence on Boosters stepping in to try and sweeten things for their own future gain.
By the by..I’m not sure if you guys read anything of Bruce Feldman on ESPN’s Insider, but someone wrote into his mailbag talking crazy about how Troy’s past indescretions should have barred him from the Heisman.
Over/Under on how many times the Cut-off Jean short wearing Gator fans bring up the only mistake Troy Smith has made in the last few years?
Dave –
The worst offender was none other than Chris Fowler, who made it a part of his Troy Smith Heisman introduction. Actually, it was the very first thing he said when introducing the piece on Smith. The cameras switched to Smith for a reaction shot, and he remained stoned-face (although his sister was visibly upset in the background).
Oh, IMHO, Gator fans should be the last to bring up football player indiscretions. Glass houses and all. All it will do is make the Troy angry. And we all know what happens when someone makes him angry. 😉