When I Have Nothing To Say, My Lips Are Sealed…

It’s talking head time for the next ninety minutes on ESPN, and it’s inevitable that Ohio State’s potential woes will be the lead on all three programs.  So for those of you away from your televisions (or emotionally unable to operate them at the moment) here’s a rundown of what the Worldwide Leader’s stable of chatterboxes had to say on the matter:

Jim Rome Is Burning

Rome took the opportunity to get in another quick jab about the lack of a Sugar Bowl suspension, then recounted the Yahoo! story.  As fair as he’s ever going to be, Rome noted the possibility that the allegation may not be true and then listed the standard-issue ramifications if it is.  He wrapped up with a typical rant, the gist of which is that if Jim Tressel is crooked, everyone is crooked.  It should be noted that Rome did say he hoped it wasn’t true.

Bomani Jones joined Rome later on, parsing Gordon Gee’s earlier statement and determining that it was a “ruh-roh” moment for Tressel.  Rome intimated that while he may not get fired, Tressel’s image would be forever damaged by the incident.

Around The Horn

After the obligatory recap, the question posed to Horn’s panel:  “How big a deal is this?”

Michael Smith:  Huge.  No reason to doubt Wetzel/Robinson.  If true, Tressel “is a liar” and was taking advantage of the players.  Lots of righteous indignation.  Call for the hammer.

Kevin Blackistone:  Big.  Further exposes hypocrisy of college athletics.  University/coaches/etc. make millions of off poor students who get busted for selling stuff.

Jemele Hill:  Tarnishes Tressel’s legacy.  Sum total of Clarett, Smith, and this is damning.  If report is true, he looks “deceptive, dishonest, and disingenous.”  Agrees with double standard for coaches vs. players mentality of previous commentators.

J.A. Adande:  No immediate denial is telling.  Reiterates Blackistone’s position.  Suggests that Tressel’s actions throughout situation were only to serve best interest of Ohio State.

Is Tressel’s job in jeopardy?

Smith:  Yes, and it is justified.

Blackistone:  No, it’s all about money.

Hill:  Yes, poor track record.

Adande:  No, he brings in money.

Ouch.  Pretty harsh from this group.  Also, Kevin Blackistone and J.A. Adande are apparently the same person.

Pardon The Interruption

Somehow, Tiki Barber’s planned un-retirement usurps the Tressel news here.  Kornheiser calls Tiki and Ronde the “Winklevii.”

Both Kornheiser and Wilbon agree that this is potentially bad for Tressel.  Kornheiser admits that he always roots for journalists, but questions the article’s failure to cite anything besides one unnamed source and would like to see something a little more solid.  Wilbon thinks the whole thing is stupid because the rule that the players broke in the first place is absurd.  Neither seem to think anything is going to happen to Tressel.

We pretty much got the whole spectrum of opinion from these shows, and that’s probably by design.  Personally, I was glad that PTI, the only one of the three that I can really stand to watch on a regular basis, essentially came down on our side.

There’s nothing left to do now but wait.  Will it be a happy day, or will we be burning down the house?