I sit here tonight with so many thoughts running through my head. I am as die hard of a Buckeye fan as there is. In the last 7 months we have had really good times and really bad times and as a fan it is hard to avoid the emotional roller coaster that we have all been on. At times I feel like John Candy in National Lampoons Vacation and I am begging to get off this roller coaster just so Clark Griswald can shoot me in the butt with a BB gun. At least then the horrible motion sickening aches I have will be over and I can go back to feeling normal again.

Thanks to El Kaiser I became a member of the Twitter world right around the time that the issues started back in December of last year. Since then I have come to follow and be followed by a plethera of different types of Buckeye fans. We are a huge Nation and we have very differing opinions on the people and situations currently causing our roller coaster ride. Also via twitter I have learned to like (Jason Whitlock and Ken Gordon and anyone affiliated with the Columbus Dispatch) certain media members and loathe many others (Bruce Hooley and Sports by Brooks and anyone affiliated with ESPN and recently bush league reporters at WSYX ).

Mostly though I have found Buckeye Nation has decided to choose camps. There is the Tressel is a scapegoat camp or Tressel is the problem camp. There is Terrelle Pryor is a dirt bag and Terrelle Pryor is a kid who made a mistake camps. There is the Fire everyone left who was involved camp and the Stop the bleeding camp. The biggest problem I have found is that Buckeye Nation is splitting up and I have seen infighting amongst our fans that should be saved for OSU fans vs. scUM fans. I know my fellow fans are angry or hurt or saddened or happy depending on which camp they are in. I feel all your pains. I understand what you are going through.

Terrelle Pryor is a guy who has made horrible mistakes. Has he made bad decisions lately? Yes, of coarse. Has he done harm to the school we all love? Yes, of coarse. Is there a lot of rumors and innuendos flying around about him right now? Absolutly and some or all of them may even be true….. or GASP some or all may not be true at all. We dont know the whole story yet. I dont trust the media to be unbiased and fair in their reporting since they have yet to do so. He is under investigation by both OSU and the NCAA and I am sure they will dig deeper then they already have and they have dug to China in his first 3 years here trying to find something that will stick. He is taking all the blame for what is going wrong at OSU currently but if you believe the rumors this stuff has been happening for longer then he has been at OSU by many years. He isnt the only player already suspended but yet he is taking all the heat. Which is fine I suppose if he gets all the glory for winning he should prob get the brunt of the bad as well. My question to all of you who wants him gone for good before the investigation is even over… Wat happens if he doesn’t get kicked off the team and comes back after his 5 games off and he leads the team to 7 or 8 more wins? Will those same people still be calling for him to be gone? or Will they stand and cheer and buy his jerseys and pretend like they always supported him? I vote for the second option.

Jim Tressel is now and will forever be my SENATOR. I dont think any less of him today then I did after he won the NC in 2002. He is a man of great character and great flaws. He is basically just like you and me….. HUMAN. He made a horrible mistake and has paid a heavy price for it. I dont know if the punishment fits the crime but if it doesnt it is really darn close. I will never buy into the National media telling me I should feel betrayed by Tressel. I have lied to my bosses and covered up for other people probably at every job I ever had and I imagine 99.9% of you can say the same thing. He isnt the coach anymore that is his pill to swallow for breaking the rules and making a huge mistake.

Gene Smith doesnt deserve to be fired or forced to resign. He didnt break any rules. He didnt help in any cover up. Did he bungle the handling of the Public Relations part of this whole thing? Yes, indeed he did. Honestly though how could anyone be prepared for all that has happened in the last 6 months? I am sure he has learned a lot from this all and I wouldn’t be surprised if he did resign sooner rather then later. Doesn’t mean I think he should.

E. Gordon Gee is a bumbling idiot. He is also a great President of one of the largest Universities in the world. He has done a wonderful job of making the University a better institution and has been masterful in fundraising and making OSU a research leader in many fields. He shouldn’t be involved in the athletic dept day to day dealings and shouldn’t even be targeted by the media for firing or resigning. His job is so large and expansive and involves so much more then Athletic Dept duties. Give the guy a break I am sure he could answer every question correct on Jeopardy but he clearly has no idea what a blitz or a Option Pass is. He is doing his job and he is doing a spectacular one at that IMO.

Lastly, Doug Archie and the compliance dept. Which until recently was 6 people. I heard they asked for and received 2 more people so they are now a dept. of 8 strong. That is 8 people teaching and enforcing compliance to over 1100 athletes and countless other coaches and Athletic Dept. employees. Having said that WHAT THE HECK HAVE THEY BEEN DOING THE PAST FEW YEARS? I wont pretend to know what their jobs entails but I get the feeling they haven’t been doing much of anything work wise for a while other then have classes where they read the NCAA manual to the players who some clearly aren’t listening. I don’t know if they should all be fired or not but I wouldn’t be surprised if they were or disappointed. I do hope OSU will take some of the millions of dollars they have and hire a staff of 50+ compliance people to help fix the issues we have and prevent future ones.

So I end this with a hope. I hope Buckeye Nation will pull together and become the close family we have always been and stop making camps that will divide us. We should support all of our Buckeyes from the top to the bottom until we have an actual reason with proof to not support them. Now more then ever we need to rely on each other in support during this crazy roller coaster ride ends and Clark Griswald shoots us all in the butt letting us know the ride is over and we can relax. Football season cant get here quick enough for any of us thats for sure. Until then Support Your Local Buckeye and hope we all make it to see better days as BUCKEYE NATION.

Seriously, this is why it sucks to be passionate about a team. Why does it always have to be about what you hate about your opponents? Why can’t it be about what you like about your own team. I’ll admit to being one of those guys who doesn’t boo the other team. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to see Ohio State CRUSH Michigan on every single down every single year. But why the hate? Why is ESPN so willing to incite this hate, under the guise of “trash talking”?

We’ve seen it the past three months, but even more so the past three days. The absolute glee and joy people are taking in Jim Tressel’s downfall is downright sad. I guess any time they can take away from looking at their own team and beating down another is time well spent, I guess.

But, since we can’t beat ’em, we’ll join them. I filled the survey out, only from the point of view of a Penn State fan (sorry in advance for the language):

I guess some things will never change.

Click the image to read the scintillating(*) Sports Illustrated story on the downfall of Jim Tressel. Marvel(**) at the hard-hitting journalism demonstrated by George Dohrmann as he builds his case on the back of a convicted felon currently serving time! Be amazed(***) at all the new allegations as SI plumbs the depths of the depravity of Tressel’s tenure at Ohio State.

(* just kidding)
(** really, the sarcasm is coming through, right?)
(*** Oh for crying out loud, where’s the good stuff?!)

The Columbus Dispatch:

The NCAA and the Ohio State University’s compliance office are conducting an independent investigation of Terrelle Pryor amid allegations that the star quarterback may have received cars and other extra benefits, sources told The Dispatch today.

Pryor has been questioned by OSU compliance officials in the past, but sources said this is the most significant inquiry to date. He already has been interviewed at least once by investigators within the past few weeks, sources said.

Pryor and the cars he drives have been an issue since he arrived on campus three years ago. Pryor has been connected to more than a half dozen vehicles during his time at Ohio State, according to sources.

Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch wouldn’t confirm whether Pryor is being investigated.

“The university continues to work with the NCAA as they investigate matters involving our football program, and we will continue to do so until the conclusion of the investigation,” Lynch said. “We are unable to comment on specific players’ situations because of federal law.”

The investigation of Pryor off the field is separate from Coach Jim Tressel’s resignation, which was announced earlier today. Attempts to reach Pryor were unsuccessful.

OSU officials previously said that even before Pryor arrived on campus in 2008, the NCAA examined the ownership of his vehicle and how it was paid for.

Pryor came under scrutiny in December after OSU received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice. It said that during a drug raid, it had recovered Buckeye memorabilia linked to the quarterback and other players.

In the ensuing 11 days, OSU confirmed that Pryor and five other current football players had sold or exchanged memorabilia for cash and tattoos.

On Dec. 23, OSU suspended Pryor, running back Daniel Herron, receiver DeVier Posey, lineman Solomon Thomas and tackle Mike Adams for five games this season. Linebacker Jordan Whiting was suspended for one game.

In January, The Dispatch reported that three times in the past three years, Pryor was stopped for traffic violations while driving cars that were owned by a car salesman or a Columbus used-car dealer for whom the salesman worked.

The salesman, Aaron Kniffin, told The Dispatch that while working at Maxton in 2008, he allowed Pryor to drive his SUV to his hometown in Pennsylvania so that his mother could check it out. Pryor did not buy the vehicle.

Kniffin also said he arranged for Pryor to use a 2009 Dodge while Pryor’s car was being repaired at Auto Direct, a Columbus car dealership where Kniffin worked last fall.

About two dozen autographed jerseys hang inside Auto Direct’s office, including Pryor’s.

Pryor said at the time that he doesn’t remember the circumstances of him signing his jersey that hangs in the dealership, but “I sign a lot of stuff for Buckeye fans – I don’t like to turn down fans. But I don’t do it to get any favors or discounts.”

Kniffin also sold cars to Pryor’s mother and brother as well as dozens of other Buckeye athletes or their family members.

The car dealer has said repeatedly that the vehicles sales with OSU athletes have been legitimate and he has not offered them special deals.

As part of its investigation of Tressel, the NCAA wants to know details about Pryor’s relationship with Ted Sarniak, a 67-year-old businessman from Jeannette, Pa., the quarterback’s hometown.

Doug Archie, OSU’s director of compliance, said in March that Sarniak served as Pryor’s contact person during Ohio State’s recruiting efforts but is not considered a booster.

“Mr. Sarniak and Terrelle Pryor have been friends for a number of years, and their friendship dates back prior to Terrelle’s enrollment at Ohio State,” Archie said. “As the friendship developed, Mr. Sarniak is someone who Terrelle has reached out to for advice and guidance throughout his high-school and collegiate career.”

Sarniak has attended virtually every game, home and away, since Pryor enrolled in 2008.

Sarniak exchanged emails with Tressel last spring when the coach was tipped off that Pryor and others were selling memorabilia.

OSU released two of those emails but refuses to release any others, citing the federal student privacy law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

State courts in Arizona, Florida, Illinois and North Carolina each have ordered colleges in recent months to release documents that they had withheld after citing FERPA. In Arizona, a community college attempted to withhold emails among faculty members about a student.

“Court after court has said that not every cocktail napkin with a students’ name on it is an education record,” said Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center. “An email between a coach and an outside third party doesn’t qualify under FERPA.”

In addition to the emails between Tressel and Sarniak, the university also has censored the Justice Department letter that details by name what memorabilia the players sold and what they received in return.

Per the Columbus Dispatch:

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has resigned, university sources told The Dispatch today.

The article also says that Luke Fickell will take over as head coach.

This is a lot to digest on this Memorial Day morning. We’ll have more later, but for now we’ll just stand stunned, jaw on the floor, trying to figure this all out.

We have this on repeat here at MotSaG HQ:

(We’re wondering if Dominic Jones is available for a reenactment. No reason.)

We’re back with another edition of the often imitated, never duplicated ICYMI. ICYMI is a semi-regular news roundup post here at Men of the Scarlet and Gray dot com where we post links to the various Buckeye news stories that have popped up since the last one. A eclectic mix of Ohio State football, basketball and whatever other sport is in season for your consumption with a smattering of other fun stuff.

Bowls, yep we got ’em. First off, we must give a tip of the hat to the Wizard of Odds for the work he’s been doing uncovering the seedy underbelly of the financials of the sacred Bowl Games. Start here and then go to the main site and keep scrolling. This isn’t new to readers of Death to the BCSbut definitely has more detail.

Bowls! What are they good for? In addition to that, The Big Lead Sports has a good article wondering who the Bowls are good for (here’s a hint: one cable network broadcasts 33 of them).

Where are they now? During the summer, we’re going to try a new series of posts here at MotSaG that will fill you in on what former Buckeyes are doing in their lives. You can start with this story about
Donnie Nickey and his Restaurant.

We’re Linebacker U. Yeah, we said it. We know it gets those prickly Penn State fans all fired up, but Tyler over at Along the Olengtangy makes the case that Ohio State’s Linebackers may be the best in the country. We would agree.

It is a school, afterall. Congratualtions to the 523 Buckeye student athletes honored as “Scholar-Athletes for this past school year. You can see the entire list beating Baylor to make it to the NCAA semifinals before falling to Virginia. So close.

Along with Men’s Tennis, we also want to point out Ohio State’s Baseball comeback this afternoon after rallying back from down three to beat Minnesota, 5 to 3, in the first game of the Big Ten Tournament.

We hate those Dukies, BABY. Last week it was announced that Ohio State’s opponent in the Big Ten/ACC challenge will be Duke. The game is scheduled for November 29th, smack dab between the Michigan Game and the Big Ten Championship Game. That is going to be one heck of a week (hopefully) for Buckeye fans.

Also, the Twittering Buckeyes page has been updated, and is finally in alphabetical order.

Here’s a little experiment: Pull out your preferred mobile device, fire up your Twitter app, and run a search on “Tressel.”  What you’re probably looking at right now is a bunch of Finebaum retweets followed by around 100 variations of this:

If not, wait a few days until something else important happens in the world and try again.  The basic formula is simple:

1. Pick something that happened.

2. Insert into this sentence “Jim Tressel knew about [thing that happened] but didn’t know who to tell.”

3. Rinse

4. Retweet

It doesn’t matter what the thing is; before Saturday it was that he knew the apocalypse was coming.  I’m a little surprised that he didn’t “know” about Arnold’s love child, but maybe no one could spell “Schwarzenegger.”

If topical humor isn’t your thing, maybe you’d enjoy a reworked version of some moldy old Catskills schtick:

This is what passes for acceptable Ohio State hate these days, and the only thing insulting about it is the complete lack of creativity our antagonists are displaying.  If you’re going to kick us when we’re down, at least have the decency to change out of your bunny slippers first.

Maybe it’s my fault for expecting to find the brilliant humorists amongst our detractors working in a 140-character limit medium.  Perhaps they were busy with PhotoShop, or whatever cheap imitation they can afford.  Here’s an example from  Nebraska blog Cornnation:

Well, you can’t blame a guy for trying.  The concept isn’t terrible, but surely there is a good synonym for “lying” that could have been substituted to make the title less clunky.  The co-authors aren’t bad, but Satan is involved in so much evil that reducing him to a mere “liar” is a real slap in the face to the Lord of Darkness (and completely glosses over his fiddling skills).  Also, would have been so hard to bump that font up a couple of point sizes and hit the “B” button?

(Feel free to head on over and check out the embarrassingly amateur face-pastes by a certain Hawkeye fan.)

Okay, okay, photoshopping isn’t exactly a high-brow endeavor either.  Respected humorists are writers, like those geniuses over at McSweeney’s.  I’m sure I’ll find a stinging piece of satire about our revered head coach in the world of the classic written word.  Or not.

Is it just me?  Anybody heard any good Tressel jokes lately?

After last summer’s addition of Nebraska to the Big Ten, one of the biggest issues became the nature of future football scheduling. More specifically, fans were whipped into a frenzy when the idea was floated that the traditional season-ending Ohio State/Michigan slugfest could be moved earlier in the season. The reasoning behind this consideration is understandable; with the two teams in separate divisions (itself an unpopular decision), the contest could conceivably be repeated one week later in the Big Ten Championship Game. The reasoning behind the outrage is also understandable; The Game is something that, regardless of the other 11 scores, the season builds up to. It is essentially a holiday among fans and you wouldn’t move Christmas to September, would you?

I would.

And you can spare me all the talk of messing with tradition and your fond childhood memories of whichever Game is most special to you. I get it; I really do. But the conference landscape just shifted in a drastic way. When Penn State joined the league, it wasn’t as big of a deal; it was just one extra team. But with Nebraska comes not just another extra team, but a whole new divisional structure. The Game will never mark the end of the Big Ten season again. It’s not unreasonable to expect that at least one of Ohio State and Michigan will be participating in the Big Ten Championship Game half the time (my guess would be more than that).

The question now becomes what is the best way to enhance the Big Ten’s national exposure/relevance and provide the most compelling product on the field? I believe the answer to that is a new method of scheduling the season that will give the conference a better chance to shine in the national spotlight and increase the excitement leading up to the championship game.

The basic structure would look like this:

2 non-conference games – These games will likely be the “cupcake” games, just as they generally are now. This gives our teams the best chance to rack up a couple of wins and build some momentum as well as work out the kinks.

3 cross-divisional games – These games bump up the start of the conference action and keep fans from becoming fatigued by too many uninteresting matchups early. For Ohio State, the last of these games would be Michigan, and the other teams would be matched up with their biggest cross-divisional rival (e.g. Illinois/Northwestern, Penn State/Michigan State).

2 non-conference games – These games provide a break before the end-run and give our teams a chance to schedule top-notch national programs at a time when teams are generally running at full steam, as opposed to early in the season when there are often still major issues to correct. One of these games will likely be a “lesser” team, but ideally this is a place for the Big Ten to make a case for itself come BCS time.

5 Divisional Games – These games provide a more playoff-like build toward the championship as each week will see major moves in the division races. I believe this is the best way to keep the conference at the forefront of the national discussion. The final game of this run could be used for in-division rivalry games (e.g. Michigan/Michigan State, Ohio State/Penn State).

I understand that this will not be a popular proposal among Ohio State or Michigan fans, but I do think that it serves the overall interest of the conference much better than the process in place for this season and next.

Okay, have at it.