So if he lets the five guys play, that means maybe Tressel doesn't actually stand for all those fundamentals then, huh?
He could make a great statement by keeping all five out, but the reality is that by allowing them to play, he's also making a statement -- just not the kind that is consistent with the image he wants to be projecting.
It appears Pryor was exchanging autographs for "loaner" cars as well, getting pulled over three times in the past three years while driving vehicles that belonged either to an auto dealership or to an employee at that dealership.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...s.html?sid=101
Supposedly Pryor was getting work done on his car one time and was just "test driving" another time. No word on the third reason though. Maybe he wanted another test drive? I'm sure these were the only three times he ever used one of these cars, and that it was just a massive coincidence that he got pulled over each time.
Of course, OSU found nothing suspicious with this. Despite the fact that had OSU received an anonymous letter stating that players were exchanging autographed memorabilia for loaner cars. And the dealership has a number of authographed jerseys hanging up (including from Pryor). And players have supposedly being doing something similar to get free tattoos. I guess it was all just a series of coincidences...thanks for policing yourselves appropriately, OSU!
Pryor also admits that he knew selling his memorabilia was wrong at the time, so the "they didn't know it was wrong to sell their own property" defense sounds pretty weak.
He also suggests that some of his teammates will not honor their pledge to return next season.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content...spensions.html"It's important to keep your word, but at the same time, some guys have different situations," he said. "I think some guys pledged and some guys, we were just basically saying sorry. I don't want to say that if (others) would choose to leave that they're breaking a pledge. I think some guys have different situations."
Almost done with 3rd quarter--
Pryor having a huge game -- 228 yards passing, 78 yards rushing, 2 TD passes.
Fellow suspended-but-not-suspended players RB Dan Herron (66 yards rushing plus a TD) and Devier Posey (70 yards receiving plus a TD) are also having very good games.
What are the odds they bolt for the NFL? 50%? 75%? 90%?
--Jason "Ohio State... where ethics go to die" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Arkansas just got a safety so has closed the gap to only 8 early in the 4th, and they have all the momentum. If the Big 10 blows this one, well, wow.
Yeah, Pryor and the others will be back next year. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight.
Someone might rightly say that technicalities in rules are just as much part of the rules as anything else, and if we were in a similar situation, we might well claim that tOSU and Tressel's decision to play the guys broke no rules. Having said all that, I am revolted at all involved, not the least of which is the NCAA (which has done more facilitating than Dina Lohan) and IMHO Jim Litke hits it out of the park with this column:
http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/409219...lege_football/
That's the difference between Penn State & Ohio State. JoePA would have sat them. He did it, man many moons ago with Enis (for the life of me I can't remember his last name) for a bowl game over a suit to wear to the bowl game.
wild guess, but do you mean Curtis Enis?
Anyway, yes, I appreciate your juxtaposition. Sometimes, those who feel compelled to thump their chest about integrity are compensating for something - or maybe doing it just as a necessary reminder to themselves. But that's how you can tell Tressel is old school; some coaches these days don't even bother to be two-faced about it.
Last edited by cspan37421; 01-05-2011 at 10:11 AM.
RE Scholarships:
My understanding of the scholarship/loan issue is that both athletic scholarships and federally subsidized loans are capped at the cost of attendance. Since the cost of attendance includes tuition, room and board, and a certain amount of personal expenses in addition to tuition less any scholarships, the cost of attendance for a student athlete on a full scholarship would be 0 and he or she couldn't borrow anything else. Additionally, if they were to borrow money based on future earnings, such as what LeBron's mom did when she bought an H2 while he was in high school, the athlete would lose their amateur status.
RE Pryor et al.:
Say what you will about the NCAA or Tressel's handling of the situation, but I've been very impressed with how apologetic and contrite TP has come off in the wake of this scandal. I feel like every time I've seen him interviewed, he's gone out of his way to apologize to OSU fans, coaches, and teammates. He wasn't reading of a prepared statement in his original press conference/apology and hasn't hid behind any justifications or excuses for why he did it, even though a large number of people (including myself) don't think he did anything morally wrong.
Really?
To me, he looks like a guy who bends or breaks the rules whenever possible. I have relatives who live in Columbus and are big tOSU fans; they tell me that quite a few of their fans are sick of Terrelle's antics and look forward to him moving on.
To each his own on this sort of thing, I guess.
I'm not an OSU fan and haven't followed the scandal beyond the ESPN coverage and the post-Sugar Bowl interview he gave, so I don't want to speak toward his other antics. I just don't think he did anything morally wrong by selling something valuable that earned (the golden pants award) to someone who valued it more than Pryor. If the NCAA ruled correctly, saying he didn't know it was against the rules when he sold it, then he couldn't have been trying to bend or break the rules.
It's a slightly different scenario, but do you think it's wrong for an Olympic athlete to sell a gold medal? What if there was a rule against it that he didn't know about until after the fact?
Just my opinion, but I don't buy the concept that Pryor and his teammates didn't know it was against the rules to re-sell this merchandise. If you read some about tOSU in this scandal, it seems they have a small army of compliance people, and it doesn't seem possible that they didn't communicate the policy in this area to the team.
The rule against this, as I understand it, came up to prevent re-sale of merchandise to a booster, for example, at a price far above the market value. Player A would get a team jersey, and Mr. Booster would pay him $500 for it, even though a fair price might by $80 or $100. It would amount to money laundering.
I don't expect some of the Ohio State players who are supposedly suspended for 5 games next season to even return. They are likely to declare for the NFL draft, and go to the pros.
Pryor knew. He said so himself:
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/footbal...dw-pryor010311Then Pryor showed up at the Sugar Bowl and proceeded to cast doubt on the promise supposedly made by the suspended players that they’d return for next season (a supposed condition on their bowl eligibility). Later he appeared to hack at Ohio State’s claim the players didn’t know the rules in the first place.
“I already knew what I shouldn’t have done back two years ago,” he said.