As Jim Tressel was booking his flight for a mandatory NCAA compliance seminar next month, more questions arose over the integrity of the Ohio State football coach’s program. The school announced over the weekend that they would be reviewing car sales from two Columbus-area dealerships to at least eight Ohio State football players and their families. More than 50 sales from 2004 to 2010 will be under investigation.
Public records show that in 2009, a 2-year-old Chrysler 300 with less than 20,000 miles was titled to then-sophomore linebacker Thaddeus Gibson. Documents show the purchase price as $0.
Mauk could not explain it. “I don’t give cars for free,” he said. Gibson said he was unaware the title on his car showed zero as the sales price. “I paid for the car, and I’m still paying for it,” he said, declining to answer further questions.
To be fair, that’s about as much as I would pay for an American car these days.
But the Buckeyes are giving us an argument to bring the NCAA’s death penalty–a one-year ban from competition–back to Division I football for the first time since Texas’s Southern Methodist got the chair in 1987.
If both this and the “Tat Five” investigations are determined by the NCAA to be major violations, Ohio State would be slapped with the “repeat violator” label, placing the football program within the proper criteria for such a ban. Of course, Jim Tressel probably knew all about this, but just wasn’t sure who to tell about it. Oh, quiet Jimmy. I bet when he was nine years old, he was a Catholic priest’s wet dream.
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I’m sure that purchase price of $0 was just a typo.
Seriously, what are the chances of Tressel being fired before the start of the 2011 season?
Somebody needs to watch Pony Excess before he blogs on the subject of the death penalty.
“A Catholic priest’s wet dream.” Really? I know people love to hate tOSU but don’t you think that’s a bit over the top? I guess if you want to take down a successful program, make them guilty till proven innocent. I hope you eat your words.
Ohio State isn’t getting the death penalty, nor does it deserve the death penalty. Punte, your bashing of tOSU, your own alma mater, is getting to be Herbstreit-ian in its vehemence.
Don’t think they should or will get the Death Penalty (too much $$$ involved), but Mark Smith’s comment is laughable. OSU (meaning, The Vest) is already guilty. We’re just waiting for the final word and sentencing from the NCAA. Myopic OSU fans can believe anything they want, but a 5 game-day-only ban will not be the final punishment from the NCAA.
No one is “trying to take down a successful program”…well, except for Tressel himself.
Come on now. Tressel and the OSU certainly look bad here and I agree, something far greater than a 5 game suspension is coming. But the death penalty? Please. What would you do to USC if this deserves the chair?
Punte’s bashing of OSU isn’t nearly as bad or douchey as people who refer to OSU as “tOSU”
Oh, right, college sports. For people who can’t let the past go.
“Oh, right, college sports. For people who can’t let the past go.”
I bet I could throw a football over that mountain.
Mark Smith and Hammer, only in America!
It’s not like people have to try to even make them guilty, the program’s morality is just a joke. 375 self-reported violations since The Vest took over, Tat-gate, and now investigating 50 cars sales? Yeah, people in Jeanette, PA buy cars in Ohio all the time. Liar, liar, vest on fire.
Herbstreit-ian?… maybe he and Punte can take off the Scarlet-tinted glasses for a minute.
UNBELIEVABLE you are sick for saying the Catholic priest thing, that is just down right disgusting. Big Ohio State fan BUT I want TRESSEL GONE, Don’t want to be like MICHIGAN and on NCAA suspension, probation or have the types of season they have had for the past few years, but hate the way Tressel is doing things. Time to take off the vest. Not defending the things done at OSU but this stuff happens everywhere!!! just got caught like many more will. Just need to PAY THE PLAYERS.
MJ’s comment: pure gold. Michigan had too many coaches and too much practice, but I don’t think they showed players to a dealership and said ‘go nuts’. (see what I did there?) Comparing the allegations against tOSU and Michigan is like saying someone on trial for an alleged murder case doesn’t want to end up like that guy who was convicted of reckless driving.
LGRW,
are you serious, you think this crap does not happen at UofM, you r nuts(like how I did that one) and I was talking about all of the athletic dept. at UofM not your (lack of) football program. Why don’t you ask any of the fab 5 how many $500 hand shakes they got and how manyother programs in the country do the same DA_N thing. I do not excuse what is happening but take the Jalen glasses off. it happens everywhere!!!!!!!
Mike, I never said I didn’t think crap like this happens everywhere, but for the record, it doesn’t happen EVERYwhere. Does it happen at a lot of big programs? Absolutely. Does it happen at Michigan? I can’t be positive, but it more than likely does. And if you’re talking about the whole Michigan athletic dept., tell me about all the other violations you seem to know about. What other NCAA violations have resulted in penalization/suspension at U of M? And yes, about 20 years ago the Michigan basketball team was grossly out of line and they paid the price for it: banners removed, wins stricken from the books, and the players that were involved now and will continue to bear a scarlet dollar sign in much of the public’s eyes. Now you tell me: if the involved players down at tOSU are found guilty, will you view them as the same cheats/scoundrels, or will you continue to make excuses to justify their negative behavior? I’d like to give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that the programs would try and hold themselves to a higher standard.
Oh, and let’s go Red Wings.
If this had been, oh say Arkansas? Fayettville would be a smoking, radioactive crater. Courtesy of the ncaa. But since it’s a Big-10 school, it’s ” move along, nothing to see here”.
/Mark Mayed
I guess this is what Gene Marsh was referring to when he the “blankety-blank.com’s” piling it on. Anyone who mentions the Death Penalty has no idea what it means or what SMU did to get it. The Gov. of TX was involved. Jim Tressel may be called the ‘Senator” but he is not the Gov. of Ohio.