Apparently the imminent publication of this article in Sports Illustrated was the impetus for Ohio State head football coach Jim Tressel’s resignation on Memorial Day. The article contains quite a bit of circumstantial evidence of NCAA rules violations at OSU, going back to Tressel’s earliest days on campus. While SI provides no “slam dunk” proof, there was obviously enough smoke to lead many to believe that there must be fire. The part of the article that I find curious, however, has little to do with Ohio State itself. About halfway through the article, a paragraph begins with the following statement:
Columbus may be north of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Ohio State may be a Big Ten school, but the manner in which the city’s inhabitants seek to associate with members of the football team is seen more often in Southeastern Conference towns such as Tuscaloosa and Knoxville.
The paragraph beneath this sentence goes on to detail the antics of Ohio State boosters, such as giving money and other gifts to OSU football players, as far back as the era of legendary Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes. So my questions to the Sports Illustrated writers and editors are these:
1) Are you trying to imply that there are boosters at Tennessee and Alabama who are providing illegal benefits to players at those schools, such as the ones alleged against Terrelle Pryor and other OSU athletes?
2) If so, please provide your proof, or leave the SEC schools out of this article.
It’s no secret that University of Tennessee athletics has had more than its share of scandals in recent years. However, the NCAA just completed an investigation of the football program which revealed only minor secondary violations committed under the administration of short-term head coach Lane Kiffin, and certainly nothing as serious as cars or money being given to football players. In fact, UT head football coach Derek Dooley recently suspended Vol cornerback Art Evans for falling behind on his car payments, possibly to remove the appearance of an extra benefit to Evans. As for Alabama, there is no evidence that current coach Nick Saban has run anything less than a clean program in his tenure with the Crimson Tide.
So, again the question becomes, why does Sports Illustrated choose to mention Knoxville and Tuscaloosa in connection with a large and growing scandal at Big Ten powerhouse Ohio State? Is it just easier for them to pile on the SEC?
