Unless it’s your father..
The price of winning….Win at all costs…
Should we be surprised that OSU’s coach Jim Tressel has been less than forthcoming in dealing with his player’s NCAA violations? It seems everyday we hear of one university or another breaking rules, receiving suspension, sanctions etc….Does any one play fair anymore? Coaches and universities look for the advantage. Their jobs are riding on it. The pressure to win from the university, the alumni, and the supporters is insurmountable.
Initially, the response: a slap on the wrist: a university sanction with a laughable requirement to attend a NCAA rules seminar, then perhaps not participating in spring practice. As scrutiny increased, the sanctions escalated to a few game suspension and a substantial fine. The NCAA, while alleging that the coach was not truthful, has yet to fully decide on how to deal with this situation. The NCAA and OSU need to know that the rest of collegiate sports is watching.
His transgressions will be forgiven eventually by the OSU faithful. Why wouldn’t they? He is a winner and don’t we all love a winner? He led them to numerous Big Ten titles and a BCS national championship.
We are forgiving if it means winning.
With time the rest of college football will follow. But at least for now, many including the loyalist are calling for OSU to levee a more severe sanction and fire him.
In the end, we will see how OSU responds.. It is likely that they will be pressured to let him go. Coach Tressel will then likely lie low for a few years only to resurface at another university. For when all is said and done, the desire to win will prevail as it usually does and another institutions will take another chance on him with the hope that he will rebuild their program, take them to a BCS bowl and perhaps a national championship…because in the end, sometimes integrity, honesty and just doing the right thing for that matter unfortunately takes a back seat. Role models use clouded judgment and while they may not set out to, they wind up compromising their principles. The greed to win, the need to win, wins out. And once again, it comes down to what is most important and winning is not everything, but for most it continues to be the only thing. To win at all costs… Sadly, isn’t that’s what it is all about?
smashmouthdiva 
Alas, with only rare exceptions (the service academies, a few others) integrity in college athletics is lost. The NCAA seems like a money laundering agency these days. Of course, like you say, when our team is winning we have the tendency to look the other way. Tressel is probably not even close to being the dirtiest out there either.
TQ,
I concur completely. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
As always,
SMD
TQ there is an honest civilian football program out there – Duke. That is why we win so much. Maybe we could get Tressel that would be a hoot. DB would lose his #$%^.