More on Jim Tressel lying: Why he deserves more punishment

Jim Tressel/File

We, like most outlets, reported on Ohio State coach Jim Tressel getting caught lying to his bosses, investigators and pretty much everyone else. And yet it is being looked at by those in Columbus and other players as a "Boo-boo".

Really, there isn't any excuse for what he did, yet Tuesday night in his press conference he offered one: "I am sincerely saddened by the fact I let some people down and didn't do things as well as I possibly could".


Really. Even though it was a deliberate act that can easily be interpreted as trying to cover up and protect his pre-season ranking. Even though it was an attempt to cover up and protect his star player. Even though you lied and said that you 1st heard of all this in December when your bosses did.... Hmmm.

Here's a play by play on what happened from the Columbus Dispatch READ HERE

Read the e-mail exchange with the "Un-named" attorney RIGHT HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

Several things can be discerned from these e-mails:

One, the "Un-named" attorney is in a heap of trouble. Not only did he aid and abet in the cover-up. He disclosed confidential information from a client to Tressel.

Two, both parties engaged in deceiving both the local district attorney and Federal investigators. Whether Tressel's deceit was intentional or not, the fact is, he did it.

Three, Tressel apparently didn't think this was an urgent matter. He seems to have taken his time addressing it, if he ever addressed it. Had the report from the Feds not shown up in his bosses office in December, we are betting it would never have been addressed.

Perhaps the most offensive thing from yesterday, Ohio State's willingness to slough the whole thing off. Yeah, sure, Tressel will serve a 2-game suspension and be fined from the school. Big deal. Based on their responses at the presser, neither Athletic Director Gene Smith nor President G.Gordon "Little Sisters of the Poor" Gee seemed to be really concerned about this. Sure, they self reported, but not until they were outed by Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports. And yeah, they penalized Tressel 2-games. Games against Gordon Gee's favorites, the "Little Sisters of the Poor". Ask Bruce Pearl about a penalty for lying. He lost his contract and was forced to sit for half his teams conference basketball games this year. That...is more along the lines of what Tressel should suffer.

At this point, the Big 10 nor the NCAA have made any rulings in regards to this. We don't expect the Big 10 to do anything. Jim Delany, for all his posturing about how great his conference is and that they "Aren't the SEC", has a problem on his hands. But we don't expect him to do much of anything to his "Marquee" team.

As for the NCAA, they need to act. What they do, we don't know. We do know that this is willful deceit on the part of Tressel. What may be worse is they haven't even gotten into potential phone conversations yet. The NCAA had no problem placing penalties on USC and we are pretty sure, Tennessee is going to get a really stiff sentence too. We won't be convinced that they'll do anything to Ohio State until they actually do it.

Perhaps the most galling thing about this. The people in high places who don't seem to think this is a big deal. Heck, Gordon "Little Sisters of the Poor" Gee said when asked about Tressel's job security "I just hope he doesn't fire me". Really. And now ESPN commentator Bob Knight gushing about how great Tressel is as a human being and coach. Really.


Enough soapbox. 

WCMH-TV in Columbus has the presser video: