tOSU Says Their Peace In Indy, Forfeits Their Piece From New Orleans

(HT: WBNS-TV Columbus))

Ohio State University officials and former coach Jim Tressel appeared before an NCAA infractions committee for about four hours in Indianapolis, getting the third degree from the Committee on Infractions and defending their life in and around the Tattoo Six...

It'll take about another 8 to 12 weeks for any word to trickle out one way or the other on any kind of punishment. If more charges come to the surface, another meeting could be called by the CoI, but for every subsequent meeting it'll take another 8 to 12 weeks for another judgment to come down from the mountain...

Oh, and Terrelle Pryor testifying...???
tOSU doesn't want that...

Here's AD Gene Smith talking about the day and giving up the one piece of news on the day- the fact that the Buckeyes gave up their Sugar Bowl share...


Why he and Gordon Gee are still employed are anyone's guess...

Hey, did you know we wrote a book...???

Ohio St. helps Pryor's case for Supplemental Draft

Terrelle Pryor/File

((ht: dispatch.com))

Well, that was easy. No, Terrelle Pryor didn't trade anybody at Staples an autograph for an office product, rather, it was Ohio State doing him a huge favor that should help his case in the next few days to get in a Supplemental Draft.

We reported just the other day that Pryor's eligibility for such a draft was in question because he didn't leave tOSU ineligible or as a hardship, rather, he just up and left.

Not any more.

Pryor's attorney along with Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith have taken care of that question. Smith produced a letter stating that "As of June 7, Pryor was no longer eligible to play football for the Buckeyes." He based that statement on Pryor proclaiming June 7th that he'd would not interview with representatives of the NCAA and Ohio State. Smith says Pryor is no longer welcome around the athletic program for 5-years. (Or until you get caught here--ed.note)

Read the entire story from the Columbus Dispatch RIGHT HERE

Quite honestly, this is an absolute LOAD OF CRAP. But it will work. Pryor was not going to be able to eligible for the supplemental draft without this. The NFL, still hasn't announced if they are going to have one yet.

The school did this specifically so Pryor could be eligible. He had already made the decision to turn pro before June 7th. Long before then we'd argue.

This is just another in the long line of tOSU bending over to help Pryor and in return, they are getting pretty much nothing other than a barrel full of trouble. Sure, they have the right to do this and sure, Pryor's people have a right to ask for it...which they did.

It still doesn't pass a smell test. And no, nobody will get to ask young Mr. Pryor about it, because he doesn't talk to the media out of fear that he'll be asked about the mess he left behind. And before you ask Ohio State fans, we don't buy for a second that your problems were all "Jim Tressel's" fault, they weren't. He got in trouble trying to cover up for the guy in the picture at the top right corner of this story.

BREAKING: tOSU Offers To Vacate 2010 Wins

((HT: WBNS-TV Columbus))

Ohio State University officials announced a self-imposed penalty to the NCAA of vacating wins from the 2010 football season, including the Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas, as a penalty for Tattoo-Gate...

The university submitted its response to the NCAA on Friday and it was also announced that former head coach Jim Tressel would appear in front of the committee...

Here's our friends at 10TV with Paul Aker in the newsroom...


The two years probation and the Vest's status going from "resigned" to "retired" are pretty funny if you ask the HQ...

The Columbus Dispatch's Randy Ludlow writes that there are two things missing- the post-season ban and the reduction of schollies...

The fact that the school thinks that no one else should be punished because only Tressel knew of the infractions is laughable at best...

From Ludlow and the response...
"The responsibility is upon Tressel. No other institutional personnel were aware" of the violations, and the former coach failed in his obligation to report them, the response says. "The institution is embarrassed by the actions of Tressel."

Sure... more when we know more...

And, while we're at it, here's NBC4's interview with AD Gene Smith...

Edward Rife (OSU tattoo guy) expected to plead in court today

Edward Rife

((ht: Columbus Dispatch))

Updated 11:45am ht: nbc4i.com--Rife did plead guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering charges. No word yet on his sentence.

Obviously, we'll update this story later in the day after he appears. But we wanted to let everyone know that the man at the center of the Ohio State "Tattoo-gate" problems is expected to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges in the U.S District Court in Columbus.

Edward Rife owns Fine Line Ink Tattoos, and his place in the public eye came after it was discovered he was selling signed memorabilia from Ohio State football players. Active OSU football players.

That revelation has sent the Ohio State football program and administration into an incredible tailspin. The active players involved were suspended for the 1st 5 games of 2011. The investigation eventually cost now former coach Jim Tressell his job.

You can read Tuesday mornings update from the Columbus Dispatch RIGHT HERE

Rife's plea will not have much of an impact on the NCAA investigation. The NCAA is looking at this incident along with many, many other issues that have cropped up since this all began last year.

The memorabilia that Rife has will be sold by the government if Rife can't come up with $50,000 he apparently agreed to fork over for it.

Check back frequently, we'll let you know what happened with this story later today.

Lawyer who triggered Tressel/Ohio State-gate in deep trouble

Christopher Cicero--on left

((ht: columbus dispatch))

It appears that Mr. Christopher Cicero, former Ohio State football player and current attorney may not be an attorney much longer.

Cicero, you might remember was the person who e-mailed then Ohio State coach Jim Tressel warning him about his players selling memorabilia for free tattoo's. Cicero knew of the issue when the tattoo parlor owner, one Edward Rife, came to him for legal advice.

Rife came to him for advice after the feds raided his house and found some of the memorabilia. Cicero not only gave Tressel a heads up, he gave him a list of what Rife had and offered to try and get the gear back.

It was the same set of e-mails that Tressel summarily warned Terrelle Pryor's "Mentor" Ted Sarniak about. To put this in layman's terms. It's like a cop tipping off his brother before the brother is arrested. You can't do that.

Anyway, Cicero is facing a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel and may very well lose his law license.

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch RIGHT HERE

This whole thing is a mess and so easily could have been avoided. Cicero, for lack of a better way to put it, was a moron for notifying Tressel and Tressel is equally as stupid for not telling anyone about it until after he was busted.

At this point Tressel has already gotten his reward for what happened, Cicero it appears, won't be far behind. However, perhaps the most blatant abuser in all of this, now former QB Terrelle Pryor, well, he signed with an agent today and while the school is going to suffer greatly for his arrogance, Pryor and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus will be trying to convince NFL teams that it wasn't his fault.

OSU Fans show Jim Tressel love...at his house

March for Tressel/Courtesy: Columbus Dispatch

 ((ht: columbus dispatch))

You could say they stormed the Tressel. Or conquered the vest...or something like that.

Anyway, apparently a couple hundred Ohio State fans banded together in Columbus on Saturday and marched to now former head football coach Jim Tressel's house to show their support.

Tressel turned in his resignation Monday after admitting he withheld NCAA infractions regarding his players from his bosses at the school.

The resulting investigation(s), have put Ohio State at the forefront of a couple of investigations from the college football authorities.

Tressel spent nearly an hour posing for pictures, shaking hands and signing autographs for those who marched.

More from the Columbus Dispatch RIGHT HERE

We applaud the fans for showing their love for their coach. But unfortunately, it won't undo what has been done. One fan said he's going to boycott the school until president E.Gordon Gee and AD Gene Smith are gone. That's just idiotic.

Appreciate Tressel for some of the good things he did, and he did a bunch up in Columbus. But he made a mistake, one that he had to pay for. Morally right or not, he broke the rules...and then lied about it and you can't do that. It's no different than you doing something against your company's rules, then lying about it to your boss who has documentation to prove that you broke the rules... and lied. Bottom line...PERIOD!

And more from our friends at 10TV...

Terrelle Pryor's Driver's License Suspended Early In May, Involved In New Tattoo Allegations... ((UPDATED- His License Is Still Suspended))

((HT: WBNS-TV))

And the HQ doesn't think that it has anything to do with the stop sign he rolled through when our friends at 10TV saw him leaving his tOSU team meeting Monday night...

But, earlier in May, it was disclosed that Pryor's license had been suspended for a failure to provide proof of insurance. There is no word on whether or not he fixed the issue and was driving around on a provisional license- or the Ohio equivalent to something like that...

Paul Aker has new allegations from another worker over at Fine Line Ink who has proof that athletes, including Pryor, dealt memorabilia for tattoos last December- after former head coach Jim Tressel claimed to know of the problems arising on campus... and just before the Feds told tOSU of the problems in Columbus...

Here's the interview...


2215 UPDATE: WCMH-TV/NBC4i says the Franklin County ((OH)) Clerk of Courts told them that Pryor was not given driving privileges. Pryor's license was suspended for no proof of insurance and is in effect through August 18.

Driving with a suspended license is a first-degree misdemeanor in Ohio punishable by a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Also from NBC4i

Sources tell NBC4 Sports that nine current Ohio State football players are being interviewed Wednesday by the NCAA as part of the ongoing investigation. These are the current players who were named in the recent article by Sports Illustrated.

Oops...again...

Ohio State ducks questions

This is truly lame. And we wish we had time to post it yesterday.

Rather than have a press conference where he'd be asked legitimate questions about the craziness surrounding his football program, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith opted for the cop-out. He/The School released a video statement via YouTube.

Sorry, that is just crap. That's avoiding the public. That's trying to keep things quiet. That's a total and complete cop-out.

You owe it to your fanbase and supporters. You owe to the NCAA. You owe it to everyone with a legitimate question about what happened.

All this proves is TOSU is in denial. They still refuse to believe they have to answer for their indiscretions. By now, most have read the scathing Sports Illustrated report and realize these guys are in deep doo-doo. They are aware their star Quarterback is under investigation for possessing more cars than any of us will in our lifetimes. But yet they still avoid taking responsibility for it.

Sports Illustrated Article Shows Pattern Of tOSU Wrongdoing

((HT: SI.com/CNN))

When it was revealed that George Dohrmann was on the loose in Columbus, Ohio a few weeks ago, the HQ raised a little more than an eyebrow. It's like releasing a bloodhound on a prison escapee in those stereotypic southern prison flicks...

You know it's only a matter of time...

And it was...

Dohrmann and David Epstein found out that memorabilia was dealt for marijuana in addition to tattoos as far back as 2002, and that Tressel may have been responsible for a violation as a tOSU assistant back in the 1980's.

SI's Andy Staples discusses to the admittedly sports-deficient Candy Crowley


And Dohrmann discusses what he found out as the story hits the press...
((HT: SI.com))

Oh by the way Ohio State, Terrelle Pryor is being investigated now too..

Terrelle Pryor/Courtesy: chalkthemup.com

((ht: Columbus Dispatch))

When it rains it pours...or some cliche' like that. On the heels of coach Jim Tressel resigning his job and falling on the sword at Ohio State on Memorial Day Monday, comes word that the NCAA and the school are conducting an independent investigation of quarterback Terrelle Pryor.

There's been a lot of talk during "Memorabilia Gate" and "Tressel Gate" about players receiving cushy car deals from a local car dealer. Included in that was some questions about how Pryor has been connected to over a half dozen vehicles in the past 4 years at Ohio State.

Now, we aren't casting aspersions, but most college-age football players can't afford to do that. Especially ones selling championship rings for "Spending Money".

According to the Dispatch, the investigation is separate from the issues with Coach Tressel. It includes Pryor's relationship with Ted Sarniak, a 67-year old businessman from Pryor's hometown in Pennsylvania.

Read the Dispatch story RIGHT HERE

This all falls right in line with the allegations tying in Jack Maxton Chevy and salesman Aaron Kniffin. And it ties into the statements made by Ray Small earlier this week, though Small later denied them after getting a lot of grief from Buckeye fans and former players.

The story, which we have reported on as well, details how Pryor's family all has cars purchased at Maxton Chevy, through Kniffin and the dealer has several signed jersey's on the sales floor.

Trust us when we say this is probably going to get worse before it gets better. We aren't saying what is happening in Columbus is unique, it isn't. But it is against the rules. Period. College Football players should not be entitled to any deal that you and I wouldn't. But it appears, at least on the surface, it happened quite frequently.

Ohio State and their compliance office declined commenting about the investigation, citing some sort of Federal law. As far as we know there is no Federal law that has to do with NCAA investigations, but we guess we could be wrong.

BREAKING: Jim Tressel resigns from Ohio State

Jim Tressel/File

Whoa! Didn't see this coming on Memorial Day.

Embattled Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel has resigned his job.

Tressel who has come under fire for lying to NCAA Investigators about his knowledge of players selling memorabilia for money, has been on the job for years.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, assistant coach Luke Fickell will be the interim coach for the season this year.

Here's the whole story from the Columbus DIspatch RIGHT HERE

The Dispatch got a hold of a memo from OSU Chancellor Gordon Gee sent to trustees this morning:

"I write to let you know that later this morning we will be announcing the resignation of Jim Tressel as the head coach of the University's football program. As you all know, I appointed a special committee to analyze and provide advice to me regarding the issues attendant to our football program. In consultation with the senior leadership of the University and the senior leadership of the Board, I have been actively reviewing the matter and have accepted Coach Tressel's resignation."


So we guess that means Tressel won't be firing Gee as Gee alluded to in a press conference when the allegations first surfaced.


And. Reports are circulating that Tressel returned last night from a Florida trip and handed in the resignation letter early this morning.

**UPDATE*--9:48 am-- Tressel released a statement on the Ohio State website. "After meeting with University officials, we agreed that it is in the best interest of Ohio State that I resign as head football coach. The appreciation that Ellen and I have for the Buckeye Nation is immesurable."

The temperature is getting hot in Columbus. Tattoo parlor owner Edward Rife, involved with the players who sold their rings, was Federally indicted last week. Also last week, the OSU Student paper published an interview with former player Ray Small who essentially confirmed everything previously reported about the program including the allegations of the car salesman helping cutting deals.

Tressel is essentially falling on the sword here. The NCAA investigation will continue, but this should lessen some of the severity. Yes, the program will survive and the rampant rumors that Urban Meyer will be stepping in as the 2012 coach will inevitably start increasing.....right about....NOW.

Here's hometown coverage from our friends at WBNS-TV


Kirk Herbstreit and John Buccigross also discuss...
((HT: ESPN))

Ohio State investigating car dealers relationship with players

Jim Tressel-Ohio State/Courtesy: scienceblogs.com

 ((ht: dispatch.com))

Ooohhh. This is getting even better. A report in today's Columbus Dispatch details an ongoing investigation by Ohio State's director of compliance as to whether athlete's and their families at the school recieved "Improper Benefits" from a local car dealer.

Folks, this is getting deep.

According to the report, the owners of Jack Maxton Cheverolet and Auto Direct, both located in Columbus, were interviewed in detail by Ohio State's director of compliance, Doug Archie.

Archie says he doesn't believe that any violations have occurred, but he wants to investigate the transactions to make sure. He says that both dealers contact him and discuss transactions with players on a routine basis.

There is a common thread in the investigation and that is a salesman who worked at both dealers. The same salesman, was on the Ohio State pass list as a guest of players.

Read the entire story from the Columbus Dispatch RIGHT HERE

We aren't going to come out and say...at least directly that this doesn't pass the "Smell" test, but quite honestly....it doesn't. We've been told in the past that there were some questionable transactions involving players and local car dealers in the past, but there has...at least to this point, never been any corroborating evidence.

However, the story talks about a particular Ohio State athlete, linebacker Thaddeus Gibson,  who purchased a 2009, Chrysler 3000 with less than 20,000 miles on it...and according to the transaction record...paid $0 for it. For his part, Gibson responded "I paid for the car, and I'm still paying for it". But then didn't answer any other questions.

This may prove out to be nothing, but then again it may not. Just the sheer number of athlete's and families involved in sales does and should raise a red flag. And there seems to be some preliminary evidence it may not have all been "Above board". For Ohio State's sake, this better play out to be much-ado-about nothing, because if it doesn't...and is tacked on to the problems they are already facing with the NCAA...ooohh...we shudder to think about the repercussions.

Ohio State's problems keep getting worse

Jim Tressel/Courtesy: wikipedia.org

((ht: Columbus Dispatch))

There may very well have been an even bigger reason that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel lied about what he knew about his players involvement with  Columbus area tattoo artist and alleged drug dealer Edward Rife.

Turns out the transactions were much more involved..and numerous than people thought.

The Columbus Dispatch got a hold of some documentaion from the U.S Department of Justice spelling out the details. Many of the transactions were "Trades" something "Technically" not an NCAA violation and not something new, which would not put the players in any more trouble.

Read the Columbus Dispatch story RIGHT HERE

While true that it doesn't add any more allegations or charges to what is already out there (partially because it was already known by authorities), it gives even more perspective and paints a worse picture of the problem.

What it does is put Tressel's lies in more focus. If he knew about some of this, he knew about all of this. He very obviously knew that what was done was bad. And you can call it "Trying to protect the kids", you can call it "Doing what's best for the team", but you'd be wrong. It makes Ohio State no different than any other team that's been caught with its hand in the cookie jar and we can only hope that the NCAA doesn't wimp out let them off easy. 

Here's WBNS-TV's coverage... Andrea Cambern is at the center of the adult table...

Jim Tressel E-Mails: "Stupid Media" and other things revealed

Jim Tressel/File

((ht: Columbus Dispatch))

(Note-We are already updating a story we just published)

It appears the NCAA has already sent a "Notice of allegations" to Ohio State president Gordon Gee. The Columbus Dispatch got a copy of it. In the report, Head Coach Jim Tressel is accused of dishonesty for hiding the violations by 7 of his players.

**UPDATED**--The Notice can be read HERE--names were redacted

Read the whole story, which includes a mention that Tressel, Gee and AD Gene Smith will be meeting with the NCAA infractions committee on August 12th. They'll be asked to explain themselves. And no, this doesn't bode well for Tressel's future job security.

The story from Ken Gordon of the Dispatch, RIGHT HERE

In a separate and what was going to be our original story:

It's about the e-mails. This isn't an incredible "Holy Crap" revelation, but it sheds a bit of light and depth to the lie the Ohio State Football Coach Jim Tressel threw upon his bosses at the school.

Of course, the e-mails are related to the "Memorabilia for Tattoo" trading issues that some of Tressel's players were involved with. Those players, 7 of them--including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, are facing a 5-game suspension for this upcoming season as is the coach.

In a story published this morning, the Columbus Dispatch was able, through a public records request, to get copies of Tressel's phone and e-mail records. (Public school=public records). Although conveniently, Ohio State wasn't able to produce all the correspondence or is claiming so.

Read about the investigation from the Dispatch RIGHT HERE

The emails and phone records paint a "Not-so-good" picture of Tressel's actions once he found out about the transgressions. It certainly clarified that he tried to let others know what was coming and tried to protect them. It also clarifies that he made a conscious decision not to tell his bosses about what he knew.

Among the exchanges between Tressel and Ted Sarniak, a friend of Pryor's from his hometown in Pennsylvania, were a couple of phone calls, emails and forwarded emails from Chris Cicero, the former player/attorney representing the Tattoo parlor owner.

Tressel also communicated quite a bit with Cicero. One of the conversations went like this: Cicero to Tressel: "My suggestion is to tell (blacked out name) and any other player....tell them that BEFORE they talk to anybody, or respond to anybody that the MUST contact you first...especially if some "STUPID MEDIA" would get wind of this."


Well, gentlemen. The "Stupid Media" did get wind of this and now they are digging for more. There are rumors starting to circulate out of Columbus that over the long haul, Tressel isn't going to survive this and quite possibly, he shouldn't.

It's one thing to have his players do what they did. It's wrong, but the coach can't easily control that. Tressel's problem stems from the lying and what is starting to become apparent--that he tried to cover it up.

It will be interesting to see if or how the NCAA deals with this. The NCAA has a reputation of being soft on the big schools. However, there haven't been many big schools that have to deal with something alternately stupid and revealing about the actions of their "Big-Time" head coach.

Here's the Sweater Vest dressed a bit differently, talking about the Spring Game, his last game until mid-way through the upcoming season. Thanks NBC4i.com:



Here's the Columbus reaction so far, thanks to our friends at WBNS-10tv...

tOSU Starts Spring Practice, Fickell Interim Coach

((HT: WBNS-TV))

Ohio State announced that Luke Fickell has been promoted to assistant head football coach and will be the interim head coach for the first five games of the 2011 season.

Fickell keeps his role as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

"I am honored to be able to grow at a place and in a program that I know, love and respect. It is extremely humbling," Fickell said in a statement.

Today was the first day of Spring practice in Columbus, and it was another day for THe Vest to be raked over the coals for his behavior- which he continued to apologize for at the same presser that Fickell was announced interim HC.

Here's Tressel again...
((HT: ESPN))

Tressel's E-Mails: Now We Know...Maybe...

((HT: Columbus Dispatch/Wagner, May))

Apparently, when tOSU head coach Jim Tressel acknowledged that the infamous/shot-across-the-bow e-mail warning was sent somewhere and his AD Gene Smith cut him off from any further details, we now know where they were sent...

We think...

An advisor to Terelle Pryor in his home town...

Ted Sarniak lives in Jeannette, Pennsylvania. He became friends with Pryor and had accompanied him on recruiting trips in the past. The university, however, will not identify Sarniak as a booster.

When asked by the Dispatch whether or not Tressel had passed the information in the e-mail to Sarniak, OSU officials said, "We are not discussing any issues relative to the case until it is resolved with the NCAA."

Of course not...

More when we know more...
The e-mails can be found hyah...

Here's your Gordon Gee flashback from the presser...
((HT: WBNS-TV Columbus))

Tressel wants bigger suspension

Jim Tressel/Courtesy: File

Which we respect the idea and premise....if we didn't think it was motivated by the idea of lessening the potential penalty from the NCAA.

Here's the deal. Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel decided...or it was recommended to him to fall a little harder on the sword. His employers initially slapped him with a two game suspension for essentially lying to them...for several months. Tressel or his advisors came up with the idea of making it 5, like the 4 players he essentially protected by not telling his bosses that he knew about them selling their memorabilia to a local Ohio State booster.

Read more from the Columbus Dispatch RIGHT HERE

By the way, the school also got a decision from the NCAA on Thursday about their appeal of the player suspensions. It was denied. They'll still sit for the first 5 games this upcoming season.

You can read more about this from Ohio State, their ownselves RIGHT HERE

Here is Tressel's entire statement from Yesterday:

"Throughout this entire situation my players and I have committed ourselves to facing our mistakes and growing from them; we can only successfully do that together. I spoke with Athletics Director Smith, and our student-athletes involved, and told them that my mistakes need to share the same game sanctions. Like my players, I am very sorry for the mistakes I made. I request of the university that my sanctions now include five games so that the players and I can handle this adversity together."


And the follow up from the embattled AD, Gene Smith:

"Coach Tressel has requested that he sit out the first five games of the 2011 season. I have accepted his request and we are taking action to notify the NCAA. Until the NCC has completed its investigation, we will not be publicly discussing the details of this case."


Again, we reiterate that this is planned to lessen the impact of any potential NCAA sanctions. And while we don't fault the school...or the coach for attempting to do this, we still believe that they are trying to deflect from a deliberate act.

Through intermediaries, Tressel has floated the idea that he lied because of a fear of the after affects of saying something. That it would endanger the student-athletes. And while we think it is a pathetic joke that everyone under the sun--except the athletes get to profit from their memorabilia, the bottom line is, in our opinion, Tressel lied to protect the 2010 season. We could be wrong, but we don't believe that we are.

Both he and the players will miss games against Toledo, Akron, the University of Miami, Colorado and Michigan State. However, if you look closely, that's only 1 conference game. We aren't suggesting that they came up with a plan to minimize their losses, but we would say--"Take a look at the evidence at hand".

We now know who Tressel's mystery attorney-friend is....

Christopher Cicero/Courtesy: dispatch.com/file

((ht: columbus dispatch))

The mystery continues to be pieced together. The name redacted from the Jim Tressel e-mails has now been revealed.

The name is that of the attorney who appeared to represent the owner of the tattoo shop where Tressel's players were selling memorabilia. And the mystery attorney is: Christopher Cicero, a former Ohio State football player and based on the e-mails, which we reported on earlier today, it appears he was somewhat friendly with the now embattled Ohio State coach.

The reveal came courtesy of the Columbus Dispatch. The story is RIGHT HERE

The aforementioned Mr. Cicero appears to have a somewhat checkered history when it comes to legal ethics. His law license has been suspended at least once and has been accused of misconduct a couple of times as well.

It appears that you may be able to add breaching the attorney-client privilege and possibly aiding and abetting to that list. Ironically, Tressel claimed he was trying to protect that same privilege by not "Releasing" Cicero's name.

And the plot continues to thicken

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:

BREAKING: OSU RecommendingTressel Suspension For Two Games

In lieu of everything going on at tOSU, now The Sweater is not immune.

The NCAA has suspended Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel for two games for "violating NCAA rules" to be served at the beginning of the 2011 season in games that may mean virtually nothing.

If Tressel knew of the "swapping memorabilia for tattoos" violations and did not report them immediately to the school's athletic director, Gordon Gee, or the university's compliance office, Tressel could be fired or face NCAA sanctions and penalties, including forfeiting the entire 2010 football season.

It's that whole "failure to monitor/environment of compliance" thing...

The NCAA will make the final decision on any punishment Tressel will receive.

More when we know more...

2000 UPDATE: Okay, we know more...

Here's a copy of the findings... and they're very interesting...
Apparently, everyone knew...

And here's the report from our friends at WBNS-TV...