This headline made my Weekend!!!!!

Couldn't happen to a bigger bunch of D^^^Heads




In a few weeks, it is likely that the only thing left to talk about concerning Ohio State is whether Urban Meyer will be the Buckeyes' next coach.

What began in December with the NCAA suspending Terrelle Pryor and four other Buckeyes for swapping championship rings, trophies and other memorabilia for tattoos has left one of the elite programs in college football poised to have its worst season in 23 years.

The Buckeyes are 3-2 after an ugly 10-7 loss at home against Michigan State on Saturday. Next up is a treacherous three-game stretch: at No. 14 Nebraska on Saturday, at No. 19 Illinois the week after and home for No. 4 Wisconsin after an off week.

The Buckeyes haven't missed the postseason since 1999, haven't finished below .500 since 1988 when they went 4-6-1 in John Cooper's first year as coach, and haven't lost four straight games since 1943. To say those things won't happen this season is to indulge in wishful thinking and hoping for the best.

Ohio State ranks 108th in the nation in total offense and 110th in passing. Without Pryor, the Buckeyes simply have nobody prepared to be a starting quarterback for a big-time team.

No grand plan at Ohio State had senior quarterback Joe Bauserman starting this season. Braxton Miller was not supposed to be leading the team as a freshman. But that's what coach Luke Fickell has been left with.

Of course, the grand plan also never had Fickell running the team — at least not so soon.

Fickell was handed this mess when Jim Tressel was ousted for covering up the violations that got Pryor and company suspended.

A small bit of good news for the Buckeyes comes this week when the other players who were suspended with Pryor become eligible to play in Lincoln.

The additions of receiver DeVier Posey, running back Dan Herron and tackle Mike Adams should provide a boost, but it might already be too late.

The mix in Columbus is volatile. Players normally accustomed to competing for Big Ten titles and BCS bids could quickly be relegated to vying for a trip to Detroit for the bowl season. Will talented seniors such as Posey and Adams already be thinking more about their draft stock than beating the Illini?

With Fickell and the rest of the coaching staff not guaranteed a job beyond this season, do underclassmen tune out coaches they figure won't be around next year?

To say the Buckeyes seem to be on their way to getting what they deserve isn't quite right. Surely there are players on that roster and coaches on that staff who deserve better than a five-win season. No doubt there are many who could be paying from crimes they did not commit while Pryor and Tressel collect NFL paychecks.

And there just might be enough talent in Columbus to prevent the collapse that appears to be inevitable.

"This team has some great players. I know some of these guys are doing the best job they can to step up," center Mike Brewster said. "I know Joe came in and did a good job at the end of the game and I know Braxton's doing the best he can. It was a hard day, but you've got to keep fighting."

Maybe Brewster, a senior, is one of those guys who deserves better.

But for leaders such as Athletic Director Gene Smith and University President Gordon Gee, who allowed a star coach and star players to believe they could skirt the rules, and all those boosters, supporters and fans so blinded by loyalty that they actually believe the Buckeyes have been victimized, this season is exactly what they had coming.

http://news.yahoo.com/troubled-ohio-stat...07681.html

Bob Hunter commentary: Culprits weren’t on the field

By Bob Hunter
The Columbus Dispatch
Sunday October 2, 2011 7:27 AM

It has taken awhile to assess the damage from the program-leveling hurricane.

In Ohio State’s 10-7 loss to Michigan State yesterday, we discovered that the memorabilia-for-tattoos scandal that cost coach Jim Tressel his job, quarterback Terrelle Pryor his senior season and four other players five-game suspensions might have been a Category 5 storm.

Some will blame first-year coach Luke Fickell for this offensive, no-offense affair against the Spartans. Others will blame freshman quarterback/rag doll Braxton Miller, senior quarterback Joe Bauserman, offensive coordinator/annual scapegoat Jim Bollman and an offensive line that looks as if it was just shipped from this weekend’s Swiss cheese festival in Sugarcreek.

Most won’t lay the blame where it belongs — Tressel, Pryor and the other suspended players who put the Buckeyes in this vulnerable position by breaking NCAA rules.

It’s hard to know how much difference an experienced, successful Tressel on the sideline would have made in a game in which the Buckeyes’ offense looked as if it had been handed the playbook on Friday.

But there’s no question that Pryor would have had an impact. The Spartans made nine sacks. The quarterbacks who were their victims don’t have the experience or elusiveness of Pryor to make the defense honest. In this game, that is probably all it would have taken for the Buckeyes to score enough points to win.

“They felt like we couldn’t pass the ball, so they just played the run,” running back Carlos Hyde said, “and that was pretty successful with all those blitzes they were doing.”

Fickell has said Miller is still his starting quarterback, but he went back to Bauserman early in the fourth quarter when it became obvious that the offense probably couldn’t score a touchdown if it had eight quarters.

Bauserman had more of the same trouble, although a 33-yard touchdown pass to Evan Spencer with 10 seconds remaining in the game at least gave Ohio State a chance to try an onside kick that it failed to recover.

This really isn’t a quarterback controversy; it’s more of an offensive-line controversy. Sometimes the Spartans were in the backfield almost in time to intercept the quarterback’s handoffs.

“Sometimes they were bringing more guys than we could block,” Fickell said. “There’s a lot of things that you’ve got to check out of, and sometimes that’s being able to see the field, whether it’s from the center spot or the quarterback spot.

“You don’t give your quarterback much of a chance if he’s getting sacked nine times. But if you can’t run the football really well, then you put your quarterback in a situation where he is a sitting guy back there.”

This loss is on Pryor, running back Daniel Herron, receiver DeVier Posey and left tackle Mike Adams, all of whom could have made a big difference if they had started. Those last three — and defensive end Solomon Thomas — will be back from their five-game suspensions this week, just in time for a trip to Nebraska.

That makes it no easier for a guy still learning how to be a head coach and a freshman quarterback who sometimes looks confused. They both might have been thrust into roles before they were ready because of a scandal they had no part of.

“I feel like people are probably thinking that (Ohio State) can’t pass, so we’re just going to load the box,” Hyde said. “They know we’re going to run the ball, so they feel like they’re going to stack the box and try to stop the run. Right now, they probably think we’re just a one-dimensional team, so …”

So the problem was created by guys who weren’t even in the stadium.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/stori...field.html

More trouble coming within the hour.

Marcus Hall, Posey and Herron suspended for this week's game. HotMic remains one of my all-time favorite posters to read:

Not as big as thought. Posey, Herron and Hall out this week. Sabino and Fellows involved but cleared.

Guess you cant work while in school now either.

You can work, you just have to actually show up and perform your duties.

How in the world is there not a lack of institutional control up there? The NCAA should hammer OSU.

I dont know how Gene Smith still has a job. I know he has a lot of buddies in the NCAA but this guy clearly has no control over his athletic department. I can't believe the OSU administration hasn't fired him and that moronic President of theirs.

This is one extremely dirty athletic program.

Bob Hunter commentary: Sorry, Ohio State, but things have gotten out of hand

By Bob Hunter

The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday October 4, 2011 5:15 AM

Individuals in and around the Ohio State football program keep breaking the rules.

Individuals.

That’s what we have been told as details of NCAA violations drip, drip, drip on the heads of fans like Chinese water torture.

It’s not the program; it’s those individuals. The compliance office is doing a terrific job; the football program is as clean as a whistle. If Ohio State officials could just stop a few individuals from making bad individual decisions, everything would be fine.

Well, that’s where we were yesterday, again, listening to athletic director Gene Smith explain why the revelations that five football players were overpaid on jobs won’t bring an NCAA ruling of a lack of institutional control against Ohio State.

“These failures are individual failures,” Smith said. “Failures of individual athletes and, as you know, unfortunately, our previous coach, and a booster. So it’s not a systemic failure of compliance.”

Individual failures? That argument had some merit in December when we learned that five players — Terrelle Pryor, Daniel Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas — were suspended for selling and/or trading memorabilia for tattoos. Maybe they just got taken in by the wrong guy (tattoo-parlor owner Edward Rife) and didn’t realize what they were doing was wrong.

But since then, three different players — Jordan Hall, Travis Howard and receiver Corey Brown — have been suspended for taking money at a charity event after the first incident had become national news, and five players — including Herron and Posey, plus Marcus Hall, Etienne Sabino and Melvin Fellows — were charged with getting overpaid by the same booster from the charity event.

This individual stuff is wearing pretty thin. And isn’t that what every rules violation is? A football team is made up of lots of individuals. So is a university, a coaching staff and even a fan base.

Individual boosters — in these two cases, Cleveland-area businessman Robert “Bobby” DiGeronimo — and individual players — 13 since the first violation was announced — making bad individual choices.

Seriously, isn’t it about time for Smith or someone from the university to step up and admit that these aren’t isolated cases and things may have gotten out of hand?

This isn’t an argument for the NCAA to level a charge of lack of institutional control at Ohio State. At a school of 50,000 students in a metro area of almost 2 million people — about half of whom could be called boosters — I’m not even sure how to define that. But it is a plea for a common-sense response and, yes, some accountability from the people in charge.

University officials defended former coach Jim Tressel as if he were Mother Teresa until the moment they decided that he would have to resign. The new spin: Tressel alone knew what his players had done, he covered it up and he had to pay the price. He was a convenient scapegoat, and his resignation made for a neat little package.

Except this hasn’t been nearly that neat or painless, and it may not be over for a while. Players have worked for years at DiGeronimo’s company, Independence Excavating. Has anyone at Ohio State been watching? And given the dark NCAA cloud that has been hanging over the program, why are some individual players and boosters still making bad individual choices?

That hints at a problem with the culture in and around the football program, of some boosters so used to giving and some players so used to taking that all of the education and accountability that Smith promises won’t straighten this out fast enough.

Individual mistakes have been made.

A lot of them.

Bob Hunter is a sports columnist for The Dispatch.

http://www.buckeyextra.com/content/stori...-hand.html

(10-04-2011 09:04 AM)Marcus Wrote:  How in the world is there not a lack of institutional control up there? The NCAA should hammer OSU.

I dont know how Gene Smith still has a job. I know he has a lot of buddies in the NCAA but this guy clearly has no control over his athletic department. I can't believe the OSU administration hasn't fired him and that moronic President of theirs.

This is one extremely dirty athletic program.

NCAA won't do anything, it's all about the $$$. Between this complete joke, and the realignment crap that is nothing but a pure cash grab, I've gotten to the point where I could care less about college football anymore.

Underdog to Illinois - HOLY CRAP!!

Updated: October 24, 2011, 6:54 PM ET
Report: Jamaal Berry named a suspect
Ohio State running back Jaamal Berry has been named a suspect in an alleged assault and will be suspended if he is charged, school athletic director Gene Smith told The Lantern, the school's daily student newspaper.


Big Ten Blog
ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg and Brian Bennett write about all things Big Ten in the conference blog.

"We have not been informed by anyone else that charges have been filed," Smith said of the allegations, according to The Lantern. "If Jaamal is charged, he will be suspended pending the outcome of the case."

The newspaper reported that according to a Columbus police report, a 21-year-old man -- a non-student -- was punched in the face early Friday morning. According to the report, Berry was identified by a witness to the alleged incident, and the victim said he confirmed Berry's identity when police showed him a photo.

Berry and other witnesses involved in the alleged incident did not immediately respond to requests for comment, The Lantern reported.

Late last month, Berry was treated and released at the university medical center for a health issue after he was seen "wrestling on the ground" with another student. Berry was not charged in the incident.

TO$U....keep it classy

I just heard Mark Amazon on wlw last night saying he hated people that "bagged on THE Ohio State U"...but but....Mark...they make it SO easy you loser.

Amazon may be the worst on air person on a station that has gone down the shtter.

Edward Rife sentenced to prison term

Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A federal judge handed down a three-year sentence Wednesday to the tattoo parlor owner whose purchase of Ohio State University football memorabilia triggered a far-reaching football scandal and an ongoing NCAA investigation.

But U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Frost found that Edward Rife didn't have the ability to pay a $10,000 fine following his conviction earlier this year on drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

Rife, 31, had asked for leniency, saying previous convictions for assault and forgery occurred several years ago and didn't suggest he was likely to commit future crimes.

Rife, owner of Fine Line Ink Tattoos and Body Piercings on the west side of Columbus, tearfully apologized to his family and friends for his actions.

He said he's had to sell his house, move his daughters, ages 6 and 11, to different schools because of taunts they've received and is currently separated from his wife.

"I know what I did was wrong and I regret it every day," he said. "I never plan on doing anything wrong again."

Rife's conviction for dealing hundreds of pounds of marijuana was not all that different from other drug cases that often come before Frost. But the fact that Rife's actions inadvertently caused upheavals at Ohio State created intense interest in the case.

Frost made it clear he didn't care about the Ohio State connection.

"This is about drugs. This is not about trinkets," Frost said.

"I don't care about trinkets, I don't care about Ohio State, I don't care about the players," Frost said. "I care about the drugs."

Frost said he took into consideration the many letters of support he had received on Rife's behalf and said Rife was different from many other drug defendants.

He also told Rife that while he had sympathy for his family, he had little sympathy for Rife as the source of their ills.

"This is a terrible offense," Frost said. "There's no getting around it."

Even prosecutors seemed sympathetic toward Rife, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Kelley telling Frost he didn't know what punishment Rife could receive that would be worse "than what he's already gone through."

Prosecutors alleged that in addition to Rife's tattoo parlor, he had a lucrative side business selling hundreds of pounds of marijuana in Columbus, a second job that federal prosecutors say allowed him to pay $21,500 for a luxury SUV.

In December, Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four other Ohio State players were found to have received cash and discounted tattoos from Rife in exchange for signed Buckeye memorabilia and championship rings.

All were permitted by the NCAA to play in the Buckeyes' 31-26 victory over Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, with their five-game suspensions to begin with the first game of the 2011 season. Another player, Jordan Whiting, was suspended for one game.

After the team returned from New Orleans, investigators found that coach Jim Tressel had learned in April 2010 about the players' involvement with Rife.

Rife had met with Christopher Cicero, a local attorney and former Ohio State walk-on player, that month to discuss his case but never hired Cicero. Cicero sent Tressel emails detailing the improper benefits, and the two ended up trading a dozen emails on the subject.

Tressel had signed an NCAA compliance form in September saying he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing by athletes. His contract, in addition to NCAA rules, specified that he had to tell his superiors or compliance department about any potential NCAA rules violations.

Tressel, who won a national championship and seven Big Ten titles at Ohio State, resigned May 30. Pryor also left Ohio State.

Three people testified in favor of Rife on Wednesday, including a woman who said she'd taken him in as a boy when he was homeless and begging on the street.

A friend, Sean Abbott, said Rife often took him into his house when he was homeless and always cared for him.

After Abbott finished speaking, Frost, laughing, said he had to ask Abbott where he got the Ohio State jersey he was wearing.

"I bought this one from Wal-Mart," Abbott said.

Rife's lawyer, Stephen Palmer, said his client had been wrongly portrayed as the villain behind Ohio State's woes and that people hadn't seen his human side.

"It's been crushing," Palmer said. "He's not just an ugly mug shot as we've seen in the news."

In June, Rife pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 200 pounds of marijuana.

Rife has forfeited $50,000 in drug proceeds, but was allowed to keep the memorabilia found in his suburban Columbus home. Those include Big Ten championship rings, gold pants pendants, autographed items and parts of football uniforms.

IRS criminal investigators have said they couldn't determine whether Rife had used drug profits to buy the memorabilia.

The IRS said investigators learned of Rife's drug dealing while probing a major marijuana and cocaine operation in central Ohio.

Kelley said there was no evidence Ohio State players were involved in the marijuana operation.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/stor...oday_Sport

Any further word on OSU's sanctions? They met with the NCAA on Aug. 12th and the official word was that it could take 3 months to receive a final ruling.

(10-31-2011 05:00 PM)Ragpicker Wrote:  Any further word on OSU's sanctions? They met with the NCAA on Aug. 12th and the official word was that it could take 3 months to receive a final ruling.

To the best of my knowledge, there has been nothing come down the pike yet. I think we would hear, it would be big news around this part of the world, if additional sanctions come. I'm sure you are aware, but 3 months would be November 12, so they have never known to be fast.

My guess is that tosu will get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. The NCAA knows full well that there is a possibility that the "big schools" might break off and form there own association thus fatally crippling the NCAA. The NCAA isn't about to come down hard on one of the schools that could potentially lead the revolt that would result in their demise. I fully expect Cleveland State to get the Death Penalty over this.

Would like nothing better than an NCAA official announcing to O$U in his best Marcellus Wallace voice that, " I'ma get medieval on your a$$". That's stuff dreams are made of.

In reality I am still hoping for at least one year with no bowl game and a few lost scholarships.

Ohio State now faces 'failure to monitor'

The NCAA has notified Ohio State that it will face a "failure to monitor" charge in addition to more allegations of rules violations by its troubled football program.

Ohio State will strip itself of five total football scholarships over the next three years in response to the further alleged violations, the school announced Thursday.

The Buckeyes, who were awaiting a ruling after appearing before the NCAA committee on infractions Aug. 12 for the tattoo-for-memorabilia scandal, received another notice of allegations from the NCAA on Nov. 3. Those allegations revolved around a Cleveland-area booster who provided extra benefits to players.

"Failure to monitor" is among the most serious allegations the NCAA can bring against a member school.

Ohio State president Gordon Gee expressed disappointment Thursday in athletic director Gene Smith for not properly monitoring the actions of the ex-booster, Robert DiGeronimo.

In a letter to Smith, dated on Thursday, Gee wrote, "I am disappointed that this is where we find ourselves. You know I find this unacceptable."

School officials are scheduled to appear before the NCAA infractions committee again on Dec. 10 to answer to these latest charges. However, Ohio State has asked to have the charges reviewed during a conference call the week of Nov. 28 -- the final week of the football regular season.

The NCAA alleged that DiGeronimo provided a total of $2,405 in extra benefits to nine football players. That included payments of $200 each to four players who attended a charity event in February, and five players who were overpaid a total of $1,605 for work they did not perform in summer jobs at DiGeronimo's excavation company.

DiGeronimo has admitted giving $200 to running back Jordan Hall, cornerback Travis Howard, defensive back Corey Brown and former Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor at the charity event.

Hall, Howard and Brown were each suspended earlier this season. Running back Dan Herron, receiver DeVier Posey and offensive lineman Marcus Hall were suspended for their role in the summer job case. Herron and Posey had their five-game suspensions stemming from the tattoo scandal lengthened.

DiGeronimo and Posey have disputed the allegations of overpayment for jobs.

Ohio State disassociated itself with DiGeronimo on Sept. 20 and announced it was taking measures to enhance its education and compliance monitoring.

But the NCAA said the school "failed to take appropriate actions to determine if DiGeronimo continued to employ student-athletes or host them at the charity event despite concerns about his interaction with the football program."

In addition, the NCAA said Ohio State "failed to educate football student-athletes about DiGeronimo, encourage them to cease interaction with him or inquire about their potential employment with DiGeronimo and attendance at the charity event."

DiGeronimo's charity, called Cornerstone of Hope, was involved with a secondary violation involving a lack of paperwork in 2006. In its response, Ohio State said it told DiGeronimo to stop interacting with coaches, visiting athletic facilities and being around the program.

However, the school still allowed athletes to work at DiGeronimo's company and attend his charity events -- though it said players were strongly encouraged to fill out the necessary paperwork to do so.

DiGeronimo had been an Ohio State booster since the 1980s, when he was part of a group known as the "committeemen" who helped recruit players before such practices were outlawed.

DiGeronimo contributed more than $72,000 to the athletic department since 1988 and had been a season ticket holder for years, the report said.

DiGeronimo was one of a group of outsiders who had access to Ohio State's locker room on game days, a practice that coach Jim Tressel stopped after taking the job, according to the NCAA report.

After that ban, Tressel caught DiGeronimo trying to hide in a locker to listen to Tressel's pregame speech and ordered him and another individual out of the locker room, the report said.

Smith said in a statement that the school accepts "that we should have done more to oversee Mr. DiGeronimo's activities."

"On a personal note, I deeply regret that I did not ensure the degree of monitoring our institution deserves and demands," Smith added.

Ohio State has already vacated its 2010 season, imposed a two-year probation period, forfeited its 2011 Sugar Bowl payment and fired Tressel as part of its response to NCAA allegations earlier this year.

Brian Bennett covers Big Ten football for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Follow Brian Bennett on Twitter: @ESPN_BigTen

but they volluntarily stripped themselves of a couple schollies......haha.