In case you didn't notice yesterday while you were crumbling up your bracket, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel took the high road and requested to have his suspension the same as his players.

However, as we look at it more closely, it isn't the same at all.

The players who were suspended for selling game worn jerseys, rings, etc. don't get to participate in the games on Saturdays. Tressel won't either, but he'll still be at practice running the show and going over the gameplan with his assistants. That's not fair. By NCAA rules, the Ohio State suspended players, such as Terrelle Pryor, will be allowed to be at practice but they cannot participate with the first team. In essence, they'll be on the scout team.

The thing that still bothers me is that all of these kids, after breaking rules, were allowed to play in the bowl game. Why? How did Tressel get away with allowing these kids to be suspended for the upcoming season when they gave him their word they would return to school.

Is that all it takes? "We promise, coach! We'll come back. Just let us finish out this season."

Unreal. The fact that these players, Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey and Soloman Thomas, have to repay what they took is acceptable, however.
What Tressel did was wrong and don't buy into the hype he did the right thing.

First, he waited for the NCAA to deny the appeal the university had in regards to the players. This appeal would have brought the suspensions down considerably to two games. Why not, if you're this remorseful, do it before hand? He knew for the entire 2010-11 college football season that his players were using improper ways to get tattoos and the like.

Does anyone actually think that if the NCAA brought the punishment down to two games that it would have been fair? That breaks NCAA rules, and he was punished.
On the same line, if these kids and Tressel were only suspended for games against Akron and Toledo, wouldn't they be happy to return to play the rest of the season? Akron and Toledo. Ohio State can obviously beat these teams without their star players or coach, so it's essentially a joke he was suspended for those games by the university. Nothing like bandaging up a wound and having it re-opened.
What I don't get it how he got away with blatant lies. While investigators were looking into the matter, Tressel told them more than once that he had no idea of what was going on with his team. Whoops.

Let's dig deeper into this. When all the dust settled, it was found Tressel signed an NCAA disclosure that he had no idea what was going on. Yet it was later surfaced that he was bouncing emails back and forth with a Columbus lawyer about the incident, according to the NCAA.

"Like my players, I am very sorry for the mistakes I made," Tressel said. "I request of the university that my sanctions now include five games so that the players and I can handle this adversity together."

Oh, it will be together for sure. Tressel will be coaching up the rest of the Buckeyes in practice daily and still running the helm of the Ohio State football program. So what if he misses some games against a couple of MAC schools and Miami? The decision to keep him in his position and thinking if he had the same suspension as the players is not right. Sure, he'll be fined — $250,000 worth. Is that equal to five games? No. Tressel has an annual salary of $3.5 million according to ESPN. If you break that down in 12 games during the regular season, he makes just under $300,000 a game. By his original suspension, that's not even close to what he SHOULD have to forfeit. This whole situation is a mess and it's only going to get worse.

If Ohio State loses to Miami, Colorado or Michigan State, or a combination of the three games, who will get the limelight? Will the reaction of the country immediately go toward Tressel? Lesson learned kids. It's OK to do the wrong thing, tell your coach about it, and get away with it until NEXT year. Give me a break. They should forfeit all wins last year, including the bowl game.

And where does the leader of the Ohio State program rest his hat? How did he show accountability during this situation? He lied to keep his players eligible. Some accountability. Sure, I don't like the program as a Michigan fan, but I always believed Tressel did things the right way and I respected him. However, after this entire fiasco, that respect is surely gone.

Related reading: Suspensions not equal [ESPN]

Comment . . .

How much respect for Jim Tressell have you lost?