Bad Day For Buckeye Fans

College hoops tournament time is upon us and here, as promised, are the picks for today - 1st wave: UConn -3. Nebraska needs a win, but I have little faith in them on a neutral court. 2nd wave: Tulane +8 &1/2. Colorado - 4 &1/2. St John's -10. Tonight: slim pickings at this point, the Big East games aren't up yet. I like Marquette if they're getting anything more than 2 &1/2. And UC if the price is cheap (-5 or 6ish). Pac 10 opening round features 4 bad teams. I'm gonna stay away. Tomorrow will present more opportunities.

Big news out of the seedy world of college football this week, as TOSU's coach, one Jim Tressel, has been outed as maybe not the pillar of integrity so many of the Buckeye faithful believed him to be. Personally, I'm not the slightest bit surprised at the news Tressel sat on information that several of his players traded gridiron keepsakes for cash or tats, or both. I have zero interest in going into depth on this. But I will say this: he should be canned. The NCAA rules are silly, yes. So are many of the laws in this country. But when we break one, there are consequences (unless you're OJ Simpson and murder 2 people...allegedly). Tressel broke a cardinal rule. He breached his contract. Yet, the TOSU brass gave him a slap on the wrist (2 game suspension, $250,000 fine). That is a farce. Many of the TOSU fanbase will undoubtedly say this is not a big deal, he's a wonderful leader, a good man, blah, blah, blah. I know something about the TOSU fanbase. And they are fanatic for the football team. Literally. As I've said a million times over the years, I'm not a fan of TOSU. I'm a graduate. There is a distinct difference. The way I look at this is simple, Buckeye football is bigger than any one person (even Wayne Woodrow Hayes). And to allow Jim Tressel to keep his job makes the university look really bad. It makes them look no better than any other football factory school. Actually, it confirms they are no better than any other football factory school. And fans will deny this or accept it begrudgingly and bunker down and be, well, delusional and fanatical. But for those of us who look at this from a more vested perspective than football glory, this whole decision is a black mark against the university, its Mormon president, all the alumni living all over the globe, and even the state of Ohio. Gordy Gee, said president (who I have mocked on this blog before), did the wrong thing. He should be let go. Jim Tressel should be let go. And the AD should be let go. But they won't be. As always happens in these cases, time will pass, memories will become foggy, and almost no one will care. That's fine. But it won't change anything for me. It's depressing, quite honestly...

One thing the whole affair mentioned above does confirm is something I've been telling TOSU fans I meet in the sports bars for years - that is: Jim Tressel is no Earle Bruce. Not even close.

I made it out to the old trivia last night for the 1st time this year. We played really well. We blew it on the last question. But that's gonna happen. I was pulling answers about the Pope and Corsica out of my ass. It was generally a good time. One of the only questions we missed involved Grey's Anatomy. I've never seen it. But I know that girl from Knocked Up is on it. Or was on it. Whatever. And I find her quite fetching.

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