Tressel Resigns

 Two months ago, Ohio State's President,  E. Gordon Gee, was asked about Jim Tressel potentially losing his job. His response: "I just hope he doesn't dismiss me." Fast forward to Memorial Day, and Tressel's already been fired resigned. In one of the highest profile occurrences of NCAA violations and corruption, the sweater vest wearing and good morals preaching coach finally got what he deserved.  After being warned that several of his players were trading Ohio State memorabilia to a local tattoo parlor in return for tattoos, he failed to notify the NCAA or Ohio State administration about the violations. He found out about his players breaking the rules in April of 2010, meaning he knowingly allowed his players to play despite knowing they were violation NCAA policies. In September of last year, he signed a document saying he was unaware of any violations from his players. Even when five players were suspended five games (but not their bowl game), he kept his mouth shut. Only after the Ohio State Office of Legal Affairs found his emails with the businessman that alerted him of his players' wrongdoing did Tressel confess. Even now, former players are coming out of the woodwork and talking about the benefits they received. In December, Antonio Pittman, a former Ohio State player, tweeted:

"this osu stuff is silly, cats been getting hookups on tatts since back in '01."

From all the press about the scandal that I've read, it appears that many people around Columbus, knew what was going on. It was common knowledge that football players got special treatment. How can anyone explain how QB Terrelle Pryor has been spotted driving seven or eight different cars around school. How can a player, whose job is playing football at Ohio State for zero dollars, afford to drive so many different cars. That should probably be a red flag. Sooner or later that was going to catch up to Pryor. Maybe he's not the smartest guy in the world (Here's a link to to a paper Pryor wrote, allegedly). At the end of the day, Tressel got ousted because he lied to the NCAA and broke the rules. But at the end of the day, these types of violations will keep on happening as long as student athletes aren't compensated for their play. College football is a business. That's why Tressel had so much power. He was responsible for bringing in revenue to the university. As long as these players bring wins and money to the program, why should Tressel rat out his best players? It doesn't make sense to do so. Players should be paid for their efforts. They bring in so much revenue, and they don't see any of it. Yes, many of the players are attending school for free, but how are they supposed to live. Even college students need money. They spend so much time practicing and working out that they don't have time to get jobs. If I was in their position, it would be hard for me to not accept a discount somewhere. If the NCAA wants to get rid of these scandals involving players getting improper benefits, players need to somehow be compensated.

There's just a little bit of irony in this picture.