AUG. 13, 2006
WILL IT EVER STOP?
By Cal Remkey
The past eight months have probably been the easiest of Jim Tressel's tenure at Ohio State. There were only a handful of insignificant off-the-field issues, and not one of them became the subject of the lead story on SportsCenter. But you would never know that if you have been watching ESPN or reading the sports pages around the country in the past ten days.
Since the dismissal of Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar on August 2nd, I have sat back, watched, and waited for ESPN and the collective group of sports journalists from across the country to drop the hammer on Oklahoma. It's not that I get my kicks by watching the demise of rival programs (with the exception of TSUN), but I just want to know that there is still some sense of objectivity left out there in sports journalism today. I want to know that other schools will be put under the microscope in the same way that OSU was three years ago. I'm still waiting.
Not only has the hammer not been dropped, but many journalists have actually used the Oklahoma story as a way to bash Ohio State. Every ESPN radio analyst from Colin Cowherd, to Dan Patrick, to Mike and Mike, tied the OSU situation, from three seasons ago, into the Bomar story. Why? I will try to answer that very question.
1. Too Much Time, Too Much Misinformation
To answer the question of why, one has to approach it from the standpoint that there are improprieties that occur not only at OSU, but at every single major sports program in the country. And there always have been. Heck, the Baylor men's tennis team was found to be paying players, and people went to jail for what happened at Notre Dame under Lou Holtz. Ohio State is no different. But you also have to consider the microscope that OSU was under, and what was proven. The NCAA was up the Buckeye's collective asses for nearly eighteen months and the only things that were found were Maurice Clarett's cell phone bills being paid, and Troy Smith getting a $500 handshake.
Now I'm not naïve enough to believe that these were the only violations that have occurred at The Ohio State University, but I think if you were to walk up to Joe Fan, he would be able tell you stories involving Tressel arranging cars for players. Why? ESPN is ruining sports in the same way MTV has ruined music. There is too much talk and not enough substance out there. ESPN has become too much sports commentary, and not enough sports. You have radio personalities that need to talk about various topics for three, sometimes four hours a day. Do they care if all of their information is 100% correct? No. They need to fill their air time. It is something to talk about. You have The Sports Reporters, Jim Rome is Burning, Around the Horn, Pardon the Interruption, and Outside the Lines. Not to mention College Gameday Scoreboard, NFL Live, NBA 2Nite, etc… What do all of these programs have in common? They all feature sports reporters who love to shout their opinions. Somewhere during those shows the truth gets lost.
Sure, it's very easy to blame the media because it is such a broad, faceless target. But make no mistake, I am blaming ESPN, and not the media in general. The media serves an extremely important role for our society. They keep our public officials in check, and they are often the whistleblowers for injustices around the world. The problem that I have with ESPN (as well as all 24 hour news networks) is that there is more emphasis on filling the time rather than the truth. And I don't even mind that, as long as they put Oklahoma and USC through the ringer like they did Ohio State. If you really want to know what the news is, pick up a newspaper and read it cover to cover. Everything you need to know is in there.
2. Mo Geiger
Another factor in the Ohio State smear campaign, and why it has been hashed and re-hashed over and over can be placed firmly at the doorsteps of Andy Geiger and Maurice Clarett. I am probably the biggest Clarett supporter that I know. I still have two pictures of him hanging in my basement and I will still wear his jersey this fall on gamedays. But he is a huge factor in all of this mess. Guess what precedes his name every time he is mentioned on the ticker on the bottom of your television screen? That's right, “Former Ohio St. running back…” Every time he screws up, the allegations against him are brought up. Now this is also a guy who has never been able to
Geiger, in many people's minds, publicly turned his back on Clarett. In response to Clarett's allegations, Geiger came off as, to quote Jim Brown, “a slave master.” Instead of giving generic public relations answers, Geiger made it personal with statements like, “Why has he done almost all of the things that he's done? I can't answer, you know, you'll have to ask him.” And this gem: “We are sad that he would do something like this, we're not surprised at all, he said something was going to happen, so here we are.” Even if that is how you feel, keep it behind closed doors. Couple these statements with the sympathy that Clarett earned during the Fiesta Bowl, when he accused the athletic department of lying to him and preventing him from going back to Youngstown to attend his friend's funeral, and you have a PR nightmare. Geiger drew a line in the sand and made it a Maurice vs. Andy battle. Don't make people choose between a 19-year-old kid and a 60-year-old Dick Cheney clone. A person with no vested interest in the situation will choose to believe the kid every time.
Plus, Geiger took a premature retirement, and that put a lot of validity in not only Clarett's accusations, but also in the idea that the entire athletic department was corrupt. And in a lot of ways, that's right. Geiger resigned about a year and a half early because he couldn't deal with the pressure any more. Perception becomes reality, and his resignation became an admission of guilt.
3. It's the Fans Stupid!
One of the goals of this website, when it originated last summer, was to change the scope of how OSU and its fans are perceived nationally. If you have ever traveled to an away game, outside of the Ohio boarders, or even to Cincinnati, you may have noticed that people don't speak of Ohio State in the same glowing manner that they do inside of the I-270 outer-belt. The school is completely misrepresented as a win at all costs football factory because of the admission standards from the 1970's and 80's. Buckeye fans are considered to be arrogant, redneck homers, who look the other way while a booster club has the entire football team on a payroll. A comparison that I often hear is that Ohio State football is identical to Kentucky basketball.
Nationally, Tressel is perceived as being soft on punishment and that he has cheaters playing for him. The reason Oklahoma is getting a pass right now is because Bob Stoops got rid of the problem. There is nothing left to report on. No distractions throughout the season. He got rid of a cheater. On a side note, despite all the criticism, I am glad Tressel did not take the same stance with Troy Smith. The Buckeyes quarterback certainly received a wake-up call and, at least publicly, seems to understand the opportunity that he has as the signal caller at Ohio State. Plus I would not want to see the Bucks start the season with Justin Zwick under center.
I think that the largest contributing factor as to why national sports personalities tend to “pick” on the OSU football program is because they know they can get a rise out of the fan base. They know that people will read or listen to their opinions and that they will get a reaction. The columnists do not care whether you like the story, just as long as you read it. So if Mike Lupica writes something disparaging about Tressel, or if Dan LeBatard is still crying about the pass interference call in the Fiesta Bowl, do exactly what they don't want you to do. Ignore them. Do not email them. Do not call their editors. Just ignore them. Sports columnists' livelihoods depend on reactions, so they will find something else to shout about. Why do you think that USC got a pass? It's because nobody cares about football in SoCal.
Every school has players who get in trouble. Every school has boosters who have run amok. Every school has athletes who may get a little extra help with academics. Believe me, it happens everywhere and even in the smallest of programs. The response to this is where the Buckeye Nation separates itself. Instead of rallying around the athletic department like something out of the Nixon administration, and threatening journalists who are just doing their jobs, look at the situation objectively, and just understand that Ohio State is like every other program in the country. Sooner or later, they will get caught. And sooner or later, so will everyone else.
Cal can be reached via email at calremkey@meanbrutus.com
