A few months ago five Ohio State football players were caught receiving tattoos in exchange for close to $8,000 worth of memorabilia. Because these players committed to return to Ohio State and play football next year, the NCAA allowed them to play in this year's Sugar Bowl and postpone their suspensions until next season.
Today, Yahoo Sports is reporting that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew about the memorabilia sale nearly eight months before it was reported.
If the report is true, Tressel's job could be in serious jeopardy. If he knew what violation had gone on and didn't tell anybody, and then pretended he didn't know about it when the players were caught, he could have violated his contract.
Ohio State has said they will address the situation later.
Just a week ago, BYU basketball forward Brandon Davies was suspended for a violation of the school's honor code. The school found out about Davies' violation on Monday and he was suspended from the team Tuesday.
These two stories are as radical and extreme as they are opposite from each other.
However, there are similarities in the two stories. BYU caught serious heat from the media across the country that their rules are too strict, that some tolerance to rule breaking should exist. Ohio State has already received heat from the same media across the country calling for Tressel's job.
It is time for the NCAA to step in.
The NCAA has been filled with scandals over the past few years regarding violations to the rules: Reggie Bush, Dez Bryant, Bruce Pearl and Cam Newton. Ohio State has had a not-so-impressive track record themselves dating back to Maurice Clarett, Troy Smith and now the Tressel situation.
Maybe the no-tolerance stance that BYU took is a little severe, but the NCAA needs to take a long, hard look at how the school reacted and learn from it.
BYU knew that Davies was a great player and that without him their Final Four hopes were going to be ultimately shot, but the school also knew that he broke a rule and a punishment needed to be rendered.
(This has nothing to do with BYU's honor code itself, but strictly violations of the rules)
All of the violations across the country seems to come up almost weekly. If the NCAA stepped up and adapted more of a BYU type approach, perhaps the violations wouldn't occur as frequently.
If the Yahoo reports are true about Tressel, they have an opportunity to set a much needed precedent. I'm not calling for Tressel's job, but I wouldn't disagree if the NCAA and Ohio State parted ways with Tressel.
But, if the NCAA goes the same route they did when Bruce Pearl was suspended (suspended for eight SEC games, a small slap on the wrist) then we can expect more violations to occur. It will send the message that money and winning are more important than integrity and abiding to the law.
Victoria Silvstedt Hilary Swank Whitney Port Minka Kelly Carol Grow
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