Today I went to my first College Football game of the season, Iowa at Ohio Stadium. The game didn’t really live up to the hype with #21 Iowa getting crushed 31-7 by #8 Ohio State.
Also: Mr. Jech called a hell of game.
And finally: If you’re wondering… yes that is kyle’s mother and grandparents watching him partake in the beer bong.
Maurice The Beast Clarett has spoken out about alleged misconduct by the Ohio State Athletic Department. Clarett names OSU Coach Jim Tressel and his brother Dick with helping arrange cars & cash:
Clarett says that while he was at Ohio State in 2002 and 2003 head coach Jim Tressel, as well as certain members of his staff and boosters, provided him with improper benefits. He says he covered up Tressel’s improprieties during the NCAA investigation and afterward, Ohio State “blackballed” him from the football program.
According to Clarett, Tressel arranged loaner cars for him and Tressel’s brother, Dick, found him lucrative landscaping jobs that he did not even have to show up for. He says members of Tressel’s staff also introduced him to boosters who’d slip him thousands of dollars, and the better he played, the more cash he’d receive. He says boosters eventually began inviting him into their homes or would meet him out in the community.
“When you’d leave, [the booster] sets you straight,” Clarett told The Magazine. “They say, ‘You got any money in your pocket?’ They make sure your money’s straight.”
Tressel and OSU Athletic Director are scheduled to speak around noon today about the matter. Meanwhile ESPN’s SportCenter will have more info at 6pm tonight and Sunday’s OutSide the Line’s.
The Game will continue to be The Game, after an outcry from supporters at both universities the Administrations decided to ax the deal.
“As we attempted to move forward, it became apparent that this agreement could detract from the great tradition of the game itself,” Ohio State Athletic Directory Andy Geiger said. “Given that possibility, and the fast-approaching date of this year’s game, the two universities agreed it was in their best interest not to pursue the arrangement at this time.”
As usual, OSU Coach Jim Tressel managed to say absolutely nothing about the subject:
“There’s a lot of different ways you can look at any of the things we do, evolving from just going out in the yard and playing a pickup game to where we are today. I’m sure there’s a lot of things you could discuss as to ‘Is that the right direction?”