Tuesday, 31 May 2011

Sports Illustrated article brings Jim Tressel under fire



It seems that even after Jim Tressel’s resignation, Ohio State will have to face the consequences of his actions. An article written by George Dohrmann and published in Sports Illustrated, has revealed some of the dirty secrets regarding Jim Tressel and the team which he was coaching. The article accuses Jim Tressel of years of rules violation by himself and his players. According to the details of the article, Jim Tressel feigned ignorance of players receiving money and improper benefits which included cars and marijuana , during his time as coach at Youngstown and Ohio State.

The Sports Illustrated article claims that at least 28 Ohio State players, dating back to 2002 are either publicly known or alleged to have traded or sold memorabilia. This act was a direct violation of the NCAA rules and the players apparently did this in exchange for tattoos from local Columbus businesses. All of this was taking place under Jim Tressel’s leadership and knowledge, but he chose to ignore these facts and did not stop his players from doing so.

A former defensive lineman by the name of Robert Rose is one of the players who has violated the rules of NCAA but he does not regret receiving gifts saying; "I knew how much money that the school was making. I always heard about how Ohio State had the biggest Nike budget. I was struggling, my mom was struggling. ... It was just something that I had to do. I was in a hard spot. ... [Other] guys were doing it for the same reasons.(tressel resigns, terrelle pryor, columbus dispatch, jim tressel, tressel ) The university doesn't really help. Technically we knew it was wrong, but a lot of those guys are from the inner city and we didn't have much, and we had to go on the best we could. I couldn't call home to ask my mom to help me out."
The Sports Illustrated article even touches on Jim Tressel’s actions as assistant for the Buckeyes under Earle Bruce in the 1980s, and highlights his improper actions even during those times.

Sports Illustrated has tried to contact the Ohio State for comments about the allegations which have been made by George Dohrmann in his article, but no calls have been answered or returned. It seems that Ohio State will have to deal with Jim Tressel’s mess for a long time to come.
http://www.cricma.com/

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