# Jim Tressel suspended for two games. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 9, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990 "2011-03-09T01:30:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/21 "2011-03-10T20:25:52Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > It is a huge hit. Tressel is a god in Ohio, and for him not to appear at the games in Toledo and Akron is like Paula Deen not showing up at a butter convention. Those games are all about the attendance and revenue for those schools, who desperately need butts in the seats and booking OSU to come see the Bucks and His Holiness is far more important than the actual game schedule for the rest of the year – and may outsell the total attendance for the rest of the year, too. If people stay away in protest, for example, the smaller schools will pay the price in a way Tressel won’t. It isn’t a hit at all. Ohio State’s football revenue won’t go down at all. The Buckeye fans all sold out the place during the John Cooper (remember him?) era, so they’ll keep doing it through Tressel’s quasi-suspension. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/22 "2011-03-10T21:02:19Z")
The _Tribune_’s comment was, does this make Tressel a Leader or a Legend? > [@zamboniracer](#): > > More importantly to me though is, what kind of stupid NCAA rule is it that prevents players from selling their own stuff? An absolutely necessary rule, unless colleges want to bid against each other for openly professional players. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/23 "2011-03-10T21:33:04Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > But Toledo and Akron are close enough that OSU fans **will** show up - and, let’s face it, OSU fans would come even if Satan (or, worse, Rich Rodriguez) was named as the interim coach. Nothing to add to the evilness that is a Coach not reporting a violation, but neither game is AT Toledo or Akron. Both are in Columbus. Neither of those visiting schools has anywhere near the facility required to host the game, which is to say number of seats. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/24 "2011-03-10T21:38:14Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > For me, however, this drives yet another nail into the coffin of my declining interest in college sports. At some times in my life, I would have been frothing at the mouth angry and spending way too much time and effort lambasting Tressel for his continued cheating and rulebreaking, OSU for gobbling his knob at the press conference announcing his suspension, and the whole of the NCAA. But I quit caring. This. The death of student assistants in windstorms. The coverups and lack of concern over sexual assaults by players. And it not really mattering one whit to rabid idiot fans. I’m all but done with college football. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/25 "2011-03-10T22:02:02Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The _Tribune_’s comment was, does this make Tressel a Leader or a Legend? > An absolutely necessary rule, unless colleges want to bid against each other for openly professional players. I don’t follow either your logic or the NCAAs. Please explain. As long as they report their income and pay taxes on it, and as long as the donors pay gift taxes on it, why not? Have the IRS enforce the rule, not the NCAA. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/26 "2011-03-10T23:46:40Z")
I, **Super Star Basketball Phenom** (that’s my name!) haven’t decided where to attend college. On a _completely unrelated topic_ (wink wink) I have this T-shirt for sale for, I don’t know, $1,000,000. Any takers? I’d be _ever so grateful_ (wink wink). ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/27 "2011-03-11T00:54:44Z")
Welcome to the post Cam era. FSU needs to sue the NCAA to get our wins (and Track Championship) back. Our ‘crime’ was getting caught 2 years too soon. To put it in perspective, we found out that some kids cheated on a test. All of the athletes involved never participated in a game after the school found out about the infraction. Our penalty? Forfeiture of every game they played in after the infraction. Ohio State/Auburn players violate the rules? Not only do they NOT forfeit prior games, the player’s involved were CLEARED TO PLAY. The NCAA is like the fucking Mob but without the moral code… ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/28 "2011-03-11T04:05:30Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > I don’t follow either your logic or the NCAAs. Please explain. As long as they report their income and pay taxes on it, and as long as the donors pay gift taxes on it, why not? Have the IRS enforce the rule, not the NCAA. The universities which participate in the NCAA, whether right or wrong, have chosen not to operate their programs as professional sports leagues in which teams compete for players by offering the highest salary. They limit player compensation to scholarships and training table meals. Allowing players to sell memorabilia would make a mockery of this concept. Teams would compete to offer star players the most valuable and liquid memorabilia. Come to Penn State where you get issued a new jersey every week, sure to find a ready market on e-bay! Get a solid gold varsity ring just for playing, easy to convert into cash at any cash-for-gold outlet! You can’t have it–not if you want any _pretense_ of players playing amateur sports while attending a university. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/29 "2011-03-12T00:48:24Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > The universities which participate in the NCAA, whether right or wrong, have chosen not to operate their programs as professional sports leagues in which teams compete for players by offering the highest salary. They limit player compensation to scholarships and training table meals. > > Allowing players to sell memorabilia would make a mockery of this concept. Teams would compete to offer star players the most valuable and liquid memorabilia. Come to Penn State where you get issued a new jersey every week, sure to find a ready market on e-bay! Get a solid gold varsity ring just for playing, easy to convert into cash at any cash-for-gold outlet! You can’t have it–not if you want any _pretense_ of players playing amateur sports while attending a university. :rolleyes::rolleyes: If any university tried such a scheme the IRS would land on the players with both feet, correctly calling such items as taxable income and causing an accounting overload at the school’s CPA office. Thus, no university is going to try to exploit this so-called loophole. IMHO. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/30 "2011-03-12T03:36:10Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > If any university tried such a scheme the IRS would land on the players with both feet, correctly calling such items as taxable income and causing an accounting overload at the school’s CPA office. Thus, no university is going to try to exploit this so-called loophole. IMHO. YMMV. Yeah . . . so what? If the players payed taxes on it, they’d be fine. Likewise, if Ohio State paid Terrelle Pryor $10 million a year in salary and he paid tax on it, the IRS would be fine. The point is, the NCAA _wouldn’t_ be fine. They’ve chosen to run college sports as _amateur_ sports, and allowing players to sell awards, or sell autographs, or issue endorsements would defeat that objective. Therefore all of the previous are prohibited. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/31 "2011-03-12T04:52:30Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Therefore all of the previous are prohibited. Unless you play for Ohio State. Then, the previous is only prohibited during the regular season. You can play in bowl games… oh, and practice… oh and all your conference games… ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/32 "2011-03-25T23:34:07Z")
So now it turns out that Coach Fuckhead lied TWICE. If this asshole’s not done for good, then the NCAA is worse than useless. For those not keeping score, first he lied about knowing about the infractions. Then it turned out that he was informed back in April. When caught in Lie #1, he stated that he kept quiet about it because it involved a federal investigation and “the safety of my players.” (A drug dealer was part of the investigation). Now it comes out that he “kept quiet” only if your definition of “kept quiet” means “didn’t tell my bosses or the NCAA, but I did tell a ‘business associate’ of Pryor.” This guy is as crooked as any coach in the business and worse than most. I hope fans of “THE” Ohio State are proud of the lying thug they have coaching their team. You know, if you need a basketball coach, I hear Pearl is looking for a job. Too bad Arnold Rothstein is no longer around to run your booster organization… ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/33 "2011-03-25T23:39:35Z")
He’s “crooked” because he didn’t enthusiastically out his star QB for violating some minor and hypocritical NCAA rule? I don’t understand the outrage. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/34 "2011-03-26T00:11:10Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > He’s “crooked” because he didn’t enthusiastically out his star QB for violating some minor and hypocritical NCAA rule? > > I don’t understand the outrage. He lied about it. And him pretending in his presser that he “didn’t know who to take the info to” is as stupid a statement as anything. Gee Jim, how about the NCAA compliance official? He just didn’t want to jeopardize OSU’s (realistic) chance at a national title this upcoming season. Now its FUBAR. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/35 "2011-03-26T00:49:20Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > He’s “crooked” because he didn’t enthusiastically out his star QB for violating some minor and hypocritical NCAA rule? > > I don’t understand the outrage. He’s crooked, because he violated his own contract, his conference’s rules, AND the governing body’s rules and then lied about it TWICE. He’s a gutless coward. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/36 "2011-03-26T01:23:02Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > :rolleyes::rolleyes: > > If any university tried such a scheme the IRS would land on the players with both feet, correctly calling such items as taxable income and causing an accounting overload at the school’s CPA office. Thus, no university is going to try to exploit this so-called loophole. IMHO. YMMV. Holy shit! Somebody better tell the NFL that paying their players will never work. Think of the taxes! ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/37 "2011-03-26T08:18:03Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > He’s “crooked” because he didn’t enthusiastically out his star QB for violating some minor and hypocritical NCAA rule? > > I don’t understand the outrage. Yeah, he only failed to report his knowledge of the breaking of the most fundamental rule in college sports… Well and then lied about what he knew to an NCAA investgation… And then lied about lying about what he knew and when he knew it while admitting that he had only lied out of the goodness of his heart. Don’t you understand that just because they lied and cheated to win doesn’t mean that they didn’t win those games fair and square by their(and SEC) standards. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2011, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/38 "2011-03-26T16:28:36Z")
A player not getting extra money is the most fundamental rule of college sports? If Terrelle Pryor sells his personal property to pay for some tattoos, that’s somehow an egregious sin that undermines the purity of NCAA athletics? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/39 "2011-04-02T17:55:52Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > A player not getting extra money is the most fundamental rule of college sports? If Terrelle Pryor sells his personal property to pay for some tattoos, that’s somehow an egregious sin that undermines the purity of NCAA athletics? Those things were given to him by the university; if he can sell them then he is being paid. Then the NCAA is no longer amateur athletics. So yes, it is fundamental. “Here’s your souvenir sack of gold coins Terrelle!” ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990/40 "2011-04-25T15:44:23Z")
[Update on the story](http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6424573). Anyone think that Tressel will be keeping his job? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jim-tressel-suspended-for-two-games/573990.md?page=3)