Ohio State Football 2012

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by traderumor

Good riddance, can't stand the dude.

Me neither, but I believe he was slowly running that program into the ground--I have nightmares of Barry Alvarez...

[Hillsdale87]

Originally Posted by *BaseClogger*

Me neither, but I believe he was slowly running that program into the ground--I have nightmares of Barry Alvarez...

3 straight rose bowl appearances. He's had more success than Alvarez did, although Alvarez laid the groundwork. Bielema is about as obnoxious, self righteous, and apparently hypocritical as they come, but I think he was a pretty good coach.

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by Hillsdale87

3 straight rose bowl appearances. He's had more success than Alvarez did, although Alvarez laid the groundwork. Bielema is about as obnoxious, self righteous, and apparently hypocritical as they come, but I think he was a pretty good coach.

Meh, they had to poach a QB last year and only went 7-5 in an extremely weak B1G this season. He was 2-4 in bowl games and is such an ass that most of his talented assistants had abandoned him. His recruiting class last year was subpar, as evident from the whiny comments he made after Urban Meyer stole one of his recruits. My opinion is more based on how I would have expected his Wisconsin team to perform on the field over the next few years than how they have performed in the past...

Edit: regarding Alvarez, he had to lay the foundation for the football program at Wisconsin, so of course his overall W-L record is worse than Bielema's, who was riding his coattails. Alvarez was 8-3 in bowl games and actually *won* all three of his Rose Bowl appearances.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Red Buckeye

I for one had tears streaming down my cheeks when the players lifted Tressel on their shoulders. He is a class act guy.
And I have a story much more personal than winning football games (which between that and the scandal, seem to be the only thing the OSU haters focus on).

In 2005, my 4 year old nephew was battling cancer at the OSU Hospital. Sadly he didn't make it, but when fighting it in 2005 he was absolutely delighted when Coach Tressel, Troy Smith, and A.J Hawk all came into his hospital room to see him and cheer him up. Tressel had no obligation to do this, he did this voluntarilly and out of the goodness of his heart. After that eventful day, Troy Smith came in 3 more times in the next 2 months to hang with my nephew. Again, Troy had no obligation to this at all, but having Coach Tressel as a coach brought out the best in a lot of players. Many players would say Jim would helpthem see what really matters in life. My family is forever grateful for the kind acts of Tressel and company in bringing some joy to my nephews last few months of life.

And another thing, the United Way was saddened when Tressel was let go because they were afraid their BIGGEST DONOR in the state of Ohio would no longer be able to donate the huge sums that Tressel had been giving to them ( I found out later Coach is still donating to them even after being let go by OSU)

So when news broke of the scandal I immediately knew Tressel was just looking out for his players, who looked at Coach Jim as a father figure.

So anyone here who has something bad to say about Coach can go F themselves. My family and I saw firsthand what kind of man Jim Tressel is.

Did he make a mistake about the e-mails? Yes. But if anyone here tries to tell me they have never made a mistake then I have to ask why is God on a message board?

Maybe the haters here only focus on the winning of games or the mistake Coach Tressel made, but for those who have met the man personally and have been affected by his good heart, we know he is not a good, but an outstanding human being.

For me, seeing Coach honored wasn't just about the 2002 season, it was about honoring a class act guy, and I will always love Coach Tressel.

We love you Coach.

But he cost your team a shot at the BCS Championship with his mistake(s).

[Red Buckeye]

Like I said, there is more to life than football. He isn't just a football coach to me and my family.

And I personally think the NCAA unfairly punished OSU. Teams in the SEC do far worse and nothing seems to happen to them.

[RiverRat13]

Originally Posted by Chip R

But he cost your team a shot at the BCS Championship with his mistake(s).

If he never makes his mistakes, he's still the coach at OSU and I doubt they are 12-0. The main reason I say that is because without Tatgate, Pryor would have been the QB last year and Miller would have been a first time starter this season and I don't see OSU going undefeated without Braxton having gained experience last year. Plus while I love Tressel, I still think Meyer is the better coach.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by RiverRat13

If he never makes his mistakes, he's still the coach at OSU and I doubt they are 12-0. The main reason I say that is because without Tatgate, Pryor would have been the QB last year and Miller would have been a first time starter this season and I don't see OSU going undefeated without Braxton having gained experience last year. Plus while I love Tressel, I still think Meyer is the better coach.

If Tressel came clean about Tatgate when he first found out about it, Pryor would have still been suspended and most likely would have gone pro like he did anyway. tOSU would have paid their penance last year while Miller was the QB. They wouldn't have gone to a bowl last year and he would have had the same amount of experience he did this year. Whether Tressel would have gone undefeated with this bunch is speculation. While Tressel may not be the same caliber coach as Urban Meyer, he was certainly no slouch and could very well have guided the Buckeyes to an undefeated season and a possible shot at the BCS Championship. You have to think an undefeated tOSU trumps a 1 loss Alabama.

[jimbo]

Originally Posted by Chip R

But he cost your team a shot at the BCS Championship with his mistake(s).

Getting a shot at the championship is pretty small compared to what Red Buckeye's nephew went through during his short life, when considering the world we live in. It's nice to hear these stories about Tressel the person, even though they don't get the glory nor the headlines written by people who want to burn him at the stake for one mistake.

It's hard to believe someone can read that story and only come out of it saying, well he cost you a shot at the championship.

[traderumor]

It is easy to call Tressel a liar and a cheat and totally forget that what got him in trouble wasn't so black and white. Take a view of the facts and circumstances longitudinally in 5, 10, 20 years and he might not look like such the villain. The players, (Herron, Pryor) deserve most of the blame for the short-term effects on the program, and Gene Smith is also culpable. Tressel is primarily a scapegoat.

It is not a black and white issue, and I think history will help people to see that, once time has its effects on emotions and helps people to see things a little more objectively. Right now, its just so much grave dancing by people either bitter about the post-Tressel effects or people who don't like the Buckeyes, and especially like to see a person generally viewed as an upright person get caught doing something wrong. It is a pathetic side of human nature that I despise.

But doing something very wrong on his job shouldn't erase years of his record as a humanitarian, esp. considering the nature of the "crimes." The negative words used to describe Tressel far exceed the nature of the "crimes."

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by Chip R

But he cost your team a shot at the BCS Championship with his mistake(s).

I know a lot of Ohio State fans offline and none blame Tressel.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by jimbo

Getting a shot at the championship is pretty small compared to what Red Buckeye's nephew went through during his short life, when considering the world we live in. It's nice to hear these stories about Tressel the person, even though they don't get the glory nor the headlines written by people who want to burn him at the stake for one mistake.

It's hard to believe someone can read that story and only come out of it saying, well he cost you a shot at the championship.

But he did, though and nobody cared about what he did off the field when he lost a game.

Originally Posted by traderumor

It is easy to call Tressel a liar and a cheat and totally forget that what got him in trouble wasn't so black and white. Take a view of the facts and circumstances longitudinally in 5, 10, 20 years and he might not look like such the villain. The players, (Herron, Pryor) deserve most of the blame for the short-term effects on the program, and Gene Smith is also culpable. Tressel is primarily a scapegoat.

It is not a black and white issue, and I think history will help people to see that, once time has its effects on emotions and helps people to see things a little more objectively. Right now, its just so much grave dancing by people either bitter about the post-Tressel effects or people who don't like the Buckeyes, and especially like to see a person generally viewed as an upright person get caught doing something wrong. It is a pathetic side of human nature that I despise.

But doing something very wrong on his job shouldn't erase years of his record as a humanitarian, esp. considering the nature of the "crimes." The negative words used to describe Tressel far exceed the nature of the "crimes."

Tressel's a great guy. No argument there. Give him the Nobel Prize and a key to the city. But coaches are ultimately judged by wins and losses. No tOSU fan would give two hoots in hell about Tressel if he were a bad coach. He's a heckuva coach and a heckuva guy. But he made a mistake which not only cost the Buckeyes a shot at the BCS Championship but the money that went along with it and stigmatized Tressel (fairly or unfairly) as a liar and a cheater.

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

I know a lot of Ohio State fans offline and none blame Tressel.

They should because he's as guilty for them not going to the postseason this year as if tOSU lost a game because he called the wrong play. The players committed the violations - no question about it. But, as we've seen over at Penn State and other places, the cover-up was the bigger problem. Tressel thought he had a team that could go all the way so instead of running the risk of having some of his best players being suspended that year, he covered it up until it was no longer possible to cover it up. Then, when the hammer came down, it was too late to penalize that year's team so this year's team had to pay the price.

[Red Buckeye]

Originally Posted by Chip R

But he did, though and nobody cared about what he did off the field when he lost a game.



Tressel's a great guy. No argument there. Give him the Nobel Prize and a key to the city. But coaches are ultimately judged by wins and losses. No tOSU fan would give two hoots in hell about Tressel if he were a bad coach. He's a heckuva coach and a heckuva guy. But he made a mistake which not only cost the Buckeyes a shot at the BCS Championship but the money that went along with it and stigmatized Tressel (fairly or unfairly) as a liar and a cheater.



They should because he's as guilty for them not going to the postseason this year as if tOSU lost a game because he called the wrong play. The players committed the violations - no question about it. But, as we've seen over at Penn State and other places, the cover-up was the bigger problem. Tressel thought he had a team that could go all the way so instead of running the risk of having some of his best players being suspended that year, he covered it up until it was no longer possible to cover it up. Then, when the hammer came down, it was too late to penalize that year's team so this year's team had to pay the price.

Maybe you don't care about what the man did off the field, but I did. And it is upsetting to hear people smear a man who has probably done more great things as a human being when he was a coach at OSU than most people do in a lifetime.

I am not denying he made a huge mistake in lying to the NCAA. But that shouldn't define the man. It's just a sad truth of this world that so many people, ESPN, Buckeye Haters, would rather constantly focus on the negatives of the sporting than the positves.Never once did I hear ESecPN mention Tressel's trips to the children's hospital, his donations to the United Way. But they kept a constant scrolling ticker on the scandal. Hell, they even tried to sue OSU for info.

But I am probably getting off base here, my point is I am not upset that OSU got a bowl ban. It wasn't Tressel's fault, it was the NCAA unfair ruling that gave OSU the bowl ban. The punishment simply didn't fit the crime.

You reasons for Tressel covering it up couldn't be further from the truth. I promise you winning games wasn't his reason for what he did.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by Chip R

They should because he's as guilty for them not going to the postseason this year as if tOSU lost a game because he called the wrong play.

Not really. The NCAA gave a penalty that was basically unprecedented. They wanted to bring the hammer down hard because of the current environment. If it had happened five years ago they wouldn't have gotten a bowl ban. I'll go ahead and keep blaming the NCAA for being senseless and stupid, because they are both.

Honestly, I got plenty of enjoyment out of this season. BCS bowls are fun, but they are something else anyway. They have never felt all that connected to the actual season, what with being 5-6 weeks after the end of the regular season.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

Not really. The NCAA gave a penalty that was basically unprecedented. They wanted to bring the hammer down hard because of the current environment. If it had happened five years ago they wouldn't have gotten a bowl ban. I'll go ahead and keep blaming the NCAA for being senseless and stupid, because they are both.

Honestly, I got plenty of enjoyment out of this season. BCS bowls are fun, but they are something else anyway. They have never felt all that connected to the actual season, what with being 5-6 weeks after the end of the regular season.

What you guys seem to be saying is that since Tressel is such a great guy that he is immune to criticism. That it's everybody else's fault but his. I guarantee you that you and your fellow Buckeye fans didn't take the same approach when tOSU lost a game.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by Chip R

What you guys seem to be saying is that since Tressel is such a great guy that he is immune to criticism.

Maybe you can show me a post where anyone has said that, but I haven't seen it? He clearly did something wrong in this case, but it was not at all wrong enough to merit having to resign or a bowl ban for Ohio State.

And I got frustrated with him at times while coaching like any fan, but I never wanted him fired at any point.