TRESSEL RATED "UNSATISFACTORY" BY OSU FOR YEARS, ESPN CONTINUES THEIR CHARADE & TODAY'S MIKE LEACH INSTALLMENT
The Public Information Act is a wonderful thing, it allows petitioners to access correspondence, emails & phone records from public institutions. The Ohio State University falls into that category, people can look into their business. Take public money & the public is entitled to do some snooping. Two reporters from The Columbus Dispatch filed a request to snoop around the Buckeye football program offices & lo & behold, they found some pretty interesting stuff. Seems disgraced head coach Jim Tressel was reprimanded on several occasions by former athletic director Andy Geiger for "numerous compliance issues." Tressel didn't complete the required documents correctly, in a timely fashion & often omitting his signature. Geiger gave Tressel several unsatisfactory ratings for his lack of "self reporting violations" in annual compliance reports. Geiger wrote him up "for not paying enough attention to the cars that athletes drove & reporting unusual circumstances." Sound familiar? Apparently Tressel never got a handle on the vehicular issues. With this paper trail, one has to wonder just how much current A.D. Gene Smith & University President E. Gordon Gee really knew about Tressel's bookkeeping & the possible ramifications. Throwing Tressel under the proverbial bus seemed to be their only option, that & coming to some sort of agreement that would convince Tressel to shoulder all/most of the blame. Reversing his $250,000 fine & changing his exit status from "resigned" to "retired" appear to be Ohio States' "carrot dangling from a stick" prize for Tressel. Sorry, for all the damage created by "Tattoo-Gate," Tressel's cover-up & the millions of dollars sucked up by the Buckeye program they truly didn't deserve, I sincerely hope they get some severe punishment from the NCAA.
The surprise NCAA slapdown of Georgia Tech's 2009 ACC Championship team continued on Friday when former team captain & starting center Sean Bedford left a scathing letter directed to the NCAA on his Facebook page. It's a classic, it's intelligent, passionate & to the point. In it Bedford wonders how thousands of hours of work by a hundred players, ten coaches & 30 support staff was flushed down the drain over $312 worth of free clothes? His complaint is essentially "make the punishment fit the crime." He's right, the NCAA went completely overboard on this one. The last line of his post reads:
"I'll be wearing my championship ring with pride & if you want that too, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead finger."
Georgia Tech center from the 2009 team, Sean Bedford
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne was in Kansas City Friday evening for an awards banquet & he said the Huskers would be agreeable to playing a Big-12 opponent occasionally in Arrowhead Stadium if the seats could be sold 50/50. Osborne was in a pensive mood as fellow award winner, Gardner-Edgerton High School QB Bubba Starling still hasn't made a final decision about his immediate future. Will it be Cornhusker football or Royals' baseball? Dr. Tom had hoped to return to Lincoln with Starling's firm commitment. A $6-7 million signing bonus awaits Starling as Kansas City's 1st round draft pick, 5th overall. Starling's choice will have to be made no later than August 15th.
There's talk around the NFL that Randy Moss wants one more shot & to impress some coaching staff as to his sincerity, it's said he's in "freakish shape." At 34, Moss probably still has enough physical skills to compete at a very high level, but it's the mental portion that scares so many. He can be such a PITA(pain in the ass). Moss has never been the locker room cancer that say, Terrell Owens has aspired to at several stops, but he just disappears, makes almost no effort at times. It's thought his daughter, Sydney, a highly recruited basketball player, is pushing her dad's buttons. She is challenging him to return to his former greatness with her recent signing to play at Florida. It will be interesting to see if someone takes a chance on Moss. Personally I'd opt for Plaxico Burress, he's desperate for the money & I think he'll put forth a major effort this season for whoever signs him. Moss is way more talented, but who knows how long he will remain motivated?
James Harrison, this week's hands-down winner of the "Know when to Shut Up" award, spit out another gem. On Twitter he claimed he was "singled out for fines & threats of suspension because of who I hit & because of my race." Harrison said "$5000 fine for drilling Vince Young & $20,000 for barely touching Drew Brees, you figure it out." Rich Eisen of The NFL Network was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show this morning & he made a very strong case in rebuttal.
"If game tape reviewers spot a hit that might be worthy of a fine, the play is forwarded to Ray Anderson, who is black. If he wants a 2nd opinion on the hit, he calls Merton Hanks, who is black. Their findings are forwarded to the commissioner with their recommendations. After the commissioner issues the fine, an appeal can be heard by the 2-man panel of Art Shell & Ted Cottrell, both black."
Your move Mr. Harrison.
The internal workings at ESPN never cease to amaze as well as leave me shaking my head. After Bruce Feldman's Twitter account fell silent for over two days after some 200-consecutive days of Tweets, people wondered if something was amiss. Feldman wouldn't respond to any texts, emails, Tweets or actual phones calls. His employer, ESPN.com & ESPN The Magazine issued a "no comment" to several prominent college football scribes looking into Feldman's whereabouts. Could it be his editing of Mike Leach's Swing Your Sword had caused him to run afoul of his employer? It was well known among the college football writing crowd he had carefully made certain of their approval every step of the process. John Taylor at College Football Talk sent three emails to people he knew at ESPN on Friday & never got a response to any of them. SportsbyBrooks reported Thursday night Feldman had been "suspended indefinitely" by the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." After more unanswered Tweets, texts & emails on Friday it was apparent he was on the receiving end of some corporate wrath. Then about 4PM, ESPN released this statement;
"There was never any suspension or any other form of disciplinary action. We took the time to review his upcoming work assignments in light of the book to which he contributed & will manage any conflicts or other issues as needed. He's resumed his assignments."
Resumed? That alone gives one the impression Feldman had been reprimanded in some way. Resumed? Does that mean he wasn't working & now he is? Why did ESPN let this story hang out there in the wind without any denial or confirmation? Why ignore fellow football scribes who aren't going to take "no comment" or being totally ignored without some sort of an explanation? Because they can, this is their history, this is how they conduct their business, especially when they feel threatened. They're the biggest, meanest, richest kid on the block so they don't play by normal rules. Their continued arrogance has been a staple of ESPN's business model. They demonstrated it again after the Monday release of Leach's book. The book that was edited by Feldman, which became a capitol crime in Bristol. The fact Feldman garnered approval for this work from the high mucky-mucks at ESPN meant little. When they finally read the book, which is highly critical of ESPN & one of it's employees, college football color man Craig James, the professional mood changed quickly to one of kicking & screaming like a spoiled two-year old. Just another reason to buy & read Leach's book IMO.
Today's Mike Leach entry will deal with why & how Adam James was offered a scholarship at Texas Tech & how sorry they were to have met his father, Craig James.
Adam's daddy, Craig James, came around & campaigned for his son. He talked about how good Adam was. It all started when we beat Cal in the Holiday Bowl. Craig was there to announce the game & came up to our hospitality room. He started telling us how great his kid was & how great the James family bloodlines were. I found out later he had given the same pitch to the Nevada coaches when he did their bowl game just a few days earlier.
Our staff then thoroughly researched whether Adam James had any scholarship offers & couldn't find any.(there are 120 Division 1 schools & not one had offered him a scholarship) We offered him a grayshirt, meaning his scholarship wouldn't take effect until the following January, we believed Adam needed all the time he could get with our staff.
The thing about it was Adam was big enough & moved decently. He was not fast but he had pretty good hands. He could have fit into the role of tight end for us, but because he didn't work hard, he was only marginally effective. We could never get him to move out from behind his father's coattails. Together they believed playing time was determined by politics & influence rather than hard work.
My biggest regret was not cutting Adam James. I kept hoping he'd develop a work ethic. He had two position coaches, Dana Holgerson(now head coach at W. Va.) & Lincoln Riley(currently Tech's O-coordinator). Our kids thrived under both coaches but he couldn't get along with either of them.
As a coach, you want it to work out. We invested a lot of time coaching Adam James. We worked hard to rehabilitate him, make him a working part of the team. We thought he may have simply been the victim of his dad's little-league father tendencies & that he would eventually find a way to be his own, independent person. But that didn't turn out to be the case. I should've cut my losses, but I was really hoping he'd improve & I stuck with him.
More from the Mike Leach book Swing Your Sword next week.
The surprise NCAA slapdown of Georgia Tech's 2009 ACC Championship team continued on Friday when former team captain & starting center Sean Bedford left a scathing letter directed to the NCAA on his Facebook page. It's a classic, it's intelligent, passionate & to the point. In it Bedford wonders how thousands of hours of work by a hundred players, ten coaches & 30 support staff was flushed down the drain over $312 worth of free clothes? His complaint is essentially "make the punishment fit the crime." He's right, the NCAA went completely overboard on this one. The last line of his post reads:
"I'll be wearing my championship ring with pride & if you want that too, you'll have to pry it from my cold dead finger."
Georgia Tech center from the 2009 team, Sean Bedford
Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne was in Kansas City Friday evening for an awards banquet & he said the Huskers would be agreeable to playing a Big-12 opponent occasionally in Arrowhead Stadium if the seats could be sold 50/50. Osborne was in a pensive mood as fellow award winner, Gardner-Edgerton High School QB Bubba Starling still hasn't made a final decision about his immediate future. Will it be Cornhusker football or Royals' baseball? Dr. Tom had hoped to return to Lincoln with Starling's firm commitment. A $6-7 million signing bonus awaits Starling as Kansas City's 1st round draft pick, 5th overall. Starling's choice will have to be made no later than August 15th.
There's talk around the NFL that Randy Moss wants one more shot & to impress some coaching staff as to his sincerity, it's said he's in "freakish shape." At 34, Moss probably still has enough physical skills to compete at a very high level, but it's the mental portion that scares so many. He can be such a PITA(pain in the ass). Moss has never been the locker room cancer that say, Terrell Owens has aspired to at several stops, but he just disappears, makes almost no effort at times. It's thought his daughter, Sydney, a highly recruited basketball player, is pushing her dad's buttons. She is challenging him to return to his former greatness with her recent signing to play at Florida. It will be interesting to see if someone takes a chance on Moss. Personally I'd opt for Plaxico Burress, he's desperate for the money & I think he'll put forth a major effort this season for whoever signs him. Moss is way more talented, but who knows how long he will remain motivated?
James Harrison, this week's hands-down winner of the "Know when to Shut Up" award, spit out another gem. On Twitter he claimed he was "singled out for fines & threats of suspension because of who I hit & because of my race." Harrison said "$5000 fine for drilling Vince Young & $20,000 for barely touching Drew Brees, you figure it out." Rich Eisen of The NFL Network was a guest on the Dan Patrick Show this morning & he made a very strong case in rebuttal.
"If game tape reviewers spot a hit that might be worthy of a fine, the play is forwarded to Ray Anderson, who is black. If he wants a 2nd opinion on the hit, he calls Merton Hanks, who is black. Their findings are forwarded to the commissioner with their recommendations. After the commissioner issues the fine, an appeal can be heard by the 2-man panel of Art Shell & Ted Cottrell, both black."
Your move Mr. Harrison.
The internal workings at ESPN never cease to amaze as well as leave me shaking my head. After Bruce Feldman's Twitter account fell silent for over two days after some 200-consecutive days of Tweets, people wondered if something was amiss. Feldman wouldn't respond to any texts, emails, Tweets or actual phones calls. His employer, ESPN.com & ESPN The Magazine issued a "no comment" to several prominent college football scribes looking into Feldman's whereabouts. Could it be his editing of Mike Leach's Swing Your Sword had caused him to run afoul of his employer? It was well known among the college football writing crowd he had carefully made certain of their approval every step of the process. John Taylor at College Football Talk sent three emails to people he knew at ESPN on Friday & never got a response to any of them. SportsbyBrooks reported Thursday night Feldman had been "suspended indefinitely" by the "Worldwide Leader in Sports." After more unanswered Tweets, texts & emails on Friday it was apparent he was on the receiving end of some corporate wrath. Then about 4PM, ESPN released this statement;
"There was never any suspension or any other form of disciplinary action. We took the time to review his upcoming work assignments in light of the book to which he contributed & will manage any conflicts or other issues as needed. He's resumed his assignments."
Resumed? That alone gives one the impression Feldman had been reprimanded in some way. Resumed? Does that mean he wasn't working & now he is? Why did ESPN let this story hang out there in the wind without any denial or confirmation? Why ignore fellow football scribes who aren't going to take "no comment" or being totally ignored without some sort of an explanation? Because they can, this is their history, this is how they conduct their business, especially when they feel threatened. They're the biggest, meanest, richest kid on the block so they don't play by normal rules. Their continued arrogance has been a staple of ESPN's business model. They demonstrated it again after the Monday release of Leach's book. The book that was edited by Feldman, which became a capitol crime in Bristol. The fact Feldman garnered approval for this work from the high mucky-mucks at ESPN meant little. When they finally read the book, which is highly critical of ESPN & one of it's employees, college football color man Craig James, the professional mood changed quickly to one of kicking & screaming like a spoiled two-year old. Just another reason to buy & read Leach's book IMO.
Today's Mike Leach entry will deal with why & how Adam James was offered a scholarship at Texas Tech & how sorry they were to have met his father, Craig James.
Adam's daddy, Craig James, came around & campaigned for his son. He talked about how good Adam was. It all started when we beat Cal in the Holiday Bowl. Craig was there to announce the game & came up to our hospitality room. He started telling us how great his kid was & how great the James family bloodlines were. I found out later he had given the same pitch to the Nevada coaches when he did their bowl game just a few days earlier.
Our staff then thoroughly researched whether Adam James had any scholarship offers & couldn't find any.(there are 120 Division 1 schools & not one had offered him a scholarship) We offered him a grayshirt, meaning his scholarship wouldn't take effect until the following January, we believed Adam needed all the time he could get with our staff.
The thing about it was Adam was big enough & moved decently. He was not fast but he had pretty good hands. He could have fit into the role of tight end for us, but because he didn't work hard, he was only marginally effective. We could never get him to move out from behind his father's coattails. Together they believed playing time was determined by politics & influence rather than hard work.
My biggest regret was not cutting Adam James. I kept hoping he'd develop a work ethic. He had two position coaches, Dana Holgerson(now head coach at W. Va.) & Lincoln Riley(currently Tech's O-coordinator). Our kids thrived under both coaches but he couldn't get along with either of them.
As a coach, you want it to work out. We invested a lot of time coaching Adam James. We worked hard to rehabilitate him, make him a working part of the team. We thought he may have simply been the victim of his dad's little-league father tendencies & that he would eventually find a way to be his own, independent person. But that didn't turn out to be the case. I should've cut my losses, but I was really hoping he'd improve & I stuck with him.
More from the Mike Leach book Swing Your Sword next week.
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