Uh-oh! The Vest has his tit in the wringer, doesn't he? I'm not all that surprised, because this entire episode has been stinky from the start. Turns out that Tress knew more about Tatoo-Gate than he let on. And the reasons he gave for not sharing that knowledge sooner and more completely seem fairly feeble. "Scared"? "Confidentiality"? C'mon, man!
On the flip side, I do believe Jim Tressel is an otherwise righteous dude with strong character who, for some reason, fucked up in this instance. He's done his mea culpa and will be choking down crow for some time to come.
I can't help thinking about this peculiar NCAA rule that prevents big-time jocks from selling what seems to be their property (No, that's not your stuff, at least not until you use up all your eligibility) or from trying to use whatever leverage their position may give them to get a good deal on services and merchandise (Sorry boys, you gotta pay full sticker for every goddam thing until you leave school).
At top-level football and basketball colleges, the notion that the star athletes are Golden Amateurs pursuing An Education is a happy fiction perpetrated and enforced by the NCAA. If we accept these college programs for what they are, then we're not having this conversation.
After all, back when I was in college, I sold some of my stuff too . . . if you know what I mean. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment