Jim Tressel resigns

[AZ_]

Everything Cicero told Tressel has been proven to be true so, I don't see the difference between he and Isaac. Regardless of whether Cicero was or wasn't directly involved, his information was 100% accurate.

I agree.

But given the reputation of Cicero, why would Tressel have taken his word as gospel at the time?

 

[AZ_]

Whatever. :chuckles:


Bottom line is that everyone in the city knew that Monus was hooking up athletes...EVERYONE! Stop acting like Tressel didn't. There is only one reason for Tress to ask Monus to contact Ray and you know it. So stop being intentionally thick.

Well I guess we have to believe it.....I mean, despite this large investigation and the NCAA not being able to do anything to Tressel during his YSU days.

We'll just assume he's guilty and live with that. I mean, even though Monus and Isaac have repeatedly said it was their doing, and not Tressel's....Clearly, it was Tressel's fault for introducing his QB to a University Trustee.

 

[Maximus]

I mean, despite this large investigation and the NCAA not being able to do anything to Tressel during his YSU days.

That's right, they weren't able to do anything...statute of limitations had run out.

In February 2000, 11 months before Ohio State hired Tressel, Youngstown State acknowledged numerous football violations and announced self-imposed sanctions, including the loss of two scholarships. Because it was satisfied with those steps and its statute of limitations on the violations had run out, the NCAA allowed Youngstown to keep the '91 national title, one of four Tressel won with the Penguins. Cochran, who is now retired, still shakes his head over Tressel's contradictions. There was the Christian who lifted kids out of troubled neighborhoods and built a football "family," Cochran says, and there was the coach who claimed to have been kept in the dark after he had assiduously avoided the light. "What bothered me was that the family knows," Cochran says. "Inside the family everyone knows what's going on."

 

[AZ_]

That's right, they weren't able to do anything...statute of limitations had run out.

Hard to believe considering "everybody" knew about it....

 

[Maximus]

Hard to believe considering "everybody" knew about it....

huh?

 

[AZ_]

Whatever. :chuckles:


Bottom line is that everyone in the city knew that Monus was hooking up athletes...EVERYONE! Stop acting like Tressel didn't. There is only one reason for Tress to ask Monus to contact Ray and you know it. So stop being intentionally thick.

Apparently Youngstown keeps some great secrets...

 

[JayDub]

I agree.

But given the reputation of Cicero, why would Tressel have taken his word as gospel at the time?

If he didn't think it wasn't valuable information then why did he feel it necessary to forward the e-mails to Sarniak? There is no valid argument to why Tressel forwarded the e-mails but never acted on them in any other form, like walking down to the compliance department and turning it over to them.

That's their job to figure out if Cicero's e-mails are worthy of being checked, not Tressels. It's not as if Cicero sent one e-mail, he sent a number of them detailing the situation to prove to Tressel he wasn't full of shit, still Tressel did nothing but sit on it. How is that in any way excusable?

 

[AZ_]

If he didn't think it wasn't valuable information then why did he feel it necessary to forward the e-mails to Sarniak? There is no valid argument to why Tressel forwarded the e-mails but never acted on them in any other form, like walking down to the compliance department and turning it over to them.

That's their job to figure out if Cicero's e-mails are worthy of being checked, not Tressels. It's not as if Cicero sent one e-mail, he sent a number of them detailing the situation to prove to Tressel he wasn't full of shit, still Tressel did nothing but sit on it. How is that in any way excusable?

Exactly, that was his biggest mistake.

But again, that is not worth losing your job over....It's just not.

 

[AZ_]

Cochran calls quote ‘fabricated;’ SI holds firm

By Karl Henkel

Thursday, June 2, 2011

khenkel@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Leslie Cochran was surprised when he read Sports Illustrated’s story on Jim Tressel.

The most surprising part?

Comments attributed to himself.

He said the story, which was published Monday and written by SI’s George Dohrmann and David Epstein, included a quote that he said was “fabricated.”

Cochran, the now-retired Youngstown State University president who lives near Fort Myers, Fla., was contacted by The Vindicator on Wednesday.

The story reported Cochran’s saying: “What bothered me was that the family knows. Inside the family, everyone knows what’s going on.”

That was a reference to how Tressel ran the university’s football program.

YSU acknowledged violations in 2000 and announced self-imposed sanctions, though the NCAA’s statute of limitations had since run out.

Eleven months later, Tressel was hired as head coach of The Ohio State University.

Though Cochran denied making that statement Wednesday, Epstein said via Twitter that the interview with Cochran was extensive and that he did indeed make that comment.

“He absolutely said it,” Epstein wrote. “Not sure what more we can say.”

That comment in the cover story — that ultimately led to Tressel’s resignation Monday — angered many close to the YSU program, who questioned Cochran’s qualifications to make such a remark.

Cochran maintained Wednesday that he wasn’t misquoted; instead, he was adamant that he didn’t make the family reference or anything of the like.

“I never said that,” he said.

YSU play-by-play announcer Bob Hannon and Paul Lyden, former vice president and president of the Penguin Club, both said Tuesday that Cochran wasn’t the best choice for SI to use as a source.

Hannon said “he wasn’t a major part of the football program.”

Cochran agreed with Hannon and Lyden.

“Was I the best person to define the inner workings of the football program?” he said. “Of course not, which is why I question where the statement [about family] came from.”

Epstein said Wednesday he talked with Pauline Saternow, the then-compliance officer at YSU; Mickey Monus, the former YSU trustee and founder of the Phar-Mor drugstore chain; and former YSU quarterback Ray Isaac for the article.

The “family” comment dealt with the topic of Isaac, who by the time he left the university in 1992 had collected more than $10,000 in cash and checks from Monus and Monus’ associates and employees.

Isaac and Monus later were implicated in a jury-tampering scandal.

Isaac, who now operates his own football camp facility in South Carolina, could not be reached to comment Wednesday.

Cochran on Wednesday reflected on Tressel’s tenure at YSU and said he was shocked at the tenor of SI’s story.

“It was out of character,” he said of the allegations against Tressel. “I couldn’t believe all that occurred.”

Well, this is certainly getting interesting....

Apparently not EVERYBODY knew....as people claim

 

[Soda Popinski]

Exactly, that was his biggest mistake.

But again, that is not worth losing your job over....It's just not.

In any other job this would not cost someone his job. But in the position he was in he KNEW he would lose his job if found out. That is what I meant earlier when I said you were missing the point. I don't care what the rule is, it is a rule and he knew what would happen if he did it.

What that shows is that Tressel put winning above all other things he talked about. That shows what kind of person he really is. Actions speak louder than words and his actions show little character or regard for the rules.

 

[Maximus]

But again, that is not worth losing your job over....It's just not.

A coach that lies to the NCAA and then attempts a coverup will lose his job every time. Stop being an apologist...it's pathetic. If we were talking about the coach of Michigan you'd be shitting yourself if he still had his job. Fact.

(((Waits for a response of "well the NCAA's rules suck" or "everyone else is doing it" or "he did so many good things")))

 

[Tornicade]

the only coverup tressel had was in saying he had no knowledge of the infractions.
he did not try to cover up the actual infractions.

Jerry Tarkanian was fired for infractions. got fired and won a lawsuit for damages to get his money.

Ultimately Tresel chose to resign. he didnt have to. 9 million dollars is alot of money.

I like Tressel. ill continue to like Tressel and his resignation at ohio state is unfortunate but I still see him as a stand up guy and a credit to theOhio State University

 

[AZ_]

In any other job this would not cost someone his job. But in the position he was in he KNEW he would lose his job if found out. That is what I meant earlier when I said you were missing the point. I don't care what the rule is, it is a rule and he knew what would happen if he did it.

What that shows is that Tressel put winning above all other things he talked about. That shows what kind of person he really is. Actions speak louder than words and his actions show little character or regard for the rules.

Are you kidding me?

You think Tressel thought he would get fired if this came to light?.....That's absolutely freaking ridiculous man...I'm sorry, no other way to put it.

 

[AZ_]

A coach that lies to the NCAA and then attempts a coverup will lose his job every time. Stop being an apologist...it's pathetic. If we were talking about the coach of Michigan you'd be shitting yourself if he still had his job. Fact.

(((Waits for a response of "well the NCAA's rules suck" or "everyone else is doing it" or "he did so many good things")))

Yea, because we should definitely throw away the rest of his career when taking his job security into account.

Give me a fucking break.

You would think we were talking about the Kennedy assasination the way people refer to it as a cover up....stop being so damn dramatic.

He took it upon himself to investigate instead of letting compliance do their job....nothing much more than that really.

This whole dealings with Rife was far from fact in even when he signed the document about infractions....and who knows how the whole FBI investigation played into everything.

 

[Maximus]

Yea, because we should definitely throw away the rest of his career when taking his job security into account.

Don't put words in my mouth. I've never said anything about the rest of his career. I just knew you'd use it as a defense. He should be praised for all his accomplishments. All of I've said all along, is that no matter how impressive his resume the NCAA wasn't going to let him off the hook for doing something so stupid....it's automatic. Not saying the NCAA is right, but that's the way they operate when they catch you lying and covering up.

He took it upon himself to investigate instead of letting compliance do their job....nothing much more than that really.

:chuckles: Emailing TP's pimp is a hell of an investigation.

This whole dealings with Rife was far from fact in even when he signed the document about infractions

Do you really think there was any doubt whatosever in Tressel's mind that these violations occured...even a few hours after he found out? Let alone 4-5 months? That's absurd. Tress even told Sarniak that he trusted Cicero as "someone that's always looked out for us".

Three hours after Tressel responded to Cicero's first email, he called Ted Sarniak, a 67-year-old businessman in Pryor's hometown, who befriended the quarterback years ago and accompanied him on recruiting trips to Ohio State and other universities.

That call lasted less than a minute. Two minutes later, Sarniak called Tressel's cell phone. That call lasted 15 minutes.

The next morning, Tressel forwarded Cicero's first email to Sarniak, as previously reported by The Dispatch. "This guy, Chris Cicero, is a criminal lawyer in town. He played here when I was an assistant coach in the early 1980s. He has always looked out for us. jt"

Sarniak responded, "Received the information. Ted"

Phone records show two more contacts between Tressel and Sarniak -- a seven-minute phone conversation on April 7 and one that lasted 14 minutes on April 26.


During the month of April 2010, Tressel exchanged 33 text messages and phone calls with Pryor. He also exchanged a dozen emails with Cicero, a number higher than previously indicated by Ohio State.

In his first email, Cicero warned Tressel that the tattoo parlor owner under investigation had a criminal record and that federal agents had raided the suspect's house, seizing memorabilia associated with certain players.

Cicero to Tressel - "My suggestion is to tell (blacked out name) and any other current player . . . tell them that BEFORE they talk to anybody, or respond to anybody that they MUST contact you first . . . especially if some stupid media would get wind of this."

Tressel to Cicero an email - "I told (blacked out name) to steer clear. Is there any way I could get all the ring names? I have a little plan once this year's rings arrive. jt"