Jim Tressel’s decided he’s not going down without a fight.
.. There’s a new twist to the story. Sitting beside Tressel will be Gene Marsh, a former chairman of the infractions committee, from the Birmingham law firm Lightfoot, Franklin & White.
Marsh confirmed Friday he has represented Tressel for a couple of weeks and will be in Indianapolis at the hearing. When it comes to defending yourself against the NCAA, hiring Marsh represents bringing out the big guns.
Marsh certainly knows his way around the process. He’s got a tough row to hoe, but he’s already formulating strategies to save his client.
… Tressel’s known offense would get many coaches fired by now if he hadn’t won six straight Big Ten titles. SI.com reported that in the past 81 infractions cases involving coaches or administrators accused of the unethical conduct bylaw charged against Tressel, 78 of those people quit or were fired.
Marsh’s strategy in part focuses on what he says is Tressel’s positive track record.
“Obviously, the track record should matter because some people’s track records are good and some people’s track records are bad,” Marsh said Friday. “I was on the committee for nine years. All I can say is it always mattered to me.”
But Marsh doesn’t want to talk too much about Tressel’s past. That’s why he’s going to invoke the Alabama Defense.
“Any program that’s big is going to have issues,” Marsh said Friday. “All you have to do is look at Tuscaloosa. If you’re in this business, you’re going to have issues.”
You’ve gotta admit, it’s not like he’s the first one to have thought of it. Maybe Marsh can call Phil Fulmer as a character witness.
Get The Picture 
Oh, to be a fly on the wall when Jim Delany catches wind of this.
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Why would a Wookiee, an 8-foot-tall Wookiee, want to live on Endor, with a bunch of 2-foot-tall Ewoks? That does not make sense! But more important, you have to ask yourself: What does this have to do with this case? Nothing. Ladies and gentlemen, it has nothing to do with this case! It does not make sense! Look at me. I’m a lawyer defending a major record company, and I’m talkin’ about Chewbacca! Does that make sense? Ladies and gentlemen, I am not making any sense! None of this makes sense! And so you have to remember, when you’re in that jury room deliberatin’ and conjugatin’ the Emancipation Proclamation, does it make sense? No! Ladies and gentlemen of this supposed jury, it does not make sense! If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit! The defense rests
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One of my favorite South Park episodes ever!
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So, Ohio State is a big program, and therefore having its head coach cover up violations and then lie about it to the NCAA’s face was inevitable? If that defense flies, there should never be another investigation at a BCS conference school again. They’re ALL big programs. Let the free-for-all begin!
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It’s kind of like when some politician is accused of wrongdoing, and whatever partisan hack writes about how all politicians do this kind of thing. That it’s hypocritical to punish this when you let x go. In all such arguments it comes down to what can be proved. So, yes, a lot of programs probably do similar things, but we have proof of this particular offense. That makes all the difference in the world.
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My point is, saying that it couldn’t be avoided just because it’s such a big program is the biggest joke of a defense ever. Now, certainly it stands to reason that if you’re a big time program, at some point you’re going to have a player or a booster or somebody break a rule. It’s happened at Georgia, it’s happened many places. But that doesn’t excuse Tressel’s behavior. He’s the head guy. Tressel didn’t cover things up to keep his players eligible and then lie about it to investigators because Ohio State’s such a big program. No, he did it because he’s a liar and a cheat. The size and scope of Ohio State’s football program didn’t make him a liar and a cheat, he was one to begin with. Character is what you do when nobody else is looking. Now it’s time for him to be held to account for it.
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This is in Alabama, so Gene Marsh must be related to Del Marsh.
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You’ve gotta admit, it’s not like he’s the first one to have thought of it. Maybe Marsh can call Phil Fulmer as a character witness.
You, sir, are a bad, bad man.
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If the 10.1 violation is upheld (and it most likely will be), then Tressel should lose his job, and OSU should be condemned if he doesn’t.
But it’s pretty sad that Tressel will leave the sport considered a criminal and so on due to having not told the NCAA about some players already on the team selling their stuff for cash… while SEC coaches, ADs, and Presidents – from schools that already have embarrassing histories on the matter – exploit and greatly harm the lives of many teenagers from the South’s most impoverished communities.
Pay the poor kids? Criminal!
Lie to and exploit the poor kids, while not paying them? Meh.
Great sport we have lately. Be proud.
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” The easiest way to fix the problem is to address the problem. Beginning in middle school, kids should be told by their coaches, teachers, and parents that they are going to be held to a higher standard. Athletic ability guarantees a free ride. It doesn’t guarantee an open door. If the adults involved in the lives of these kids adjust their mentality from “this is what you need to do to deal with it” to “this is where you need to be to be successful,” all of these problems go away. It’s time to stop saying that a kid from the wrong side of the tracks needs a paycheck because football is their way out and start saying that a kid from the wrong side of the tracks gets an education because football is their way in. Without athletic talent, a lot of the kids we continue to talk about, black or white, would only view a college campus while dropping off a pizza. If perspective is appropriately represented, these kids, given the opportunity of a four year free education, would embrace it, utilize it, and succeed because of it.
Fact is, college athletes graduate with degrees at nearly the same rate as the general student body. They’ve already proven they’re equal to their peers. Why continue the argument that these players, given free educations and equal opportunity, need yet another leg up on the kid who will pay student loans until they’re 40?
Every job has an entry level requirement. The NFL’s entry level requires a player to be three years removed from high school. Players have a choice. They can go to college and build their resume, or hope that three years removed from high school and without experience will get them drafted. How many have you seen skip college? Let’s be real. Let’s be accurate. Paying players creates more problems than it solves, regardless of what Jason Whitlock accepts as his current reality. The solution is as simple as realistic expectations and proper preparation. Can we be realistic for once?
I’m sorry that Ed O’Bannon didn’t cut it in the NBA. I’m sorry that Tyrone Prothro’s injury limited his NFL potential. Heck, I’m sorry that someone told Maurice Clarett when he was 16 that he was destined to be the next great pro running back. Most importantly, I’m sorry that the gravy training jerk-offs who told all these kids that millions of professional dollars were going to be easy ever existed in the first place. If you want to fix the problem, focus on the problem. If you wan’t to put a band aid on reality, pay college athletes and wait for the next problem to surface. I’d bet a healthy sum that paying college players creates more Antoine Walkers than Michael Jordans. Of course, Antoine Walker lacked the funds to pony up for that bet” Dan Wines
…….couldn’t have said it better myself.
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Great argument for spinning the programs off and detaching them from academic institutions.
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“while SEC coaches, ADs, and Presidents – from schools that already have embarrassing histories on the matter – exploit and greatly harm the lives of many teenagers from the South’s most impoverished communities.”
Good gravy. How exactly do they “greatly harm them”? You are the quintessential pandering Ivy league wannabe liberal. It is a good thing that these poor dumb blacks have Massa Texas Dawg to look out for them. However would they avoid being exploited by these racist Southern coaches without you? When you finally decide to leave the warm embrace of elitist know it alls at your current school and earn a living, I suggest you try social work so you can work to right all these wrongs you have discovered. Until then, I suggest you stop watching the exploitation that is SEC football. It clearly is effecting your mental well-being
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Texas Dawg, how do you even know what’s going on with your nose so high in the air?
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I’m just not feeling the whole Texas Dawg vibe, I guess.
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Oh well.
A growing number of others that realize this sport has some really serious problems. The type that conscientious people can’t just pretend don’t matter.
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Gets lonely up there on that pedestal doesn’t it?
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It’s fun down there in the dregs isn’t it?
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Are we cross? You know I just couldn’t stand it if I thought I had made you cross!
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Ahh, what a nest of vipers – lawyers and ADs, burying the coins in the ground; rushing to paint the selpulcher white; all the while cleansing the outside of the Ohio State cup…
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I need to send Andy Stone to Columbus and talk to Tressel. Maybe he should quit.
RG
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