| 28 December 2010
Tattoogate has taken on a life of its own. We are past Christmas but there is no discussion about the Sugar Bowl to speak of. We have a huge vacancy on the coaching staff. We have a recruiting class to wrap up. I am going to make this my last post about the issue. Get back to football.
I see two separate issues. I will never change my mind about the selling of Gold Pants and Championship rings. Gold Pants are a tradition that goes back to 1934. To understand the significance of Gold Pants is to understand Ohio State traditions. It is an honor that only Ohio State football players can be decorated with. Only about 100 college football players every year even have the opportunity to wear the Gold Pants. I have yet to hear a former player speak publicly and say the selling of such an honor is okay with them. If a player is in desperate financial straits then that player has to do what he has to do. That is not the case here. We hear about the players being in a tough financial situation. We have no evidence of that. Lets say that is true. We still have the evidence of the tattoos. At some point the sale of a special Buckeye honor was put into the acquisition of tattoos. I am being told that I am putting my values onto someone else. Yes, I am. It is called traditions. I do not get how you can call yourself a Buckeye but not put any value in the traditions that go along with being a Buckeye.
Something has come up in the last few days that has an impact on this. I do not sport any tattoos. I know a number of people who do. One of them sat down with me and tried to explain the importance of the tattoos. The history of tattooing. The symbolism of tattoos. Every single one means something. Each one has a story. That is why so much forethought is put into the choice of the tattoo and the design of the artwork. I don't know about the others but Terrelle Pryor has a very large Ohio State tattoo. I let my tattoo'ed friend read the above paragraph. He smiled when he read that. He is a Buckeye fan. He understood what I was saying but he told me I did not understand what Terrelle was saying. He said jewelery is something you take on and off. A tattoo is part of you all of the time. It is part of your soul. It meant alot more to him (Pryor) to make being a Buckeye part of who he is than the piece of interchangable jewelry he gave up to make that happen.
To Terrelle Pryor and any of the other "5" who wear Buckeye tattoos I say I accept your new way of showing your love for Ohio State. You need to accept that you violated ours. A public apology would go along way to putting this behind us.
The other issue is whether the players should be suspended. Yes, they should. Because that is the rule. They broke the rule knowingly. Don't tell me they didn't. Former players are coming out and saying they knew it was the rule. Thaddeus Gibson is the most recent to come out and say the issue of selling memorabilia came up multiple times ( http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2010/12/27/sports/nh3459234.txt) . Gibson was here when the "5" were here. The athletic department made sure some players heard about the rule multiple times but neglected to inform other players at all? 5 players just happened to not be present during any of the conversations about the selling of memorabilia being a violation? The administration knew it was so important that they made sure to bring it up multiple times but did not make sure they spoke to all the players? If you believe any of these statements to be true it is just because you want them to be true.
The frustrating part for me is it shouldn't be the rule. No matter how wrong it is to sell Gold Pants and Championship rings, they belonged to the players. They were presented to them as theirs. Once they leave school they can do with them what they please so the NCAA is not trying to get the players to honor traditions, to recognize the significance of the honors. They are making sure the payers don't make money off of something where the NCAA does not get a cut.
There is so more talk about whether Jim Tressel should suspend the players for the Sugar Bowl. Why? They are already suspended for 5 games. They should not be suspended at all. Whether you agree or disagree about whether they should be suspended for selling their own property I doubt you would disagree that 5 games is just ridiculous. Adding another is just piling on. It may be the last time these players have a chance to show off for the NFL. As angry as Buckeye Nation is at these players we don't want to damage their future prospects. Taking that away from them is an ugly piece of business.
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