GP1

Article on the ongoing tOSU sham.

What else needs to go on? He broke one of the rules you really cannot break then lied to his boss and caused his boss to lie to his boss. Six guys who shouldn't have been on the field were and tOSU had a BCS run making them a ton of money. It disrupts what integrity there is remaining in college athletics. This ongoing sham tOSU is putting on extending the suspension from two to five games is laughable.

Tressel now has five games. How this guy still has a job I have no idea.

Here we go again.

I don't think I want to watch players play who have such little talent the value is measured in zero.

I almost used unexpected, but the unexpected is what made it interesting for me.

Novelty act? They were a freakshow. They wore plungers on their heads.

"Interesting" is the word I would select. Most Zips basketball seasons sort of progress down a very predictable. They normally clean up on a weak OOC schedule, lose some games to "BCS" level programs, clean up on weak MAC teams, win their share against MAC teams equal to them and then lose the MAC Championship. This season was completely different in some bad ways and some very good ways, which makes it an interesting season. They struggled in November losing to Dayton and CSU. I can accept Dayton, but not CSU. We should have a better program than that at this point. They almost lost to YSU in November. The start of the season did not look good. December gave us a turnaround against mid major OOC teams, but the usual loses to major programs. The MAC schedule was not the usual Zips performance as well. Losing to NIU and EMU was inexcusable and were games just a couple of years ago we would have never lost. However, the Zips went on an impressive late season run then lost their last two to OU and Can't. OU was an embarrassment giving the Zips a late season loss we are not used to watching. I though Akron was a better team than Can't and if Zeke doesn't foul out, the win that game. The Zips regular season was different than what we are used to watching so it was interesting. The Zips winning the MAC Tournament is unexpected because we lose so many times so it was fun and interesting. Interesting is not a bad word. Why? For the first time in a while, this unpredictable, interesting season has made me interested in the future. Unpredictablility makes things fun. The same old, same old was not impressing me. I'm not as impressed as I could be, but I am interested. What is your ONE word?

It shouldn't be up to the ncaa to say whether or not a guy can juggle all of the above. If they want to work, they should be free to do so.

I think more than anything, Zeke needs to work on his attitude. You CANNOT get so upset over every little disappointment during a game. It bleeds over to the next play and the next free throw and.......................... Good post. I think Zeke could be great, but we didn't see it yesterday. You mentioned endurance. The times I saw the Zips this season, they seemed to tire in the second half. Some better conditioning next season is needed. I wouldn't read too much into what someone looks like during a game as a gauge for how they think about things. He took more shots than anyone and that is a sign of confidence. The biggest disappointment for me is ND was trying to hand the game to the Zips yesterday and they didn't take it. If ND plays like they did yesterday Sunday, they will lose. If the Zips play up to their potential yesterday, they win. We could have and should have won.

Maybe depraved in lieu of deprived. I don't know your life would be much different if there was a smaller tournament field.

Instead of knee-jerk reactions to my posts, you guys should actually read them. What I'm saying is make the conference tournament games count for something. Akron would still be in the same position we are today. We would be having just as much fun knowing teams like UNC were at home while we were still playing.

I'd bet most people who call themselves college basketball fans can't keep their attention on one of these game for more than 10 minutes. They really don't like them and the network has to switch to games to try to keep fans watching. They are a waste of time.

Grow up? I'm not the one having a hissy fit about an internet post. Anyhow, he is a good writer and the article above is a good article. Especially the parts about the lack of talent in the NCAA compared to past years. I have no idea what he said about Limbaugh and it probably can't add up to all the lies Limbaugh has been telling to a group of willing dupes over the years.

Use the conference tournaments to do this or eliminate the conference tournaments. Do one or the other, but don't do both. I like the idea of making the conference tournaments mean something for more than just the mid-major conference schools. What if the Duke vs. UNC game last Sunday actually was meaningful?

Mike Wilbon is an excellent writer and brings up topics nobody else will. Weren't George Mason and Cleveland State conference champions when they got in the NCAAs? If we made the conference tournaments mean something and reduced the sized of the field, those schools would still be in the same position. Most basketball Cinderella stories in the NCAA Tournament end up with Cinderella being put out of her misery living the rest of her days as an old single spinster.

Please see the statistics on the two bottom seeds. Those games are a waste of time and money for those who buy tickets. I don't know if it would make the tournament less exciting. If a team was required to win their conference to get in like Akron is, we would still be in and just as excited. It would not detract from the non "BCS" conference tournaments, but it would make the big conference tournaments much more exciting. Want to expand the tournament? Make the conference tournaments mean something by requiring teams to win them to get in the NCAA. Why have another week of games in the NCAA Tournament when the conference tournaments could serve as that week? It actually becomes the "everyone in" scenario people want. There are a lot of ways to skin the cat, expanding and "growing" the Tournament isn't the way to do it.

Article I don't disagree with a word of this article. Since 1985, #16 seeds are 0-104 against #1s and #15s are 4-100 aginst #2s. That's 4-204 total. Less than 2% of the time either #16s or #15s win. This means there are too many teams in the NCAA Tournament. We should either go back to 32 teams and make the conference tournaments mean something, or change the way teams are allowed to enter. I have tickets to the first round in Charlotte tomorrow and will pass on the first session to watch the Zips play. Even if the Zips weren't playing, I have no interest in watching Duke destroy Hampton by 60. ADDITION Later: A great point Wilbon makes is about the lack of talent in the Tournament. I was watching a special on ESPN the other night, at least I think it was ESPN. It was about the UNLV teams from the 80s. They played Duke in the Final Four two years in a row winning one and losing one. I hate to sound like one of those old guys who says players were better then, but I think both UNLV and Duke of that era could beat any team in the Tournament this weekend. The Duke team back then would kick the crap out of the Duke team today.

I don't care if he is from the Moon. A Can't grad is a Can't grad and an Akron grad is superior to a Can't grad any day of the week.

Where even to start with this drivel? What I take from this commercial is, a Can't education gives you the ability to write music for cartoons directed to 6 year olds and the skills necessary to be a member of a freakshow, one hit wonder of a band from whenever those guys were young. I guess I shouldn't be too harsh, one must play to their strengths. Akron, on the other hand, produces world class polymer scientists, top notch engineers, nurses, teachers, business leaders and political leaders. My long streak of never saying anything good about a Can't State education continues....

You want to impress us, do something about our football team on September 3rd. In order to be saved, one must confess their wrongs. Until the Zips confess they are spending too much time building and not enough time focued on winning, they cannot be saved. I thought they were supposed to focus on doing their best... or so said Woody Harrelson or somebody. Building isn't doing your best. Doing your best leads to winning.

You want to impress us, do something about our football team on September 3rd. In order to be saved, one must confess their wrongs. Until the Zips confess they are spending too much time building and not enough time focued on winning, they cannot be saved.

GP1 goes to church? Who'd of thunk it? From now on, I am staying close to the outside walls. When I'm not walking on water, I stay pretty busy at church making the deaf hear, curing the blind, cleansing lepers, etc. on a weekly basis. It's a tough job.

He said he was sorry... The guy who wasn't just the football coach at YSU, but the athletic director as well didn't know what to do? Let me help Jim because I think you may be telling another lie. Tressel was not involved in any criminal activity so he can talk to a lawyer in confidence. If he somehow was involved in criminal activity (I don't believe he was), he has every right to ask a lawyer for assistance in planning which direction to take. Can't go to the compliance officer? Fine. tOSU probably has 20 lawyers on staff who he could have talked about the situation with free of charge. This whole idea that he was just a guy who was caught up in something he didn't know how to handle because he is a babe in the woods is just bunk. He knew exactly what to do and decided it would be better to try to win a national championship than do the right thing. The problem with what he is doing is he is making himself larger than the program. That's when programs die. A coach can never be bigger than the program. Paterno has made himself larger than the program and it is killing PSU. Bowden (FSU), Woody (tOSU) and less so Osborne (Nebraska) all made themselves bigger than the program they were coaching and it was not healthy for those programs. Knight made himself bigger than the program at IU and they have never recovered. The best thing tOSU can do is realize Tressel is not bigger than the program and either ask him to resign or fire him. Either way, he has to go or everything is going to be about the problems and not what is happening on the field. It's the right thing to do all around, which is why they won't do it. Watching this guy tell lie after lie for the next few months is going to be quite fun.

We should remove the rules because the rules are moronic. They are intended to punish people who a group of cranky old guys at the NCAA think should be punished because they are a bunch of bitter a-holes. The rules also keep the bloated bureaucracy at the NCAA working. The more disadvantage programs are at a disadvantage for far bigger reasons than whether or not a kid has a side job. The big conferences have TV contracts, an engaged alumni associations giving millions to support athletics, they can charge higher ticket prices, they can charge out the ying yang for sponsorships, they sell millions in merchandising, they can charge huge sums for things like parking rights, etc. There is your proof....none of it has to do with whether a kid can have a job or not. So what if some jock sniffer wants to pay a player $50 per hour to appear at a car dealership, etc.? It's a free country first of all and if the jock sniffer wants to spend his money that way, then why should we complain? Unfortunately, we can't develop a high level of jock sniffer like they do. Second, that money is peanuts compared to what schools are making.