GP1

Tressel still has knee pain from his recruiting of Pryor.

I have several...... That concludes my comments.

I have no problems with it at all as long as the money is earned legally and the players live up to their obligations to the university. You and I have the same right to earn money. I think it would be good for college football to get all of the money above the table. This story about tOSU is terrible for college football and there are stories just like this at other institutions waiting to come out. They are adults and should be treated as such.

Each day, there are students on full scholarships that are not athletic related. They can go out and get a job. As long as they maintain the standards set to continue to receive the scholarship, they are free to do what they want to do. Why can't we do that with student athletes? If they maintain the academic standards to remain eligible and they do what their coaches want them to do on the field, why can't they legally earn money just the same as every other scholarship recipient? If they are in violation of their academic standards or what the coaches want them to do, they can lose their ability to play on the team. They are college age kids, not slaves.

It is against NCAA rules.

If two people come together, agree on something and it is not illegal, what is wrong with the transaction? There is no crime. The transaction will have no impact on the performance of the athlete on the field. Just because a person may be personally offended by it, doesn't make it wrong. Here is the question. The ncaa allows players to accept cars in exchange for autographs. You go watch the Zips play football knowing they took the cars. How does that impact your view of the football game? I would contend it doesn't...especially if the Zips were winning. People like to get on their high horses about money and college sports. That's all BS. Go to a big time college football game and look around. It's all about money. Booster clubs, $100,000 RVS, at South Carolina there is a condo complex across the street from the stadium where rich alumni spend $500K on a condo to stay at for football games and they sit empty the rest of the year, the millions they make on ticket sales, coaches salaries, the scramble to get into a BCS Bowl Game, etc. It's all about money.

If Tressel has an ounce of dignity left after the recruiting process of Pryor, he would suspend all of them for the Sugar Bowl. He would quickly find out which one of them wanted to be there and which didn't.

BINGO!!!!! This is really the problem with what TPryor did. He earned income....Did he report the income to the IRS? The problem with players taking large sums of money under the table or selling things is it is unreported income and ILLEGAL not to report it. Let's get the money in the open where we don't make criminals out of college athletes. I more meant "illegal" not in its literal sense, but rather in violation of NCAA rules, but you do raise an interesting point about the unreported income aspect of all of this. Of course my point is interesting. Just like the Dos Equis Man, the Great GP1 is the most interesting man at every party I've never been to. Seriously though...People talk about the NCAA like it is the government. It's just an association of universities. I have no idea what student-athlete handbooks say these days or what is presented at compliance lectures, but I'd be willing to bet the NCAA does not address potential legal issues with accepting money under the table. I have heard that Cam Newton's dad is under investigation by the FBI. He should be under investigation by the IRS. The guy took $200,000 and didn't report the income. I'm not a tax accountant, but my guess is not reporting $200,000 is a pretty serious infraction.

BINGO!!!!! This is really the problem with what TPryor did. He earned income....Did he report the income to the IRS? The problem with players taking large sums of money under the table or selling things is it is unreported income and ILLEGAL not to report it. Let's get the money in the open where we don't make criminals out of college athletes.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind. Sure, and it was usually because I just had to pay my tuition costs. That's my point, these athletes have most of their expenses paid and yet still can't come up with some pocket change when they need it. They are eligible for student loans too if that is what they need. You're right, universities make a lot of money off them but they do get benefits in return (sometimes over $100,000 worth of scholarship money. Not exactly peanuts). I just don't like seeing revenue sports get treated differently than non-revenue sports, should we eradicate all of the other sports? Those folks might need money too. And why are any of them treated differently than the rest of the of the student population? They could probably use some pocket change too. I'm not sure why an athlete should go into debt while in college if he can make a legal income while in college. A player should be free to go out and EARN money while in school. For example, if earning money for an ex-jock includes going to autograph signing sessions, then a college athlete should be able to earn a living in the same way. There is no money exchanged between the University and player at that point. The player is doing nothing illegal. The player is offering a legal service another person is willing to pay for. That is free enterprise and a player should be able to take part in the free enterprise system in this country. As long as a player is earning a legal living and in compliance with NCAA academic standards, there is no reason to not allow it.

Good point! USC had the same trouble. If you self report and punish yourself, the NCAA does not come down like this. USC told the NCAA to go pound salt and the NCAA pounded them. We see the same thing here.

What if he has no access to any money? Have you ever not had a dime to your name and no chance to go out and make any? I'm not saying that is the case with him, but there are guys playing college football around the country who grew up in shacks and have zero money. Universities are making millions off of these players and they don't have enough money to take a girl out on a date. There is something wrong with that in my mind.

Maybe he needs the money.

No, public transportation programs are things that move people. Trains, bus, subway, etc. These programs lose money everywhere other than New York City.

How is a rail system like this an investment in the state? How does it make Ohio more competitive in the global market? It all sounds good when you say it and type it, but does it really do these things. Only one public transportation system in the United States turns a profit, New York City. Every other transit system loses money and is basically a welfare program.

Good interview DrZ. You missed the main question though. Is Marisa Tomei as hot in person as she looks on the screen?

I agree. You just described almost every MAC school. Unfortunately, we are in somewhat of the same position Can't is in. The trouble with Akron is gaining that one winning season as well, and not a 6-6 record. Akron is in a good postion to turn things around if they could just turn a bunch of guys who don't believe they can win into a group of guys who believe they can win. There's a lot more to that, but in general, there is more up-side at Akron than any other floundering MAC school.

I agree. However, he didn't get to New England because of his great coaching record at Can't. He got there because of his personal/professional relationship with the head coach. Being a HC at Can't didn't hurt his career. It depends on what his career aspirations were. If they were to go to Can't and have losing season, one after another, then go to coach at New England, I would agree with you 100%. If he wanted the Can't job in order to parlay success into a BCS job, it hurt his aspirations.

I agree. However, he didn't get to New England because of his great coaching record at Can't. He got there because of his personal/professional relationship with the head coach.

All good points. The real question is, can you do that from Can't? I say no. I also say UofA is a great opportunity for a coach looking to do exactly what all of the coaches above did. It has everything a program would need to be successful. All Coach I has to do is turn a losing mentality into a winning mentality and they can go all the way. Fans sometimes confuse a coach who goes from a MAC school to a BCS school as a great coach. Most coaches, and people working in college athletics, are opportunists. I don't blame them for making the moves they do, but I also don't confuse the moves they make as proof they are great at what they do. (For those of you who think you have to pay a coach a ton of money to get a good one need to have the fact pointed out to them that Haywood was the lowest paid coach in the MAC last year.) I have no problem with guys like Kill, Gill and Jones duping low level BCS schools into paying them a lot of money. They all have families to support and a million dollars at a BCS school goes a lot further than $200,000 at a MAC school. Most of these guys want to do great at their schools and then cash in even more like the greatest opportunist of the first decade of the 21st Century did, Brian Kelly. Kelly took short bursts of success at various schools and used it to cash in at the easiest to dupe school, Notre Dame...they hired Faust for crying out loud. Here is what I want to happen at UofA. I want Coach I to go 9-3 next year, win the MAC and dupe a BCS level school to throw a bunch of money at him. It sure would beat the losing we have watched for the past 20+ years.

This guy just won the MAC. Texas high school graduate. ND graduate. No Ohio ties other than a short time as an assistant. In the 21st Century, Ohio schools have won the MAC four times. Only Toledo had an Ohio guy coaching their team. Miamioh had Hoepner...Indiana guy (sp?) and Haywood (sp?) Texas/ND guy. Akron had JD...Colorado guy. It is fantasy to believe it matters whether or not a guy is from Ohio. The facts just don't support it.

I'm not worried about this guy. He's a nobody and probably way down on the list of candidates they were REALLY interested in. Can't is a terrible program (like ours for that matter) with little to offer (ours has a lot to offer). There is WAY more upside at Akron than Can't. The fact the guy coached at OSU does not impress me because I think what they have going on in Columbus is smoke and mirrors. Let's see how this guy does when he has little going for his program. The fact that this guy is from Ohio does not impress me and I'm not sure why it should impress me or anyone else for that matter.

I hate to come off as a dick to one of my favorite posters, but what makes you or any of us qualified evaluators of what is going on at a college football practice? Most fans really don't know who is good or bad. Most don't understand why a game plan is put together the way it is. Most don't understand why certain plays are being called. Most don't know if when a play fails if it was a bad play call or did one player break down. Most don't understand why certain players are used above other. Most don't even know who is working hard or not. A player can work hard and not be a good player. Another player can look lazy, but he is working hard and is so good the physical action looks effortless. Fans should not be allowed into practices, except for one and the spring game. It's D-1A college football, not a high school team where you can walk down to the stadium to watch them practice.

For those of you who may not know, the Inside Drill is when every play is run between the tackles. There are no passing plays and the defense knows it is coming. It is the most brutal 20 minutes of any practice. Goal line is a close second, but there are passing plays on goal line offense so the brutality isn't there. What makes it brutal during spring is the first team offenses and defenses play against each other.

You would be surprised how many teams come August will be sitting in film rooms watching some scragly video shot of their opening week's opponent's spring practices. When teams open up their practices to the public, it happens, and RI knows this because I'm sure they sent some GA's out in the spring when he was at ND. After all, Charlie Weis did come from the same coaching tree as Bill Belichick. Our opener is OSU. I wouldn't be surprised if their spring game was broadcast on the BTN in full HD from multiple angles, and all of the practices up to that point are open to the public with a $20 gate charge. Our coaches will have no problem getting film. Do you have a link for where it says this?