H*****r
发帖数: 764 | 1 Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee hadn't spoken to the media since former
coach Jim Tressel resigned on Monday.
So, after nearly a week of frenzied media coverage that's covered everything
from Tressel's pattern of deception to Terrelle Pryor's separate
investigation, Gee did what any good president would do -- he gave his
athletic director the kiss of death.
"Gene Smith's job is safe," Gee told media.
While yes, this is a vote of confidence from Gee to Smith, but those rarely
turn out as a good thing. When Michael Corleone kissed his brother Fredo in
The Godfather Part II, we all knew what followed. Gee's support to the media
is equivalent to Corleone's kiss of death.
How do I know this? Because Gee and Smith did the same thing to Tressel.
Earlier this month, Smith told ESPN.com that he still supported Tressel.
Back in March, Gee made the infamous joke about Tressel, "I just hope he
doesn't dismiss me," as a way of supporting the embattled coach.
In that same press conference, Smith said: "Wherever we end up, Jim Tressel
is our football coach. He is our coach, and we trust him implicitly."
On Wednesday, Gee acknowledged that the university urged Tressel to step
down.
"I think that very clearly, (Tressel) in the end understood the kind of
scrutiny he was under," Gee said. "In my experience with Jim -- which has
been over three years -- he has always held the university at a standard
that he wanted to support."
Sports Illustrated's story that chronicled nearly 30 years of Tressel's
behavior and that 28 players exchanged memorabilia for tattoos and other
goodies. The school only released six names to the public. This showed that
Ohio State's indiscretions went deeper than just Tressel and that others
should ultimately be held accountable.
Ohio State, including Tressel, is scheduled to meet with the NCAA in August,
though many believe that meeting could be pushed back to allow the NCAA to
sift through the information that continues to come out daily. Ohio State
will face severe penalties and depending on the level of those penalties,
cleaning house might ultimately be in the school's best interest.
"If we find there are people who are not holding the standard of the
university, then obviously we'll deal (with them)," Gee said. |
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