Maurice Clarett and tOSU
 

Does anyone believe what Clarett is saying about tOSU in terms of cash from boosters, cars provided at the request of Tressell, grades he didn't earn and high paying jobs that he never showed up to?

Check the ESPN article:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=1919246

Two things I take into consideration:

1) This is Maurice Clarett. An NFL team might give him a chance, but we really don't know what his motives are. Setting things straight for NFL GMs? Don't buy that.

2) Is anyone really surprised that this occurs at schools with big football traditions? Right or not, you can't tell me this doesn't occur elsewhere.

With that in mind, I hope the NCAA gets to the bottom of it, and punishes OSU to the full extent of their power. As Van Smack says, "If you're not cheating, you're not trying, and it's only cheating if you get caught." Well, OSU got caught, so now they have to pay the price.

Does that mean we should look into all school, indicating that this may be a rampart problem? No, but since one particular school was called out for it, they must now deal with it.

When I was growing up in Columbus, the word was that if an Ohio State football player got into any kind of academic trouble, or needed to get into a class, all he had to do was have a "WWH" on the paperwork (Woody Hayes) and everything magically was cleared up.

There's nothing new here.

Take a look at the cars that the athletes at major schools drive. Do you really suppose they find the jobs and earn the money for them? Heck, how can they? They're too busy working out.

Everyone who was really surprised at the University of Colorado football recruiting scandal last year, raise your hand. If you are from a major sports power, do you really think something like that has never happened there?

Cliche of the year: College Sports is big business.

The real question the article brings up to me is not if Ohio State (and other major athletic powerhouses) does immoral -- or even bordering on illegal -- things to recruit and keep star athletes, or if Clarett is just a self-righteous crybaby who stepped way over the line and got caught.

The answer could very likely be, both.

Then, the question becomes whether it's time to be really outraged and do something to put a stop to a probably corrupt system -- or go on enjoying those big games on Saturday afternoons in the Fall. If the big schools with huge alumni bases and contacts couldn't use that power, would there be more parity in college sports?

And, from a business standpoint, would that be good?

Not if you're ABC or Budweiser or Nike.

Is there a real problem? I think so. Will it be corrected anytime soon? I won't hold my breath.