When Ohio State’s President E. Gordon Gee was asked Tuesday if he would consider firing football coach Jim Tressel for egregious NCAA violations, he said: "No, are you kidding me? Let me be very clear. I'm just hoping the coach doesn't dismiss me."
Dubya couldn’t have said it better.
Indeed, the joke is on Gee. If college athletics ever changes for the better, that’s the line we’ll remember. Not for its temerity or remorselessness, but for its irony. It was true, in a sense.
It won’t be long before the NCAA announces its approval of the Buckeyes’ self-imposed penalty for Tressel: two games and a couple hundred grand — a slap on the wrist.
Move along, nothing to see.
When Ohio State faces Miami in the third game of the season next year, a contest that will undoubtedly be broadcast on one of the major networks and draw millions of eyeballs, the whole Tressel suspension thing will be forgotten.
The NCAA has nothing to gain and much to lose from seriously penalizing a cash cow. Football factories have nothing to fear, they’re lining too many pockets within the NCAA crew.
Reach Nick and nick.ruland@asu.edu
