College Football 2018-19: Santa Clara is that a way.

[dfwabel]

2 minutes ago, GFB said:

I don't want to have a "moral high ground" complex, but our rivals are failing to cooperate with that worldview in truly spectacular fashion. 

Let's not go there since the Big Ten, including Michigan, has been the most toxic FBS conference in the last decade.

Examples include:

The Ohio State issues with Tressel, Meyer, and wrestling.
The current situation at Maryland.
Michigan State and Nasser.
Minnesota with J Robinson (wrestling HC and a Xanax selling ring), Tracy Clayes (football HC backing a possible bowl boycott by the team), and former AD Norwood League (sexual harrassment)
Michigan with Brady Hoke returning concussed QB Shane Morris to a game.
Illinois fired Tim Beckman for altering injury reports among many findings. WBB had similar issues.
Rutgers fired Kyle Flood for intimidating professors to change grades and the abusing basketball coach.
Indiana fired Kevin Wilson for player mistreatment.

 

Jim Delaney addressed the issue with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports a few days ago.

[MJWalker45]

13 minutes ago, GFB said:

I don't want to have a "moral high ground" complex, but our rivals are failing to cooperate with that worldview in truly spectacular fashion. 

Just like most of the SEC this season . . . And the Big Ten East . . . . At least Michigan fans are only arguing about chickens being skittish. I really wish that were the case in Columbus. 

[GFB]

1 hour ago, dfwabel said:

Michigan with Brady Hoke returning concussed QB Shane Morris to a game.

 

 

Which led to a campus-wide revolt in Ann Arbor and resulted in the firing of both the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach. Sure, the state of the on-field product certainly provided the necessary tinder for such a blaze, but the end result was effective and the issue at hand (the health and safety of a student-athlete) was met with the level of seriousness the topic deserves.

 

Again, I'm not saying my favorite (or any) school is perfect and that you won't have issues occur when you're working with young adults or macho-coaches (my team recently employed DJ Durkin for a year), it's about how the school responds to those issues when they occur and creating a culture where those people are held accountable for their actions. I've said it before, the failure in Michigan's history that has made me most upset is not the Ed Martin / Fab Five scandal (Ed was ahead of his time), Gary Moeller's DUI, Stretch-gate under Rich Rod, or Concussion-gate with Hoke; all those instances resulted in the proper penalties and were dealt with in a serious manner.  No, the biggest embarrassment is how the team handled the Brendon Gibbons sexual assault case where Taylor Lewan intimidated the victim into keeping quiet, and both were allowed to continue to play on the football team... That's not right and both should have been removed from the team immediately (I still can't cheer for Lewan, even with his NFL success).

 

It's not about comparing sins and mistakes seeing whose is worse; the moral high ground comes from measuring the responses to those issues from each school.

 

I mean, here are just some national headlines from today: 

 

 

 

 

 

Compare the lines of b******t that Ohio State and Urban Meyer spewed last night to the statement made by Scott Frost after two of his players were hospitalized with rhabdo from offseason workouts. 

 

 

 

Scott Frost doesn't delude anything, doesn't shirk responsibility, and is transparent. He's not hiding anything because there's nothing to hide. That is how you have to handle issues as an athletic department in today's day and age.  

 

 

[MJWalker45]

With how much hearsay has been handed out by reporters and others supposedly in the know prior to last night, I'm not surprised to see Ohio State not give the full report out immediately. should they make it all available? Absolutely. They also probably have to run it past legal as well which is why it's not been released in it's entirety. There's also the fact that it may have information relating to cases between the Smith's themselves and that case information may need to be sealed until trial. 

[dfwabel]

12 minutes ago, MJWalker45 said:

With how much hearsay has been handed out by reporters and others supposedly in the know prior to last night, I'm not surprised to see Ohio State not give the full report out immediately. should they make it all available? Absolutely. They also probably have to run it past legal as well which is why it's not been released in it's entirety. There's also the fact that it may have information relating to cases between the Smith's themselves and that case information may need to be sealed until trial. 

It was out about an 30 minutes after the press conference.

I posted the link last night.

[MJWalker45]

Sorry, at work so certain links are blocked here. 

[dfwabel]

1 minute ago, MJWalker45 said:

Sorry, at work so certain links are blocked here. 

If Ohio State University's website is blocked, that's on you.

[dfwabel]

The line of the Ohio State/TCU game was Buckeyes -12 before the suspension, it's now -10.

[MJWalker45]

9 minutes ago, dfwabel said:

If Ohio State University's website is blocked, that's on you.

Sorry but I don't see a link to Ohio State's website. Twitter however is. 

[dfwabel]

Here are four paragraphs of the report which I find buzzling.

Paragraph 1:

Quote

(iii) Shelley Meyer also maintains that she did not relay Courtney Smith’s expression of fear or allegations of abuse, including the photographs, to Urban Meyer at the time because she had doubts about the veracity of Courtney Smith’s allegations. Coach Meyer also does not recall any discussion with Shelley Meyer about either her or Courtney Smith’s concerns about abuse. Given the closeness of their relationship and Shelley’s concerns, we believe it is likely that Shelley and Urban Meyer had at least some communication about these allegations in late 2015 and were concerned about them although both had doubts about the credibility of Courtney’s claims, based on, among other things, Zach Smith’s denials and their belief that Courtney Smith’s 2009 allegations had been false; by late October 2015, Coach Meyer knew of Courtney Smith’s domestic violence complaints against Zach Smith through his knowledge of the 2015-2016 law enforcement investigation.

 

Paragraph 2:

Quote

2. We cannot logically square Coach Meyer’s responses on Big Ten Media Days broadly denying knowledge of the 2015 events regarding Zach Smith with his extensive knowledge of those events in 2015 and the evident knowledge of AD Gene Smith of the 2015 events reflected in the group text message of July 23 and July 24, 2018 sent to Coach Meyer. (As noted, AD Smith says that his recollection of the 2015 events was triggered by the social media report on the evening of July 23rd.) In the group text on the morning of July 24th, AD Smith suggested that Coach Meyer should acknowledge in his Big Ten Media Days remarks later that day the events of both 2009 and 2015 without giving details. Coach Meyer did not do so.

 

Paragraph 3 (bolded by me):

Quote

3. We accept that in July 2018 Coach Meyer was deeply absorbed in football season and wanted to focus on football at Big Ten Media Days. The firing of Zach Smith the day before – the first time Coach Meyer had fired a coach – was also on his mind, as was the erroneous media report of a felony arrest of Zach Smith in 2015. We also learned during the investigation that Coach Meyer has sometimes had significant memory issues in other situations where he had prior extensive knowledge of events. He has also periodically taken medicine that can negatively impair his memory, concentration, and focus. All of these factors also need to be considered and weighed in assessing Coach Meyer’s mindset on July 24th.

If Coach Meyer has significant memory issues as stated, what responsible educational body would trust such a person with the responsibility for 90+ young adults?

 

 

 

Paragraph 4:

Quote

7. We are also troubled by Coach Meyer’s interest following the publication of the negative social media report about how to change the message history setting on his phone. While we do not know if messages older than a year had been on Coach Meyer’s phone before August 1st or whether Coach Meyer deleted any messages, we do know that he at least thought about and discussed it with Brian Voltolini in response to learning of the negative article. Often, although not always, such reactions evidence consciousness of guilt.

Quote

 

 

[OnWis97]

4 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Let's not go there since the Big Ten, including Michigan, has been the most toxic FBS conference in the last decade.

Examples include:

The Ohio State issues with Tressel, Meyer, and wrestling.
The current situation at Maryland.
Michigan State and Nasser.
Minnesota with J Robinson (wrestling HC and a Xanax selling ring), Tracy Clayes (football HC backing a possible bowl boycott by the team), and former AD Norwood League (sexual harrassment)
Michigan with Brady Hoke returning concussed QB Shane Morris to a game.
Illinois fired Tim Beckman for altering injury reports among many findings. WBB had similar issues.
Rutgers fired Kyle Flood for intimidating professors to change grades and the abusing basketball coach.
Indiana fired Kevin Wilson for player mistreatment.

 

Jim Delaney addressed the issue with Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports a few days ago.

Feels like something's missing...

[dfwabel]

46 minutes ago, OnWis97 said:

Feels like something's missing...

Because mentioning that obvious incident would likely cause this thread to be locked.

[MJWalker45]

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/8/24/17487972/hawaii-exemption-ncaa-scheduling

GAMES START TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[dfwabel]

36 hours later, Urban Meyer apologies to Courtney Smith, but in a written statement via Twitter.

 

Quote

My words and demeanor on Wednesday did not show how seriously I take relationship violence. I sincerely apologize. I was taught at a very young age that if I ever hit a woman, I would be kicked out of the house and never welcomed back. I have the same rule in my house and in the Football Program at Ohio State. Over the years, we have worked hard to educate and remind our coaches and players of the seriousness of relationship violence.

 

I understand my lack of more action in this situation has raised concerns about this commitment. I once again apologize for this, and I extend my empathy to all women, men and families who are affected by relationship violence. This has been a real learning experience for me. I fully intend to use my voice more effectively to be part of the solution.

 

Let me say what I should have said on Wednesday: I sincerely apologize to Courtney Smith and her children for what they have gone through.

 

F-ing coward!

[JayMac]

4 hours ago, dfwabel said:

36 hours later, Urban Meyer apologies to Courtney Smith, but in a written statement via Twitter.

 

 

F-ing coward!

But, a 3 game suspension should suffice. This is embarrassing for Ohio State.

[dfwabel]

On 8/23/2018 at 10:01 AM, GFB said:

 

Which led to a campus-wide revolt in Ann Arbor and resulted in the firing of both the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach. Sure, the state of the on-field product certainly provided the necessary tinder for such a blaze, but the end result was effective and the issue at hand (the health and safety of a student-athlete) was met with the level of seriousness the topic deserves.

 

Again, I'm not saying my favorite (or any) school is perfect and that you won't have issues occur when you're working with young adults or macho-coaches (my team recently employed DJ Durkin for a year), it's about how the school responds to those issues when they occur and creating a culture where those people are held accountable for their actions. I've said it before, the failure in Michigan's history that has made me most upset is not the Ed Martin / Fab Five scandal (Ed was ahead of his time), Gary Moeller's DUI, Stretch-gate under Rich Rod, or Concussion-gate with Hoke; all those instances resulted in the proper penalties and were dealt with in a serious manner.  No, the biggest embarrassment is how the team handled the Brendon Gibbons sexual assault case where Taylor Lewan intimidated the victim into keeping quiet, and both were allowed to continue to play on the football team... That's not right and both should have been removed from the team immediately (I still can't cheer for Lewan, even with his NFL success).

 

It's not about comparing sins and mistakes seeing whose is worse; the moral high ground comes from measuring the responses to those issues from each school.

 

I mean, here are just some national headlines from today: 

 

 

 

 

 

Compare the lines of b******t that Ohio State and Urban Meyer spewed last night to the statement made by Scott Frost after two of his players were hospitalized with rhabdo from offseason workouts. 

 

 

 

Scott Frost doesn't delude anything, doesn't shirk responsibility, and is transparent. He's not hiding anything because there's nothing to hide. That is how you have to handle issues as an athletic department in today's day and age.  

 

 

Well also recall at the time of Moeller, Red Berenson plead guilty to DUI due to a cop watched him piss on an Annual Arbor public library following a radio show at the bar two doors down. He kept the gig.

[dfwabel]

Get ready to be bombarded by two and similar ads.

 

[Gold Pinstripes]

On 8/22/2018 at 11:31 PM, SFGiants58 said:

 

The conditions to create phenomena akin to “Paterno Trutherism” exist in every college football fanbase. It just varies depending on the nature of the crimes.

 

Some areas are worse than others. Imagine if something like this happened at Texas A&M. 

Not every college fanbase, It's kind of important to remember not every FBS program has this situation. And despite the lopsided coverage, D1 is a minority when talking about the college football playing schools in this country. And there are countless great stories of coaches on these smaller programs doing superb work, and passing it forward, Unfortunately, it will always be easier to sit in a cubicle and churn out the same basic story about the Ohio States of the world.

 

Countless great coaches, every bit as talented as the big names we see on the sidelines, work in anonymity in smaller towns across this nation.They like money just like the rest of us, but enjoy having athletes the full four years, and making a difference in their lives. Location, and family considerations factor into their decision as well. For every D1 scandal, the daily work of the overwhelming majority of college football programs still carries the day.  

 

[dfwabel]

On 8/25/2018 at 5:21 AM, jmac11281 said:

But, a 3 game suspension should suffice. This is embarrassing for Ohio State.

Meet the last honorable person at The Ohio State University, former regent Jeffrey Wadsworth

 

Quote

Jeffrey Wadsworth, who said he left last week's board deliberations on OSU's investigation of Meyer early, sent a resignation letter to President Michael Drake and board chair Michael Gasser about an hour after the decision to suspend Meyer and athletic director Gene Smith was announced last Wednesday.

 

Wadsworth had been a member of the board since 2010, when he was appointed by former Ohio governor Ted Strickland. His term was set to end in May 2019.

 

A person familiar with last week's deliberations told cleveland.com that the board met with all options, including termination, on the table. The only option that wasn't given much consideration, the source said, was the idea of a "time served" penalty for Meyer, who was on paid administrative leave from Aug. 1-22.

1

 

[MJWalker45]

6 hours ago, dfwabel said:

Meet the last honorable person at The Ohio State University, former regent Jeffrey Wadsworth

 

"The issue that would determine whether Meyer and/or Smith would be terminated was if it was believed they deliberately covered up for former football assistant coach Zach Smith when he was investigated for domestic abuse against his now ex-wife in 2015. The university's independent investigation determined that, while Meyer and Gene Smith did not follow reporting procedure to the letter of their employment contracts by adhering to a law enforcement investigation and not submitting their knowledge of the allegations against Zach Smith in writing to the OSU compliance office, they did not interfere with the Powell police investigation nor did they deliberately keep the information from school officials."

 

This is why Meyer wasn't fired, not because he kept Smith on staff. He (Wadsworth) may have wanted a harder penalty but this wasn't like they intentionally hid the information. Had he been implicated in using his stature to control the investigation I'm certain that he would be working for Fox Sports or BeIn Sports by kickoff tomorrow.