Fall from Grace

on June 06, 2011 by Walt Dilg

Fall from Grace

  Jim Tressel’s fall from grace, as head coach of the storied Ohio State football program, must have startled and disappointed all but the most jaded collegiate football fan.  For years, Tressel had been widely seen as not only one of the best coaches in the game but also one of the more ethical ones.  Now that investigators are uncovering a series of systematic violations under his tenure at Youngstown and OSU, his legend is debunked and Buckeye Nation is looking for a new leader.  It’s a crying shame.

            Realizing that Tressel willfully and often violated NCAA rules, it raises the question of whether there is any coach out there that does not?  Cutting moral corners and rationalizing bad behavior to the extent that it seems pretty good, cannot be SOP with our young people.  Bible study in the morning and rigging a lottery in the afternoon (that ends up taking youngsters’ money and giving the prize to a ringer) is not commendable behavior.  I do think the NCAA makes it very hard for poor kids to get by while at college, so the need for additional assistance and the temptation to get it is all too real for theplayers.  Yet let’s get a coach that draws the spotlight on that injustice (of the athletes being chattel to the mega-money machine of college sports) and works to correct it without going down the path of deceit and dissemblance.  

            Jim Tressel has been a surrogate father figure to a number of young boys who became men under his influence.  Many of them testify to his goodness, his good intentions, his faith put into practice.  It’s a crying shame, he let it get out of hand.  It’s ruined it all, for many.