[Shirtless_Wonder]

As a lifetime osu fan, I watched our team reach several highs and lows that are common place for all programs. Replacing experienced guys year in and year out is a difficult thing for every team regardless of who they are, but when these gaps are caused by poor off field choices by coaches players and administrators it becomes overwhelming, and that's where my buckeyes seem to be, just overwhelmed. I for one am sick of our administrators and staff blatantly lying to the people who pay the tickets and pay outrageous prices at the concession stand to watch none of the big time guys we wasted so much time recruiting play because they are suspended for things that other programs have dropped guys for much less. OSU claims they are on top of things and will put a stop to the violations but they continue to occur! If I were a player on this team I would have a hard time believing anything this staff or school tells me and double that for recruits. I won't stop being a fan but it's really hard to sit here and have hope this year. But when are things really going to change?

[knockemstiff]

Time for Mr. Smith and Mr. Gee to go. This appears to be a university problem not team problem.

[BigTenBuckeye]

I really think it would help the school's image to oust Smith and Gee and just come clean altogether. Those 2 have been awful representatives for the university, especially Gee. We need people in charge that care about being good examples for the school and for its students and alumni base. I'm kind of afraid to know the full truth because it could be beyond atrocious, but it would probably help best in the long run to clean out the whole infection.

Recruits aren't going to be coming to Ohio State the next few years because they don't know who the coach will be and they don't want to be punished for something their predecessors did. You might get some who wanna play for OSU regardless, but we just gotta deal with the fact that Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame and others are going to have a better shot getting them right now.

I guess for the time being we'll just have to take our lumps and be thankful we haven't had to take that many before. Hopefully you didn't get too arrogant with any comments or kick the fans of other teams while they were down and maybe they'll go easy on ya I think a lot of our fans will be eating some burnt, slightly spoiled crow, but it should be a good wake up call in the long run.

As for me, I'm still cheering for the team to do well. I want my alma mater to be well-represented by people that show class and respect. I'm gonna continue to try and be a good steward for Ohio State, because it's a great place worthy of recognition outside of sports. Heck, I'm pulling pretty hard for the other Big Ten schools to do well too. I love Wisconsin's smashmouth style of play and I wanna see Indiana and Minnesota finally right their ships. It's kinda nice to see Michigan do well too.

Sorry for the essay, but these were some thoughts I had over the weekend.

[Shirtless_Wonder]

Bigtenbuckeye, thankfully I'm only betting food (chipotle burritos, doritos, etc.) on some of these games as friendly wagers. I did have a friend who was an ND fan that I have been bashing since 2004, but he has held off talking smack, so I thank him for it. I'm going to have a rather large food bill this year lol.

[Braves Fan 99]

It just never seems to go away, this season gets worse each day.

[mlisi39]

What's one bad year? Don't sound so spoiled man.... have some perspective...

Indains/Cavs/Browns/Notre Dame fan...

[BigTenBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Shirtless_Wonder

Bigtenbuckeye, thankfully I'm only betting food (chipotle burritos, doritos, etc.) on some of these games as friendly wagers. I did have a friend who was an ND fan that I have been bashing since 2004, but he has held off talking smack, so I thank him for it. I'm going to have a rather large food bill this year lol.

Haha, that's good, man, at least there's a civil meal together. I know some guys that kept rubbing it in to everyone they could and they're gonna be dealing with it for a long time. I always joked that growing up in Toledo taught one how to get along with the opposite fanbase pretty well, and it helped grow some thick skin in losing years. But it definitely pays to be respectful first so it's not as painful when your guys lose, haha.

[14Red]

Ohio State sold it's soul to the devil years ago, and this isn't just Mr. Smith and Mr. Gee. It's anyone, media, fans, boosters, alums, deans who have had or been involved with any of this wrongdoing in Columbus. And no, it's not specifically an Ohio State problem, but in reality it is. "Everybody does it" doesn't work. You are accountable to yourself.
10-12 years ago and beyond, Ohio State was one of 3-4 solid big ten programs. Tressell vowed to take the program to the next level when he came, no one watched or got in his way of how he went about doing that. The prospects of being a national championship contender year in and year out plus the millions that go along with that was too much for the administration to control. Again, I hold the media as part of this also. If coaches, players and the administration are not going to control their actions, someone has to. There had to be numerous occasions when a reporter saw players in situations that made no sense. Players with poor backgrounds all the sudden driving nice cars or wearing expensive jewelry. No one suspected, no one questioned?
Ohio State has made it's bed, now it's time to lie in it.

[foultip]

Gene Smith should be named the starting QB for Ohio State. He's got a great passing game. Especially when he passes the buck.

[Shirtless_Wonder]

Originally Posted by 14Red

Ohio State sold it's soul to the devil years ago, and this isn't just Mr. Smith and Mr. Gee. It's anyone, media, fans, boosters, alums, deans who have had or been involved with any of this wrongdoing in Columbus. And no, it's not specifically an Ohio State problem, but in reality it is. "Everybody does it" doesn't work. You are accountable to yourself.
10-12 years ago and beyond, Ohio State was one of 3-4 solid big ten programs. Tressell vowed to take the program to the next level when he came, no one watched or got in his way of how he went about doing that. The prospects of being a national championship contender year in and year out plus the millions that go along with that was too much for the administration to control. Again, I hold the media as part of this also. If coaches, players and the administration are not going to control their actions, someone has to. There had to be numerous occasions when a reporter saw players in situations that made no sense. Players with poor backgrounds all the sudden driving nice cars or wearing expensive jewelry. No one suspected, no one questioned?
Ohio State has made it's bed, now it's time to lie in it.

I agree. The media around town had to have seen something!

[Shirtless_Wonder]

Originally Posted by mlisi39

What's one bad year? Don't sound so spoiled man.... have some perspective...

Indains/Cavs/Browns/Notre Dame fan...

I do have perspective, but when there is so much negativity going on outside the playing field, it's extremely hard to support my team when they have problems that question their integrity. A down year with no off the field problems, I can live with, that will never tarnish a program, scandals that should have had a stop put to it are continuing do tarnish a program, and administrators telling bold faced lies to the public every day make it unbearable at times.

A little insight into my fanhood Carolina Panthers fan since they started, endured a 2-14 year last year with no qb, and 1-15 a few years into their inception, also a longtime cavs fan myself (pre lebron years with the ugly blue and black jerseys).

[Shirtless_Wonder]

Originally Posted by BigTenBuckeye

Haha, that's good, man, at least there's a civil meal together. I know some guys that kept rubbing it in to everyone they could and they're gonna be dealing with it for a long time. I always joked that growing up in Toledo taught one how to get along with the opposite fanbase pretty well, and it helped grow some thick skin in losing years. But it definitely pays to be respectful first so it's not as painful when your guys lose, haha.

Yeah two guys I know pretty well got into it so bad over a michigan fan's joke about Tressel that he almost didn't attend the OSU fan's wedding a few weeks ago. It's that sour for some OSU die hards.

[crusader]

Originally Posted by mlisi39

What's one bad year? Don't sound so spoiled man.... have some perspective...

Indains/Cavs/Browns/Notre Dame fan...

One bad year???? Really? All of what is going on could lead to many many bad years if something isn't changed very quickly.

[14Red]

Originally Posted by Shirtless_Wonder

I do have perspective, but when there is so much negativity going on outside the playing field, it's extremely hard to support my team when they have problems that question their integrity. A down year with no off the field problems, I can live with, that will never tarnish a program, scandals that should have had a stop put to it are continuing do tarnish a program, and administrators telling bold faced lies to the public every day make it unbearable at times.

A little insight into my fanhood Carolina Panthers fan since they started, endured a 2-14 year last year with no qb, and 1-15 a few years into their inception, also a longtime cavs fan myself (pre lebron years with the ugly blue and black jerseys).

I'm not a Buckeye fan, but I know what you are saying shirtless. We all want our respective teams to compete and win. But at what point do you cross the line of trying to gain unfair advantages. Is winning really worth your integrity? And even if you do win, isn't it hollow? Until the last year, Ohio State has had a pretty good reputation as an institution who typically does things the right way and wins the right way. Michigan basketball is still struggling from the baggage left by the "fab five" nearly 20 years ago.

[BAR43]

The problem is OSU is under the spotlight. They really arent doing anything different than any other university. But once you are caught and everything is in the open, its just a snowball effect. If the NCAA took this kind of time and detail to investigate any university they would find the same things. I am not saying its ok what OSU is doing, but lets be honest that OSU isn't some uncontrolled black sheep in the NCAA.

This has been a frustrating year already, and fans will need patience for us to get out of the dark. But all things considered OSU has A LOT of promising talent. Very young team and the experience this year is really going to help in future. We will just need the right coach and for players to stop doing stupid $hit.

[Domi]

The players need to get smarter and the "boosters" need to get smarter. If I were OSU, I would send a letter to every booster and anyone else associated with the athletic teams telling them if they are associated with any funny stuff, they will receive a lifetime ban from the campus.

Of course, I'm not sure if this would have prevented cheap tatoos.

[full_count]

I have not talked to one person in the last 24 hours who feels that Gene Smith should keep his job. This man no longer has ANY support in the community.

I am hearing this from lifelong Buckeye fans, Alumni of the University, Michigan fans, people with no connection to OSU, white, black, men, women. It is unanimous in the opinion that Gene Smith needs to go and OSU simply has a lack of institutional control.

One story I heard today was that the only reason Gene Smith is not gone already is that he sits on the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee and OSU does not want to lose that prominent position.

Gene Smith is an embarassment to OSU and the entire area and needs to go.

[14Red]

While so many people want to quickly point a Gene Smith and Gordon Gee, what about all "regular" personnel that knows what goes on day to day? I'm shocked some of the Buckeye assistant coaches were retained. The assistant coaches are much closer to the kids than the head coach is, so they know what's going on. The mere fact that an assistant of Jim Tressell's, Luke Fickell was named head coach made me think they Buckeyes aren't serious about these problems. The assistants know more than anyone, they recruit, coach and in some cases parent these young football players. They know what's going on.

[crusader]

Originally Posted by full_count

One story I heard today was that the only reason Gene Smith is not gone already is that he sits on the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee and OSU does not want to lose that prominent position.

.

That is another reason he should be gone!!!! Look at last year, he is on the NCAA basketball committee and Ohio State has the overall number one seed and they are in a bracket with Kentucky and North Carolina!!!!!!!!!! That was the most ridiculous thing i have ever seen on a selection Sunday. He should have been fired right there because of that. You are on the committee and you let that happen to YOUR University that employs you!!! Are you serious!

[walshfan]

When 100K+ fans stop paying 70.00+ for seats in Ohio Stadium, maybe things will change? I am an OSU alum and life-long fan of the Bucks. My interest in the team this year is at an all-time low. Not becasue they are having a mediocre season to date, I simply don't agree with all of the shenanigans going on down by the "oldandgrungy". Posey and Herron should be done for the season...or do we give them a third strike? Wonder if my employer would do the same if I broke the regulatory rules, knowingly, two times; don't think so. Great lesson we're teaching these guys.