Why Lebron James isn't or will ever be a true Champion

So Lebron James finally won his first NBA Championship last night, as the Miami Heat easily dispatched of the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-106 in game five to win the best of seven series 4-1.

As the confetti and trophy presenation to James, Dwyane Wade, and their Miami cohorts began, it got me to thinking: Is Lebron James one of the best players to ever play the game of basketball?

If you look at what he has accomplished to date, all the accolades would indicate that he is, in fact, among the best to ever lace them up. Multiple regular season MVP.  MVP of the all-star game. And, as we all saw last night, he can now add another title to his resume: NBA Champion.

But does Lebron really deserve to be called a champion?

No, and it's not even close.

Do champions run away when the going gets tough? No. Lebron felt that it was ultimately too hard to win a championship in Cleveland, and decided the alternative, moving to Miami to team with the Heat's Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, was what he needed to get over the hump. Never mind that in the history of the NBA, only one other person has ever won a championship leaving the team that drafted him in his prime: Shaquille O'Neal.

O'Neal, unlike James, did not make a spectacle when he moved from Orlando to Los Angeles. He also did not claim he would win multiple titles upon arriving in LA even before he had his first ring. He went out and played ball, and would go on to win three titles with Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers. It was never about him, just about the team.

That was the big thing that angered me last night and prompted me to write this post today. It seemed that last night was less about the Miami Heat winning, and more about Lebron James getting his first title. Even ABC decided to get in on the act, paying homage to the struggle that Lebron had to finally become an NBA Champion.

But was it really that much of a struggle? Lebron had been pampered throughout high school, playing on the best AAU teams during the summer. He would go on to put his school, Akron St.-Vincent-St. Mary, on the basketball map with his stellar play.

Then it was on to the NBA. Within a few years of joining the Cavaliers, he had them in the playoffs.  A couple years after that, he even had them in the NBA finals against the San Antonio Spurs. Despite getting swept by the Spurs in that series, 4-0, it was assumed the experience he gained would allow him to take the next step and bring Cleveland its first ever NBA title.

However, three years later Lebron and the Cavs still were without rings. The time had come for James to make what would be the hardest decision of his career to that point. How would he handle it? With the humility of a champion? Hardly, unless you consider an hour long special dedicated to a decision that could have been issued via a 30 second press release humble. But at least there was the glimmer of hope that the greatest athlete state of Ohio had ever seen would tough it out to bring his hometown a championship.

Yet there's the rub. James decided, in fact, it wasn't going to be easy to win a title in Cleveland, and thus bolted for Miami to team up with his buddy Dwyane.  Of course, there are many who felt that David Robinson would never win a championship with the Spurs. Robinson's loyalty would be rewarded, as he would finally get his first ring in 2003.

And everyone thinks that all this hatred for Lebron revolves around his decision to leave his 'hometown.' Certainly that has something to do with it. I mean, at the very least he could have thanked the city of Cleveland for its support after he left town, but did he do so? No, to this day he has hardly acknowledged the role Cleveland and the Cavs played in his development as a player.

Then there is the infamous pep rally held in Miami that would lead the rest of the nation (save for south beach) to pile on the list of the king's haters.

But the real reason Lebron isn't, or will never be, a champion? He took the easy way out. He could have stayed in Cleveland, and tried to make it work with the team that drafted him. Even if he had never won a title at least he would have gone down as one of the all time greats. Yet he left his former team, one that bent over backwards trying to make him happy, for one that had amassed a collection of superstars built to win a championship. So the question then wasn't if he would win a title but when. Sure he has worked on his game, but maybe not as much as if he stayed on the Cavs.  He has also made his teammates around him better players as well. But it is much easier to do when you team up with two other all-star players.

So Heat fans(including those who joined the bandwagon in 2010) you can rejoice that Lebron has finally won his first title.  Because he is definitely one of the great players. But a champion? Not necessarily.

Memorial Tournament: Tiger Woods is Human, Just Like the Rest Of Us

As the Memorial Tournament, held in Dublin, Ohio, not far from where I currently live, came to a close yesterday, the big story revolved around the PGA's most popular (and, according to whom you talk to, its most polarizing) player, one Tiger Woods. Not only did Woods' fifth victory at Murifield Country Club set a tournament record, but, he also tied the immortal Jack Nicklaus with his 73rd victory in professional golf, and, at the age of 36, in 10 fewer years than the 'Golden Bear' did.

Yet despite such a dramatic comeback, there are still people that have trouble separating Tiger Woods the golfer from Tiger Woods the man. While many people are aware of the spectacular birdie saving chip shot Woods made on the 16th hole on Sunday, that ultimately help propel him to victory, few may be aware of the drama that awaited him on the 17th, where he would miss an attempt for a second consecutive birdie. I could be mistaken, but it has come to my knowledge that while the majority of the gallery was silent after this miss, one person took particular joy in this failure. So much so that it rose to the level of heckling, where this person was almost escorted off the premises.

I bring this instance up for two reasons: the first is to illustrate the proper decorum for attending a golf tournament. Many of you have seen the movie 'Happy Gilmore' starring Adam Sandler(if you haven't I suggest you do so now), where Sandler's title character gets heckled repeatedly. Well, that only works in the movie. No matter how much you dislike a golfer, it is an unwritten rule that as a fan you should not yell 'you suck, jackass!' or anything similar to a professional golfer at a live event. It is also not cool to climb the TV tower to get a better view, no matter how much you want to be on TV or how much you have had to drink. Such things might be tolerated at other sporting events such as a basketball, baseball, or football game, but in golf, the so called 'gentelman's game' they are forbidden, part of the unwritten code of etiquette.

The next is to rehash a topic that will be brought up whenever talking about Tiger Woods from now to the end of time, that is his personal life. It is understandable that people should be angry at Tiger for the way he behaved in his personal life. However, we have to remember that he is human, and he has apologized for his trangressions to his fans and his family. If you no longer want to be a fan, then so be it. But what purpose does continuous heckling of this man serve? If I surveyed my readers I am sure I would find that no one is perfect themselves. Matter of fact, I will admit I am far from perfect, that I have made my share of mistakes and asked for forgiveness when I needed to do so.

Athletes are human, like the rest of us, and they are prone to mistakes. Many people would be shocked to know that the man the call 'Larry Legend', the one and only Larry Bird, fathered a daughter out of wedlock and had ignored her existence for a number of years. Bird was one of my favorite athletes growing up as a child, and even though this revelation is saddening, he remains among my favorite basketball players. Michael Jordan, called the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) by many, divorced his wife several years ago. Even guys like Joe Dimaggio and Babe Ruth had their dark sides, as both were known as womanizers for starters.

The question then becomes, are professional athletes role models? My answer to that question is yes AND no. Yes, as figures in the public spotlight, they should carry themselves with a certain amount of professionalism and class. What they do on and off the field, course, diamond, rink, etc can have an impact on the lives of fans of all ages. On the other hand, athletes are human, like the rest of us, and, as such, they are not perfect. Shouldn't it be up to parents to ultimately instill a sense of right and wrong in their children? Can we not root for an athlete while not necessarily condoning the choices that he or she may have made in their personal lives?

Bottom line is if you don't like Tiger Woods, then don't root for him. But heckling him is not only in poor taste, it also goes against the unwritten rules of golf.  And as fans, we can root for whomever we like, but we also have to abide by the rules each sport has set forth for spectactors.

NBA Playoffs: San Antonio Spurs not flashy, just fundamental

Welcome back, fans. It has been a nine month hiatus since my last post, and for that I apologize.

The NBA playoffs are now down to their version of the final four, and in the west, there couldn't be two more contrasting styles of ball.

On the one hand you have the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by the high octane offense of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. And the passionate play of sixth man of the year James Harden and center Kendrick Perkins

On the opposite side of the spectrum, there is the San Antonio Spurs, 101-98 winners of last night's game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. They aren't flashy, as you more than likely won't see them on a ESPN Sportscenter highlight reel. The Spurs big three, Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobli, are as humble a trio you'll find in the league, each deferring to the other during post game interviews. And to round out the team you will find role players like Thiago Splitter, Danny Green, and Matt Bonner, guys who might not make the starting rosters of half the teams in the NBA this season, yet who are essential to the Spurs starting the playoffs 9-0 and two series away from their fifth championship in franchise history.

That's right folks. Of the remaining four teams, the one that fans, media, coaches, and even other players don't want to see win it all isn't the Miami Heat. Not by a long shot. No that would be the Spurs. A team that plays a brand of ball that is as drab as some as the black and white uniforms they wear. Whose star players have personalities as about exciting as their head coach, Greg Poppovich, who can be seen walking the sidelines with the same stoic expression whether San Antonio is winning or losing. Maybe one day after he has retired from the game 'Pop' as his players call him will enter the World Series of Poker.

Yet of all the four teams remaining, the San Antonio Spurs are also the ones I'll be rooting for to cut down the nets next month. In this day and age where it seems basketball, especially at the professional level, has become a collection of one on one battles, the Spurs still play the game the way it was designed to be played. As a team. The spread the ball around the court, looking for the best available shot. They play team defense, not measured by the number of blocks or steals they garner, but rather by rebounding and taking away their opponents' path to the basket.  And, last night's game notwithstanding, they understand that limiting turnovers goes a long way to winning a basketball game.

So the Spurs, just like their big man, Tim Duncan, aka 'Big Fundamental,' play fundamentally sound team basketball. So what? Flashy is in. Rim shaking dunks and blocked shots are what make the NBA fun to watch, right? That is what is wrong with the game, however. Fundamentally sound basketball is now a punchline, rather than something that gets proper attention. Of course a thunderous dunk every now and then is exciting, but  how about going back to the other end of the court to play defense once in a while? How about making free throws in the crucial moments of the game rather than complain about officiating?

And teams from other leagues can learn from the Spurs as well. The NFL is a prime example. Guys like James Harrison and Brandon Merriweather can complain all day long the league is out to get them, yet at the end of the day if they practiced fundamentally sound tackling there wouldn't be an issue. Proper form tacking requires the defender to wrap the guy with two arms, his head up, driving his shoulder into the offensive player. How hard is that? The kind of thing they taught me in middle school football over 20 years ago.

So while the rest of the nation(save for the city of San Antonio) roots for OKC vs Miami, I will be quitely hoping the Spurs' big three get what could be their last chance for a championship.

J-Rod takes over Fantasy Football: The Cardinal Rules League

Hey everyone!!! I'm back with a new post!!! Did you miss me? You did??!!! Thanks to the both of you.

Before I go any further, I would like to put out a little disclaimer: this entry may use language and/or innuendo that many people will  find offensive. If you are easily offended by crude/suggestive language, I suggest you stop reading now.

Without further ado, it is on to the topic of my blog.

A few months ago(I would approximate around the end of May or the middle of June) I was approached about organizing a fantasy football league amongst my coworkers. Naturally I was excited about the opportunity to do this, and I did not hesitate to take the reins as commissioner of what is now The Cardinal Rules fantasy football league.

So I gathered nine other coworkers who shared near the passion I did for football, and the league was off and running. This was not an easy task, as sports fans know that fantasy football geeks like me are an odd bunch. I know, I know, spend way too much time analyzing football. I need to find another hobby. Or a girlfriend. Of course what would be even better is finding a girlfriend who doesn't mind my unhealthy obsession with football. Ha Ha

Anyway, back to the league. As I said before there are ten teams in The Cardinal Rules, with nine of them being owned by guys, and the other being owned by a girl. But more on that later.  We schedule a draft that is held at Buffalo Wild Wings, not close to where I live, but close to another league member.(At this point, you are probably wondering to yourself, it's already week three of the NFL season, why is he just now getting to his draft? Two reasons: a) I wanted to give you a taste of what my draft is like and b) having taken a job working for the Armchair Report(www.armchairreport.com) as a freelance writer, I have kind of been burnt out as of late, which is in part why it has taken me so long to write another blog entry.)

So the draft is not near my house, and the reasoning behind that is that everyone else is closer to the other location, and that one of the member's girlfriends works there--she would get us 25% off of food. Nevermind the real reason he wanted it there is he wanted to play kissy face with his girlfriend. Which is okay, but I am the commish. Next year we have the draft where I want it, or make sure your girlfriend has a single girlfriend for me. Or you can book Jillian Barberie to host our draft. If not, then we're having it where I say we are.

Jillian Barberie, weather correspondent for Fox NFL Sunday, can host my fantasy football draft anytime.

Before I go any further, I guess I should take a moment to name the teams in my league. By the way, I am not making this up, these are actually the team names (I'll let you figure out which one I am):

Suck My Vick!!!

Put me in the Game Coach!!!!

waterboyz

thehairytedstickle

Colt.45's

J-Rod Attack

ShortNorthwest Posse

BALLBUSTERS

GW365

Pecker of Pleasure

As luck would have it, I have the last spot in the draft, No. 10. Not only does that mean I pick last, but, since it is a snaking draft(meaning the order goes first to last, then last to first) I also have back to back picks. And as the league commissioner, I have to moderate the draft too. Another reason to book Jillian Barberie for next year, ha.

So we finish the draft, and among the highlights are me repeating to one of the members that 'yes that player has already been drafted' on more than one occasion, everyone giving me shit cause I opened by saying 'Welcome to fantasy football 2011...you're all gonna finish in second place' and my personal favorite, upon Eli Manning getting drafted, I deadpan 'well someone's gotta draft him.'

Fast forward two weeks, and things are not looking good for the commish. The league is being dominated by team Suck My Vick!!!, and, what's worse, that is the lone team run by the girl in the league. I won't go over her whole team, just name a few players:

QB Tom Brady, NE  RB Ray Rice, Bal, RB Peyton Hillis, Cle, WR, Wes Welker, NE  WR Kenny Britt, Ten

When I say she is dominating the league, not only is she 2-0, she won her first game by 87 points while her team scored 178 points (most I have ever seen in a standard league). She followed it up in week 2 with another victory, this time scoring 145 points. And I have the fortune of playing her this week.

My lineup looks like this: QB Drew Brees WR Santonio Holmes, WR Dez Bryant RB Maurice Jones Drew RB Mike Tolbert.  I also have Steven Jackson who is a top three back every season until he gets hurt(which is a guarantee almost every season) and, wouldn't you believe it? He is hurt once again. Oh, and did I mention she also has the other TE for New England(not Hernandez)? With 10 starters in our league, we both have other players, but you get the idea...her team could defeat mine by 20 while she sits two of her starters, based on past performance. But you never know.

My only regret though is not drafting Hillis. Dude is a beast, and, at 6'1 250 pounds, not only is he bigger than most running backs, he actually dwarfs the fullback blocking for him. He was the MVP of a team I had last year that just missed the playoffs cause the only other player I had was Aaron Rodgers; this season I was poised to draft Hillis, and I thought no one would take him before the third round(I believed two things: a) many of the league members, new to fantasy football, would not be nearly as draft savvy as yours truly b) none of the members were Browns fans, which I have also come to learn is not entirely true either. That's the thing about ego. Analyze stats all you want, but let your ego enter the draft even the slightest bit and you end up paying). Technically, no one did take him before the third round, but, as I had the last pick of round number three(No. 30) luck would have it he went with pick No. 25.

It's still early though, and there is no reason for me to panic yet, even if I do get blown out on Sunday. 

Why is Ohio State scandal such a big deal? Arrogance and Success Come to Mind

So Ohio State self imposed a penalty that required the football team to vacate all the wins they amassed during the 2010 season, including the Sugar Bowl. They must also forfeit their share of the 2010 Big Ten championship, and go on two years probation. Yet this still isn't enough in the court of public opinion, where even some Buckeye fans believe the university is trying to pull one over on the NCAA.

This is a big deal.  In fact, this might be the most talked about scandal in collegiate sports ever, bigger than the SMU ordeal, and certainly of a greater magnitude than the point shaving scandal in collegiate basketball.

The question then becomes, why does the penalty Ohio State receive for their transgressions matter so much to the general public? The answer is simple: arrogance and success.

Disclaimer: Buckeye fans(especially those sympathetic to Jim Tressel's plight), you might want to skip this next section, because I am going to be painfully blunt. I will, however, for your benefit, italicize this section so you know what not to read.

Ohio State has to be one of the more arrogant programs in the country. It all started with former head coach Jim Tressel. The man that Buckeye nation lovingly referred to as 'The Vest' has a dark side, and it is ugly. Problem is, he did a very good job of hiding it. As a matter of fact, his no-nonsense press conferences, behind the scenes work for charity, and undying love for all things scarlet and gray only furthered the perception in Columbus, Ohio that he was an all-around good guy. I must confess, that I, myself, was swept up in this glorification of Tressel, to the point I had defended him ad nauseum. Looking back, I can't say that Tressel's defiance extended all the way back to 2003, as Sports Illustrated claims. I do believe, however, that during the last two seasons of his career that winning took precedence over everything else.


But make no mistake, Jim Tressel did not just make 'an error in judgment' when he failed to report major violations to the NCAA in April of 2010. He intentionally lied to them on not one, but on four separate occasions because he wanted to win ball games. Apologists can argue all day that he was 'protecting the confidentiality of the correspondence', but, at the end of the day, if you believe something to be that sensitive in nature, you don't forward it to anyone, even if that someone does happen to be a close confidant of your star quarterback.

Ohio State's arrogance did not end there, however. Former and current OSU players, including but not limited to Terrelle Pryor and Ray Small, also exhibited a sense of entitlement as well.  Small pretty much admitted they knew what the rules were, but they didn't care. 

Then there is the arrogance of the OSU administration. That they threw Jim Tressel under the bus is not surprising nor, given what we currently know of the situation, wrong(I am assuming that the NCAA only has evidence on the players involved in the tattoo parlor scandal, and they also have nothing to suggest university officials had prior knowledge of said scandal). Yet Gee and Smith mishandled Tressel's dismissal from the university is a testament to their arrogance also. Gee's arrogance, when he foolishly stated 'I hope coach Tressel doesn't fire me' is nothing new, as he put his foot in his mouth in 2010 when he arrogantly stated TCU couldn't compete in the Big Ten.  TCU would not only finish the season undefeated(with a tougher strength of schedule than OSU, btw) but it also defeated Big Ten co-champion Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

Smith's arrogance is a little harder to decipher, but it is still there. When the news initially broke that Tressel had committed major violations, Smith publicly came to the support of Tressel, along with Gee. But, as public support for Tressel began to dwindle, Smith, like Gee, would withdraw his support for the embattled coach.  Several weeks before they called for Tressel's resignation, Smith would admonish the coach for not seeming contrite enough about the whole situation.  Most recently, Smith laid all the blame for OSU's trouble on the former head coach.  Even if that is true, Smith was Tressel's boss, and you would think that he would accept at least a little responsiblity for his employee's actions.

It is this arrogance that has many fans and members of the media across the nation calling for the NCAA to bring the hammer down on the Buckeyes. Of course, if you ask them why they believe Ohio State should be forced to give up scholarships, be banned from postseason play, etc., they will tell you that the program lacked institutional control. Nevermind that, as of right now, there is no concrete evidence to support a charge(There is an ongoing investigation that several current and former athletes received preferential treatment when purchasing cars, and that OSU compliance officials knew about such malfeasance but ignored it. To date none of the allegations have been proven true, and several current players have been cleared of any wrongdoing).  Which brings us back to the point that almost everyone hates how arrogant OSU is acting about this whole thing.

Then there is the success factor to consider. It doesn't matter what level it is, people love to see a sports dynasty fall. Especially if the team that is part of that dynasty is not their own. During the past 10 seasons Ohio State has won one national title, seven Big Ten Titles, and five BCS bowl games. It's not hard to see why other teams, especially rival schools such as Michigan and USC, would love to see the Buckeyes get hit hard by the NCAA.  Not to mention fans of these same schools, as well as media members who grow tired of seeing OSU in the top 5 teams in the nation on an annual basis.

At the end of the day, OSU fans shouldn't lose any sleep over what punishment the NCAA might hand out. So the NCAA hands out a two year postseason ban and the loss of a few scholarships(not a given, though). It is still a safe bet that OSU will be among the top teams in the Leaders Division of the new Big Ten, and, should the Buckeyes perform well this season, recruiting probably won't be hit as hard as everyone projects. To be honest, fans of OSU today are a little spoiled.  They think that anything less than a 10 win season is a failure. Well, I don't know about you, but I'd take a 9-3(or even 8-4) record accomplished the right way over a 10-2 or 11-1 season that is tainted any day.

New Weekly Column!! Coming Soon!!

As many of you may already know, J-Rod's Sportszone is not the only platform on which I publish articles. 

I have also written more than a dozen articles for Associated Content from Yahoo!(http://contributor.yahoo.com/user/1064203/jarrod_argobright.html).  Most of these articles deal with topics in professional and collegiate sports, but I have written a couple of political op-eds(both on the death of Osama Bin Laden) and some short stories as well.

The other major blog I write for is called the Bleacher Report, a website devoted to fans who wish to have their voice heard in the sports media world.  I originally stumbled onto this website(www.bleacherreport.com) by accident, as I was writing another blog about the Cleveland Browns for cbssports.com at the time(I haven't contributed any new material to the blog in almost nine months, but if you would like to check it out, it was called Dawg Pound 34, and you can find it at (http://jarrod877.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/view/21843959/1).  I quickly applied to become a syndicated writer, and, since I began writing for them in September of 2010, I have now risen to the rank of correspondent.  I have written 63 articles for the Bleacher Report, most of them covering either professional or collegiate football, with a few articles about pro and college basketball sprinkled amongst them.  

This leads me to the main point of this post.   This summer I was approached by the college football editor of the Bleacher Report to write a weekly column for the Ohio State football Newsletter!  They liked the worked I had done on OSU football over the past year and wanted to see me contribute on a more regular basis. (To be honest, during the football season I had written quite a few articles, but, due to combination of writing on multiple platforms, and the sheer volume I had put out--over  200 total posts to date--I have been a little burnt out as of late.) 

So I accepted their offer, and I will now be writing anywhere from one to three articles per week on Buckeye football.  If you want to follow me, all you have to do is go to Bleacher Report (www.bleacherreport.com, for those of you who have already forgot) and navigate to the Ohio State football homepage, then follow the links to sign up for the college football newsletter.  I believe this is going to be a great opportunity for me, as I look to tackle some of the tougher issues, and hopefully secure some hard hitting interviews as well.  I have already begun working on my first article for the newsletter, and it should be published for viewing on Friday afternoon.

P.S.  If you would like to see more of the content I have already submitted to the Bleacher Report, you can do so by clicking on the following link: http://bleacherreport.com/users/320950-jarrod-argobright

Does Ohio State deserve a harsher penalty than USC or Tennessee? Depends on who you talk to.

Ohio State should receive the death penalty in college football for all of its recent rules violations.  Really.  Well, that is at least what many people believe should happen to the Buckeyes, with most of those people living outside of Columbus or even Ohio in general.

The above represents a rather extreme opinion, and, while there are quite a few people who believe the Buckeyes deserve that harsh of a punishment, they may still be in the minority.  The consensus is that Ohio State should receive a punishment somewhere between what Alabama received and USC received, and certainly it should be no more lenient than the penalty levied against the University of Tennessee men's basketball program.

Yet, are the crimes that Ohio State committed worse than what happened at USC?  Or Tennessee for that matter?  Well, let's look at what we know:

USC was investigated for two separate incidents, one being that Reggie Bush's parents were alleged to have a home worth at least six figures for Bush signing with an agent, all while Bush was an underclassmen at USC.  The other involved basketball standout OJ Mayo reportedly receiving thousands of dollars in cash while playing for the Trojans.  USC was ultimately found guilty of a lack of institutional control, and along with a two year postseason ban in football they had to give up 30 scholarships over a three year period.  And recently they have been forced to vacate the national title they won in '04, as well as Bush forfeited the heisman he won that year.

Tennesse has come under fire for Bruce Pearl's involvement with a recruit.  Pearl invited a  potential recruit to a barbecue at his house, when, under NCAA rules, he wasn't allowed to do so.  When Pearl was asked about the incident, he denied it ever happening. Furthermore, he has also been accused of having coached the potential recruit as to what to say if the NCAA were to question him.  The Southeastern Conference suspended Pearl for eight games.  I am not sure the NCAA has ruled on the matter yet, but Tennessee ended up firing Pearl anyway.

On to Ohio State.  Everyone by now knows about the 'tat five' as it were, and Jim Tressel's coverup of the scandal as well.  And, as we all came to find out this past memorial day, there might be even more wrongdoing.  Of course that is where I think the difference of opinion comes in.

Right now, the NCAA has not found any further wrong doing, including whether Terrelle Pryor received cash/gifts in exchange for his autograph, on the part of the Ohio State program.  At least that is what we, the general public, know for sure.  This is key because it will determine whether Ohio State is found guilty of lack of institutional control, which could mean they not only forfeit the 2010 season but also receive a postseason ban and loss of scholarships.

That is why I don't believe Ohio State will receive nearly as harsh a punishment as USC.  Without proof that coach Tressel forwarded the emails to university officials before the Buckeyes took the field against Arkansas, it will be hard to prove that they were not fostering an atmosphere of compliance.  As a matter of fact, while Jim Tressel has deceived Ohio State and the NCAA on multiple occasions, the Ohio State University officials(including Smith and Gee) have been more than accomodating in this whole process, providing the NCAA with everything requested.

Furthermore, when the Ohio State University and Jim Tressel face the committee on infractions next month, they will make a strong case that Tressel acted alone in the coverup of the allegations.  And while some may think that is a personal attack against a man who has done so much for the university, based on the facts we know, it may just be the truth.

So, at the end of the day, if the NCAA seems convinced Tressel acted alone?  I believe OSU gets a slap on the wrist, vacating 2010 season and probation ala Alabama.  Sure there will be a lot of angered fans out west, and maybe even in Ann Arbor, Michigan, but each case must be evaluated separately.  Because they are not the same violations at all.