OT: Herbstreit rips OSU, Tressel
Kirk Herbstreit is less than charitable to his alma mater. Even gets a genuinely nostalgic John Cooper reference in there.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6426819
April 26th, 2011 at 12:11 AM ^
I live in Columbus and by that most of my friends unfortunately have some allegience to TUOOS, may God have mercy on their souls. That being said, I have not spoken to anyone in the last month or better that has not plainly stated that Tressel must go. In fact, most TUOOS fans I know want him canned before the NCAA moves forward to mitigate damage to the program and the University. It is embarrassing to all TUOOS fans whether they will admit it or not, just as it would be to Michigan fans. With his success, Tressel would likely have surpassed Woody in TUOOS lore and the reactions will be defensive to say the least. He is gone, it is a done deal. TUOOS officials wont even use his name in interviews anymore. The only decision that remains to be made by the athletic department is how to minimize the damage and how to fix Urban Meyer's apparent mental/cardiac health issues and get him to the sideline.
I lived in C-town for 8 years, graduated from that school, and have plenty of friends there. I am from NW Ohio where there is a pretty equal split of Michigan/OSU fans. I have always been a Michigan fan. Going down there and wearing my Michigan shirts was always a fun experience. They always had a comment. But that was when Michigan owned them...
I digress. Not one friend of mine that is an OSU fan has told me they want Tressel fired/should be fired. They don't care. They're just happy Michigan keeps getting beat and feel like he doing what everyone else is doing, he just got caught.
although him losing a year of his prime to a lockout would be entertaining as well
April 26th, 2011 at 10:28 AM ^
Oh come on, can you really blame him?
"What's so good about Cleveland? You like it? You think Cleveland is cool? I've never heard anyone say, 'I'm going on vacation to Cleveland'" - Joakim Noah.
I think Kirk and Desmond Howard are both very good at being bias towards their alma matters...Unlike Lou Holtz who picks notre dame to win the national championship every year
Interesting, Herbie might be more welcomed on A2 than Cbus
Sorry, in instead of on
He probably would be more welcomed there anyway, since people in AA are you know....sane.
slight threadjack, but does anyone know where I could go read Buckeye fans spin on this?
Bucknuts for an "average Buckeye fan" experience.
Elevenwarriors is closer to MGoBlog than it is to Bucknuts, but still not on par if you ask me.
I went to check out ElevenWarriors for myself to see what the way the delusional were reacting to all this.
Open New Tab --> Internet Explorer crashes --> Try FireFox --> Fire fox craps out on me...
Does this say anything about TSIO? They don't want people reading their panicking and tears. But I finally got it to work and they are in fact as stated, delusional!
"Tressel should at most receive 1 more game. A fine and 5 games was enough of a suspension"
SMH
that is a flamewar I would love to witness firsthand.
April 25th, 2011 at 10:20 PM ^
If you want real delusion and spin, go to Hineygate, the Buckeye's Scout affiliate.
NOTHING BAD HAPPENED...
Sie werden nicht beleidigen Sweatervest!
Obviously he doesn't "get it."
First thing he'd do: Stop recruiting kids like Clarett and Pryor. I'm a little jealous Herbstreit was a Buckeye right now. Can't argue with anything he said.
Good grief, it's Pryor's fault Tressel lied repeatedly
He had me until he said "people are being unfair to Jim Tressell's character". Really? What the hell??? Has Herbie been paying attention to Jimmy's career since YSU?
I think he was trying to walk the line between calling it the way he sees it and being able to return to Columbus and escape with his life someday. Still though...
I'll send that off to the sports licensing department at TSIO.
"He needs to stop recruiting players like Maurice Clarett and Terrelle Pryor."
Ouch.
He smacked up osu pretty good.
At halftime of the 97 Michigan vs Ohio State game. He was a pretty nice guy actually, and we spoke for 3 or 4 minutes. It was amazing how many people walked right by us not recognizing who he was.
<br>Talking to him caused me to miss Woodson's interception early in the second half. (true story)
I have to give Herbstreit credit for calling it the way he sees it. To say "stop recruiting players like Clarett" takes no courage whatsoever. But to call out the current starting QB of your alma mater as unworthy shows some real integrity. He also, IMO, shows some true love for his school (as unloveable as that school may be to us).
I'm curious to see how this gets spun in the Columbus Dispatch, etc. My guess is that many students at OSU will appreciate Herbstreit speaking out, while the non-alums will be buying pitchforks and lighter fluid, waiting for him to return.
Kirk - I officially forgive you for the Les Miles fiasco. In fact, given what we now know about Les Miles and how he could well have been a divisive figure, thanks for the Les Miles fiasco too.
look no further than the Tim May interview on ESPN at http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6425980. The Dispatch writers and many of the local yokels on TheFan here can be so blind. "Unprecedented" punishment of 5 game days having to stay out of the 'shoe?? Yeah, since the rule 10.1 violators are usually fired or forced to resign, I guess that would make it unprecedented, Tim May.
When I lived in Chicago, I loved "Da Bears" skits on SNL, but the real life "Da Bucks" folks take the delusions to an entirely different level.
April 26th, 2011 at 12:14 AM ^
A panel on the Ohio News Network this evening was overall none to friendly to Tressel. In fact, one of them made the comment that only one coach in D1 sports has ever committed equivalent actions and not been terminated.
April 26th, 2011 at 12:51 PM ^
Thanks for the link. The most interesting part of that interview was watching Chris Spielman's take on the situation. "As a fan I have a bad feeling ... about knowingly putting ineligible players on the field."
I give Spielman a pass for not being more blunt (he's a good friend of Tressel's), but even he couldn't muster much of a defense for Tressel's actions. He did adopt the comic "he did it for the kids" defense, but that was about it.
And Spielman, like Herbstreit and a few others, is in the basket of OSU player-alumni who I respect.
The "make the popcorn" comments cropping up in these threads are spot-on. This is going to be quite a show.
I think he moved out of Columbus since he saw all of this coming down and could not remain a credible broadcaster if he remained there (sans a body guard for he and his family). I am a M fan living in the South and it is almost like the OSU fan heritage was part of the Confederacy.
have completely fallen off the Buckeye bus. It was last seen skidding with a shower of sparks into a nursing home of OSU ulumni on nursery school visitation day.
the only buckeye i like is moving to nashville
buy him a beer.
Herbie is so right about the John Cooper reference.
I posted on MLive.com during the Cooper years and every day we were flooded with OSU trash despite the fact we beat them on the field year after year after year. The most common comment from them in regards to Cooper was he should have never been hired to OSU because he "never understood the rivarly." Not understanding the rivalry is why he could never beat Michigan. Not understanding the rivalry was why he couldn't coach (despite winning a ton of games otherwise) and not understanding the rivalry was why he was a bad person.
All it takes is winning that game to decide what kind of person you are, how much support you get, and whether or not they'll have your back even when you get caught cheating.
How OLD were you when posting during the Cooper days? That was a decade ago, and I thought you were not so old for someone with such a grasp on "History".
This was a "how precocious ARE you?" post, not calling WH into doubt.
April 26th, 2011 at 12:21 AM ^
I would estimate WH would be around MS/HS age in the Cooper era.
I was 8 when Cooper was hired (1988) and 20 when he was fired (2000).
I posted on MLive the last 3 years of the Cooper years from 98 - 00.
My age is strangely fascinating to you folks.
April 26th, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
I'm a year younger than you...
I've followed your stuff for a pretty long time- before I knew of MGoBlog, I would watch your videos on YouTube.
The reason I mention those things is that before knowing how old you were, I totally assumed you were some dude in his 50's who figured out how to use YouTube and convert/upload all your old VHS tapes to YouTube.
Knowing that you're only about 30ish is kind of a surprise- considering your excellent work documenting Michigan Football...
April 26th, 2011 at 12:56 PM ^
Yeah, I can see how all the VHS tapes could make people think I was old. I'm probably the last person on the planet who still uses a VCR.
The knowledge is purely me being a nerd and reading almost every book ever written about the history of Michigan football when I was a teenager. I also had the CD Rom program that was released in the 90's. Plus, I have a freakishly good memory when it comes to stats. So, yeah. Mystery solved. Not a wise old man.
I finally got my hands on a copy of Under The Tarnished Dome. I'm only two chapters deep and my hair's already starting to stand on end. I had no idea Lou Holtz was such a scumbag. Don't Domers point to Holtz as the last Great ND Coach?
Kirk Herbstreit, Robert Smith and Chris Spielman have all been way above aboard and completely unbiased about the whole situation.
Unlike the fanbase, they are Buckeyes to the core...they have fought and bled for the school and you can hear the embarassment and humility concerning this debacle in their voices when they talk about what Tressel has done to their program and their school.
NONE of these guys wants to see him remain the HC at TSIO. His face is now the stain on the program. He has to go.
I applaud them and I feel like our guys in the media would do the same thing if our HC ever did anything so egregious.
Haven't heard anything from Chris Carter, but I feel like he would try to stick up for Tressel...he's such an ignorant ass.
When his kid transfered from the school
. . . to move forward with Jim Tressel."
I interpret this as implicit (although pretty transparent) advocacy of firing Tressel.
College football is a mess. It has gotten too big. Too much money. Too many private/corporate interests. Too high of standards held by fans (in terms of wins and losses, not running a cleam program).
we should stop recruiting James Ross right this instant, right?
You need to re-think this
I think you're judging these kids a little too harshly. How much perspective did you have at 17? How much in-depth fan knowledge (and bias) did you have at 17? Remember, in the past 20 years Michigan has had its basketball program blown up and its football program is on NCAA probation right now. If you think there aren't places in Ann Arbor where a player can go to get a free beer or a t-shirt, you're naive.
Kids typically go to a place near home where they feel a connection with a coaching staff. It helps if the school is a powerhouse that sends a lot of people to the NFL.