Ellis to talk with NCAA investigators.....
Big deal or yawn.......
August 15th, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
I am not going to get too excited until something actually comes of this like a new NOA, but this can't hurt the cause. Why would they bother inerviewing this guy if they knew the whole situation and thought they had everything wrapped up.
Also the Torg guy is not the only one saying this ESPN reported it last week as well in case anyone is skeptical.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:04 PM ^
Depends on the pics. Is it just of players getting tattoo's? No big deal, that proves nothing.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:15 PM ^
i'm wondering what the pics would have to be of to be incriminating enough, especially with the NCAA's intersting lack of detective skills in regards to Ohio.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
a brick of a controlled substance.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:30 AM ^
Where can I hear these whispers?
August 15th, 2011 at 6:05 PM ^
I'm tired of getting my hopes up about this only to be let down. This better be enough to buttfuck OSU back into the 1800s.
August 15th, 2011 at 10:58 PM ^
And I can assure you, we did love butt-fucking in the 1800's.
August 16th, 2011 at 8:31 AM ^
lulz.
Thanks for making me spill coffee on myself.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:10 PM ^
who knew the NCAA was the original source of that quote
August 15th, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
Can we really trust this guy called "The Torg?" Is this the second coming of Ace Williams?
August 15th, 2011 at 6:20 PM ^
This is from a previous post of mine:
A lot of people have posted wondering about the reliability of these guys when addressing the ongoing situation in Columbus. I've been listening to these guys for probably 4 or so years now. Lately, they've caught on and become pretty popular in central Ohio, and their schtick level is higher than it used to be, but they're still easily my favorite sports personalities, be it local or national. They are obviously OSU biased, even though neither grew up in Ohio. However, they routinely call a spade a spade, and are the first to criticize OSU athletes and the last to dismiss UofM athletes out of hand. If you get past all the OSU love, which I have been subjected to for almost 6 years now, they're actually pretty hilarious at times, and usually spot on with their takes on situations. I can't see them discussing this stuff on the air unless they honestly believe it to be true. They may not vet their sources as well as a George Dohrmann type, but I'm sure some level of diligence was paid. This is not to say that their sources aren't snowballing them, but I know enough background to comfortably say that these guys aren't making this stuff up. I know this isn't breaking news or anything, but I thought I'd lend some background perspective on this OSU situation. Any other Columbus people out there that have any take on this?
August 15th, 2011 at 6:26 PM ^
Thanks for the insight. I must have missed that when looking through the other threads. I just am inclined to doubt these people who seem to show up with big news from out of nowhere. I hope that this guy has all his facts together, it would be good news for us.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
August 15th, 2011 at 6:14 PM ^
Why this is good:
Scene 1
Mr. Ellis: I got these pictures here.
NCAA: What do they show?
Mr. Ellis: I'll show ya when you get here.
NCAA: OK, let's make a trip out.
Scene 2
Mr. Ellis: I got these pictures here that detail this, this, and this.
NCAA: And you are sure they show that? This may be something we can use to build a case...
One of those makes more sense than the other. Granted, this is the NCAA.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:17 PM ^
is the NCAA doesn't waste their time setting up an interview with some slimeball (and his lawyer mind you) unless they have a pretty good idea what he's going to say before hand....
August 15th, 2011 at 6:45 PM ^
Good reasoning by both of you guys.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:25 PM ^
by Dohrmann; not sure how incriminating these pix might be:
Ellis showed SI pictures of players -- Pryor, Gibson, Herron and Solomon Thomas -- being tattooed or showing off their artwork. Rife appears in one photo with a player. Ellis also produced a photo of 11 plastic bags filled with what appears to be marijuana; he says the photo was taken at Fine Line Ink. The letter the DOJ sent to Ohio State in December stated, "There is no allegation that any of these players were involved in or had knowledge of Mr. Rife's drug trafficking activities." Ellis says that is true but that he did witness four other Buckeyes trade memorabilia for weed. Three of those transactions involved a small amount of the drug, he says, but in one instance a player departed with what Ellis was told was a pound. (Rife's lawyer denies that his client provided marijuana to any players.)
Not holding my breath.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:15 PM ^
I have to agree - I mean, if the pictures show OSU players getting tatted up, well, the NCAA already hit OSU for it. Nothing new would come of this if that's what the pictures are of.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:18 PM ^
I want Rife to have the book thrown at him. Rife needs to open up and spill ALL the beans.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:28 PM ^
tOSU is going to get off with nothing? Just a bad feeling in my gut.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:40 PM ^
When I saw the username "Funkymoses17" I thought at first that was Brian (who has also posted under that name, sans number).
August 15th, 2011 at 6:32 PM ^
They make this guys testimony more believable because in order to have the pics he was obviously in Rifes click. I dont think the pictures are the smoking gun, but the value of them should not be understated. If the NCAA believes the guy like SI did his testimony could be very damning to OSU.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:41 PM ^
When this story first broke I thought man is OSU going to get it this time. Now I have resigned to the fact that they will escape without sanctions yet again. This reminds me loosely of the OJ case. So much evidence only to be wasted on a few stupid people with no balls.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:50 PM ^
Their head coach is gone. It's big. One year ago if you said tressel would be fired. And they had to name an interim coach that no one ever heard of and wasn't even a coordinator, we'd all would have been happy. If you then said that only three players in the top 10 Ohio recruiting list goto Ohio, AND Hoke gets a top 5 class.....
<br>
<br>You'd be peeing yourself you'd be so happy.
<br>
<br>Just think back 1 year......
August 15th, 2011 at 6:52 PM ^
Well done Neil
August 15th, 2011 at 6:52 PM ^
I like to think back 14 years. It's cooler that way.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^
They also lost their starting QB (Pryor).
August 15th, 2011 at 8:26 PM ^
You are absolutely right. Although I think the bar is set some what lower now on what makes us happy due to the last several years. If I stepped back from the situation and someone gave me all the information available on OSU but didn't tell me it was them, I would still feel the same way. If I am on the West coast, this would just reaffirm the East coast bias in my opinion. It's basically OK to chop off USC's head but OSU skates, just seems a bit off to me.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:52 PM ^
Dennis,
This whole thing is literally miles from being over. Dohrmann didn't get his literary awards by accident because he's an idiot. He's gloating all day over this Ellis thing with the NCAA although one suspects he knew all along that he'd eventually deal with the NCAA. Here's the thing, the NCAA isn't going to interview the guy unless he's indicating something substative to them. So there's the first part. The second is that he's still Dohrmann's source and it's only a matter of time before those pictures end up in Sports Illustrated. That's win version 2.0 and it keeps the general media heat on Ohio whenever that happens.
Better yet, we have no idea about Dennis Talbott and where he might sit with the IRS and/or if and when he plans on flipping on Pryor. Heaven help Storm Klein's dad if there is a picture of his boy at Fine Line...
The point is, there are so many balls in the air for Ohio to juggle and any one of them crashing down, any opening in the once closed Omerta, any potential for Terrelle Pryor to need to meet with a media member for an 'exclusive' over the next year and boom goes the dynamite.
I am not worried about this ending up like the OJ case; my friends (god help them) who support Ohio worry more accurately about this stuff *never* ending.
August 15th, 2011 at 9:01 PM ^
I guess I have been letting the PR machine out of OSU convince me that they may make it out of this. With that many people in trouble with the law, one of them is bound to snitch. Thanks for the perspective.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:55 PM ^
The Michael Ellis episode is one of my favorites.
Anyways, even though Torg is supposed to be gigging with his high school buddies in the Twin Cities, he's still tweeting:
myguythetorg the torgEllis is listening to @CommonMan971+ wants 2 add he is bringing someone with him to indy that will back up his story along w/ the pics
Ricordati's comment (Common Man) today was pretty funny: "Hope Pryor is allowed to go in the supplemental draft. Otherwise, he's sitting around for a year with nothing to do and he might start talking." I think he, like most in these parts, would rather see TP at the Citgo, though.
August 15th, 2011 at 6:56 PM ^
The NCAA will definately deal out LOIC to tosu. Plus Im sure they will get bowl bands, and loss of scholarships. I can't wait to hear what will happen if and when he does infact talk with the NCAA.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^
Bowl bands? Like rings after winning a bowl game? Ok! And then you make a joke about selling said bands/rings!
August 15th, 2011 at 7:12 PM ^
I'm pretty sure he meant the bands that play at the halftime shows. And depending on the bowl, that could be quite the punishment.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:20 PM ^
I'm pretty sure he meant bands that have played in bowl-shaped stadiums.
I think Ohio State will get The Beatles, Nirvana, and possibly Journey. But definitely not The Smiths. Brian would cry.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:21 PM ^
I'm ok with any of these.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
Do they get Kurt Cobain? Or Courtney Love instead? Either way would be sticky.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:35 PM ^
Ohio State definitely gets Courtney Love and then the ghost of Kurt Cobain because they're not good enough for alive Kurt Cobain. And they get The Beatles with Yoko Ono. And Journey with the Filipino guy instead of Steve Perry.
Also, they get Nickleback.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:42 PM ^
Although Ellis, I know, is the tatoo guy, the "cars" may be next.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^
I think he meant more multiple years of being banned from any bowls.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:34 PM ^
Isnt this a non issue (aka moot) since the head of the NCAA used to be roomates with E. Gordon Gee back in the 80s?
August 15th, 2011 at 7:41 PM ^
August 15th, 2011 at 7:53 PM ^
I'm not holding my breath. The "sacred brotherhood" has three days to make him "change his mind." That's a lot of death threats.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:21 PM ^
I think the NCAA is just putting on a game of charades. When they let OSU off the hook they can say it was a thorough investigation.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:45 PM ^
Damn. That was my first thought too... On the other hand, I'm not sure the NCAA is willing to weather another media shit storm if osu walks. So I'm holding onto hope that osu still gets hammered for no other reason than to give the NCAA some undeserved credibility.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:32 PM ^
Something should happen but it won't. The NCAA will conviently forget to turn on their tape recorders.
August 15th, 2011 at 8:49 PM ^
I give it 3 fakes out of 5.
The NCAA was in and out of Columbus all summer, yet doesn't bother sending someone 3 hours down the highway to interview "Ellis"?
Isn't "Ellis" poor? How is he paying for this day trip with his lawyer?
What can a still photo possibly show? Is someone holding up a sign saying "I'm trading this autograph for a tat... suck it Emmert!"
What does "Ellis" have to gain? Didn't Dohrmann say he was intimidated before? Why now? If anything, isn't this costing him money and potential safety?
If the NCAA let OSU off the hook for 5 guys getting tats, why would they care if 7 guys got tats? All the NCAA seemed to care about was that OSU had proper education about trading memorabilia .