In early 1942, as the Japanese flexed their military muscles and ran roughshod over southeast Asia, their barrage left General Douglas MacArthur and his contigent of men isolated in the tiny Bataan province of the Philippines. The situation was hopeless, with only two possible outcomes: either fight and die (or worse, be subjected to the brutality of being prisoners of war under Japanese control), or surrender, something most military personnel would choose death over.
MacArthur was ordered to withdraw and relocate to Australia. He did so, but he also gave a speech in which he made a promise to the people of the Philippines, vowing that he would return one day to liberate them from Japan's looming oppression. Only a few short months later, Bataan was under Japanese control. While the Japanese consolidated their power in southeast Asia, the Allies regrouped and reconfigured their strategy. This led to the Battle of the Coral Sea off the northeast coast of Australia in May 1942, which stretched the Japanese too thin, which led to the Americans crushing them at Midway in June, which put Japan on their heels for the remainder of the war. Following Midway, the grueling Guadalcanal Campaign from August 1942 to February 1943 finally tipped the scales in the Allies' favor. From there, the Allies slowly tightened the noose on the Japanese, hopping from the Solomon Islands to the Marshall Islands, to Saipan, and the Philippine Sea, and Guam, and numerous others...until finally, in October of 1944, MacArthur fulfilled the promise he made, iconically wading through the water onto the shore of Leyte, returning to the Philippines.
Ten years ago, the sinner masquarading as a saint put Michigan on the defensive, dealing a shocking blow in November of 2001 at Michigan Stadium. The tide that was stemmed two years later was only temporary, as another ambush was released on us the next year, when a mediocre Ohio State team throttled Big Ten Champion Michigan in Columbus. If it wasn't obvious in the aftermath of that game, it should've been: Ohio State had seized control of the rivalry. Michigan had a precious few number of opportunities to stop them in their tracks:
Leading 21-12 in the 4th quarter in 2005, only to humiliatingly hand the game to the Buckeyes with a gameplan that can generously be described as cowardly and accurately described as pussy-like.
Chad Henne overthrowing a w i d e open Mario Manningham in the first quarter of a 7-7 tie in 2006, squandering a chance to recapture momentum in the game.
Mike Hart slipping on Ohio State's ice rink of a field making a cut on 3rd down early in the third quarter. If he stays up, he runs untouched into the endzone and ties the game at 28. Instead Michigan has to settle for a field goal, and continues to play from behind.
From the moment that game in 2006 ended, nothing was remotely close between the two teams. Ohio State held Michigan at arm's length in victories in Ann Arbor in 2007 and 2009, and polished their brass knuckles before punching Michigan's skull in in Columbus in 2008 and 2010 against crippled, flailing UM teams that were bringing knives to gunfights.
Headed into this season, with the names largely the same as the previous one, it was assumed that UM would once again bring the knife. Even with Ohio State's (self-inflicted) mess, most people figured they'd still bring the firepower, if only to a lesser degree than recent years.
Imagine the surprise, then, as the season unfolded and showed that Ohio State was in possession of little more than a BB gun, and Michigan's knife was actually a bayonet attached to a rifle; a microcosm of life, where fortunes turn on a dime, with almost no warning. What was dull and desolate one day can suddenly be bright and shiny the next. A 37-7 farce of a game one year can turn into a landmark 40-34 insurrection the next.
Saturday rekindled feelings we had long forgotten, but had always lusted for. The feeling of Michigan's running game imposing its will on Ohio State, instead of feeling like a two yard gain was a success like in recent years, or the abomination that was 2007. The resolve that this team had the talent and fortitude to respond when OSU threw a haymaker, as opposed to the last four years, when it was plain as day that we were done after an OSU score. The schadenfreude that comes with petulant little shits (I cleaned it up for the kids) like Zach Boren crying about Michigan celebrating.
If the last eight years are to represent the general status quo of life - full of a harrowing combination of hope, fear, and ultimately, disappointment and bitterness - then days like Saturday are the moments that justify all the haste and drudgery of the world around us. The unfortunate few among us that are stricken with the compulsion to overanalyze things to the point of stripping them of all meaning often twist, warp, and distort things in our lives until some of them blend together, with the lines of separation becoming too blurry to distinguish. Sometimes this is acceptable, and even desirable, as combining two things we enjoy often produces an entirely new level of enjoyment greater than the parts that compose it. Other times, though, when one of our pleasures is tainted or destroyed, the entire well ends up poisoned, because we find ourselves unable to separate them anymore; they've become linked, and as one goes down in flames, it takes the other with it. When that happens, only a transcendent event can overcome the ghost in the machine.
For me, Michigan football no longer brought me joy, because I made the mistake of associating it with other aspects of my life, and they became too intertwined. So when those "other aspects" swirled the drain, it dragged with it the one thing I had been able to keep clean for years. The result was this season almost being seen from a distance. When Roy Roundtree jumped over Gary Gray to send Brian Kelly's head the way of Hiroshima, I registered maybe a five on the excitement scale. When Sam the Eagle's Traveling Band of Righteousness dealt Michigan its first defeat, what should've been overwhelming frustration and anger was only general annoyance from the realization that I would once again have to tolerate sophomoric trash talk from the most ignorant of fanbases. When Junior Hemingway's touchdown against Iowa was called back due to the traditional incompetence that is frequently exhibited by the trained apes wearing zebra shirts in the Big Ten, my agitation that would usually result in something in the house being broken faded within an hour. When Michigan began to drag the blade across Nebraska's throat, my enjoyment was muted at best.
On Saturday, to quote a vaguely familiar movie, I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity.
The 2007 class arrived with the quarterback from Texas with a thermonuclear missile attached to his right shoulder and the star cornerback we pulled over the wire of Pete Carroll's SoCal fence in some sort of bastardized hostage exchange because USC came to our backyard and turned Ronald Johnson and his family into mercenaries. Also much-hyped in the 2007 class was Toney Clemons, whose legacy in the eyes of Michigan fans is that of a rat; a snitch who couldn't keep his mouth shut, choosing to spew lies to spite the coach he didn't sign on for. After one season, Ryan Mallett flew the coop, hated by his teammates and shrouded in mystery by the fanbase. Donovan Warren cut short his serviceable Michigan career because he was no longer willing to destroy his future under Tony Gibson's so-called coaching. So Warren's time in a winged helmet came and went without merit, lost in the inferno that settled over Ann Arbor during his tenure.
But from that inferno came battle-worn, weary, loyal soldiers: Junior Hemingway. David Molk. Ryan Van Bergen. Brandon Herron. Troy Woolfolk. Mark Huyge. Individuals who pledged their allegiance to Carr, saw everything that had appealed to them about Michigan came under siege under Rodriguez, only to make it through to the other side under Hoke.
During one of the endless waterboardings we took in 2008, I vividly remember someone saying, "Molk is going to have to go." Condemning the redshirt freshman center, calling for his expulsion, his excommunication, his exile.
At their sides, the remnants of the 2008 class, the ones who endured the death by a thousand knives more than any of us. The class that saw the local star defensive back flame out in a horrifying reminder of what can happen when young men lose their way in life. The class that brought a quartet of four-star linebackers to Ann Arbor, only to see one of them never make it to campus, another leave after the first fall practice, and yet another fail to realize his potential and spend his career as a backup, his development chopped at the knees by a staff guilty of criminal negligence on defense. It was the class that brought Justin Feagin, Dann O'Neill, Brandon Smith and Kurt Wermers. It gave us Sam McGuffie, the YouTube sensation who never got the chance to fly. And Michael Shaw, who scored the first touchdown of the Rodriguez era on a playaction pass into the flat from Nick Sheridan, back when the world was our oyster, and the uncertainty of the frontier that lay ahead didn't frighten us, but excited us.
That class brought us not just Elliott Mealer, but the Mealer family as a whole, and their story that was too heartbreaking for words and illustrated all that was unfair about the world we take for granted - and the perseverance that reminded us of the power of the human spirit.
The journey is over for much of the 2008 class. Mike Martin, the high school wrestling champion who very nearly flipped to Notre Dame after Lloyd Carr retired, only to honor his word, fight his way through the fog and go out on Senior Day with a lion's roar, avoiding the tragic martyrdom that Brandon Graham had to endure two years earlier. And Kevin Koger, the Ohioan who dared to defy the Empire in favor of Michigan, at a time when Tressel's hold on the state was at its zenith. On Saturday, the tight end from Toledo got the last laugh.
Never to be forgotten is Martavious Odoms, one of the most unsung heroes I can ever recall wearing the maize and blue. Undersized, not especially fast, nothing about him stood out. Our earliest vivid memory of Odoms, aside from the random punt return touchdown against Purdue, was how he seemed to disintegrate in November of that first year, as the temperatures fell and the precipitation increased. The pint sized receiver from Pahokee seemed to wilt under the conditions of Big Ten football. But for the next three years, no one would surpass Martavious Odoms when it came to effort and sheer will to win. Countless touchdowns and big runs over the last three years came as a result of Odoms throwing a block downfield; the type of contribution too easily passed over.
The 2008 class's final chapter will be written next season. One more season for Kenny Demens, and Ricky Barnum, and JT Floyd, and Patrick Omameh. One more year for Roy Roundtree. One more year for Darryl Stonum to find some kind of salvation.
Earlier this year, I compared Michigan's explosion on the recruiting scene this cycle to the Arab Spring, an allusion to UofM rising up and challenging MSU's reign as recruiting king in the state. In my mind, the "Arab Spring" of Michigan recruiting began on March 24th when Ben Braden picked UofM over State, and ended on August 8th when Saginaw native Ondre Pipkins also picked the Wolverines, capping a four and a half month stretch that saw Michigan land 22 commitments. But as it turns out, I was wrong. The Wolverine Revolution didn't end with the pause in recruiting. It simply shifted into the seasonal phase, where the team no one expected anything out of fired back at the status quo. The defenders tossed aside as slow, small, weak and clueless in 2010 rose up in 2011 to oppress their oppressors. The same tortured souls that endured some level of Dante's Inferno against Northwestern in 2008, and saw the 2009 season slip away in one surreal sequence at Illinois on Halloween, and felt the weight of the world finally come crashing through in 2010 as Michigan State, Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Mississippi State sealed the fate of their coach in ruthless and draconian fashion...they found a measure of vengeance last Saturday.
They made it through the storm. And against the ghost in their machine, their most corrupt and deceitful of adversaries, they learned to fly on dreadlocks of gold.
1986: Youngstown State, trying to boost morale to the economically devastated region of northeast Ohio, hires Ohio State offensive assistant Jim Tressel as head coach.
November 17, 1987: Ohio State fires head coach Earle Bruce after three straight losses. Four days later, Bruce's final game as head coach is a win in Ann Arbor over Michigan.
December 31, 1987: Arizona State head coach John Cooper is hired by Ohio State to replace Bruce. Conventional wisdom says Cooper became the most appealing candidate to Ohio State because of his victory over Michigan in the Rose Bowl 364 days earlier.
Spring, 1988: Quarterback and Youngstown native Ray Issac arrives at Youngstown State. Around this time, Tressel introduces Issac to Michael Monus, chairman of the Board of Trustees at Youngstown State and CEO of the drug store chain Phar-Mor. During their first meeting, Monus gives Issac 150 dollars, the first of what will become a habitual series of payments that will total roughly $10,000.
December 21, 1991: Isaac quarterbacks Youngstown State to a 25-17 win over Marshall in the I-AA National Championship Game.
July, 1992: Youngstown State chairman Michael Monus is indicted on fraud and embezzlement charges related to cooking the books at his drug store chain, Phar-Mor. The case would become known as one of the largest cases of corporate fraud in U.S. history. During the course of the investigation, Monus's relationship with Ray Isaac is brought to light. Tressel says he has no knowledge of Monus's payments to Isaac.
January, 1994: The NCAA delivers a notice of allegations to Youngstown State. Tressel, along with Youngstown State Athletic Director Joe Malsimur and Youngstown State President Leslie Cochran assure the NCAA that they will conduct a thorough internal investigation into the matter. This turns out to be a sham, as Malsimur never contacts Monus, and Tressel never speaks to Isaac. In December 2003, Tressel would claim that he can't recall whether or not he talked to Isaac about the allegations. Isaac says he never spoke to anyone.
December 18, 1995: Michael Monus is convicted of one count of conspiracy, two counts of bank fraud, five counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, two counts of filing false income tax returns, 96 counts of interstate transportation of stolen goods, and one count of obstruction of justice. He is sentenced to 19 and a half years in prison. Shortly before this, Monus and Isaac are both implicated in the bribing of a juror in Monus's first trial, which resulted in a hung jury. During this time, Isaac reaches out to Tressel for help, but Tressel distances himself, saying he doesn't want to know anything and Isaac should simply cooperate with authorities.
November 23, 1996: #21 Michigan, losers of their previous two games, beats 2nd-ranked and undefeated Ohio State 13-9 in Columbus, making this the third time in four years that Michigan has ruined an undefeated season for the Buckeyes. It is at this particular game in 1996 that Ohio State fans openly rebel against John Cooper, hurling insults and obscenities at him as he leaves the field.
March 4, 1998: During the course of Michael Monus's trial for jury tampering, more rules violations are exposed at Youngstown State. The NCAA accuses Youngstown State with lack of institutional control, one of the most serious violations in the NCAA. The NCAA determines that Youngstown State's internal investigation in 1994 was not thorough or in-depth.
February 28, 2000: The NCAA concludes its investigation, accepting Youngstown State's self-imposed penalties, which include a reduction of two scholarships in 2000-2001, 2001-2002, and 2002-2003. Because the NCAA's statute of limitations expired in 1996, they cannot take away Youngstown State's 1991 National Championship. The NCAA also chooses not to sanction Tressel.
January 2, 2001: John Cooper is fired by Ohio State the day after losing to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl. Cooper finishes his career at Ohio State with a 3-8 bowl record and a 2-10-1 record against Michigan.
January 17, 2001: Ohio State hires Jim Tressel away from Youngstown State to replace John Cooper as head coach. The next day, during halftime of the Michigan-Ohio State basketball game, Tressel delivers his famous line that has become Ohio State lore: "I can assure you that you will be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan."
January 20, 2001: Youngstown native Maurice Clarett, the star rusher for Harding High School in Warren (14 miles northwest of Youngstown) and the #1 running back recruit in the country, commits to play for Jim Tressel at Ohio State.
March 21, 2001: Ohio State cornerback Derek Ross is arrested on charges of driving without a license and providing false information to police. He is sentenced to 30 days in jail and suspended for the spring, but returns for the season and leads the Big Ten in interceptions.
November 15, 2001: Ohio State quarterback Steve Bellisari is arrested for driving drunk two days before OSU's game against Illinois. Tressel suspends him, only to reinstate him and allow him to play in the team's bowl game.
November 24, 2001: Tressel makes good on the promise he made 10 months earlier as Ohio State beats Michigan 26-20 in Ann Arbor. During the game, Maurice Clarett takes an official visit to Michigan on UM's dime, and spends the game on the Ohio State sideline cheering for the Buckeyes.
March 2, 2002: Ohio State tight end Redgie Arden is arrested for drunk driving. He spends three days in jail and is suspended from spring practices. Tressel reinstates him before the season and he plays in 11 games in 2002.
April 27, 2002: Ohio State linebacker Marco Cooper is arrested for felony drug abuse and carrying a concealed weapon. In November, he pleads out and is put on probation.
July 26, 2002: Ohio State fullback Branden Joe is discovered asleep in his car on a highway ramp near Ohio State's campus. He refuses a breathalyzer test, and is suspended for three weeks of preseason camp, along with the first game of the 2002 season.
July 29, 2002: Ohio State wide receiver Angelo Chattams is suspected of being involved in a theft, but prosecutors allow him to enter a program for first-time offenders and avoid a criminal charge. He is excused from the team, but never suspended.
August 17, 2002: Ohio State defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock is arrested for underage drinking. He is suspended for three weeks of offseason workouts, but is not suspended for any games.
August 24, 2002: Ohio State wide receiver Chris Vance is arrested for underage drinking. He is held out of the first two games, and goes on to be Ohio State's 4th leading receiver in the 2002 season.
October 13, 2002: Ohio State linebacker Fred Pagac, Jr. is arrested for persistant disorderly conduct. Arrested at 3:45 AM, police say he was intoxicated and had a role in a fight involving two women, and did not stop fighting when ordered by police. He is suspended for one game, and is allowed to play in the National Championship Game against Miami in January.
October 30, 2002: Ohio State long snapper Kurt Wilhelm is arrested for felonious assault. He is held out of Ohio State's game against Penn State.
April, 2003: Maurice Clarett files a report stating that a car he borrowed from a local dealership was broken into and thousands of dollars in cash, CDs, stereo equipment, and clothing was stolen. Clarett calls the police from a phone in Jim Tressel's office. He is later charged with lying about the value of the items and falsification of a police report. He pleads guilty, is ordered to pay a fine, and does no jail time.
May, 2003: Ohio State cornerback/receiver Chris Gamble and nine other players are ruled ineligible for signing autographs at a convention, during which they took an hourly salary.
June, 2003: Ohio State tight end Redgie Arden pleads innocent to his second drunk driving charge in 15 months.
Fall, 2003: The NCAA begins an investigation at Ohio State amid allegations of academic fraud and ineligibility. The investigation revolves around Maurice Clarett, and a teacher admits that Clarett received preferential treatment. The teacher is fired, and Clarett is found to be in violation of 14 conduct bylaws, two violations of receiving extra benefits because he is an athlete. The investigation also discovers that the Monte Carlo Clarett is driving was a loaner from a used-car lot. To make things worse, and forcing Ohio State's hand, is the fact that Clarett was regularly receiving benefits from Youngstown acquaintance Bobby Dellimuti. Dellimuti provided Clarett with 500 dollars in cash, and paid for thousands of dollars worth in cell phone bills for Clarett. Ohio State suspends him for the entire 2003 season. It is later revealed that Jim Tressel knew Dellimuti and knew who he was before Clarett's freshman season in 2002.
October 27, 2003: Ohio State tight end Louis Irizarry is arrested on three counts of first-degree misdemeanor assault. He is suspended two days later, and is found guilty of one count of assault, one count of negligent assault, and one count of disorderly conduct. He is put on probation, and is listed as second on the depth chart at tight end on Ohio State's spring 2004 roster.
November 16, 2003: Ohio State wide receiver Santonio Holmes and quarterback Troy Smith are arrested six days before the Michigan game on charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct after a fight on campus in the early morning hours following Ohio State's win over Purdue. Holmes is held out of the starting lineup against Michigan, but plays the majority of the game and catches two touchdowns.
April, 2004: Ohio State fullback Branden Joe is cited for a misdemeanor open container violation, his second alcohol-related offense.
May 1, 2004: Ohio State tight end Louis Irizarry and cornerback Ira Guilford are arrested and charged with robbery after a student is assaulted and his wallet is stolen at 3 AM. They both plead innocent, and Guilford is released on bond, while Irizarry is held until the determination can be made whether or not he violated his probation from his October 2003 conviction.
May 5, 2004: Ohio State punter A.J. Trapasso is charged with underage drinking.
May 17, 2004: Ohio State punter A.J. Trapasso is arrested for underage drinking for the second time in 12 days.
June 7, 2004: Ohio State tight end Louis Irizarry is arrested for criminal trespassing after police pull him over and discover he has been banned from the campus of Ohio State.
October 23, 2004: Ohio State running back Lydell Ross is arrested for attempting to pass fake money to a woman at a gentlemen's club.
November 9, 2004: Maurice Clarett blows the whistle on Ohio State, attempting to expose all of the alleged corruption going on at his former school. He claims he "took the fall" during the 2003 investigation into his academics at Ohio State, and is now trying to clear his name. Clarett says that Jim Tressel arranged for Clarett to have access to several loaner vehicles, and that Tressel's brother Dick set up lucrative jobs that Clarett did not have to show up to. He also says that members of Tressel's staff introduced Clarett to boosters who provided him with cash benefits based on his performance on the field. Clarett says he would have been ineligible for the 2002 season, but that the Ohio State coaching staff set him up with an academic advisor whose only goal was to keep him eligible. He claims the academic advisor put him in Independent Study courses with hand-picked teachers who would pass him regardless of attendance. His allegations are corroborated by former Ohio State linebacker Marco Cooper. Cooper, who was kicked off the team because of multiple drug-related arrests, says he too was set up with fraudulent jobs and was provided with cars in exchange for signed memorabilia. Clarett says he is blowing the whistle on Ohio State because he feels they "blackballed" him from the university after suspending him for the 2003 season.
October 12, 2004: Louis Irizarry is sentenced to three years in prison.
December 20, 2004: Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith is suspended for the Alamo Bowl and the 2005 season opener for accepting $500 from a booster.
December 21, 2004: Ohio State wide receiver Albert Dukes is arrested on two felony counts of second-degree lewd and lascivious conduct involving a 12 year old girl. Tressel allows Dukes to travel with the team to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, and the charges are later dropped when the parents refuse to let their daughter testify in court.
February 16, 2005: The NCAA reprimands Ohio State offensive line coach Jim Bollman for trying to set up a recruit with a car, a loan, and a tutor. Jim Tressel is also reprimanded because Bollman is his subordinate.
May 11, 2005: Ohio State kicker Jonathan Skeete is arrested for drug trafficking. He is suspended.
May 19, 2005: Ohio State running back Erik Haw is cited by university police for smoking marijuana outside a dorm.
May 21, 2005: Ohio State lineman Tim Schafer is charged with disorderly conduct after police had to break up two fights between Schafer and another man. Both men were bloody and smelled of alcohol.
July 20, 2005: Ohio State athletic officials investigate a possible second NCAA rules violation by quarterback Troy Smith. Smith attended a quarterbacks camp run by Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair, but because Ohio State runs on quarters instead of semesters, Smith may have missed class to attend, which would be an NCAA violation. Jim Tressel declines comment, saying the university's compliance department has not finished its inquiry.
December 6, 2005: Police say that Ohio State linebacker A.J. Hawk and center Nick Mangold reported a burglary at their apartment following their win over Michigan. According to the police report, the robbery took place sometime between 6:00 PM on November 22 and 8:00 PM on November 23rd. Hawk and Mangold tell police that $3000 in cash, $1425 in movies, two laptop computers, a $500 Gucci watch, and $750 worth of PlayStation and X-Box equipment was stolen. Police were not told about the crime until November 28.
December 22, 2005: Ohio State offensive lineman Andree Tyree is suspended from the Fiesta Bowl for a violation of team rules. It is later revealed that Tyree failed his third drug test.
March 7, 2006: Former Ohio State kicker Jonathan Skeete returns to the team as a walk-on following his arrest on drug trafficking charges in May 2005. He was convicted in October 2005, and despite his status as a convicted felon, he is readmitted to the university and reinstated to the football team.
April 2, 2006: Ohio State offensive lineman Alex Boone is arrested after driving under the influence and being involved in a two-vehicle crash. Jim Tressel says that Boone will not be suspended for any practices or games.
August 9, 2006: Ohio State tight end Marcel Frost is suspended for the 2006 season for violating team rules. Although the athletic department refuses to comment on the nature of the violation, spokesman Dan Wallenberg says Frost will remain on scholarship and be eligible to return in 2007.
September 18, 2007: Ohio State wide receiver Ray Small is arrested for driving with a suspended license.
September 24, 2007: Ohio State quarterback Antonio Henton is arrested for soliciting a prostitute.
December 12, 2007: Jeannette, Pennsylvania businessman Ted Sarniak is cleared of allegations of bribery as a result of police opting not to arrest Sarniak in October 2006 when he crashed his car into a utility pole following the Jeannette-Catholic Central football game. Sarniak smelled of alcohol, but was not taken into custody. Though cleared of the bribery accusations, Sarniak has a documented history of providing Pittsburgh Steelers football tickets and other gifts to police officers in Jeannette.
December 20, 2007: Ohio State cornerback Eugene Clifford is suspended for violating team rules.
January 17, 2008: The night before heralded Jeannette quarterback Terrelle Pryor takes an official visit to Michigan, Ohio State coaches have dinner with Jeannette businessman Ted Sarniak, who is a friend and mentor to Pryor.
March 19, 2008: Terrelle Pryor signs with Ohio State.
April 11, 2008: Ohio State defensive backs Eugene Clifford, Jamario O'Neal, and Donald Washington are held out of practice but not officially suspended. It is rumored that all three players failed drug tests.
July 7, 2008: Ohio State defensive back Eugene Clifford's career at OSU ends, as he is arrested again, this time for assault after allegedly punching two men in the face. He transfers to Tennessee State later in the month.
July 26, 2008: Ohio State defensive tackle Doug Worthington is arrested and charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. He misses no game action in the 2008 season.
December 11, 2008: Ohio State defensive end Nathan Williams is arrested for shoplifting. He receives no punishment other than "internal" from the coaches.
February 2, 2009: Ohio State offensive lineman Alex Boone is arrested after being belligerant and uncooperative with police while he jumps on car hoods in a drunken tirade. Boone flees from police, who find him under a patio and have to taze him to subdue him.
June 11, 2009: Ohio State running back recruit Jaamal Berry is arrested for felony possession of marijuana in Miami. He pleas down and agrees to take a six-month drug program online in exchange for having the charges dropped. He is allowed to enroll at Ohio State and join the football team without issue.
September 9, 2009: It is discovered that violations were committed during Ohio State's recruitment of quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Pryor's official visit to Ohio State for the game against Wisconsin in 2007 came with a discounted hotel rate. The other violation involves former Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith working at an Ohio State football camp in the summer of 2007, during which time Smith encourages Pryor to pick Ohio State. As a result of the hotel violation, Pryor is quietly ruled ineligible in August 2009 until he repays $158. Ohio State files a request to the NCAA to reinstate Pryor on August 21, and he regains his eligibility in time for the season opener on August 30.
April 2, 2010, 2:32 PM: Jim Tressel receives an email from Chris Cicero, a Columbus attorney. Cicero informs Tressel that several players have been selling signed items to tattoo parlor owner Edward Rife, who is under heavy investigation from the authorities on suspicion of drug trafficking. Rife informs Tressel of all of this, and details Rife's criminal history.
April 2, 2010, 6:32 PM: Tressel responds to Cicero's email, telling him he will "get on it ASAP."
April 16, 2010, 9:43 AM: Cicero emails Tressel again, giving details of cleats, jerseys, Big Ten championship rings and a national championship ring being sold.
April 16, 2010, 11:20 AM: Tressel responds to Cicero once more: "I hear you!! It is unbelievable!! Thanks for your help keep me posted as to what I need to do if anything. I will keep pounding these kids hoping they grow up. jt"
April 16, 2010, 2:26 PM: Cicero recommends that Tressel ban his players from going to the tattoo parlor and having any contact with Rife. He asks that Tressel keep their email communication private.
June 1, 2010, 7:33 AM: Tressel emails Cicero, informing him that the team will be receiving their 2009 Big Ten Championship rings, and asks if there are anymore names that Cicero can give him.
June 1, 2010, 4:09 PM: Cicero tells Tressel he has no new names, but that the names he gave him previously "are still good."
June 6, 2010, 9:15 PM: Five days later, Tressel thanks Cicero in what is their last known communication.
September 13, 2010: Jim Tressel signs an NCAA certificate of compliance, which indicates that he has reported any knowledge of any violations.
December 7, 2010: Authorities contact Ohio State, notifying them that they have raided Rife's tattoo parlor, and discovered several Ohio State items. The authorities, obviously unaware of any NCAA implications, are simply inquiring as to whether or not the items may have been stolen. The Ohio State athletic department is notified of this the next day.
December 9, 2010: Jim Tressel is informed that federal officials know about the items. Tressel still does not inform his superiors of his email exchanges with Chris Cicero. During the next week, Ohio State plans an internal investigation into the matter.
December 16, 2010: Ohio State interviews the six players implicated: quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Daniel Herron, wide receiver DeVier Posey, offensive tackle Mike Adams, defensive end Solomon Thomas, and linebacker Jordan Whiting.
December 17, 2010: Ohio State informs the Big Ten and the NCAA that they are preparing to self-report violations.
December 19, 2010: Ohio State releases its report, and declares the six players ineligible.
December 21, 2010: The NCAA contacts the six players, asking for additional information. Ohio State provides this information the next day.
December 22, 2010: The NCAA notifies Ohio State of its decision: 5-game suspensions for Pryor, Herron, Posey, Adams, and Thomas, and one game for Whiting. Incredulously, all six players are allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl on January 4.
December 23, 2010: Jim Tressel and Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith hold a press conference, announcing the findings and sanctions.
January 13, 2011: Ohio State's office of legal affairs stumble upon Tressel's email correspondence with Chris Cicero. They conduct a search of the email accounts of all members of the football staff, and discover that no one else knew of the players' contact with Edward Rife before December 2010.
January 16, 2011: Jim Tressel is questioned by Ohio State officials, and he acknowledges his contact with Chris Cicero.
February 2, 2011: Ohio State offensive lineman recruit Chris Carter is arrested the day before Signing Day on a charge of sexual imposition. He is accused of fondling up to eight girls at his high school under the pretense of measuring them for ROTC uniforms. Despite having a confession from Carter, authorities drop the charges five days later, and Carter is allowed to sign with Ohio State.
February 8, 2011: During an interview with NCAA and Ohio State officials, Jim Tressel admits that he knew violations were committed when he did not report what Cicero told him.
March 7, 2011: Yahoo! Sports reports that a source has told them that Jim Tressel knew of the violations in April 2010 and did not tell anyone else. Ohio State Athletic Director Gene Smith accelerates the process of the completion of the university's self-report.
March 8, 2011: Ohio State releases its report, disclosing Tressel's violation and announcing a two-game suspension and $250,000 fine for the head coach.
March 17, 2011: Ohio State and Jim Tressel announce that the two-game suspension will be increased to five.
March 25, 2011: It is revealed that Jim Tressel in fact didn't keep the email correspondence with Chris Cicero all to himself. He forwarded the emails to Ted Sarniak, the Jeannette businessman with an affinity for giving gifts to police officers, and friend and mentor of Terrelle Pryor from Pryor's days as the #1 recruit in the nation at Jeannette High School.
April 25, 2011: The NCAA delivers a notice of allegations to Ohio State and Tressel, accusing Tressel of failing to "deport himself in accordance with the honesty and integrity normally associated with the conduct and administration of intercollegiate athletics as required by NCAA legislation and violated ethical-conduct legislation when he failed to report information concerning violations of NCAA legislation and permitted football student-athletes to participate in intercollegiate athletics competition while ineligible."
May 1, 2011: Ohio State linebacker Dorian Bell is suspended for the entire 2011 season for an unspecified violation of team rules, with all rumors pointing to a persistant marijuana issue. Bell immediately leaves school with the intent to transfer; his hometown Pitt Panthers turn him away.
May 7, 2011: The Columbus Dispatch reports that Ohio State will investigate used-car purchases by dozens of Ohio State athletes at two Columbus car dealerships. The Dispatch discovers that at least eight athletes and 11 athletes' relatives bought used cars from two specific dealerships during the past five years.
May 23, 2011: Former Ohio State basketball player Mark Titus posts a lengthy blog post detailing his eyewitness accounts of "an unusually high volume of brand new Dodge Chargers driving around on campus, and just about all of them had tinted windows and rims on the outside with Ohio State football players behind the wheel on the inside."
May 25, 2011: Former Ohio State receiver Ray Small tells the Ohio State student newspaper that he sold items for cash during his time at Ohio State, and he also mentions that "the best deals came from the car dealerships." After facing blistering criticism from former and current Ohio State players, in addition to Ohio State fans, Small backtracks on his story, saying the newspaper twisted his words.
May 27, 2011: Ohio State announces that it will not disclose the correspondence between Jim Tressel and the Jeannette businessman, Ted Sarniak.
May 30, 2011: Jim Tressel interrupts his vacation in Florida to return to Columbus and deliver his letter of resignation to Athletic Director Gene Smith and university President E. Gordon Gee. The resignation comes on the eve of what is believed to be a very destructive Sports Illustrated article that is rumored to put Tressel and Ohio State even deeper in the hole.
Nothing Ohio State has accomplished in the last ten years is valid anymore. From Clarett, to Smith, to Pryor, and all the others in between, with the cars and the cash and the discounts and the cutting of corners, Ohio State is essentially an SEC school operating in the Midwest. Tressel is a proven, documented cheater, and if the NCAA has any balls at all, they will slap him with a show-cause order, blackballing him from ever coaching again. He has successfully manipulated his public perception so he comes across as a righteous, homely, ethically pure gentleman, when the reality is he's basically a gangster, willing to do whatever it takes to win, and turning a blind eye toward the corruption that he himself endorses. He distanced himself from Ray Isaac at Youngstown when the NCAA came calling. He distanced himself from Maurice Clarett while simultaneously shredding Clarett's credibility when he tried to destroy Ohio State. If some injustice is committed and he somehow survives this latest storm, he will distance himself from Terrelle Pryor and his friends, too.
Tressel entered into a perfect marriage with Ohio State back in the winter of 2001. A native son with enormous success at a lower level, but more than ready to take the next step. And a school so desperate to reverse their fortunes in that final game in late November, so eager to erase the sour taste of 2-10-1 from their mouths, willing to sell their souls at all costs if it means claiming dominance over "That School Up North." That is the culture of Ohio State football. The means don't matter whatsoever. As long as the end is a victory over Michigan, they will tolerate anything that comes their way. And now they deserve the darkest of fates. They knew what they were getting in Tressel: a faux-superior thug, who shares the win at all costs mentality of his followers. They are essentially a hostile regime, with Tressel leading the masses in "Death to Michigan" chants. And any dissenters, anyone who dares speak out against the regime - Kirk Herbstreit, Bruce Hooley, Mark Titus, Ray Small - is thrown to the wolves, their credibility and character put through the meat grinder by the bloodthirsty masses. The brainwashed followers, from the dusty streets of Youngstown to the outskirts of Cincinnati, from the shores of Lake Erie and Glenville High School to the backwoods of Westerville, and Centerville, and the epicenter in Columbus, they all march in lockstep as Senator Tressel commands them. And eventually, he will lead them off the cliff, and they will follow him without question, even it means their own destruction.
