This morning, ESPN’s Tom Farrey and Outside the Lines updated their reporting on the great Ohio State memorabilia scandal of 2011. The report focuses on the the market for NCAA athlete signed memorabilia. It paints the OSU autograph seekers as particularly intense and aggressive.
It also claims “Ohio State ceded the marketplace inviting fans to public events…where they could obtain signatures.” OTL quotes former AD Andy Geiger as saying they “created this monster” by backing autograph events and promoting a market for memorabilia.
There was nothing earth-shattering or revealing in the new report. Jim Tressel continued to take a beating for much of the clip but it was really nothing new. The OSU beat reporters and journalism community implored that it changed nothing and took some shots at ESPN. And they’re right – it does little to alter the NCAA’s investigation, which is where Ohio State’s attention is focused. This is now a pretty antagonistic relationship so I would imagine ESPNers will continue to see what they can dig up.
