Two Suspended Buckeyes Could Remain Suspended
October 3, 2011Welcome to Rocktober
October 3, 2011It’s almost too much to believe.
Almost.
An embarrassing weekend of football in Ohio got worse today instead of better. Mondays are water cooler days. It is when you talk yourself out of the funk of another loss. It’s when you start getting a little better perspective on what just happened to your favorite team. Message boards go crazy. Comments and traffic spike on websites like WFNY. By Wednesday, we are ready to put the previous loss behind us and look forward to the next game.
For Browns and Buckeye fans, things aren’t going to get much better today.
Browns fans find themselves listening to unbelievable suggestions that Peyton Hillis needs to be traded, that Pat Shurmur needs to be fired and that Seneca Wallace should start at QB. These are only going to linger as the Browns head into the bye week.
For Ohio State fans, we get more news of suspensions. DeVier Posey and Dan Herron will apparently not be back for this week’s game against Nebraska. The lone bright spot in Saturday’s debacle in Columbus was knowing it would be the last game our ‘tattoo 4’ would miss. Now, the offense will once again struggle without 2 of it’s 3 suspended leaders. Sure, Mike Adams will return to play his left tackle spot, but that really hasn’t been the worst spot on the line for the Buckeyes.
Posey and Herron are facing additional suspension time because the NCAA believes they received more than their fair share of compensation for summer jobs over the past three years. For Herron, it meant an additional $200-$400 dollars (allegedly) which will be good enough for an additional game. Posey, the WR Ohio State desperately needs back, supposedly got an extra $500 dollars, which could keep him out of multiple games.
Not good news for a team who may have lost Verlon Reed Saturday, depleting an already thin WR unit.
It is amazing that this news comes out on Monday the week these players were supposed to start playing again. And according to the booster that gave them these summer jobs, everything supposedly had checked out with the NCAA–
DiGeronimo told the Plain Dealer today he spoke on Friday with Larry James, the Columbus lawyer who was been representing OSU players in their NCAA issues, and everything seemed fine with the NCAA.
“Everything from his standpoint looked good. That’s what I was told,” DiGeronimo told the Plain Dealer. “They got paid for the work they did. We had records, affidavits. I don’t know what else (the NCAA) wants…If the NCAA doesn’t allow them to play, shame on them.”
It’s just hard to swallow after all that this team has been through this year. Why wasn’t this disclosed sooner? Why now when Herron and Posey had reportedly been taking snaps with the first team even last week in an effort to get them ready for Nebraska?
I would foolishly ask if anything else could go wrong, but I know better. Of course more could go wrong. We still haven’t heard about Joe Haden’s knee injury today…
(Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images North America)
13 Comments
i wondered the same thing. If they did this over the summer, why was it witheld until the week they’re supposed to be reinstated?
Not to go all Jesse Ventura here, but it seems a lil shady by the NCAA.
And Rick, please don’t mention Haden’s knee. I don’t think I could handle any bad news on that front today.
Bad day for football in Ohio? Maybe in two cities. The 4-1 Bearcats managed to win. So did Toledo. Staying more local, it was a bad day in Kent State though. Stating a bad day for an entire state when one college team loses is a little condescending to the majority of Ohio college alumni and fans.
I am not understanding all the angst of Browns fans today. We all believed that the Browns would lose at least of their games this year. So we lost a game to a better team yesterday. What did you expect? Did you think we’d go 8-8 but never lose a game? Just be happy you’re not an Eagles or Cowboys fan.
^ at least HALF their games
Ummm…”For Browns and Buckeye fans, things are going to get much better today.”
Don’t you mean “things aren’t going…”
Hey look on the bright side…technically Tressel “resigned” and is completely re-hireable next year to fix the Buckeyes.
#lowercaseisthenewuppercase
I don’t often agree with you MrCleaveland, but in this case, I think you’re right on.
A young team, especially one with such drastic leadership and scheme changes in the offseason, is going to be inconsistent from week to week. The two wins the Browns have haven’t been dominant, and the two losses have exposed the problems we all should have expected. They could just as easily be 0-4, IMHO, and then we’d really be panicking.
Neither of these games shocked me too much. Neither team is very good. I suppose I was a bit more shocked the Browns tanked as hard as they did but the Titans are clearly a better football team.
The Browns are 2-2 and heading into the bye. The NFL’s dream team is 1-3 and was unable to keep a 20 point lead. Peyton’s not going anywhere, Colt has started less then 1 full season…so back off the ledge my friend(s).
I have a bad feeling that we are headed for Shurmur v. Hillis… I hope that Shurmur is not trying to prove some meaningless point by not playing the teams best player who literly risks his body and wellbeing with his running style week in and week out. If Shurmur really is that dumb he is way worse than Mangini.
As a State fan, I’m quite happy with how Saturday turned out.
Sunday, however, was a wee bit disappointing.
Re: Ohio State – this is a lost season. It’s going to be worse than I thought going in. Beating Michigan and going to any bowl game at all would make this season a moderate success at this point. They need 3 more wins to be bowl eligible. Would like to think they will beat Indiana and Purdue…but I have no idea where win number 6 is coming from. They have @ Nebraska, @ Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, @ Purdue, Penn St., @ Michigan. 5-7 could definitely happen.
Re: the Browns – Trade Hillis? Fire Shurmur? Bench McCoy? Just goes to show that some people will say anything to get attention.
TRADE HILLIS!!! HARDESTY IS CLEARLY THE ANSWER!1!!