May 24, 2013

Gordon Gee: Big Ten expansion talks ongoing

January 25, 2013 by 19 Comments

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee told the university’s Athletic Council last December that talks regarding the Big Ten’s further expansion were “ongoing”. On the heels of adding Nebraska, Maryland, and Rutgers it appears the Big Ten is not quite done expanding.

Gee “believes there is movement towards three or four super conferences that are made up of 16-20 teams.” After Maryland and Rutgers officially become members the conference will be at 14 teams.

The Ohio State president did not name specific schools that the conference was targeting, but said “there are opportunities to move further south in the East and possibly a couple of Midwest universities.”

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Report: Ohio State’s Gee’s Expenses in the Millions

September 24, 2012 by 15 Comments

Ohio State president Gordon Gee is not only the highest-paid president president of a domestic, public university, but his expenses reportedly total just as much as his $8.6 million in salary.

The Dayton Daily News reports that The Ohio State University has allocated roughly $7.7 million for Gee “to travel the globe, throw parties, wine and dine donors, woo prospective faculty, hang out with students and staff and maintain a 9,600-square-foot mansion on 1.3 acres.”  The report adds that the university spends “tens of thousands” of dollars alone branding the University’s president via his bow tie. Since 2007, Ohio State has spent more than $64,000 on bow ties, bow tie cookies and O-H and bow tie pins for Gee and others to distribute.

Gee’s discretionary spending — a category that allegedly includes everything from foreign trips to tailgates before home football games — has far surpassed that of both William Kirwan and Holbrook, his predecessors. Under Gee, discretionary spending leapt a reported 68.5 percent over what Holbrook had been averaging during her five-year tenure.

Per the Daily News, Gee did not make himself available for an interview.

[Related: OSU Week 4: Are the Buckeyes Really the Best Team in the Big Ten?]

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Gordon Gee Says NCAA Investigation is Complete

June 10, 2011 by 9 Comments

One of the strangest parts about the events of the last few weeks with Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor is that neither one will actually be around for the NCAA ruling.  It still seems backwards to me that media scrutiny over a set of rules that are stricter than the criminal laws in the state and nation could yield more change than the organization itself.  But so it goes.

ESPN’s report from Gordon Gee indicates that the NCAA has completed its investigation and left campus.  In the report he also indicated that despite his resignation Jim Tressel will not be able to skirt that little issue of the quarter of a million dollars that he was fined by the university before he tendered his resignation. [Read more...]

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SI: Ohio State Scandal Dates Back to 2002, Involves At Least 28 Players

May 30, 2011 by 51 Comments

After hours of speculation and boundless conjecture, Sports Illustrated has lifted the embargo on the much-discussed report penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer George Dohrmann. With the curtain now lifted, we receive a report that the Ohio State “memorabilia for tattoos” incident that has been well-documented stretches back to 2002 and has involved at least 28 players.

Ohio State’s head football coach Jim Tressel submitted his resignation early Monday morning ahead of the Dohrmann “special” report which discusses an entire history of issues surrounding the various programs led by the now-former play-caller.

It was earlier this week that former Ohio State wide receiver, return specialist, and all-around failure Ray Small went public with a dissertation that painted all Buckeye football brethren with a scarlet letter – pun fully intended.  In the wake of said interview, several former Buckeye football players have come out in defense of the program.  [Read more...]

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Jim Tressel Resigns at Ohio State

May 30, 2011 by 44 Comments

The Columbus Dispatch is reporting that Jim Tressel has resigned as the head football coach at Ohio State.  The Dispatch is reporting that it was a situation where the University forced or encouraged the resignation, after scandalous headlines continued to pile up.  Luke Fickell, who was named interim coach for the first five games of the 2011 season while Tressel served a suspension, will now serve as interim coach for the duration of next year.

The Dispatch also obtained a memo school President Gordon Gee sent to OSU trustees:

[Read more...]

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Bob Knight and Rich Rodriguez Support Jim Tressel

March 10, 2011 by 7 Comments

Whether it means anything or not, Jim Tressel has at least cemented his reputation enough with a couple peers enough that they were willing to speak out on his behalf.  On ESPN radio, both Bob Knight and former Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez have had supportive words for Jim Tressel.

Speaking to Mike and Mike, Bob Knight said the following.

“There is no coach in college sports that’s a better example, in my mind, of what coaching is all about and what it should be and how things should be done than Jimmy Tressel. He has done a great job at Ohio State, not because he’s won a lot of games, but because he has won a lot of games doing things the absolute right way. And I think that he would be at the top of the heap when it came to picking guys that did things the way they were supposed to be done. There isn’t anybody who is better in that regard than Jim Tressel is.” [Read more...]

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The Gee Comment…No, I’m Not Talkin’ Alonzo

March 10, 2011 by 14 Comments

I’m sure Ohio State University President Gordon Gee is a brilliant man. You don’t become the President of a major University without brain power. But even the smartest people can say the dumbest things sometimes.

When asked if he considered firing Football Coach Jim Tressel in the wake of the Tattoo-gate cover up scandal, Gee responded rather flippantly.

“No,” Gee said. “Are you kidding me? … I’m just hoping the coach doesn’t dismiss me.”

Now is it not the time for jokes, bow tie*. This isn’t a Comedy Central Roast. This is a cover up orchestrated by your once bulletproof coach that has given your University a big black eye. It was bad enough when the players were caught, it became worse when the Head Coach lied to the NCAA about his knowledge of the situation. The email trail proved he was aware of what was going on, and buried it to keep five of his better players eligible.

Yet, at a time when the NCAA is now looking at the University’s flagship program under a microscope, Gee makes an ill-timed joke making light of the situation. [Read more...]

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