The Vest's Emails at the Heart of Tresselgate

So, how damaging (or not) are the emails at the center of the Tresselgate controversy swirling in C-bus?

You be the judge.

Below, in chronological order, are the emails between head coach Jim "Not Quite So Teflon" Tressel and an unnamed attorney from last April and June.  The emails - with portions blocked out - were released by Tosu officials at the press conference yesterday.

Wallpaper Wednesday: Hoops explosion

I don't want the news of the Michigan basketball sweep over Sparty, for the first time since 1997 to get lost in this Nixon Tressel mess. I created a G, PG-13, and PG version for this week.







In addition, I wanted to take advantage of the soon to be lost into the abyss of pop-culture history Sheen-ism from this week.

Tressel-I-am!

Two weeks ago - before Yahoo! Sports posted a story claiming that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew about Buckeye players trading merchandise for free tattoos more than eight months before the school said it was made aware of the allegations - The Vest was photographed reading Dr. Seuss books to a group of school children in Ohio:

Well, in light of the recent allegations in C-bus, may we suggest the following for The Vest's next reading to the kids:

 An excerpt:

We looked!
Then we saw him step in on the mat!
We looked!
And we saw him!
Terrelle and his tats!
And he said to us,
"Why do you sit there like that?
I know it is wet
And the sun is not sunny.
But we can have lots of fun
Lots of fun with booster money!"


"I know some good bars to go to,"
Said the QB.
"We can drive in the new car
The new car dealer just loaned me!
We will take the car, take the car out for a ride.
My coach
Does not care, so I have nothing to hide!"


Then Sally and I
Did not know what to say.
But Terrelle said Coach Tressel
Would look the other way.


But our fish said, "No! No!
Make Terrelle go away!
Tell that Cat with the Tats
You do NOT want to play.
He should not be here,
He should be on probation!
He should be suspended
With the rest of Buckeye Nation!"


"Now! Now! Have no fear.
Have no fear!" said the QB
"I won't get caught
Since my coach just ignores me.
Why, we can have
Lots of fun doing my thing
With a game that I call
Selling my championship ring!"

An excerpt:

I do not like the game's laws and its rules
I do not like them, they're only for fools
I did not like them during the days of Clarett
I do not like them nor have been busted just yet
I let Terrelle Pryor get his free tats
Then claimed, "Oh, I did not know about that!"
I do not like the rules they have about class
The N-C-A-A can kiss my Vest-wearing ass
I do not like the rules out on the field
And if we get busted, I'll surely appeal
I do not like the rules here in the 'Shoe
And our fans do not care as long as I beat the Blue
I do not like rules here or there
I do not like them ANYWHERE!

MZone Exclusive: NCAA video of Tressel's response to allegations

The college football blogosphere blew up last after Yahoo! Sports posted a story claiming that Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew about Buckeye players trading merchandise for free tattoos more than eight months before school said it was made aware of the allegations.

But in an investigative story of our own, the MZone has obtained the exclusive NCAA video below in which Tressel claims he is shocked - SHOCKED! - to hear that there may have been cheating going on behind his back.

Early Conference Tournaments

On Saturday, three conference tournaments played their championship game, meaning 3 teams clinched their spot in The Big Dance. A quick look at all of them.

Big South - UNC-Asheville
They took care of top seeded Coastal Carolina, who was decimated by injuries and suspensions (they had 8 active players). UNC-Asheville was the 3 seed out of the Big South, and they took out 6th seed Charleston Southern and 7th seed High Point before taking down Coastal Carolina. Despite being a 19 win team, look for them to potentially be in the play-in game. They could win that, but their chances of winning a Tourney game are minimal.

Atlantic-Sun - Belmont
The Bruins are about to become very popular in America. That is because they are a 30 win team that has lost to Tennessee twice, Vanderbilt, and one fluky conference loss to Lipscomb. Other than that, they are unblemished on the season, and won their conference championship by 41 points over North Florida (who was the 6 seed in the conference). Look for Belmont to a be about a 13 seed and a popular upset choice in the first round.

Ohio Valley - Morehead St.
The Eagles are led by Kenneth Faried, one of the best big men in college basketball and one of the best rebounders in recent college basketball history. Though the much anticipated rematch with Murray St. did not happen, it was still an entertaining game in their win over Tennessee Tech. While I am not sure if they have the guard play to spring an upset (Demonte Harper notwithstanding), I don't think any team is going to be eager to take on Kenneth Faried in the first round of the Tournament. It is fitting for the OVC Player of the Year to end his career playing in the Tourney.

Do any of these teams have a chance to win a game in The Big Dance?

Hook and Lateral

The Hook and Lateral play by the Miami Dolphins vs. the San Diego Chargers in their 1981 playoff game is one of the greatest plays from one of the greatest games in NFL playoff history. Go to the 4:05 mark of the video. (Also, check out the old-school three-point stance by the inside WR on the play.  Unfortunately, his is not the worst WR stance—look at the stance and false step of the WR at the top of the screen):

Twenty-six years later, in the Fiesta Bowl on January 2, 2007, the Hook and Lateral play resurfaced again as Boise St. shocked the world in its epic upset of Oklahoma, and this play also became part of one of the greatest bowl games in college football history.  The game was tied and Boise St. had the ball with under two minutes remaining looking to pull off the upset until Oklahoma ran back an interception 33 yards for a TD with 1:07 left that seemed to crush all hope.  Boise St. faced a 4th-and-18, down by 7 with seven seconds left at the 50-yard line when destiny called upon this play once again...

Here is Chris Peterson and Boise State's version of the Hook and Lateral play:

Hook & Lateral (Boise St.) from Barry Hoover on Vimeo.

Good coaching points here on the Cage Drill for Screen passes by Coach B Dud: http://coachbdud.blogspot.com/

Deuce talks about Buckwheat, Alfalfa, and the Sprint-Out Passing Game from the Flexbone: http://footballislifeblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/simple-sprintout-passing-for-flexbone.html

Coach Allam talks about Darrin Slack principles for his QBs throwing the Quick Game: http://iteachicoachiblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/speed-up-your-quick-game.html

Football Coach Academy talking about Mike Leach's Offensive Philosophy:
http://footballcoachacademy.blogspot.com/2011/03/mike-leach-offense-concepts.html

I am turning the FCA / Devotional page into its own blog.  Check it out if you like.

Your life vs. college life: Go U Northwestern, indeed!

YOUR LIFE

After sitting through a boring-as-hell meeting for 2+ hours that's already running waaaay long, your boss actually has the nerve to ask if folks mind staying an extra 15 minutes (which is still going 25 minutes later) so he can talk about more bullshit that could've been covered in the initial meeting that should have lasted all of about a half hour.

And because of where you're sitting and his view of your seat, you can't even secretly play Angry Birds on your iPhone while pretending to review the work materials. 

COLLEGE LIFE

First off, you're already spending a couple hours a week talking about sex in your Human Sexuality course at Northwestern.

Winning.

Today's class was especially awesome as the topic was bondage, swinging and other fetishes.

More winning.  Duh.

But then, after class was officially dismissed, your professor said students could stick around "if they want" for a demonstration of sex toys and the female orgasm. 

If you want?  Gee, lemme see: live sex show or Poli Sci 138?  Tough call.

So you and a hundred of your classmates take the professor up on his generous offer.  Next, an exhibitionist couple provide a learning experience that will last a lifetime: the woman undresses on stage and her male partner brings her to orgasm with a device that looks like a machine-powered saw with a phallic object instead of a blade.

As you watch, you can't help but wonder what the wait list is gonna be like for this class next year.  Hell, students from other schools are going to be on this wait list.  "I'm studying abroad this semester - in Evanston."

Yes, it's not often Charlie Sheen is jealous of your life.

If only Econ were this interesting.

Greatest. Class. Ever.

ED. NOTE: C'mon, you know every student in there had a cellphone. Where is this YouTube video?!