March Figures to Have Much Parity, Thrills -- Let Madness Begin

The madness is essentially part of our sports culture, which could start an interesting conversation at the water cooler where co-workers all week will discuss their tournament brackets and devote much time away from the workplace to secretly engage in a gambling pool. Each year, we have fun penciling in schools in a field of 68 teams -- watching the unthinkable unfold in arguably the most enthralling tournament in sports. This has been the most exciting season for college hoops. It's always fun to witness the tourney because of underdogs, upsets, breathtaking finishes and thrills.

March Madness is, after all, the time of year when fans fill out brackets, which are busted by the second round to only define a crazy month of March Sadness as no one's bracket is never perfect and usually is obliterated before the Sweet 16. There is nothing new about the majority being at work all week, focusing on brackets, checking the scores and rooting for the underdog -- a tradition we have culturally braced for years. It's a moment in time for a field of 68 teams to ultimately advance to the Final Four in a tourney of single elimination by having the drive, willpower, character, determination and ammunition at the right possible time.

With all due respect Kentucky, Syracuse, North Carolina all earned No. 1 seeds for the NCAA tournament Sunday despite stunning conference losses. A team that solely ruled the Big Ten was Michigan State after beating Ohio State, now the only school to earn No. 1 seed after winning its conference tournament. But in truth, all season, the schools worthy of top seeding dominated and were well deserving of largely earning the top spot. The road to the 2012 Final Four -- which is played in New Orleans two weeks from now -- is elusive in which anything is possible.

Like the rest us, President Obama, who has shown enthusiasm for sports, will likely fill out a bracket even if there are more important issues on his to-do list such as restoring a nation financially battered by a long-suffering recession. He is, without a doubt, enamored with college hoops, perhaps maybe even too much. But what sports fan isn't in love with March? The most interesting, fun three weeks on the calendar looms ever so closer, a tournament of dreams, miracles, ecstasy and agony. Even though Kansas are favorites to win all to some, that is, the Jayhawks were given a No. 2 seed.

It's almost as if the deepest teams in the nation exist in the Big 12 with the likes of Missouri and Baylor, two teams that may actually be stronger and more efficient than Kansas. Truth is, every region is competitive and the least expected team, as the NCAA tournament begins -- would wear the class slipper -- like George Mason and Villanova as giant killers in the past. So let the Madness begin.

Where exactly does Kansas stand? You can't ever tell with the Jayhawks.

For whatever reason, as people are so fascinated by Kansas because its considered one of the most talented and deepest teams in the country, the Jayhawks are marked to advance to the Final Four -- but tends to stunningly fall against sleepers in a game of chillers and thrillers. It's hard to believe that Kansas will survive the madness, with far too many people sold on a program that is the most vulnerable team in March. Bill Self, head coach for Kansas, doesn't get much sleep these days, incapable of winning the big ones when it counts. Remember when Ali Farokhhmanesh hit a big three-point shot to help Northern Iowa stun Kansas for one of the biggest upsets in NCAA history? Remember when eleven-seeded VCU beat Kansas that ended in a stunning collapse last season?

Once again, Self, who has won one national championship in eight seasons, is one of the nation's best offensive set coaches and has recruited brilliantly throughout his tenure, but Kansas hasn't had the Big 12's top recruiting class in four years. This is the man who made Kansas relevant after the Roy Williams regime, bringing in Brandon Rush, Julian Wright, and Mario Chalmers -- in the same class. This class has Thomas Robinson -- college basketball's MVP, if not national player of the year, averaging 11.8 boards per game and scoring 17.9 points on 53 percent shooting.

It can't be denied that Kansas is talented and loaded with offensive weapons, but relatively speaking it's always unknown how far they'll go in the tourney, a basketball program that can never, ever be trusted -- even with third-year starter Tyshawn Taylor, who is indispensable if the Jayhawks are playing to get through the first two rounds of their hardest challenge. And the big man, Jeff Withey, a seven-foot center, couldn't disrupt more in the middle as a solid defender.

This team is so equipped with talent of all sizes and athleticism, for which a loss is considered a failure. There's a reason this team is bigger and advertised more than any other team in contention, why Kansas' expectations are immense following a dominant, remarkable 27-6 season and why it's quite a shock when the Jayhawks have tourney misfortune. And if Kansas doesn't watch it and let its guard down, it's feasible that Belmont or Saint Mary's could painfully strike them by surprise. Is this the nation's best offensive team? That remains to be seen.

The nation's second-best teams, such as Duke, Missouri and Ohio State, all earned two seeds and may have felt they should have been ranked higher. One can argue that they all deserved No. 1 seeds, just as much as a person can argue that Drexel and Washington, winner of the Pac-12 title, should have been given at-large bids. It amazes me to see that, of all teams, Iona secured a bid for the tourney, and as it turns out, it seems like an absolute joke come to think of all the craziness. Iona over Oral Roberts and Drexel? Iona over Washington? Are you kidding me?

Sixty-eight teams qualified and, as always, there is much controversy over snubs and seeding for which you can't please everyone, even if you tried. The outcry of snubbed teams is nothing more but bickering on whether a school was legitimately good enough to compete in the NCAA tournament and, from the scheme of things, the committee apparently thought those schools were undeserving.

It's my inclination that the real jockeying for the big dance comes this week in a tourney of much parity, mystic and excitement. Now that we've established the brackets, rightfully so, we can predict a winner and digest the beauty of the big dance, comprised of sixty-eight teams, four regions, three weeks of intense drama.

1. Potential Cinderella


Not many college basketball games have been played lately without George Masons or even an unexpected Cinderella in existence, coming alive to stun the world. And this year alone, Belmont, Detroit and Memphis are a trilogy of dark horses on the road to the Final Four. It wouldn't be smart to ignore Belmont. This is the week Harvard, yes, an Ivy League school, can possibly survive early on with a win over No. 5 Vanderbilt, who convincingly beat unbeatable Kentucky in the SEC championship game. If any upsets happen, Belmont, a well-coached, experienced and powerful team, should be the favorites to pull off the stunner over third-ranked Georgetown, particularly after thrashing North Florida in the Atlantic Sun championship Saturday.

Just so you know, the Bruins finished 19-1-conference play and 30-4 overall. Watch out for Belmont. The annual notion of all the madness is that we should witness another George Mason, as we have each year, becoming obsessed with a suspenseful, compelling contest, which has grown into a popular sports event every spring -- from March Madness gatherings to brackets to online streaming at the workplaces. If you like upsets, then you may fall in love with No. 9 Southern Miss over No. 8 Kansas State or No. 12 Long Beach State over No. 5 New Mexico. This is all seemingly possible.

2. Kentucky Wildcats


The feeling of cutting down the nets in New Orleans is very possible for the Wildcats. And in the big dance, at least for what it is, Kentucky is the most dominant team in the nation and might be crowned champs in three more weeks. The feeling is, once the winner is decided, folks might be partying in Lexington. When he was hired as Kentucky's basketball coach, John Calipari described the University of Kentucky coaching position as his "dream job." It's more than just an illusion and, in reality, he's finally coaching a group of players projected to hold the gold trophy and travel back to the Blue Nation with a sense of joy.

The development of Kentucky is partly from the rise of freshman Marquis Teague and Anthony Davis, the diaper dandy as Dickie V calls them -- a surefire Freshman of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and top pick in the NBA draft, scoring 15 points a game, dominating in the middle and blocking shots. And with the likes of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb, the Wildcats are the clear favorites. Among the things for which he has developed the toughest program in the nation, Calipari has influenced his driven players to contend for a national title, chasing the ultimate goal. The best team loses sometimes, and Calipari is advising his considerably talented young players to not beat themselves.

2. North Carolina Tar Heels


The toughest region is the Midwest in which the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds, such as North Carolina and Kansas -- seem probable to meet in the Elite Eight. The Tar Heels are obviously one of the best teams in the nation, after their opposition beat them in the ACC tournament -- which was No. 3 Florida State -- to win its first conference title in school history. Aside from the Tar Heels' loss over the weekend, the team is led by Tyler Zeller, who became the 13th Tar Heel and third in the last five seasons to be named the ACC Player of the Year. Most of North Carolina's flaws are from the inability to shoot the ball -- they don't shoot the ball consistently and depend greatly on Zeller to lead the way. For a team who potentially has enough depth to win a national title, Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes and junior forward John Henson are brutal in a transition offense.

3. Syracuse Orange


Jim Boeheim is one of America's premier college basketball coaches, and generally is considered to be an expert of the zone defense. What is a major concern is the way the Orange let their guard down in the Big East tournament, to stumble shockingly in a defeat to Cincinnati. They can't afford to duplicate a shortage of success in a win-or-go-home situation, and if Syracuse struggles, the odds is that they can unravel in the Elite Eight if they meet third-seeded Florida State, a team with enough talent to carry out the upset. By all means, the Orange must get contributions from a disappearing Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine, two players who will have to recover from woes if Syracuse is angling to overrule.

It's the time of year we die for.

Let the madness begin.

Where’s Double Standard? Ohio State Sanctions Lenient

The folly finally unfolded on the day the NCAA deliberated and reached its final verdict against the Ohio State infractions perpetuated to inflame another brouhaha, considering all that has swirled around the much-publicized scandal in college sports.

Most of the ghastly, rugged penalties puts the university in a complicated situation as the NCAA hit Ohio State with a one-year bowl ban and other sanctions on Tuesday for violating NCAA rules that included eight players accepting $14,000 in cash and tattoos in exchange for Buckeyes memorabilia. The severity of penalties was once imposed at USC and caused more havoc as the Trojans were placed on two-year probation, banned from earning any bowl-game appearances and stripped of all wins after former star Reggie Bush accepted improper benefits from prospective agents.

The harsher sanctions – including the Heisman Trust stripping Bush of the prestigious award he won in 2005 and leaving the trophy vacant — rattled Southern California harder than an earthquake. It’s inconceivable, after a lengthy investigation had found that eight players received cash payments and preferential treatment from the owner of a tattoo parlor in Columbus, Ohio, that the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions handed down lighter punishments and would be pigheaded in dropping the hammer justly on any university for wrongdoings.

The purpose of the committee is simply to react properly and inflict harsher, not lenient penalties for violation of the rules — even to forsake defiance and any mockery to academia. The NCAA figured the Buckeyes would not produce more revenue, signify the beauty of the Big Ten, a conference unworthy of its own television network, or increasingly see a growth in TV ratings from a far more prominent university and even go on successive bowl runs had it taken heavier disciplinary actions.

The Buckeyes weren’t hit with a Blackeye. Rename them the Blackeyes had the NCAA imposed the double standard after it harshly handed down sanctions at USC as fans reacted angrily and vented their disillusionment. Yet the NCAA people ruled that Ohio State, a well-known school particularly for its staunch football program, wasn’t as repulsive, severe or contemptible, the reality is the violations were worse than the incidents that materialized in Southern California. With the latest news in full force, it doesn’t make sense that Ohio State wasn’t spanked severely and won’t have to pay the consequences for its sins.

What the NCAA is teaching us is the lack of institutional control and fairness it exercises in handling a horrific situation, regarding a hideous scandal that elicits much humiliation for collegiate sports which is in tremendous disarray, not having its priorities straightened out. The recent outrage, put simply, is the epitome for one of the worst cases in college football and became an issue at Ohio State, following a systemic breakdown and cover up by former head coach Jim Tressel. It was, without a doubt, a far worst scandal than USC.

“We are surprised and disappointed with the NCAA’s decision,”Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in his statement. “However, we have decided not to appeal the decision because we need to move forward as institution.”

Surprised, really? Surprised? In a sense, we should be a bit surprised at the fact Ohio State wasn’t punished hard enough. Move forward? Yes, moving forward is a good decision. The standard here is an insult to USC, if anything. It makes no sense whatsoever, but Ohio State got away with wrongdoings and was treated like it has never done anything quite shocking and horrifying. This is a shame, because the justifications for such harsh penalties are ridiculous, flat out ridiculous when the Ohio State violations are contrasted to the USC mess. It must be said, to sound politically correct, that USC was in a quandary but it was never that damn nefarious. It’s your right to feel sorry for the Trojans, and Ohio State, too.


But it’s your right to feel even more sorry for the Trojans when all Bush did was receive cash and gifts from a sordid agent, while Tressel covered up the truth in Columbus as eight of his players were receiving cash and tattoos in exchange for autographed jerseys, rings and other memorabilia. To be frank, it was a worst crime than Bush pocketing money and earning rent-free housing. The disparity of the two scandals is that USC, which was defiant and arrogant of the allegations, wasn't compliant during the investigation when Ohio State cooperated but Tressel lied in his conversations with the NCAA, covering up the dirtiness to try and protect the university’s name. You could easily argue, and maybe it’s a possibility, that Smith’s job is in jeopardy.

The university’s first priority is recovering from the NCAA sanctions, along with the self-imposed penalties. It certainly wasn’t right and, just as USC felt the pain, Ohio State can relate even if the punishment isn’t all so bad. The guess is the school will recover quickly from the sanctions and won’t be affected by it as the newly hired coach Urban Meyer will change the culture in Columbus, Ohio, by recruiting brilliantly, although the stripping of scholarships may have an effect on persuading many of the top-level recruits. The lost of three scholarships a year for the next three years will slow down the process in adding to the depth, but the Buckeyes may still win the Big Ten title and earn the right to play in a BCS bowl.

So maybe former USC coach Peter Carroll, who often said the punishment was too harsh and he would not return, fled because of the mess and accepted the Seattle Seahawks coaching job. So maybe ex-USC athletic director Mike Garrett had a point when he was critical of the NCAA and said at an alumni gathering after the penalties were imposed that the NCAA was jealous of the Trojans. It’s almost ironic that Smith remains the Buckeyes AD despite the stain at Ohio State, while Pat Haden was hired to purge all traces of ruination and clean house. When the sanctions were announced, he repeated that the university had not agreed with the rulings

“We had our two shots,” Haden said. “We were disappointed with the results, but we have gotten beyond that and are moving forward.”

If the school really want to seek revenge or fight for rights, USC could sue the NCAA and maybe have the sanctions reversed, but it would cost the university about $5 million.

It almost feels as if collegiate sports are politics, prompting largely a debate around the nation, as the folks locally are questioning and ripping the NCAA for inequality and slapping the Buckeyes on the wrist. This is a school under scrutiny, but apparently not as much as USC dealt with the shame of a bloated, formidable scandal. As it turns out, the Trojans weren’t made the men of Troy but the poster boys. Wrong as it is, Alex Holmes – a former Trojan and teammate with Bush – blasted the NCAA irate about the sanctions involving Ohio State via Twitter Tuesday morning.

“I just don’t get it,” Holmes said after reading that the Buckeyes will be docked nine scholarships and only banned for one postseason. “I don’t understand the NCAA’s logic.”

Yeah, I don’t think no one does.

Beyond all, he was unhappy and confused mainly that USC was docked 30 scholarships over the next three years for one player’s bad actions, while Ohio State was stripped of nine scholarships over a similar span for breaking rules with Tressel having full knowledge of the misdeeds. You can bet the NCAA justice system won’t revisit harshness, after the Trojans were treated unfairly and the Buckeyes were treated like the gods.

Seems unfair, right?

The justice system is deceiving in its own way and has never been a respectable or an impartial scheme but dreary over the years. Because there are no written orders all through an investigation, it leaves out important details that could be helpful if no eyewitnesses talk to provide information for a better understanding on the allegations.

But if you want a school to pay the price, punish every collegiate program fairly. It’s called the double standard.

Liar Liar! Sorry, Don’t Buy the Urban Meyer Hiring

If there’s a man who is hired to take on a new coaching gig, amidst an economic downturn that can’t be trusted as times become more fragile and scarier, Urban Meyer is clearly the man.

Life at Ohio State will never be fabulous or euphoric until Meyer stuns folks with his notorious I-Quit episodes that’d reveal another stunning development. There is something suspiciously odd about the Meyer hiring, a sense of bad vibes spreading throughout the university, enough to give off a foul smell at the Horseshoe.

He always has a flimsy excuse for everything and everyone, simply using health issues as an escape hatch to end the stressful moments when the going gets tough. By now, he’s run out of reasons not to be trusted but have the credentials to seemingly stand as a great football leader, in which his availability attracted schools that were seeking a first-class coach for filling their coaching vacancies. The problem today is, he’s not the perfect coach for the job, primarily selling one of the finest athletic programs in the nation.

The search is over, and it just happens so that Meyer accepts a challenging role, a heavy task for a man who doesn’t handle an array of stress too well. Only months after the university was rocked by a memorabilia-for-tattoo scandal that led to Jim Tressel’s abrupt departure, Meyer is brought in to revitalize Ohio State. He is hired to guide a storied program that demand good standards to quite fittingly portray a purpose, and Meyer is also back to turn Ohio State into a national powerhouse, vowing he intends to accelerate the process of superiority by eradicating poison.

For now at least, he is authentic about his recent hiring, ready to come out of his early retirement to become the head coach at Ohio State. And it was a wonderful if very outlandish comeback for someone who has a nose longer than Pinocchio and obligated to tell a lie and step down, considering his frivolity and deceptiveness in the past, not upfront with any athletic department. It’s only a matter of time before he calls it quits again, but in the meantime, he feels “fantastic” after 11 months away from coaching.

How long will that last, I wonder?

On a count of 1..2…3 “Tell me lies. Tell me sweet little lies.” Sing it all together now… Tell me lies. Tell me sweet little lies.


So, when is he expected to pull another switcheroo, expected to turn his back on a university that trusts in him until he shockingly decides to leave and stun the world? When is he planning to abandon the institution? What is the timetable for his next announcement of early retirement?

The Buckeyes have hired a replacement, an elusive coach who couldn’t tell the truth. Much enigma surrounds Ohio State, and it would be sensible to think that Meyer is spewing lies in Columbus, a wishy-washy personality that has had a frequent pattern of untruthfulness. This is a common trait seen often from Meyer, telling lies and promising a school that he’d desire to take charge and transform a team into a national power, but we can never conceive the mind of a coach if he talks in riddles. It’s impossible for anyone to believe the truth from a person who is laughably a trickster and a liar, not an honest or credible living soul.

“I made this clear to Jeremy Foley (Florida Athletic Director), if I am able to go coach, I want to coach at one place, the University of Florida. It would be a travesty, it would be ridiculous to all of a sudden come back and get the feeling back, get the health back, feel good again and then all of a sudden go throw some other colors on my shirt and go coach? I don’t want to do that. I have too much love for this University and these players and for what we’ve built.”

I have too much love for this University? Are you kidding me? The only love he has is for a six-year contract worth $4 million a year, along with another $2.4 million total in retention payments, according to the school, making him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football. He’s not just an immoral quitter, but also a traitor after resigning at the University of Florida, not once but twice, and then leaving for supposedly the sake of his health.

The funniest thing is that Meyer feels this is the best job in America and that the fans are the best in America. Please, don’t tell me you buy into his untruthful words, just because he was willing to accept the Ohio State coaching job, one with many headaches and much stress. In the coming days, we’ll hear that he’s mentally fatigued and burnt out from coaching, particularly when times turn rough, if you already know Meyer. Of course, if he doesn’t build a product at Ohio State and abolish the mediocrity as disappointing as it has been in Columbus, he’ll prefer to relieve himself of his duties and step down from the challenge.

But what is perplexing about this, by Meyer deciding to take over at Ohio State, is that he came back just 10 months after he said he was leaving Florida to spend more time with his family and care for his obscure health issues. It’s almost a cliché that he was a man of family values, one in which he vowed to devote his time to family obligations with his wife, Shelley, and his three kids. This is not what we wanted right now, a so-called family man who is ailing with illnesses -- taking on another coaching gig and then suddenly renege in the end unable to handle the stress and headaches if the program struggles from futility.

So there was Meyer, in his black suit and red tie, announced as the new head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes football program at a press conference Monday afternoon, as cameramen snapped photos and reporters pontificated the hiring. It’s hard to understand the variations of his mind, whether he’s committed to the profession of coaching, and whether he has the sense of pride or self-respect for a football program. The spinning wheel is forever circling inside Meyer’s mind and, this time, the wheel stopped in Ohio State’s direction. Before his arrival, he turned around Utah with his hard-driven style and spread-option that cultivated the Utes.

Long ago, he was part of the Utes ripening into national contention, capturing a BCS victory in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and developing quarterback Alex Smith, who became a No. 1 draft pick of the NFL Draft. As one of the most decorated coaches in college sports — despite his flip-flopping – Meyer spent six years at Florida, winning two BCS titles. The specifics of his retirement gave him time to spend with his family and attend his daughter’s volleyball games. During his days spent at Florida, he couldn’t balance the schedule and the coaching task at the university, which may have led to his departure.

But then again, it’s so vague that we really don’t know what to believe. Just when we thought he was tired of coaching, although we should have known that his un-retiring ideas were likely, he’s not working as an ESPN analyst but as a college football coach. We wanted to believe he was a devoted 47-year-old husband and father of three, but he is more than just a family man of college football coaches. He is, however, a liar and hard to believe.

You can’t trust him, if your life depended on it. But in every way, that is, he accepted a demanding assignment, now the coach on one of the nation’s most storied programs, one that has won seven national championships and seven Rose Bowls while producing seven Heisman Trophy winners. It’s on him to turn around a premier program bothered by the well-publicized infractions, but he won’t be the curer if he lies and calls another emotional press conference, reducing to tears during the announcement.

At his news conference Monday afternoon, he said, “Health-wise, I feel great. Our objective is to make the state of Ohio proud.”

He said that at Florida. We shouldn’t know what to believe.

As he grew up in Ashtabula — a town about 200 miles from Columbus — rooting for the Buckeyes and attending college at Cincinnati and beginning his coaching career at Ohio State as a graduate assistant under Earle Bruce, he said that he would have only accepted this job. It’s a rarity that coaches leave positions for family and then take on another coaching job months later, but on the bright side of things, he’s at home.

“It’s a great opportunity to come back to my home state,” he said.

I can’t tell whether he’s lying.

Guess it’s needless to say that he is 104-23, including his 22 record in two seasons at Utah in 2003 and 2004 in 10 seasons as a head coach. He is, without question, one of the best coaches in football, but he is just misleading and enigmatic. It will take savvy recruiting and rebuilding if Meyer is aiming to add national titles. As for the stunning retiring and lies every so many months, citing health issues and that he is devoted to spend more time with his family, this is a hiring that remains in limbo, a hiring that can’t be trusted and a hiring of wariness. Meanwhile, Meyer, who has lost an abundance of credibility and prestige for his bad decorum, is the wrong man to try to repair a program’s image.

To state the obvious, Meyer is a LIAR!! And here it is, he is a two-faced liar, accepting a job where much is expected of him. If he underachieves, there’s no doubt that he’ll be one of the most scrutinized coaches of collegiate athletics. It’s good to assume, I suppose, that life is just as tough in the Big Ten Conference. Meyer, on the other hand, moved from a tougher conference to a lighter one, but still it doesn’t become any easier for him, particularly if he doesn’t manage the effects of stress. At anytime now, he could step down and leave the university emotionally again after misleading the athletic program the entire time. At this time, he feels he can balance a healthy life and a tense job that comes with much pressure.

“I had a health scare a couple of years ago that made me sit back, reflect,” Meyer said. “I didn’t feel right. But I feel fantastic now.”

Let’s see how long he’ll feel fantastic. I’m not convinced, and neither should you.

“If not for the coaching position at Ohio State, I would not have coached this year,” said Meyer, a native of Ohio.

Sorry, not buying into this inanity, after he clearly stated that he wouldn’t coach anywhere else but Florida. He broke his promises, deceived an entire university, lied to their faces, and now everyone in Gainesville should be hoodwinked and betrayed by Meyer’s BS words. This season alone interim coach Luke Fickell, who took over when Jim Tressel stepped down for breaking NCAA rules of infamous violations, carried the Buckeyes to a 6-6 season and helped them qualify for a bowl game. There is nobody that we’ve heard of more incredulous than Meyer.

He lies so much, that he can’t even tell a straight one. The guy running the program right now, which is Fickell, who will stay as an assistant to Meyer, is more trustworthy than his new boss. It wasn’t necessary for Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith to hire Meyer when there were other candidates available. However, he had a conversation with Meyer about the coaching job by phone on Nov. 20 and then they met face-to-face three days later.

Not too long ago, he responded to reports saying that he had “not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place.”

It was too good to be true. Whatever happened to the time he went to the hospital after a game for heart problems? Not to say it was, but that may have been a lie, too

What is true about Meyer is that he’s a liar. And to this day, he hasn’t learned to tell the truth openly and publicly.

Unusual March in College Hoops: Untouchable Buckeyes Can't Be Reckoned With

It was a pedigree of arguably the deepest team in the tourney that doomed presumably the cutest story in March - another incredible joyride for a school with a reputation for scaring a top-seed team. This time, however, Ohio State isn't an understatement and George Mason isn't a touching tale to delightfully stun the world, and instead the Buckeyes are a legitimate powerhouse in an unusual March.

So the Buckeyes channel their dominance, maniacally sending a clear statement in the NCAA tournament, reaching a climax and advancing to the Sweet 16 with enough force to rescue parts of obliterated brackets because of what has transpired with all the craziness over a dramatic, mesmerizing weekend for college hoops.

The Buckeyes, the top seed in the East Region, are obviously invincible from the grand scheme of things, and poses a threat for any opponent in Ohio State's path. Now this is a program much too dignified and too dangerous to be reckoned with.

For all of the disregards the Buckeyes have taken, being in a conference worthy of its own television network but no respect with the Big East owning much regards in the domain of college hoops, it was common to ignore Ohio State every season.

You never know about March Madness, especially when upsets annihilate brackets, creating endless chatter near the water cooler at workplaces, and alarming the masses to shun away from a routine task as employees tune in from their computers at work.

Because of Ohio State's craftiness late Sunday afternoon, from the successive jump shots to the fearless drives that bullied George Mason inside to the streaky three pointers that basically slaughtered the Patriots in a 98-66 rout, the Buckeyes advanced to the regional semifinals and were scarier than ever.

The game never came close to a classical ending, but an ugly blowout, and George Mason was no match for Ohio State. The scoreboard read demoralizing results, and as much as the Patriots believed in themselves, not intimidated by the promise and balance the Buckeyes exposed, the No. 1 team overall ended George Mason's aspiration. The delirious crowd screamed and went berserk every time Jon Diebler, Ohio State's career leader in threes, heaved a three-pointer in what became a momentum booster for the Buckeyes.

He looks like an unstoppable robot, built to drill three-point shots -- or a godlike sharpshooter who just can't miss, blessed with luck whenever he shoots. He was wide open from the perimeter for much of the day that would signify his style of play if not his poise and emotion to lead the Buckeyes, along with a five-year senior guard, David Lighty, a floor general who'd recklessly drive into traffic and finish on a dramatic layup.

Because he plays the role of an aggressor, he settled for 25 points and nailed all seven of his 3 pointers from long range, contributing to a well-balanced program molded by the brilliant head coach Thad Matta. In the end, they jubilated, smiled and exchanged bear-hugs, satisfied with probably the most superb and noticeable performance all season, coming when the Buckeyes had a dominant contest before thousands of its fans.

There's no doubt, with glaring evidence, that the Buckeyes are favored to win it all having very little flaws, that they secured ultimately a spotless reputation as the scariest and matchless program in the tourney, reducing the thoughts of vulnerability in a mystic, unpredictable event.

It was made known that Ohio State expunged any possibilities of an upset and inched closer towards its first national title since 1960, ready to encounter an intense bout with Kentucky in the regional semifinals Friday in Newark, N.J. The scene inside Ohio State's locker room was joy, a contiguous feeling that spread throughout the room, as Lighty reflected back on the wonderful memories he had when he was a freshman on the Buckeyes national runner-up team in 2007.

The game wasn't stunning, but it could have been, had George Mason pulled off the George Mason, flashing back to 2006 when the school stunned the basketball world and went to the Final Four as a Cinderella, wearing the shiny glass slipper for one shining moment in school history. But this is not the case, not in the year when the Buckeyes are creative and fundamentally sound enough to shellshock any opponent, not in the year when they are surrounded with depth and experience.

It was evident, then and there, that no team in the tournament can defeat the prodigal or marveled attack by the Buckeyes. There was a point in the game, such as in the early moments, when Ohio State trailed and witnessed a potential scare, playing with the lack of emotion and energy.


At first, from what it seemed, the Buckeyes looked as if they were in a state of confusion, unsure of how to handle the impressive start of the underdogs. It was Saturday night that Cleveland native Lighty treated all of his teammates to his family's church, and nicely pampered them with soul food. By Sunday morning, center Jared Sullinger was singing Miley Cyrus in morning shootarounds, hyped for the sweetest opportunity. And while preparing for the biggest game, no matter if George Mason was unmatched from the opening tip, four Ohio State players were presented their diplomas this morning, on the day they topped it with a refreshing win in Quicken Loans Arena, a neutral site that felt like a homecoming party when primal shouts echoed inside the venue.

In a tournament of bizarre scenes and crazy turn-of-events after the lone No. 1 seed Pittsburgh took an abnormal pitfall in an unusual finish against Butler, after Duke barely survived Michigan and after Louisville faltered to drop in a disappointing fashion against Morehead State, the Buckeyes vindicated that they were worthy of a top overall seed.


And it was certainly a statement made in two games, won by a total of 62 points and amazingly shot 58.6 percent from the field. Fifty-six percent of those shots were three-pointers, even if Ohio State is fortunate to have Sullinger, one of the tallest big men physical and efficient in the middle. More importantly, though, his presence creates open looks for Diebler and Lighty, two skilled shooters who were left uncontested and took advantage of George Mason's laziness to defend the perimeter.

What it was, of course, was Patriots' coaches plans to adjust to Sullinger, trying to slow down the big man, but instead his strategy was inadequate and allowed Diebler and Lighty too much space to work from the arch. The Buckeyes never derailed and had finally found their groove, once Sullinger attacked the rim, once Lighty shot lights out in his hometown, once Diebler drained jump shot after jump shot, as it rained threes in the forecast in Cleveland to outscore George Mason 50-15 over the final 16 minutes of the first half with an action-packed shooting clinic, offensive weapons that showed firepower.

The man off the bench, freshman guard Aaron Craft, controlled the tempo with 15 assists, which allowed the Buckeyes to finish 16 of 26 from three-point land. On the way to halftime, the Buckeyes relied on a 10-0 run to overcome deficiencies early and then a 16-0 spurt, drilling five three-pointers over the final five minutes and took a demoralizing 52-26 halftime lead.

All of this heightens the Buckeyes' confidence in an attempt to reach the Final Four, and pretty soon, Ohio State will travel to Houston if they continue to awe everyone and beat everybody. It would be awful for Ohio State to let a great accomplishment go to waste. For the most part, it's a horrendous feeling to even imagine the Buckeyes losing, when they had such a joyous year. It's only rational to believe that the Ohio State can win it all, right??

At least, that's the way it feels.

In Bad Travesty, Ohio State, NCAA Not Harsh Enough on Jim Tressel

It's not enough for Ohio State to be America's laughingstock. As in any scandal, one of the paramount football programs in the nation was blinded and the mystery engendered a hideous disturbance, a national disturbance rather in Columbus, dealing with criticism for contemptible infractions that weren't harsh enough in punishing the man in the middle of the widespread travesty to stain Ohio State's reputation.

Most of all, with a phony facial expression in a press conference Tuesday to address that several of his players had received impermissible benefits months before allegations came to light, Jim Tressel admittedly was aware of the incident and had been informed last April. In the immediate aftermath of the revelations in regards of accusations, he absurdly lied and deceived the university for months, refusing to come clean.

I'm still not certain whether to feel sympathy for Tressel or slap him silly after he wrongly stood as a hoax and kept a secret, assuming the scummy plights would hereafter vanish and erase the public anticlimax that surfaced in the early winter when the NCAA suspended five Ohio State players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, for the first five games of the 2011 season for auctioning memorabilia for tattoos. It is well established that Tressel, in his lack of knowledge with his lame excuses, mistakenly believes we are stupid, trying to clean his image before it tarnishes.

Come to think of it, he already has sabotaged his legacy and image to some degree. He needed to be honest and precise in the beginning, but instead he made matters worse. It's almost laughable in a way that the Buckeyes are suddenly known as the Blackeyes, aka Tressel's culprits. What's next?? The Buckeyes will be broadcasted on America's Most Wanted, simply when the program was recognized as one of the most dignified universities in the nation, hijacking the airwaves on the Big Ten Network, a conference that really isn't worthy of its own television network??

So now he's living a lie to escape from the stunning damage, perpetrated to change the way people regard Tressel, once revered for leading the Buckeyes to seven Big Ten titles and the 2002 BCS national championship. But surely the achievements seem as if the Buckeyes were tainted an asterisk, when nearly it feels so convenient to lampoon Ohio State for nearly every incident with Tressel's top star players each season, a frequent pattern that brainwash non-believers to disparage a nationally respected program. When it all came out, when he arrived to a press conference embarrassed and saddened, he said he was "scared" of putting an endless federal drug trafficking case accompanied to the tattoo parlor.

Lame excuse. Sorry, I'm not buying it.

"It was obviously tremendously concerning," Tressel said. "Quite honestly, I was scared."

Maybe had he spoke on the allegations much sooner, he would have enhanced his credibility by telling the truth instead of lying. Rather amazingly, he wanted his to seriously believe that he was an immaculate coach who follows the rules without rebellion or breaking NCAA rules, but he never apologized for evidently violating the rules and not following the protocol.

In a sense that he demands superiority that enables an overbearing and careless demeanor, he truly believes he can escape the harsh reality of sanctions with selfishness as if he's above the NCAA rulers. Eight months later, he's accused of letting down his university, his bosses and NCAA investigators for never telling them that he was aware of two players accepting improper benefits from the owner of a tattoo parlor in Columbus, Ohio.

The latest scandal might have tarnished the program, purging traces of indelible moments over the years at Ohio State, a school that has celebrated with much joy in the past as the symbol of Big Ten football, but currently, it's a program in trouble when the truth finally was revealed. In a strange way, of course, none of this bothers Tressel and, if anything, he says he has always been his own critic.

"I don't think less of myself at this moment," Tressel said.

Consider it a case of disingenuousness, a word heard commonly in college sports these days. From what it seems, we can never assume that a university is clean in the age of sleazes and when players or coaches make poor judgment, seeking improper benefits to enrich the program or even their own lives in general. At risk of sounding like a fraud, on the fringe of a harsher sanction if the NCAA decides to drop the hammer on Ohio State in the upcoming weeks, Tressel simply thought he could remove from the heinous crimes.

Bombarded by questions in the conference, a publicity scene where Tressel was uneasy and too tense to stand before reporters, he never discussed the e-mails and he never told the bleak athletic director Gene Smith or the school's compliance office about e-mails he retrieved from an attorney in April 2010, which were evidence that Buckeyes players had been accepting improper benefits. And for the purposes of this argument, when the issue is whether he was penalized harshly or softly, Tressel mostly was given a slap on the wrist after Ohio State suspended him for the first two games and fined him $250,000.

That's it?? That was soft, not harsh enough.

It appears Tressel is allowed to return from his infamous suspension much too soon, where he'll be back for conference play when competition is steep and the emotions rise publicly within a conference for teams that are in contention against elite programs from a rather overrated conference. It's precisely not fair for him to only miss cupcake games against Akron and Toledo, two home games the Buckeyes will rout, no doubt.

For many years, Ohio State has represented excellent athleticism, but it's not the first time Tressel has been accused or caught for lying, though the latest scandal for the Buckeyes is the worse. It was lies that bruised Tressel's identity, an blemished personality ever since he used an ignorant excuse in defense for Maurice Clarett in 2002 when the explosive running back was suspended for falsifying a police report and took improper benefits and reportedly misled investigators and ever since his former star quarterback Troy Smith received money from a booster.

In fairness, as bad as the scandal seems, he deserved a harsher punishment when Tennessee basketball coach Bruce Pearl lied to NCAA investigators and was suspended for many of the conference games by SEC commissioner Mike Slive. In contrast, football coach Rick Neuheisel was fired by Washington for lying to NCAA investigators, but even though he's verified as a lightning rod in college football, Tressel avoids a significant punishment.

The NCAA has given skeptics and doubters plenty of reason to grasp a sense that they show favoritism towards Ohio State, which is exactly what exemplifies a corroded formula, a mockery to academics and college athletics. It's true, although he's responsible for much of the deceptiveness and bad publicity that has toppled the name brand program, he won't be held liable for lying or expanding the horror.

In his strange way, Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee has no intentions in firing Tressel, in full support of his head coach despite his horrendous mistakes. No matter what has transpired, even if Tressel deceived his bosses and the school, Smith also is supportive in the end of a fragile farce that stained the Buckeyes.

"Wherever we end up at the end of the day, Jim Tressel is our football coach," Smith said. "All the speculation about him being terminated is pure speculation. This case, in my view, does not warrant it."

Quite honestly, how can you trust in a fraud?

NCAA Hideous Missteps Are Just As Bad As Terrelle Pryor

It's another episode cast upon the NCAA, perpetrated to create further humiliation and generate draining drama within a collegiate association that everyone prides itself on, despite the sins which wrongly invoke a bad situation by the lack of maturity or poor judgment from a student-athlete.

There's a portrait not too long ago, that evidently unveiled junior quarterback Terrelle Pryor, who is entrapped as rumors swirl with infractions, as the latest outlaw of college football, being ridiculed in local newspapers in Ohio.

It's one of the saddest scandals; the most pathetic and outrageous incident to dishearten Buckeye Nation, and with so much lampoonery in the last few weeks, it's the equivalent of Hugh Hefner's engagement to a 24-year-old woman or Justin Bieber's crush on Selena Gomez.


In his third year as a starter, Pryor has played impressively and mellowed into a team leader. The face of the Buckeyes is Pryor, and as it seems, he quickly emerged into the savior for a traditionally regal program. The face of trouble is Pryor, but he wasn't suspended because of his infractions and wasn't imposed a harsher sanction by the university for violating NCAA rules.

Sure, he has led the Buckeyes to three Big Ten championships, a 30-4 record and three wins over the archrival Michigan, but this doesn't mean he should be allowed latitude of his wrongdoings.

However, it seems he was allowed a free pass after he profited by selling autographed memorabilia, along with the traditional gold pants that Ohio State players receive when the Buckeyes defeat its longstanding nemesis.

The problem is that he's allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl, but was issued a five-game suspension at the beginning of the 2011 season and has already announced that he'll not declare for the 2011 NFL Draft.

Back in mid-December, Ohio State reportedly was doomed with compliance trouble regarding Pryor and four of his teammates for receiving tattoos from a parlor in exchange for keepsakes. When reports surfaced, heavy talks caused fans to panic as innuendos of possible suspensions for the bowl game spread gradually and left the town of Columbus in a state of shock.

The basic approach, currently, is that the facts are evident: Pryor and his teammates broke the rules, yet the NCAA isn't proactive to punish the lawbreakers or repair an unglued system by instilling the emphasis of education and, more importantly, producing a policy to mitigate the dishonest agents and illicit payments.

Unfortunately, with the absurdity destroying integrity, it's obvious that the NCAA is manipulated by either the deceptive agents or student-athletes who are desperate to accept improper benefits in order to take care of their families financially.

Pryor, an excellent football name in an illustrious football conference called the Big Ten, said he had the desire to assist his mother in financial needs and ignored the consequences of facing a punishment that could have severly damaged Ohio State's quest in the Sugar Bowl.

With the game hours away, the Buckeyes are in the middle of a needless distraction, one that can affect the performance of a brawny quarterback, when he has admittedly acknowledged how nervous he is entering an exuberant game on the wondrous stage of a BCS bowl game.

"A number of people reached out as we've been dealing with this thing, and one thing said was, 'Keep in mind, coach, you're dealing with a different generation. Back when you were growing up, one got a trophy, maybe, and now you're dealing with a generation that if you're on the team and you're seven years old, then everybody got a trophy,'" Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "Maybe this generation doesn't understand the value of awards like we did."

The Buckeyes, in truth, are 11-1, ranked No. 6 in the nation with the exception of possessing a speedy runner or a solid pass thrower like Pryor, despite a travesty in a program used to the infinite prestige for representing the Big Ten as the symbol of pride and goodness, considering that few actually believe Ohio State is overrated simply for stumbling in decisive games. Even if the program is hampered by penalties, with implications involved in the next few hours, Pryor makes Tressel looks shrewder.

And because he's the emblem of the Buckeyes empire, he's saved by the NCAA, an industry that bares favoritism, negligence and injustice. But now, the drama has heated up, leaving us wondering why the NCAA never addressed this issue by banishing him for the bowl game, the most acute showdown for the Buckeyes. As for Tressel, obviously, he wears a stylish red vest with the Ohio State logo on it, dressed in a tie and a shirt collar.

But he doesn't always rely on his ambiguous coaching style, and respectively advances to a favorable bowl game on Pryor's assurance and assertiveness. The welfare of his eligibility, which probably lifts the popularity in the Big Ten and silence cynical populace devoted to the game when the conference finished pitifully 0-5 Saturday in bowl games, is useful to the Buckeyes if they care to win against Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl.

It's strange that he remains eligible to play in the bowl game, giving him the opportunity to lead the Buckeyes to a win. The irony of integrity or sportsmanlike conduct is least important to the NCAA, willing to postpone the suspension until next season, when they clearly could have forced him to miss the bowl game. In selling his belongings, he pocketed $1,250 in exchange for his 2008 Big Ten ring, his 2009 Fiesta Bowl sportsmanship award and his Gold Pants.

What amazes me is that the NCAA hasn't enforced the rules, but constituted the significance of the consequences if a player violates the rules.

Well, Pryor broke the rules. So doesn't that mean he deserves a suspension?

Absolutely.

The rules are irrelevant if they are not meant to be followed. The conspiracy in student athletics is drawing an immediate issue, and the members of a shabby association still haven’t reached a solution to oust the wretched farce. This is all crazy, come to think of it.

It's all mishandled in such a despicable way that the NCAA may have forgotten it held Southern California liable for the Reggie Bush scandal and issued a heavy sanction to punish the school, tarnished ever since the investigation came to a close in which Bush accepted money from a dirty agent.

The backlash in Ohio is huge, although there are a few fans, like always, defending Pryor amid the tiring ordeal. Through it all, he responded to the harsh criticism by former quarterback and ESPN personality Kirk Herbstreit and derided him in frustration. "Has he beat Michigan?"

All the hoopla had began to decrease somewhat, but then the Columbus Dispatch reported, as of recently, that Pryor had been stopped by the police multiple times in the last three years for driving loaner cars from a used car dealer. In defense, he informed police that he borrowed the car while his Dodge Charger was being repaired in the auto shop.

The university couldn't care less about his misconduct off the field, as long as its star is available in the bowl game. If he's accepting most of the criticism, isn't the NCAA just as blameworthy as Pryor? I believe so.

But all that matters now is that he listens and learns from his mistakes. Whatever happened to the significance of "Midwestern values," a theory emphasized greatly by the legendary Woody Haynes?

Folks, we live in a different age, a bad age, that is.

Terrelle Pryor Wins Roses For Ohio State, Big Ten To Illustrate Bright Future

From my perspective it was a Big Ten coming out party, at the most prestigious venue in college football -- below the Hollywood sign and near the beautiful mountains. In what was the biggest game for Ohio State, where coach Jim Tressel wore his red vest and where fans in Columbus waited anxiously for a big victory, the large population screamed at the top of their lungs.

They finally can scream O-H-I-O! Given a few meltdowns, in a big conference with its own network, the Buckeyes used to stumble and collapse on the biggest stage in college football. Jim Tressel, the man in the vest, found redemption and recovered from a disgraced era.

For a long time, Ohio State stood as a misrepresented symbol, tarnishing a prosaic Big Ten Conference. There are people still categorizing the Buckeyes as a worthless program. That was fair when the Buckeyes had flaws and couldn't ever hoist BCS titles.

Rarely were the Buckeyes invited to play in an enormous bowl game, where biased folks ridiculed them, insulted them and neglected them. After problematic losses were suffered on the national stage, like in those dreadful meetings against the powerhouses of the Southeastern Conference, folks have been skeptical of Ohio State.

But now, a losing streak no longer exists, a Big Ten losing streak is snapped and Terrell Pryor is a savior by delivering the greatest win to begin a new decade. After being demolished in consecutive BCS games, after being doubted for winning much-needed BCS games, Ohio State experienced triumph and has finally established itself in a weakened conference.

In an ecstatic environment, before thousands of Buckeyes faithful, Pryor silenced disbelievers with a 26-17 breakout victory of seventh-ranked Oregon in the Rose Bowl game. For an entire week, Ohio State prepared for this moment and dreamed of roses.

Never mind shriveled roses. Pryor blossomed into a superlative hero, and greatness was sustained through his overwhelmingly tremendous dominance. The Buckeyes have a shot at legitimizing relevance within a prestigious program, where an entertaining marching band performs and where football games are hosted in an illustrious structure known as the "Horseshoe."

For much of the week, Tressel seemed humiliated by prior letdowns and burdens that had brought down the Buckeyes.

There was a loss of sprit, a loss of regard with the disintegration of a program. But now Tressel, who has three years remaining on his contract, is breathing a sigh of relief. And because he’s an old-school coach, Tressel's offensive schemes were routes opponents never saw coming.

Everyone should be impressed by his ability to change the style and exploit different schemes. He grasps a wise sense that Pryor should be involved in an average offense, and has nurtured and cultivated his superstar.

And, indeed, Pryor was mentally and physically prepared to withstand the grandest moment of his career. Pryor, the energetic sophomore, has stamina and the rushing ability that can help catapult the Buckeyes to championship victories. Instead he tried new options, with his aerial spectacle, and proved to the world he’s a stellar passer just as well as he runs and races to the end zone.

Even though Ohio State has been able to win five straight league titles, it has faltered to win meaningful games and harmed its reputation. Suddenly, in the second decade of the 21st century, Pryor has restored belief, not only for the long-waited masses in Columbus, but the Big Ten Conference as well.

It was sort of like witnessing an endless nightmare, in an unfavorable conference unworthy of regards. Before Ohio State celebrated together on New Years Day, this was a catastrophic conference.


The Big Ten went 4-11 in BCS games in the last nine games, thanks to Pryor, who had career highs in 266 passing yards and 23 completions. And he absolutely carried a reliable rush attack and ran for 72 yards. On greater imports, he led an energetic offense and was responsible for such a brilliant afternoon by converting 11 of 21 third downs.

To start, he played like the running icon everyone idolizes, and now he's compared to Michael Vick. To start, he was unstoppable moving the ball on his successive ground game, something the nation pictured when the Buckeyes recruited Pryor to become the nation’s No. 1 quarterback two years ago.

This was a program predicted to win a BCS title in 2002, but it’s never too late for a school to win. If this was a statement, the Buckeyes are bound to return and capture national title respectability. There’s a good chance Ohio State may not be the erratic school we viewed it to be before Pryor emerged into stardom, and paralyzed Oregon’s improbable chase.

Chip Kelly's high-powered offense wasn’t nearly as effective as it was during Oregon's storybook season. Although Ducks’ tailback, LeGarrette Blount, stormed to the goal line and broke the plane for redemption after he was forced to serve a suspension for punching a Boise State player in the face during an ugly melee in Oregon’s season-opener, a wonderful tale wasn’t completed.

The Ducks committed two turnovers inside the Ohio State 35. Their creativity wasn’t relentless or befuddling to throw off a well-aware Buckeyes’ defense. Missing in action was talented quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who completed 9 of 20 passes for a season-low 81 yards.

But Pryor clearly was the marquee player and stud, lifting the Buckeyes out of devastation and granted the team with the ultimate prize.

Watching many painful seasons of Big Ten flaws, Pryor has been named the biggest hero in the Big Ten.

He’s a remedy in a conference that badly needed joy.