Jim Tressel actually rigged raffles for the blue chip recruits.. what a creep.

First, I recommend some background music to mark the end of the Jim Tressel regime at THE Ohio State University.  Hold this thread as he walks away.

If there were any questions about the Saturday timing of Jim Tressel's resignation, the Monday release of the Sports Illustrated investigation into violations under Tressel answered them.  Sports Illustrated presented a litany of alleged NCAA violations and explained how Tressel held on to plausible deniability for years by remaining willfully ignorant of that which was obvious to anyone who cared enough to look around.  This is a great read. Cudos to SI.   SI investigation reveals eight-year pattern of violations under Tressel

When I read the allegations about the tattoo parlor adorned with bartered OSU gear and memorabilia, the free cars for star recruits, the do-nothing high paying jobs for athletes, the Benjamin handshakes from wealthy boosters and the other unseemly details, I understood. In Ohio, football is King and Coach Tressel had restored the Buckeye mystique by winning a slew of Big Ten titles, a National Championship and was 9-1 against the hated ex-rival Michigan Wolverines.  That buys a whole stack of free passes.  Don't sweat it Coach Tressel, none of the locals will say a thing.

But one detail tucked in the later part of the story speaks to the moral vacuum lurking beneath the surface of the homespun God-fearing man in the red sweater vest.  A man some refer to as Senator for his calm focused demeanor.  Yeah right, he's just like a Senator.  Senator Palpatine.   So what did Tressel do that showed his loyalty to the dark side?   The dude actually rigged raffles for kids at football camp to make sure his prized blue chip recruits won the prizes.  You have got to be kidding me...

One of Tressel's duties then was to organize and run the Buckeyes' summer camp. Most of the young players who attended it would never play college football, but a few were top prospects whom Ohio State was recruiting. At the end of camp, attendees bought tickets to a raffle with prizes such as cleats and a jersey. According to his fellow assistant, Tressel rigged the raffle so that the elite prospects won -- a potential violation of NCAA rules. Says the former colleague, who asked not to be identified because he still has ties to the Ohio State community, "In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That's Jim Tressel."

OK, that's all I need to know about the guy. He's a serial raffle rigger known to cheat kids out of their allowance. Winner or not, that's enough to get your ass kicked around here. What a creep.

Tressel is done like dinner in Division IA college football because the NCAA violations will follow him to any school that hires him, so of course none will. I look for him to reemerge at the high school level in Ohio with a clean Etch-a-Sketch. They still love him in all the hometowns and he has a great football mind and he can motivate a team like few other coaches ever and in Ohio if you can put a championship football team on the field at any level the fans will forgive and forget past sins. But I'd advise them to not let Tressel pick the winning ticket in any 50/50 raffles.