Racers Host Akron VP Jim Tressel 'Meet and Greet' At Firestone Stadium, Thursday, July 19th

Seriously? Seems that you folks need an ombudsman or something. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past several years you should know that Tressel quit the Ohio State head football coaching job under pressure after having been caught by the NCAA and the University lying about improper handling of his head coaching responsibilities. Note that Ohio State subsequently fined him a quarter million dollars for his "mistakes".

I don't know if this promo piece means you just don't care enough to pay attention to what is going on or if you already know about this serious ethical issue and went to press anyhow.

In any case it doesn't reflect particularly well upon the this blog poster or this site. If this is the route you're going to take going forward I suggest you tone down any contributors who always seem so eager to criticize any real or perceived ethical slights by anyone no toeing their respective worldviews.

If this was a paid promo to either the poster or the site it should have been disclosed as such within the post.

I'd hope that National Pro Fastpitch isn't already this hard up for promotional opportunities. If they are then look out.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:02pm EDT

Take a deep breath Crimson, the appocolypse isn't upon us.

The fact that Tressel went from a top of the food chain NCAA coach, to shilling for NPS says enough. He's just trying to find work, and if his presense helps gather fans to an event, then so what?

I don't think many people consider trading helmets for tats a huge offense. Yes, the cover up was enough of an HR violation to warrant his demise, and he got fired in disgrace as a result. But I don't think he's automatically a pariah for the rest of his life as a result, especially for an event like this.

Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 12:12am EDT

Tressel made over 21 million bucks in the decade he was at Ohio State. He hardly needed to find work. He got wacked for his lies and the cover-up. Unless you're a Buckeye apologist he's a millionaire with a character problem.

Hanging a press release out there that sounds like it was written by his grandmother and pitching him as a John Wooden character proxy is disingenuous at best given his recent reality. Further considering how gleefully many of the contributors to this site hammer men's sports and the patriarchy for some real but mostly imagined flaws it's particularly over the top for them to try to leverage what is left of Tressel's professional reputation in an effort to keep their new pro softball league afloat.

Thursday, July 19, 2012 at 11:47am EDT

Fair enough. And yes, I do remember the Christine Brennan's of the world calling for Tressel's head at the time, so this partnership does make for strange bedfellows.

However, I don't think most fans of college football consider Tressel as some evil villan (regardless of their rooting interests) For me personally, I just never considered Tressel's transgretions that appaling. Maybe I've just been de-sensitized over the years.

If the organizers think they can garner a spike in fan draw out of a cameo by Tressel, I'm not going to blame them too much. Desperate times, marketing angles,and such, usually fuel these decisions.

Friday, July 20, 2012 at 10:28pm EDT