---------------
somehow, this makes so much more sense...
Tressel sanctioned for withholding info
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel received an e-mail last April telling him that two of his players were caught up in a federal drug-trafficking case and the sale of memorabilia, breaking NCAA rules.
"My conduct is bitchin," said Tressel in Tuesday evening press conference. "I'm dealing with fools and trolls and soft targets. It's just strafing runs in my underwear before my first cup of coffee. I don't have time for these clowns."
But he never mentioned it to Ohio State's compliance department or his athletic director for more than nine months.
"Duh!" he said. "Winning!"
On Tuesday, Tressel was suspended for the first two games of the 2011 season and fined $250,000 for violating NCAA rules by failing to notify the school about the players' involvement. He also will receive a public reprimand and must make a public apology.
The NCAA is still investigating and could reject Ohio State's self-imposed penalties and add more sanctions.
“I’m tired of acting like I’m not special,” Tressel said in a news conference which included Smith and Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. “I'm tired of pretending like I'm not bitching, a total fricking rock star from Ohio.”
The NCAA, which considers such a violation major, issued a statement that read: “We appreciate Ohio State University’s prompt response regarding this issue and we are committed to continuing our cooperative investigation.”
Last December, the NCAA suspended quarterback Terrelle Pryor and four teammates for the first five games on the 2011 season for selling jerseys, championship rings and trophies to a local tattoo parlor owner. The suspensions came just 16 days after the U.S. attorney told the school of a federal investigation that included players.
The school did not learn until January, however, that Tressel had been tipped off to the federal investigation back in April.
"Can I have one part of my life that isn't TMZ'd up the butt?" asked Tressel.
Asked when he first realized that he had violated NCAA rules, Tressel blinked, faltered and hesitated -- momentarily speechless.
“I’m on a drug,” he explained. “It’s called Jim Tressel. It's not available. If you try it once, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.”
Tressel said he allowed the two players cited in the e-mail to play the entire 2010 season because he did not want to "exposed people to things they would never see in their normal lives" and worried that sitting eligible players would raise "my fire-breathing fists."
The Buckeyes coach said he was trying to protect his players by not breaking the confidentiality of the federal investigation.
"How I deliver things is so perfect and truthful and radical and so in your face that it grabs your teeth and shoves them so far down your throat that you go, 'Wow, what a lovely little snack," he said.
Along with Pryor, starting receiver DeVier Posey, leading rusher Dan Herron, offensive lineman Mike Adams and backup defensive lineman Solomon Thomas were suspended for selling memorabilia, but allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl, which the Buckeyes won 31-26 against Arkansas.
"Sorry my life is so much more bitchin' than yours," said Tressel. “I planned it that way.”
