oh college football

it's not even june and already the rumors, accusations and resignations are flying.
i'm sure everyone by now has heard about the resignation of ohio state's jim tressel. big news, right? the conservative coach who lead his team to a 12-1 record this past season, BCS bowl games and lots of fame.
too bad all of that is probably going down the drain after Sports Illustrated, lawyers and the NCAA finished their investigation for violations by prominent players.
i remember this time last year (round abouts...) when everyone was in a tizzy because of pete carroll and the apparently "serious" allegations about reggie bush and his family accepting money, homes, etc. pete left.
now tressel is leaving.
which obviously means that they knew what was going on, right? i mean, why would they leave if they were innocent?
i'm still bitter about the whole SC shenanigans. but honestly, their violations are nothing in comparison to those of ohio state, and more specifically, jim tressel.
in his 9 or so seasons with ohio state, who knows how many violations he: ignored, aided, pretended weren't happening? this stuff has been going on since before he started with ohio state, back in his days at youngstown.
and we're getting upset about a SINGLE PLAYER at USC? and we're letting alleged violators continue to play in big-time games (BCS games)? how is this fair?
we obviously can't trust the faces that seem to be so trustworthy. it's all for show.
when i first commented on the USC debacle, i argued that giving reggie bush extravagant gifts didn't affect his playing ability at all. i still stand by that statement, it did not enhance his game. however, i can see now that by receiving such gifts, a player is essentially "owned" by the giver. it's blackmail. the giver can place bets, tell the player(s) to throw a game, or else he'll turn him in for violations, thus blacklisting him and tainting his name. so why aren't we also punishing those people who are enabling these players to violate rules that they pledged to follow? why do they get off with a slap on the wrist, only to do the same thing a few years later to a new bunch of players?
with college football comes drama: complaints about how the BCS is formatted, the injustice of getting gipped out of major game, the shuffling of conferences to get better network slots, and this: violations up the wazoo.
let's focus on teaching our young people the importance of integrity. take a page out of BYU's book and stand by our rules, rather than letting things slide because of the importance of a game, or the need for a prominent player to continue playing to bring another win home for the team. don't let people get away with crap like this, and maybe we'll start watching the game as it used to be: playing for the glory, for the love of the game, without all this drama.