The former Ohio State Provost weighs in on Jim Tressel

Here is a refreshing take from someone from the NCAA...

Oregon State president Ed Ray is in something of a unique position when it comes to the Jim Tressel brouhaha at Ohio State. As a former vice president and provost in Columbus, Ray was one of the Buckeye officials who hired Tressel away from Youngstown State and knows Tressel personally. But as the current president of the NCAA's Executive Committee (the committee which oversees changes to NCAA's byzantine rulebook and bylaws), he's also heavily invested in seeing the NCAA's standards and rules upheld.

So it carries more than the usual weight when Ray opens both barrels on Tressel in an interview today with the Oregonian:

"I just thought the world of him ... " Ray said. "I would assume he's certainly been a very positive influence on many of the players that he had. But this whole episode to me is beyond the pale. It's totally unacceptable ..."

The NCAA has not yet ruled on Tressel's transgression, and Ray emphasized that he was speaking for himself only. But on how NCAA enforcement officials might view Tressel's case, Ray said, "If I were in their position, I'd be a hanging judge."

He continued: "I think there are lines you don't cross in your own life.... I'm not a big mercy guy. I'm not a big understander of extenuating circumstances. We all sort of engage in thinking about situational ethics. But I'm kinda old-school. And I think you're either ethical or you're not ethical."

If anyone knows this guys does.

I would completely agree that Ray is in the unique position of being very credible because of his involvement in the hiring Tressel and being on the NCAA's Executive Committee, he is very credible because he understands the situation that the NCAA is in.

Ray is smart enough to see that the NCAA is in a real spot here if they don't come down hard on Tressel for his actions. He knows the NCAA can't spin it any other way.

I don't see how Tressel survives this.

I have a general respect for Ohio State fans even though their sanctimony reached a fever pitch when USC got hit. Now the shoe is on the other foot and I see the same reactions in their fan base that many USC fans had when the Bush/Mayo stories hit.

If Ohio State fans think this is bad now wait until the NCAA hands down its official ruling.

It won't be pretty.

This isn't going away anytime soon and you never know what else may surface. tOSU will be branded cheaters just like USC has been and that stigma doesn't wash off easy...especially when you compare the cases. No where in the NCAA's report against USC did it say that either Floyd or Carroll broke any NCAA rules let alone a 10.1 violation that Tressel has basically admitted to.

I don't wish this on them at all but I won't deny my amusement after the way they acted when USC took their hit.

Ain't going to be fun for them that's for sure...