Jim Tressel Likes to Sign Things

OSU had a recent alumni event and lucky fans of the University and the head coach got a chance to meet the man that has been all over the press lately for lying to the NCAA.   This would be like bar hoping with Charlie Sheen last night!  What an opportunity!

Here at BHB, I was lucky enough to get some transcripts of the conversations.


JT:  Hi Billy, ever been in a Turkish prison?



Coach, keep it quiet but I got more bad news.  Your wife is selling your sweater vests



"This is going on Ebay is 3, 2, 1......"



At home we call this Tressel Sandwich
JT:  Jim Carey can I call you if this coaching thing doesn't work out?



Coach, can you circle the players that are suspended?



Coach, can you hurry up I have been in line for 2 hours and really have to find a bathroom!



JT: Please don't touch me!




Coach, can you demonstrate the proper way to run the option?



Coach, don't make any subtle movements, if you don't say anything nobody will get hurt and we can walk out of here together.   You will start to feel sleepy in about 12 seconds.



This is the best day of my life!  First Pryor sells me this helmet and now coach signs it!




Coach, I just spilled Coke on my hat do you mind signing my lucky sweatshirt instead?




Coach did you read this headline about Bruce Pearl?  Yikes!




You don't need to read the fine print, it just says that Diet Coke is now the official soft drink of Jim Tressel.




JT:  Do you like gladiator movies Billy?

The Mind of Maurice Clarett

There are many places I would like to go in the sports world. I would like to see a Michigan Football game at Notre Dame, I would like to attend a Super Bowl, play golf at Augusta National, and dress up in funny hats and attend a Kentucky Derby.

One place I never thought I would visit is the Mind of Maurice Clarett. There is a famous TV commercial that stated, "a mind is a terrible thing to waste" I would also argue so is talent.

With newspapers failing at an alarming rate and most Americans getting their news and sports from the Internet, even Maurice Clarett has a blog from prison. Maurice is serving a 7 1/2 year sentence for robbery, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit and resisting arrest. He is currently serving his time at the Toledo Correctional Institution (TCI).

I wasn't aware that inmates were allowed to have Internet access or even have the ability run their own blogs. Do they have cell phones and wireless lap tops as well?

Don't get me wrong, I am all for rehabilitation and having these young men educate themselves while in jail, I just wasn't aware they had the ability to be on the Internet. Does anyone know when the Starbucks at TCI closes?

I wish the best for Maurice and hope he gets his life together. His downward spiral was quick and sad all at the same time. If the blog helps him pass the time, then so be it. I even looked at a few of his posts, it seems his intent is to help enlighten others and give hope where there isn't any: here is an excerpt from one of his posts:

Hate it or love it, I’m here to uplift and offer specific suggestions to people in life altering situations. Pain and loneliness hurt. It births depression. It breaks families up. I don’t hide that part of my life. The things that I speak on are real. I’ve been in many different circumstances throughout these twenty-five years surviving things others could not. Surviving the game of life is drastically different than surviving the 4th quarter of the Fiesta Bowl. Remaining sane while being locked down twenty-three hours a day during the beginning of my incarceration built character and revealed to me what I was really made of. Respect me and the viewers of this blog by bringing something constructive and positive so someone else can possibly change their life

A few commenter's on his site have said that there maybe a ghost writer writing his blog and Maurice says it's all him. My advice is, if your looking for a enlightenment or direction, there are many other sources you can turn to then Maurice's site.

So believe or not, read it or not, but Maurice is now running with the power of the written word over the leather of the pigskin.

What the hell happened on Costas Now last night?

Last night on Costas Live there was an hour and half round table on a number of subjects including race in sports, talk radio, and the Internet/Blogs.

On the Internet panel was Will Leitch Deadspin Editor, former Michigan wide receiver Braylon Edwards, and Pulitzer Prize-winning and Friday Nights author Buzz Bissinger. In a previous Sports Talk Radio panel Mitch Albom participated.

I would first like to congratulate Mitch on being one of the most talented writers I've ever seen. His take was that everyone on radio and the Internet now has an opinion and it's affecting how regular journalist write their columns. For example his point is, what training or background does BigHouse Bob have to publish a Blog everyday? Journalist write to a higher standard and have to follow specific ethics . Blogs or Sports Radio can say anything they want and most of them are "negative".

Bissinger followed on the Internet/Blogs panel and came off as an angry and tormented writer. He went quickly on the attack on Blogs and the Internet in general. He continued to tell Will that he sucked, used a number of F Bombs and even pulled out some reader comments from Deadspin from "Big Balls". His overall point was that Blogs and the internet "are dumbing down all of us". That he has perfected the art of Journalism over 40 years and now he is competing with the internet or blogs with people with little to no training.

Both Mitch and Bissinger had similar points, to Mitch's credit he came off with much more class then the "looked to be drunk" Bissinger. To boil down their points: Nobody under the age of 55 is reading newspapers any longer, they are feeling pressure and losing readership, Blogs are new media and it's scary to them.

My Take: How are Blogs unlike any other media? Some TV shows suck, others are great. Some sports writers couldn't find a story if Barry Bonds ran over them on his way into BALCO. How come all Blogs are negative and terrible? Of course some Blogs will run the picture of Matt Leinart drinking from a beer bong with 3 blonds in a hot tub. While other blogs will question who should be the QB of ND next year. Not all Blogs are negative and not all Blogs suck. Another point is, you don't take the content from the comments field from a Blog Post and say that's part of the overall quality of the post. If Buzz wasn't Buzzed all the time he might have wanted to log on to his local newspaper to see even qualified journalists articles has comments fields under them.

Sure anyone can start a blog in 10 minutes and start writing about their cat or Paris Hilton's underwear. What's important to remember is that people are now getting their information "now" from the Internet and not reading the paper. People want more information then ARod went 2-4 with a double. Times are changing and more people are in the game. Mr. Bissinger needs to calm down and understand where this medium is going so that he can either be a part of it or remove himself from it completely.

BTW: Braylon looked like a deer in headlights as Will and Buzz went after each other.

Last point, yes Mitch now everyone does have an opinion on sports or on "coach x doing a good job or that coach Y should be fired." I'm sorry, but that is a good thing, because most of us have a brain and can have an opinion. We now have a way to express it. Shouldn't we have the right to?

Enjoy the show.