The NCAA Taketh Away

Ray Small: The proverbial skeleton in the closet.

There is a lot going on right now, but most importantly, the writing is on the wall for tOSU's possible NCAA sanctions. The NCAA has driven home their punishment for USC by denying their appeal, including the loss of 30 scholarships, another year of post-season ban, the stripping of wins from the 2004-05 season. And most notably, it is expected that the BCS will strip USC of their 2004 National Championship. However, trying to make sense of the BCS is its own frustrating task. So don't expect anything at this point.



This has to be very bad news for tOSU fans out there who were hoping that the NCAA would go lenient on them for their own violations.

This alone is bad enough news. Enter: Ray Small.

Can I just add, that aside from the hit, get a good look at that field. I'm convinced that that track was solely responsible for Michigan's loss there in 06. What a joke. Just sayin...

But things got worse for tOSU when former WR Ray Small (seen in the video clip above), decided to open his mouth to The Lantern, tOSU's student newspaper. The important bits:

“I had sold my things but it was just for the money,” Small said. “At that time in college, you’re kind of struggling.”

“We had four Big Ten rings,” he said. “There was enough to go around.”

The wheeling and dealing didn’t stop with rings. The best deals came from car dealerships, Small said.

“It was definitely the deals on the cars. I don’t see why it’s a big deal,” said Small, who identified Jack Maxton Chevrolet as the players’ main resource.

“They have a lot (of dirt) on everybody,” Small said, “cause everybody was doing it.”

“When I was in college, in my opinion, I was the bad guy,” Small said. “I mean I knew that I was being the bad guy. I had took on that role.”

“They explain the rules to you, but as a kid you’re not really listening to all of them rules,” Small said. “You go out and you just, people show you so much love, you don’t even think about the rules. You’re just like ‘Ah man, it’s cool.’ You take it, and next thing you know the NCAA is down your back.”

I'm not sure what this all means for the investigation that is currently going on, but I can only assume it doesn't bode well. This certainly makes the case for the crown jewel of NCAA violations...lack of institutional control, which was not a violation that the NCAA had initially handed down to tOSU in their most recent report.

If you want a good reaction from tOSU players, head over to Eleven Warriors, where they have cataloged a litany of Twitter posts regarding the subject.

Sigh.

Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Dave Brandon told Sam Webb live on WTKA yesterday morning [HT: MVictors] that the photos released by the Free Press last week of the possible throwback jersey for the Notre Dame game was not what the uni will look like.

   Dave Brandon Discusses the Throwback Jersey by MaizeBlueNation

Also, Brandon has also discussed his vision for the Big House, and how he would like to see it grow. He thinks closing in the south end of the stadium with a second deck and an upper concourse would help get the capacity to around 120,000 seats...a number he claims is certainly possible given the status of the season ticket waiting list.