Whenever the media is covering a crime story and interviews loved ones of a person accused of the crime, I tend to completely dismiss the opinions given by those loved ones.
How many times have you seen the mother or father of an accused murderer/thief/rapist say their son would never do such a thing? It's completely understandable for a parent to have a sympathetic and biased view of his or her child, particularly during some seriously traumatic events. Just don't expect me to put much stock into what they say.
The same dynamic appears to be at work with Jack Nicklaus (hey, he sports a red sweater vest too!) and his defense of Jim Tressel.
Speaking as he annually does before the Memorial, the tournament he hosts at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio, Nicklaus said he feels "very bad for Jim. He's a nice man. I've said many times that if I had a boy at this age who wanted to play football, my grandson Nick up here was recruited by Florida State now, thankfully, but I would love to see him play for Jim Tressel. He's a good man."
And later:
"Well, my take on it is that it was no different than a father trying to protect his son, and if I had one of my kids that did what I thought was a fairly insignificant thing, I'd probably say, you know, Hey, we're not going to worry too much about that. We're going to try to just forget that.
"Well, obviously the cover‑up was far worse than the act. And once you got the cover‑up, it became a situation where Jim had to say some things that turned out to be that weren't exactly truthful. And so that's where he got himself in trouble.
"I think unfortunately it's a situation they got caught in, and that's where they are. What's going to happen, I don't know beyond this point. The NCAA, it's more in their hands. ... Once one of these things happens, by the time they get through digging they're going to find whether somebody had a hangnail someplace or not, whether somebody replaced it improperly."
Eh ... Tressel might be a good man, but professionally the evidence overwhelmingly indicates he's a liar, a cheat and a hypocrite. And it sounds as if his predicament is going to get much worse before it gets better, so not sure if Nicklaus' support for his buddy has much substance.
Here's a story from the Columbus Dispatch on Terrelle Pryor's reality show "Pimp My Rides."
And here's a story from a TV reporter who creepily followed Pryor around for weeks.
(Pause for a shower break.)
The one thing that baffles me about these apparent car hookups with local dealerships: You can get away with that type of thing in, say, 1980. But everyone's watching you nowadays, and everyone has a camera phone or Twitter feed or whatever.
And yeah, Tressel ought to know if his players are sporting brand new cars with dealer tags.
Moving right along...
The happiest man in America right now, other than perhaps Michigan coach Brady Hoke, is West Virginia detox-in-waiting Dana Holgorsen.
Thanks to the Tressel fiasco, Holgorsen's antics have pretty much flown under the radar.
As it turns out, Holgorsen's recent incident at a casino was only the tip of the (Smirnoff) iceberg.
Holgorsen has reportedly been involved in at least three and, perhaps, as many as six alcohol-related incidents in the last six months, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.
That's right, six.
The first five were hushed up, but the sixth incident at Mardi Gras Casino in Cross Lanes on May 18 has blown the cover off Holgorsen's embarrassing antics. Nitro police were called to the casino at about 3:20 a.m. on May 18 to remove an apparently intoxicated customer who didn't want to leave. Holgorsen was asked to step outside, sit on a bench and await a taxi. No charges were filed.
That sent WVU into damage control.
WVU athletic director Oliver Luck was summoned back to Morgantown from a Big East Conference athletic directors meeting by school president James Clements, according to sources. WVU's president reportedly told Luck that if he read one more article about the coach-in-waiting, it would cost Luck his job.
A predictable mea culpa statement from Holgorsen followed, saying, "I will not put myself in that situation again."
But, is he ready to turn over a new leaf?
The Intelligencer/Wheeling News-Register reported Saturday that Holgorsen allegedly was asked to leave both a bar inside Oglebay Park and, later, at Wheeling Island Hotel, Casino and Racetrack earlier this year.
Sources say there was also an incident at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, W.Va., which involved Holgerson being told to leave and not come back. And, then, there are rumors of three incidents at the Morgantown hotel in which he lives, including being banned from the hotel bar.
Also, there are allegations he was asked to leave the Union Pub And Grill in Huntington on Oct. 28, 2008. That's the night Marshall upset Houston, 37-23, at Edwards Stadium in a game nationally televised by ESPN. Holgorsen was the Cougars' offensive coordinator.
Even before all these revelations, Luck's choice of Holgorsen invited some scrutiny because they reportedly were old (drinking?) buddies in Houston.
Now, Luck's butt has to be on the line as Holgorsen's reputation as a drunken lout gets stronger.
As stated in a blog last week, nothing wrong with a coach letting his hair down every now and then. But this dude has some issues.
The fact that this guy likes to booze it up isn't nearly as alarming as the fact that he seems to get the boot from every establishment he frequents.
When a high-profile coach is that guy whenever he sidles up to a bar, it's probably not gonna end well.
And from the same article, here's the money line:
Meanwhile, Luck is busy trying to get permission to sell beer inside Mountaineer Field.
And, now, I think I know why.
Maybe, it's so Holgorsen won't have to leave the stadium at halftime.
Zing!
LW
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