Tiger Woods drops out of the world top 20
yahoosports.com
We all knew this day was coming, we just didn't think it was coming so soon. Tiger Woods has dropped out of the world top 20, a moment which we've all anticipated in the last few months, but one which retains major historical significance.
You know the story. Woods hasn't been close to a world-beating golfer since his scandal broke in November 2009. This season, he's played exactly nine holes of competitive golf since Augusta, an ill-fated excursion to The Players Championship in May. And now, he's only ranked No. 21 in the world.
Indeed, perhaps the only surprise surrounding Woods' place in the rankings was the fact that he remained in the top 10 for so long. But the Official World Golf Rankings tally scores based on a rolling two-year average, and since Woods had a successful 2009 -- before Thanksgiving, at least -- he was cruising on past successes.
Which is why he'll be hitting terminal velocity in the rankings before long. We're coming up on the two-year anniversary of a remarkable run in which he posted two wins and a second-place finish in three straight tournaments -- the Buick Classic, the Bridgestone and the PGA Championship -- and once those no longer count in his favor, he'll have only the September 2009 BMW Championship and the November 2009 Australian Masters counting in his favor.
The top of the rankings remain familiar: Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Steve Stricker. Phil Mickelson comes in at No. 6, and British Open winner Darren Clarke is No. 31. (Auburn also received votes, which seems a little strange.)
We don't need any more reminders of how far Woods has fallen. And although winning will solve many of his on-course ills, those days seem further away than ever before.
My Pre-Season player to Watch at ALL Times!
Here is to all of you haters out there.... Ha! Ha! Looks like the NCAA wont be able to make an example out of OSU after all. Truth is, the Buckeyes are the Ncaa's crash crop when it comes to bringing in money. The kids shouldn't be punished for the stupidity of a coach and a player who is no longer with the team. So, don't ever say that the NCAA isn't about money.
Ohio State doesn't face worst sanctions
espn.com
Ohio State likely won't face the most severe charges possible in the memorabilia-for-cash and tattoos scandal that cost football coach Jim Tressel his job.
NCAA investigators said they found no evidence that Ohio State failed to properly monitor its football program or any evidence of a lack of institutional control, according to a letter sent to the university and released Friday.
NCAA investigators also said they have not found any new violations.
"Considering the institution's rules education and monitoring efforts, the enforcement staff did not believe a failure to monitor charge was appropriate in this case," the NCAA said in the letter sent Thursday.
The notice clearing Ohio State of the most serious of institutional breaches is a big break for the university, which will meet with the NCAA's committee on infractions on Aug. 12. That committee could accept penalties Ohio State already placed on itself or could pile on recruiting restrictions, bowl bans and other, stiffer sanctions.
The NCAA letter first reported by The Columbus Dispatch said that Tressel was the only university official who knew about the violations involving his players. He didn't report them to anyone else at the school.
Ohio State spokesman Jim Lynch said the NCAA's findings were consistent with the university's own investigation into what happened with the allegations surrounding Tressel and the players.
Tressel stepped down under pressure in May, months after the university discovered emails showing he'd been warned by an attorney in April 2010 about his players' involvement with a Columbus tattoo parlor owner. The coach knew players received cash and tattoos for autographs, championship rings and equipment but did not tell anyone at Ohio State or the NCAA for about nine months. NCAA rules -- and Tressel's contract -- specified that he had to disclose any and all information about possible violations.
The university announced earlier this month it would vacate the 2010 season, including its Allstate Sugar Bowl victory over Arkansas and its share of the Big Ten championship. It also self-imposed a two-year NCAA probation, in addition to suspending six players for the first five games and forcing Tressel out.
Ohio State also will overhaul its compliance office by the end of the year, creating a centralized office that will oversee athletics as well as other university departments, one of its trustees announced Friday. The move will strengthen oversight of all aspects of the university, said trustee Robert Schottenstein.
Shortly after Tressel ended his 10-year run at Ohio State, which included the 2002 national championship, star quarterback Terrelle Pryor -- one of the suspended players -- left the school, hoping to try his luck in an NFL supplemental draft.
Tressel met with Ohio State and NCAA officials on Feb. 8 to discuss the allegations. According to a transcript released Friday, he said that he made a mistake by keeping the information from his superiors.
He also said he knew that NCAA sanctions were "inevitable."
"It was pretty simple. We were either gonna be horribly in trouble from a criminal standpoint, or we're gonna be minorly involved in drug, you know, buying and stuff, or we're gonna face the NCAA reality that we did some things with our memorabilia we're not allowed to do," he said. "I was totally confident one of those was gonna happen."
The U.S. attorney's office notified Ohio State officials last December that it discovered some Ohio State memorabilia during a raid. That led to the investigation into five players who were suspended, but allowed to participate in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.
Tressel was asked if he would have never come forward if the government had not sent the letter. "Never is a long time. I don't know," he replied.
"I had confidence in the federal government that they were gonna do what they were supposed to do," he said. "They didn't need my help to do it, nor did they need my interruption to do it."
The NCAA also said in its letter released Friday that it investigated a Sports Illustrated report that said nine more players sold memorabilia to the tattoo parlor owner, but confirmed that only one had any dealings with the man.
Terrelle Pryor to miss NFL shot in 2011?
espn.com
Terrelle Pryor's pending application for a supplemental draft remains under review by the NFL and the primary determination likely will be made on whether the NCAA certifies he would not have been eligible for 2011 Ohio State games because of rules violations, sources have told ESPN senior NFL analyst Chris Mortensen.
But Pryor does have a unique case that should give him serious consideration for the supplemental draft because, according to his attorney, Larry James, Ohio State officials have agreed a completed investigation that occurred past the Jan. 15 underclassmen deadline determined he would not have been eligible for any games for the 2011 season.
Pryor's signing with an agent, Drew Rosenhaus, after the Jan. 15 NFL deadline for underclassmen to declare for the April draft is not considered a factor relating to his NCAA eligibility status under normal NFL protocol.
Rosenhaus, speaking Monday in a phone interview with ESPN's "Outside the Lines," said after "hounding the NFL on this matter," that he continues to await word on a clarification.
"They've indicated to me pretty consistently that they're not going to have an answer until there's a CBA in place," Rosenhaus said. "Well, now that we're on the verge of that being official, we do expect to hear from the NFL about Terrelle. The sooner the better because we've got to set up a workout for him. We've got to get him meeting the teams, we've got to have him taking physicals and whatnot."
Eligible players for a supplemental draft include those who have had unforeseen changes such as being banned from their college programs, made ineligible academically or having graduated before deciding to leave school, according to the NFL.
Originally, Pryor signed an agreement with the university and coach Jim Tressel that stated he would return for the 2011 season but would be required to miss the Buckeyes' first five games. That agreement reportedly allowed Pryor to play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4 against Arkansas. Legally, it was a non-binding document so Pryor could have declared for the April draft before the Jan. 15 NFL deadline.
The confusion that ensued and further findings that questioned Pryor's eligibility for the entire 2011 Ohio State season likely will be clarified by the NCAA, allowing the NFL to make a decision in the near future.
If the NCAA presents a case that Pryor could have remained eligible for any portion of the season, his application could be denied by the NFL.
"We've got a lot of work to do and we know that training camps start as soon as Wednesday," Rosenhaus said. "So we hope to hear something ASAP from the NFL, and you know, obviously we're hopeful and we're confident that they will include him in the supplemental draft."
According to scenarios based a strict league policy laid out by NFL spokesman Greg Aiello in an email to FoxSports.com, Pryor doesn't qualify.
In citing examples of players who were eligible for a supplemental draft, Aiello presented examples that, according to FoxSports.com, included "unforeseen" changes such as being banned from their college programs, made ineligible academically or players who had graduated before deciding to leave school.
"If there are no players eligible for a supplemental draft, there is no supplemental draft," Aiello said in the email. "It is for players whose circumstances have changed in an unforeseen way after the regular (college) draft. It is not a mechanism for simply bypassing the regular (draft)."
Because the NFL's supplemental draft is normally held 10 days before the start of training camps, it's uncertain how the lockout will affect the process. The league's owners and players have agreed to a 10-year agreement, and training camps start to open Wednesday.
Forty players have been selected in the NFL supplemental draft since its inception in 1977. Teams submit picks to the league and if their bid is the highest, they receive the player but lose the corresponding draft pick in the next draft.
Former Georgia tailback Caleb King said earlier this month, soon after being declared academically ineligible for the 2011 season, that he would also like to enter the supplemental draft.
In a news conference in June to announce he was leaving, Pryor apologized to the Buckeyes, to his former teammates and to the now-departed Tressel for his role in the pay-for-memorabilia scandal that led to the former coach's exit.
Pryor had already been suspended by Ohio State and the NCAA for the first five games of what would have been his senior season this fall for accepting improper benefits, such as cash and discounted tattoos. The scandal led to Tressel's forced resignation. Tressel acknowledged knowing his players were taking improper benefits but covered it up for more than nine months before Ohio State officials discovered his knowledge.
Pryor is Ohio State's all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks, with 2,164 yards. He also threw 57 touchdown passes, tying a school record.
The NCAA said in a letter to Ohio State last week that as a result of the governing body's investigation that it wouldn't recommend the school be hit with the most serious charges of failing to properly monitor its football program or any lack of institutional control when if faces the NCAA's committee on infractions on Aug. 12.
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