Nitt Picks Sold All Its Bling

So, I went down for a nap around 2:00 p.m. today. I woke up to this lead from ESPN.

Welcome to Tattoo U.

What started out as a trip to a Columbus tattoo parlor by a couple of football players has created all sorts of mayhem for star quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Ohio State.

Pryor and four teammates were suspended Thursday by the NCAA for the first five games of next season for selling championship rings, jerseys and awards. They also received improper benefits -- from up to two years ago -- from the tattoo parlor and its owner.

Well good morning to Fooge. You know, I remember walking into a fantasy baseball draft (yeah...) the day TPeezy signed with Ohio State and the Pitt fans that were there couldn't get enough of him spurning Penn State. I defended PSU by noting how well it had defended Troy Smith in comparison to Todd Boeckman (who'd torn Penn State to shreds in Happy Valley that fall) and that it could probably defend Pryor, too. I was just glad he didn't go to Michigan, where he would have been more dangerous in Rich Rodriguez's system, or "dominant" as he'd go onto say this year. Fortunately, Pryor's actions and statements leading up to today's news alone were enough to confirm to me that Penn State was better off without him all these years. Today was just the cherry on top of the milk shake. Pryor never belonged here, whether he would have made Penn State a better team on the field or not. He belonged at The Ohio $tate Univer$ity all along.

How Does This Affect the 2011 Heisman Race?

Bleacher Report is on it.

There's the upcoming Sugar Bowl matchup with Ryan Mallett and Arkansas. Then next season is his senior year at Ohio State, and Pryor would likely be the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. That changed dramatically today, after it was announced the Buckeyes quarterback is one of five players who have been suspended for five games next season for selling awards and accepting improper benefits.

Just like he's been the leading candidate, check that, the only candidate the last couple years? Give me a break. This kid never had a chance to win the Heisman Trophy in the first place. You know why? Because he's an idiot. When you're stupid enough to sell championship paraphernalia and accept improper benefits, and dumb enough to claim you didn't know it was against the rules, that kind of idiocy is bound to show up once or twice of the course of a season. See Wisconsin 2010, Purdue 2009, Penn State 2008, etc. For as physically gifted as he is, even his simplest thought processes doom him to doing stupid crap like this. So don't tell he's a winner and don't tell me he resembles Cam Newton and Vince Young so much. For as dumb as you can argue THAT pair is, Pryor has them all beat, which is why he'll never be in their league of greatness on the field.

Two Violins, One Chello

Pat McManamon of FanHouse nails Ohio State's Gene Smith for his defense of the situation.

In Ohio State's case, ignorance is the offered excuse. Poor guys just didn't know the rule -- how is a student-athlete supposed to know, anyway, when they are spending so much time writing term papers and reading about the Industrial Revolution? Smith even said he would appeal the suspensions because the players were trying to help their families in tough economic times.

The only thing missing from the news conference was a wailing banshee.

Spare us the news that the players were not "educated' well enough. They are responsible for their actions, and pretty much every player knows that selling a used jersey or award will net a pocket of cash, and the NCAA only approves cash going to universities.

If Peezy and his crew were so worried about taking care of their families, maybe they should have gone to Jim Tressel and told him they needed jobs. I could start working at Findlay Commons tomorrow. Don't tell me these guys couldn't have snapped their fingers and had a job working on campus instantly. And don't tell me Pryor doesn't have the time because he's an athlete and needs time to practice and study. He was blowing up Twitter this fall talking about playing for the basketball team. If he has the time to commit to a second D-1 sport, he has the time to work a cafeteria line like the rest of his fellow students struggling to pay their way through school.

Cry me a river.