Everybody is doing it. Right?

My mom and I were sitting down talking today as she showed me all her new articles about me and the team – like I don’t know what is going on with the NCAA and the media’s relentless persecution of The Ohio State Football Program. As she rambled on about the articles she read and pre-season magazines (lol, I know it’s pretty real in the Moeller household), we came across video of The Ray Small TV interview where he retracted his words after saying all those things about The Ohio State and our team. This got me thinking… with all this continuous DRAMA surrounding the program, I had decided to stay out of  it by not say anything publicly, which is why I deleted my Facebook page and have not been blogging… today I changed my mind.

I think many people, because of this new age of social media, have this perception that there is this big underground black market of Ohio State Football memorabilia sold by CURRENT Ohio State football players. People believe we live our “lavish” lifestyles because of special discounts and selling of personal items. I guess if Ray Small is a credible resource to get all your information from then these are probably a figment of your imagination….

…and yea, IF you think someone else was a good person to get information from, than you are probably jealous of my “lavish” lifestyle that includes going without AC in my Olentangy Commons luxurious apartment for over a month, yep… pretty lavish. 

I could talk in depth about the allegations by the NCAA which were SELF REPORTED, but I don’t think the NCAA or Ohio State would appreciate it but still, I would though like to point out a few things:

1. Coach Tressel is a better person than most people can ever dream about becoming and has helped me grow as a person since my first day at Ohio State. Yes, he made a mistake that has been blown out of proportion, but one mistake does not define a person. It’s funny, I walked into church last Sunday to find Coach Tress worshipping in the front row – 20 minutes early so he could give a speech to our group because a student intern asked him if he would come talk to us. That is just one of the things he does all the time that people don’t see. They don’t see the 1000’s of hours he has spent with young children, sick patients, our armed forces, etc…  Sadly, many just see a coach in a sweater vest that “lied”.  They miss the great man that gives back to the world 24/7 and helps young kids like me grow into men; even the ones that everyone had already given up on like Ray Small. 

2. To the Gold Pant’s Committee: We treasure our gold pant’s and UNDERSTAND the depth of what they mean, look at our record.

3. I drive a car my parents bought (my uncles old car) and they pay for my cell phone bill, car insurance, and health insurance. I live off campus in a dump apartment that hasn’t had screens in the windows or sliding door since we moved in while the AC  has been broke for a month. I haven’t been out on the town socially in over a year and thankfully, my girlfriend isn’t into that knight and shining armour 50’s bullcrap, so we usually split the bill 50/50 when we do go out to dinner. Still, because I live in Columbus full time for school and football, by the end of the summer I’m often asking my parents to help me out a little.

4. ^ In reference to Number four many kids that come into the program are not fortunate enough to have the support system that I do. I understand their hardship and until you walk in their shoes, maybe you shouldn’t judge them so harshly on mistakes they make when they are young. Additionally, I understand that NCAA rules are in place for a purpose, but can you imagine being a player and watching calendars and photo’s of yourself being sold and auctioned off for lots of money, but you can’t even get a picture yourself  to hang on your personal wall unless you pay for it at full retail? If I bought one from the dispatch I would have to pay $14.99 for a 5×7 of myself? Is that right?

5. You can take what I said out of context or you can say whatever you want because your basketball bench riding career is over and you have to talk about this stuff to keep to veiwers. I totally understand that keeping the drama alive keeps the $$$$ rolling in and your boss happy. It’s okay, I understand, WE understand and it’s not going to break us, you’ll see.