That’s The Way You Debate!
By Adam
There has been a lot of information for Buckeye fans to digest over the past few days, and with that information comes an endless amount of topics to debate. This is not necessarily limited to those for or against OSU, but also those within the Ohio State community. Nick Hewlett and I, for example, both grew up in central Ohio, both attended Columbus high schools, and both earned our college degrees from The Ohio State University. When it comes to many of these topics, however, we are on opposite sides of the fence. For example, the following is a text message conversation between us debating the recent news that the fathers of two players mentioned in the recent Sports Illustrated article plan on suing the author/publication.
Adam: Storm Klein and John Simon’s dads are suing SI
Nick: Horrible idea, do they think “less” will come out in a trial?
Adam: They’re not suing because they were mentioned, suing because it was false
Nick: Which it probably isn’t and any lawyer will find more evidence of the fact that, not only was it true, but there is more to come…plus their kids were only mentioned for like a second, so no one would realize they’re even in the piece if they kept their mouth shut.
Adam: If there was a strongly disagree button on my phone I would push it
Nick: You really think Simon and Klein did nothing? Never hung out with teammates at the tattoo parlor; never got a tat there?
Adam: Simon said his tats came from Youngstown and Storm doesn’t have any, and both claim to have all of their awards
Nick: IF they were never involved then sure suing is a good idea, but thats a really big IF. Otherwise suing just brings their names to the front for no reason.
Adam: True but punching holes in a story that butchers your school isn’t in a bad thing if you are proven to be truthful. So if your daughter is a D1 athlete and is mentioned as breaking the rules in one of the biggest sports publications in the world, you would just sit back and take it if she told you it was wrong?
Nick: At that point I’m not objective. You’re absolutely right, I would want my kid to be cleared if possible and I would take her word above all others. But thats b/c I’d be an irrational parent. I’d have to read the article again, but I dont know if those two were ever linked to getting tats there, just that they were at the place which was a hangout for the players.
Adam: Agreed, I’ll double check the SI article after lunch to see how they are mentioned
Nick: They may have all their trophies and rings, doesnt mean they didnt sign and give gloves, jerseys or other less valuable things for say a few bucks here or there. It’s a lot harder to prove a negative
Adam: Sure, but then let’s just throw the whole team on the list and say they all did it….they could have a Nick Hewlett autographed item but it doesn’t mean you were there or traded it for cash
Nick: Believe me, I would love for parts of the SI story to have holes and be incorrect, but the guy that wrote it has an impeccable resume and has no need to fabricate anything. When given the chance to refute OSU and Tress declined. If there were holes or inaccuracy they would have challenged it.
Adam: But clearly they don’t know every case…if the players and parents do then they should speak out
Nick: I agree, having an item doesn’t necessarily mean they were there. But when you were in college, if you were implicated in being somewhere you were not supposed to be and your parents asked you what were you gonna say? I get wanting to defend yourself against accusations, just not really sure what would be considered a win in his situation
Adam: I would say the some sort of reprint or footnote removing them would be a win. Let’s face it, they won’t get a defamation to stick cause there isn’t malicious intent against them, but my next thought would be that anyone could take an autographed item, say they gave the player $1000 cash for it and nobody would know anything different
Nick: Maybe a settlement, but I’m guessing SI has more resources than the Klein family, and more to lose if they show any kind of admission of being incorrect
***After texting we both took a moment to summarize our thoughts, see below***
Adam (Summary): It is my belief that the parents of the athletes mentioned in the Sports Illustrated article should stand up for their children if those children are adamant about not breaking the rules. It is the responsibility of every parent to defend their children, especially when faced with this kind of public humiliation, and I have nothing but respect for the parents of John Simon, Storm Klein, and any others that feel that they were wrongly named by George Dohrmann. In closing, God Bless America and Go Bucks.
Nick (Summary): While I applaud Adam and his God Bless America finish to his debate and to some extent agree with him there is far more to consider here. Yes it is admirable for any parent to stick up for or defend their child and as a parent myself I wouldn’t expect anything else from myself or or the Kleins and Simons. The question they need to ask themselves right now, is that really what they’re doing by suing? Right now Storm and John were barely footnotes in the SI.com story. Honestly a month from now would anyone really have remembered they were part of the article? In fact looking at the article exerpt below neither was directly said to have gotten a tattoo. So the defense that each is giving now that one is tattooless and the other recieved his tats elsewhere is irrelevant. This will do nothing but open the kids up to more investigations into their own personal lives. I would love nothing more than holes to be punched through all of the allegations, and for something to happen that will lessen the punishment that is coming, but refuting two names in an article that lists two dozen plus isn’t going to do that. I wish nothing but the best for the Kleins and Simons, I just hope that in their defense of Storm and John they don’t cause more harm than good.
***Paragraph in question from SI article:
"Ellis, who spent time in and around the tattoo parlor for nearly 20 months, says that in addition to those six, he witnessed nine other active players swap memorabilia or give autographs for tattoos or money. Those players were defensive back C.J. Barnett, linebacker Dorian Bell, running back Jaamal Berry, running back Bo DeLande, defensive back Zach Domicone, linebacker Storm Klein, linebacker Etienne Sabino, defensive tackle John Simon and defensive end Nathan Williams. Ohio State declined to make any of its current players available to respond to SI.Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/magazine/05/30/jim.tressel/index.html#ixzz1OJH9PAnu"