The Trouble with Tangled Webs

Scottish novelist and poet Sir Walter Scott offered a timeless commentary when he wrote, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!”

TV and cinematic comedies have drawn from this truth – a small deception leading to another to conceal it, then another…until finally the protagonist is up to his or her neck in deceit run amok. Viewing such fictional calamities, we laugh. “Ha, ha, how silly. Ha, ha, he should have ‘fessed up in the first place and he wouldn’t have dug such a deep hole. Ha, ha.”

Unfortunately, web-weaving in real life is usually not as hilarious. It’s sad, even tragic. Such is the case with Jim Tressel, now-former head football coach at Ohio State who about six months ago was the toast of the town in Columbus. Seven consecutive victories over Michigan, six straight Big Ten championships, one national championship, and expectations for another in the near future.

Today, Tressel is unemployed, having resigned under intense pressure for having withheld information from superiors and the NCAA about players that broke rules. No crimes were committed, no laws violated, but NCAA rules were disregarded – and therein was the rub.

Tressel, having built a reputation for integrity, forthrightness – and faith – besmirched it all when he elected not to report the violations. As time passed, the cover-up deepened and the media outcry intensified.

Early in 2010 the coach probably thought it a small matter easily swept under the rug for the sake of a greater good. We might never know his actual reasoning. But with today’s 24/7 eyes-are-always-watching-you media and internet coverage, someone eventually checks under the rug.

Walking with integrity is a fine line, a delicate balance – especially in a high-profile positions. But it’s true for all of us. It’s a sobering reality to know regardless of our status in life, big or small, people are always watching and eager to pounce when we fail. “Bloodthirsty men hate a man of integrity and seek to kill the upright” (Proverbs 29:10).

Even more than that, we have an audience of one that knows our hearts, as well as sees our actions. In the Old Testament of the Bible, King David wrote, “May integrity and uprightness protect me, because my hope is in you…. Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord without wavering. Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth” (Psalms 25:21, 26:1-3).

How many of us can say the same?

Bouncing Down Buckeye Memory Lane: Clarett and Tatum

Reading this week’s sports section has been almost like being visited by ghosts of Buckeyes past.
Maurice Clarett, who largely contributed to Ohio State’s 2002 BCS Championship Game victory over Miami, is back on campus in Columbus. Having served several years in prison for armed robbery, Clarett again is a student at The Ohio State University, although his football eligibility is long gone.

I’m sure there are those who question what right he has to set foot on campus again after putting the football program into disgrace, but head coach Jim Tressel has welcomed Clarett, still a young man. Personally, I think “Mo” has done the time for the crime. If he’s trying to get his life back on track, why not? Too often prison sentences are only about punishment, and not about restoration and rehabilitation.

One other Buckeye was sadly in the news, Jack Tatum, who died of a heart attack at 61 after years of other health issues. Supposedly nicknamed “The Assassin,” which apparently was not true during his pro career, Tatum is infamously remembered for the savage hit he made as an Oakland Raider on New England receiver Darryl Stingley in 1978, leaving him a near-quadriplegic.

“A bad guy” is the instant assessment of many sports observers. But in 1969, while I was a reporter for Ohio State’s student newspaper, The Lantern, Tatum struck me as anything but that. He had been a member of the National Championship team the preceding year, the centerpiece of a fierce defensive backfield for the Buckeyes. Experts say that had he played on offense, Tatum could have been a stellar running back, but Woody Hayes liked to keep his best athletes on defense.

I spoke little to Tatum, because he was a quiet guy. He would stroll through the locker room hallway in pads and cleats, look you in the eye and offer a slight smile, then move on. Like me, he had come to OSU from New Jersey, but from a background very unlike my own.

What Tatum was really like, I can’t say. Without question, despite his NFL celebrity – and notoriety, his life wasn’t an easy one. Since I just turned 62 myself, I can honestly say that 61 seems too young to leave this life. My only hope and prayer is that he has found peace and joy in the next.

Any Volunteers for the Buckeyes?

Ohio State’s Buckeyes have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. Friday night they will play the Tennessee Volunteers. The Bucks better win or I’ll never hear the end of it. It’s tough being a Buckeye in the Land of Orange, despite our small and zealous contingent of OSU faithful.

It’s bad enough people down here think the SEC invented football. (Actually, the first collegiate football game was played by Rutgers and Princeton. But don’t tell that to folks in Dixie.) When they convene for Saturday afternoon in the hallowed stadia of the South, they take great pride in their pigskins.

So Buckeyes, don’t let them have any quarter on the basketball court. Kentucky’s Wildcats have excelled on the hard-court for decades, but they’re not really Southern – after all, Kentucky does border Ohio and Indiana.

Nevertheless, the contest in St. Louis will be for Big Ten and Southeastern Conference pride. Having never advanced beyond the Sweet Sixteen, the Vols look to achieve a first. Ohio State has made the NCAA Tournament Finals five times, winning one national championship, so the Buckeyes know the way there.

I’m confident the Bucks won’t drop their guard – after all, the starting five includes four guards. And they have an ironman mentality. All four play virtually the entire game, apparently without getting tired. Since they’re only about 20 years old, they shouldn’t. If it were me, I’d be on life support.

All season OSU has epitomized teamwork. If one player has a subpar game, another takes up the slack. Realize it or not, they have modeled Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work…. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” As a team of five strands, they have been virtually unbreakable. Hope they keep it up.