I Don’t Get The Sports Illustrated Story On Oklahoma State At All

InsideSI – The rapid ascent of the Oklahoma State University football program into a national powerhouse is examined in a five-part series to run across SI’s platforms “The Dirty Game,” a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED special investigative report that looks into the transformation of a struggling college football program into a national powerhouse, is set to launch tomorrow morning on SI.com. The series is the result of a comprehensive 10-month investigation into the Oklahoma State University football program. It includes independent and on-the-record interviews with more than 60 former OSU football players who played from 1999 to 2011, as well as current and former OSU football staffers.

After 11 losing seasons in 12 years, OSU turned itself into one of the top programs in the nation.

Part 1: Money (On SI.com Tuesday, 9/10 and in the 9/16/13 SI issue): SI finds that OSU used a bonus system orchestrated by an assistant coach whereby players were paid for their performance on the field, with some stars collecting $500 or more per game. In addition, the report finds that OSU boosters and at least two assistant coaches funneled money to players via direct payments and a system of no-show and sham jobs. Some players say they collected more than $10,000 annually in under-the-table payouts.

Part 2: Academics (On SI.com Wednesday, 9/11): Widespread academic misconduct, which included tutors and other OSU personnel completing coursework for players, and professors giving passing grades for little or no work, all in the interest of keeping top players eligible.

Part 3: Drugs (On SI.com Thursday, 9/12): OSU tolerated and at times enabled recreational drug use, primarily through a specious counseling program that allowed some players to continue to use drugs while avoiding penalties. The school’s drug policy was selectively enforced, with some stars going unpunished despite repeated positive tests.

Part 4: Sex (On SI.com Friday, 9/13): OSU’s hostess program, Orange Pride, figured so prominently in the recruitment of prospects that the group more than tripled in size under Miles. Both Miles and Gundy took the unusual step of personally interviewing candidates. Multiple former players and Orange Pride members say that a small subset of the group had sex with recruits, a violation of NCAA rules.

Part 5: The Fallout (On SI.com Tuesday, 9/17, and in the 9/23/13 SI issue): SI finds that many players who were no longer useful to the football program were cast aside, returning to worlds they had hoped to escape. Some have been incarcerated, others live on the streets, many have battled drug abuse and a few have attempted suicide.

So this was obviously a big story today. That Oklahoma State is a dirty program. Sports Illustrated is doing a big 5 part series on it. Acting like this is Watergate or something. Well I just had to chime in quickly. What is the point of this? To show that players get paid? That schools use hot chicks and sex to get guys to come to school? That college football players use drugs? That they don’t go to class? Umm no shit brah. It’s college football. Every fucking power program with maybe the exception of Michigan does this shit. Who cares? Why is Sports Illustrated picking on the Cowboys? Auburn won a National Championship paying Cam Newton. Urban Meyer sweeps murders under the rug. Les Miles I’m sure is doing the same exact shit he is being accused of doing at Ok State now at LSU. Bottomline is if you want to investigate any major program I’m sure you can do a huge expose and call them dirty. Facts are nobody cares. Big time college football is big time college football. They are basically professional athletes anyway. The sooner we stop pretending these guys are real college students the better.