the audible commentary
Don't blame O'Brien for cashing OSU check
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Jim O'Brien is richer today, and it's not his fault.
There are some things, of course, for which he can be blamed. The former Ohio State men's basketball coach provided money to a Serbian recruit, which is clearly against the rules, no matter how morally right it might be. He ran a program that the NCAA found to be just one step short of completely out of control.
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But he didn't fire himself. When then-Athletic Director Andy Geiger performed that task in 2004, he broke the provision of O'Brien's contract that said he couldn't be fired in such an instance unless an NCAA investigation found him guilty.
The NCAA investigation later did find him at fault, but not before he was fired. So, this week, Ohio State cut O'Brien a check for $2.74 million after appeals to the Ohio Supreme Court.
Does it seem right? Of course not. His intentions were honorable according to his story, trying to help a player whose family was thousands of miles away, but it was against the rules. So he broke the rules and he gets millions.
That's the world in which we live, coaches and non-coaches alike. The legal system can be complicated, but it works by the letter of the document.
It doesn't matter what's right and wrong. It matters what the lawyers and administrators put into the contract.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or
knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com
