By now, everyone is probably familiar with the recent happenings at Ohio State and allegations and violations surrounding their coach Jim Tressel. If not, I would recommend the Sports Illustrated article that came out a couple of months ago. Tressel was not quoted in the article so you only get one side of these stories. However, the following quote from the article is haunting:
One of Tressel’s duties then was to organize and run the Buckeyes’ summer camp. Most of the young players who attended it would never play college football, but a few were top prospects whom Ohio State was recruiting. At the end of camp, attendees bought tickets to a raffle with prizes such as cleats and a jersey. According to his fellow assistant, Tressel rigged the raffle so that the elite prospects won — a potential violation of NCAA rules. Says the former colleague, who asked not to be identified because he still has ties to the Ohio State community, “In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That’s Jim Tressel.”
This story, if true, illustrates how easy it is to compartmentalize sports as a Christian. One of the desires of CEDE Sports is to educate churches, athletes, and coaches with a Biblical worldview of sports and competition. If you would like to see some of our material on this topic I would suggest Bob Schindler’s blog from a couple of weeks ago entitled: ‘Was There Competition in the Garden?”
