"It was only 7 violations, your honor."
Despite giving recruit Aleksandar Radojevic $6000 in cash and failing to report it to Ohio State officials, an appeals court today awarded Jim O'Brien 2.4 million in damages. The court's logic is that OSU breached O'Brien's contract by firing him for an offense that didn't warrant termination. I know OB was trying to help the kid's family, but he knew the rules and hid the fact he broke them. If not for the allegations getting ready to be made public involving Boban Savovic, this violation would likely have never come to light. A minor win for the university is that the court did not award the additional 1.3 mil O'Brien was seeking for getting the boot before the NCAA officially deemed him a cheater.
So there it is. Crime does pay. O'Brien should have plenty of cheddar to hold him over while he waits for the ban on his coaching collegiate athletics to expire in 2009. Look on the bright side, O'Brien's firing paved the way to bring in a coach with a vision of being an elite program. OB caught lightning in a bottle with Redd, Scoonie and company and was a great X's and O's guy, but his reluctance to even attempt to chase big time recruits put limits on what the program could become. You think OB would've even attempted to pursue Oden, Conley or Cook?
