He wanted attention, he's got itI see you driving 'round town/ In a car that's nice/ And I'm like "forget you"/ I guess the change in your pocket wasn't enough/ So I'm like "forget you" and I guess we're screwed/ If you were richer/ I guess you'd have played better/ (Ain't that some ish?)/ And though there's pain in my chest I still wish you the best/ With a "forget you"
So. He's back. I think as far as Ray Small goes, his credibility can be justifiably be considered somewhat dubious; after all, what he's tried to do in the interview with the Lantern is extrapolate his personal indiscretions and apply them to the entire team, which is massively unfair and wrong. But that doesn't make him wrong when talking about what he did. Does anyone really doubt that at least some OSU players in the past had the same reaction of "Heck yeah" that Small did when offered a discount on tattoos? As I mentioned in the Skull Session, this is the type of thing that most college sports fans always assume that players from other teams do, but can be reluctant to admit happens on their team, too.
Yeah I'm sorry/ You couldn't afford a Ferrari/ But a beat up Chevy will get you there/ I know you want an Xbox/ When you only need Atari/ I know the NCAA's game ain't fair
With that said, we know who Ray Small is, more or less. This is a guy who made Chateau Le Chien a permanent home, and who apparently has no qualms throwing his former teammates under the bus. Saying that "everyone" was doing the same kind of things he was is completely ridiculous, and I doubt that there are many who would dispute that. My concern, however, isn't about the reaction from fans or those who have been following Small's career. It's from the NCAA, who may give much more credence to Small's words than we do.
Let me put it this way:
I completely agree with Chekwa here. The vast majority of OSU football players certainly take NCAA rules and regulations to heart. Unfortunately 5% of players not doing so is enough for the NCAA to jump on, especially now. It really doesn't matter if 95 players didn't take a car deal if 5 of them did and then got found out; that's still five major violations of NCAA rules, and one thing I think college football fans in general are going to have to learn is that the "it happens everywhere" excuse doesn't hold an ounce of water. Fair or not, the new reality seems to be one of both inconsistency coupled with zero tolerance. And right now, given that they already gave OSU an inexplicable break during the Sugar Bowl, the NCAA seems to be playing with loaded dice against us.
Now I know/ That you had to borrow/ Beg and steal and lie and cheat/ Trying to feed ya/ Trying to please ya/ 'Cause being in love with your own ass ain't cheap/ I pity the fool/ That fell in love with you/ Well/ I've got some news for you/ (Everyone really hates your ass right now)
The response from current and former players to this has been amazing. Most refute what he's been saying, and out of a dozen or more players, I haven't seen one that supports him saying anything that he did. Maybe some players are mad about Small ratting them out for their own indiscretions, but honestly, what makes people more angry: being found out, or being accused of something that they didn't do?
Furthermore, when your football team becomes what is essentially a family unit, how must it feel for someone to try and benefit from that by purporting to reveal its inner workings? Mike Brewster seems to sum up the feelings of Ohio State players pretty succinctly in this regard:
"Show me a coward and I will show you Ray Small"
Now Smally Smally Smally why'd you wanna wanna hurt us so bad?/ I tried to ask Jim Tressel but he told me this is one for the AD/ I was like UH! WHY?/ UH! WHHYYY?/ UH! WHHHYYYYY SMAAALLLLLYYY??/ We could've loved you!/ We wanted to love you!
Who knows what the actual fallout from this is going to be. I honestly hope that I'm wrong and the NCAA couldn't care less about the ambiguous accusations of a disgruntled former player, but I'm not particularly optimistic at this point; any accusations are damaging and will likely make August 12th all the more difficult for Ohio State. The key is the internal BMW investigation. If they find an issue with the various car sales to OSU players and family, then down the rabbit we go, with Ray Small playing the role of the Mad Hatter.
Let's hope that doesn't happen, and we can all stop believing in ghosts once and for all.
I see you driving 'round town/ In a car that's nice/ And I'm like "forget you"/ I guess the change in your pocket wasn't enough/ So I'm like "forget you" and I guess we're screwed/ If you were richer/ I guess you'd have played better/ (Ain't that some ish?)/ And though there's pain in my chest I still wish you the best/ With a "forget you"
