Talk about the best of intentions gone bad.
Antonio Pittman and Chris Wells left a fund raising dinner Saturday after concerns of NCAA rules violations. According to the Akron Beacon journal, members of an area pee wee football league were hosting a spaghetti dinner to raise money to send Ohio State football player family members to the BCS game in Arizona. Midway through the dinner, Pittman’s mother called Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman to explain the situation. Bollman advised that she and Pittman leave the dinner. Money raised from the dinner will be donated to the local pee wee football league.
Apparently, even though the NCAA will make millions off of Pittman and Well’s appearance in the BCS Championship game on Jan. 8th, it is against NCAA rules for the pee wee football club that first introduced the Pittman and Well’s to the game to raise money to send their parents to Arizona to see them play.
While the potential NCAA violation may seem innocent enough, it will provide fodder for those trying so desperately to find fault in Tressel’s Ohio State program. It took at least three years before ESPN could write about Ohio State without mentioning Maurice Clarette and I am sure we will hear this story rehashed over and over during the coming bowl season.
Just remember as we see feature after feature about community spaghetti dinners, the story of Willie Williams. When it comes to NCAA rules violations, at least the SEC knows how to do it right.
