B
Buster Bluth
Guest
I really struggle to consider OSU fundraising records to be low-hanging fruit.
OSU President Rips ND
- Thread starter PANDFAN
- Start date
I really struggle to consider OSU fundraising records to be low-hanging fruit.
H
HereComeTheIrish
Guest
hahaha.... Listening to sports radio today, even the jocks were saying STFU and stop drawing attention. Always nice when jerkoffs here in Suckeye land are backing the Irish.
ulukinatme
Carr for QB 2025!
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Polish Leppy 22
Well-known member
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So he took shots at ND, Catholics, Kentucky, Louisville, and the SEC.
I wonder if he'd still have a job if his targets were Asians, Muslims, Jews, etc...
I wonder if he'd still have a job if his targets were Asians, Muslims, Jews, etc...
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The bullshit that is Deadspin
The bullshit that is Deadspin
Compare: Roy Hibbert Had A Bizarre Post-Game Press Conference
to
Gordon Gee Joked That Catholics Can't Be Trusted, The SEC Can't Read
So Roy Hibbert joking that "they really stretched me out -- no homo" is a serious matter and "at least he realized that his words can affect others"...... but Gordon Gee saying "damn Catholics can't be trusted" is an "innocuous joke."
That's some serious bullshit. I'd write them about it, but they're not a legitimate news source that would care. They're just a blog run by anti-religion ridiculous leftist douchebags that couldn't give a crap about what anyone has to say if it doesn't fit their agenda.
It's pathetic that they go around championing "tolerance" when they're really just a bunch of bigots like the people they rail against.
/endrant
The bullshit that is Deadspin
Compare: Roy Hibbert Had A Bizarre Post-Game Press Conference
to
Gordon Gee Joked That Catholics Can't Be Trusted, The SEC Can't Read
So Roy Hibbert joking that "they really stretched me out -- no homo" is a serious matter and "at least he realized that his words can affect others"...... but Gordon Gee saying "damn Catholics can't be trusted" is an "innocuous joke."
That's some serious bullshit. I'd write them about it, but they're not a legitimate news source that would care. They're just a blog run by anti-religion ridiculous leftist douchebags that couldn't give a crap about what anyone has to say if it doesn't fit their agenda.
It's pathetic that they go around championing "tolerance" when they're really just a bunch of bigots like the people they rail against.
/endrant
Kaneyoufeelit
Bowl Eligible
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The thing that bothered me about the Hibbert story was that they couldn't just accept that he had reached out to someone to make an apology/help him make a broader apology, they had to call it "ham-fisted" and further imply that Hibbert is an ignorant bigot. Hibbert messed up and is trying to make amends. Wish that could have been the narrative.
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Yeah, exactly. It ticks me off that they literally laugh at Gee's anti-Catholic and wildly offensive jokes... saying "some of them were legitimately funny!"... but Hibbert makes a joke about being "stretched out" and they continue to scold him even as he tries to make amends.
What a total load of crap. I commented on the article and the author said - I kid you not - that he doesn't see what one has to do with the other.
kmoose
Banned
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And that is why you are employed by Deadspin, and not a "real" journalistic organization!
T Town Tommy
Alabama Bag Man
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Why are rich people described as "eccentric" and poor people just plain crazy?
Why is a cheating wife "estranged" but a cheating husband is a dog?
Rack Em
Community Bod
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Why is the sky blue? Why is water wet? Why did Judas rat to Romans while Jesus slept?
Copious reps and 10 "cool points" to anyone who gets this reference.
rtrn2glory
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Top story on ESPN's college football live.
usually not a good thing when ESPN gets involved.
Would not be surprised if he loses his job over this one.
usually not a good thing when ESPN gets involved.
Would not be surprised if he loses his job over this one.
Bishop2b5
SEC Exchange Student
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I'll take a shot at this if you don't mind. I don't think Gee's idiotic comments needed a direct rebuttal or debunking. They were stupid and nothing more than a cheap shot based on his own arrogance and ignorance rather than fact, thus not worthy of a direct debunking.
Do you think Catholics need to prove they aren't all untrustworthy hell-raisers? SEC fans feel the same way about his stupid comments about us too. His comments about us were just about as ignorant and based on stereotypes instead of facts as his Catholic comments. You just look at someone who'd say something as stupid as Gee did and roll your eyes and let him continue to make a fool of himself. Intelligent people already know what he said was stupid and inaccurate and don't need you to debunk it. Fools will believe him and nothing you say can convince them otherwise.
phork
Raining On Your Parade
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But thats the point. Just because Gee says it, doesn't make it ok to say. We had a guy at a place I worked with who was a creep from top to bottom. He would hit on the girls all day long. People would defend him by saying "Oh its just so-and-so". Well so-and-so ended up sexually assaulting someone later on.
The point is you can't let anyone off the hook just because thats his/her personality. Not in this PC society.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>The malady affecting Ohio State President Gordon Gee is clearly identified. <a href="http://t.co/1nwRzp0wW6" title="http://twitter.com/JayBilas/status/341671296540741633/photo/1">twitter.com/JayBilas/statu…</a></p>— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) <a href="https://twitter.com/JayBilas/status/341671296540741633">June 3, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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Bishop2b5
SEC Exchange Student
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I don't disagree with you at all about Gee. He said a couple of incredibly stupid things and definitely shouldn't be let off the hook for it. He's a speak-first-think-later buffoon with no common sense who has embarrassed OSU more than once and should probably be fired. I was just saying that his comments about Catholics and the SEC were so ignorant and blatantly false as to not really need or merit a serious rebuttal.
Pa Golden Tate Fan
Well-known member
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One of my dads fraternities brothers was a professor at Ohio State. He told my dad that Gee is the biggest A-Hole you will ever meet. He said he sticks his foot in his mouth all the time.
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>RT @<a href="https://twitter.com/joevardon">joevardon</a> BREAKING: OSU's Gordon Gee to retire. <a href="http://t.co/PpvQ2hQkJu" title="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/06/ohio-state-president-gee.html">dispatch.com/content/storie…</a> …</p>— Kyle Rowland (@KyleRowland) <a href="https://twitter.com/KyleRowland/status/341995189717590016">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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PANDFAN
Look Down
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Gordon Gee retiring as Ohio State's president July 1, per Columbus Dispatch. <a href="http://t.co/s65q0pARCf" title="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/public/2013/06/ohio-state-president-gee.html">dispatch.com/content/storie…</a></p>— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) <a href="https://twitter.com/slmandel/status/341996614757515264">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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phork
Raining On Your Parade
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I imagine the conversation went something like this:
OSU Head Honchos: Congrats on your retirement Gordo.
Gordo: But I am not retiring?
OSU Head Honchos: Right, well here is your pink slip.
Gordo: So July 1st ok for retirement date?
OSU Head Honchos: Glad you see things our way.
OSU Head Honchos: Congrats on your retirement Gordo.
Gordo: But I am not retiring?
OSU Head Honchos: Right, well here is your pink slip.
Gordo: So July 1st ok for retirement date?
OSU Head Honchos: Glad you see things our way.
B
Buster Bluth
Guest
SEC still whooping on Ohio State.
Kanye West
Yeezus
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It was the right time to part ways. They should hire the fund raiser from John Hopkins to do be the president.
Bishop2b5
SEC Exchange Student
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Spot on. Time for Gee to go and spend his retirement enjoying the taste of his own foot.
rtrn2glory
Well-known member
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well....he didn't "lose" his job so to speak, but like we all seem to agree he was forced out.
B
Bogtrotter07
Guest
Maybe G Gordon Gee shouldn't have insulted Catholics after all.
Maybe G Gordon Gee shouldn't have insulted Catholics after all.
Andy Staples>INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ohio State's Gordon Gee was a lousy comedian, not a lousy president
Ohio State's President Gordon Gee resigns
Andy Staples>INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Gordon Gee, with his signature bow tie, infamously joked he was lucky Jim Tressel didn't fire him.
Terry Gilliam/AP
During an interview a few years ago, University of Florida president Bernie Machen said something intriguing. "You have to take care of the docs and the jocks," Machen said. I asked what he meant. He explained the old higher-ed trope. Essentially, issues within a university's medical school and/or athletic program can get a president in outsize trouble because of the front-porch visibility of each. So, in situations regarding docs or jocks, a president must remain on high alert.
No university president knows that better today than Ohio State's Gordon Gee, whose loose lips while discussing matters regarding the jocks have now cost him his job. Gee will resign, effective July 1. While inside Columbus he will be regarded as an excellent administrator and fundraiser, to the wider world Gee's tenure at Ohio State will be remembered for two instances involving athletics and a microphone. The second was the speech at the Dec. 5 athletic council meeting that ultimately led to Gee's departure. The first probably will wind up in Gee's New York Times obituary far ahead of some of his more relevant achievements in the field of higher education. It came March 8, 2011 during a press conference to announce that Ohio State officials had caught football coach Jim Tressel lying to the NCAA and reported the violation. When asked if dismissing Tressel ever crossed Gee's mind, Gee said this: "I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me."
It isn't fair, but that statement will be Gee's professional epitaph.
If Gee hadn't stammered out that poor attempt at a joke, his equally poor attempt at comedy on Dec. 5 wouldn't be ending his tenure at Ohio State. But because sports draws so much more attention than the much more important day-to-day operation of a major state university, here we are. (I write this with full knowledge that I am trivializing my own job. That's fine. If the nation straightens its priorities tomorrow, I'll begin looking for plumbing apprenticeships. Fortunately, the flow of you-know-what will never cease.) We're a sensitive society made more sensitive by the advent of technology that allows us to share our outrage and multiply it exponentially within minutes. You can blame the people who write and publish the stories all you want, but you are the ones who retweet them and respond and echo the calls for firings. In fact, that has become our standard response. "Fire him," we say. It's almost as if we've forgotten that the subject is an actual human being about to get separated from his job. Though, given the heft of the golden parachutes awarded to the presidents, athletic directors and coaches who usually get targeted, we probably shouldn't flagellate ourselves too much.
AUDIO: Listen to Gordon Gee's controversial remarks in their entirety
Gee did his job very well -- with one glaring exception. A president's most important task is raising funds by either cajoling the state legislature to appropriate funds or by convincing private citizens to give their hard-earned (or inherited -- it all spends the same) cash to the school. Gee was a master at the latter. The same goofy style that made him a PR director's nightmare in a press conference made him relatable to his individual constituents and donors. But the fear now, based on the reactions to the stand-up act first unearthed last week by The Associated Press, is that he may have offended enough people to turn off those donors and those potential donors. In essence, he made himself poisonous.
The routine began, as the acts of so many awful comedians do, with a tap of the microphone. "Is this thing working?" Gee asked as he took the floor at the athletic council meeting. Then Gee began talking about the weather. As everybody whose mom ever sent them off to dinner at someone else's house would agree, he probably would have been better off staying on that topic.
Gee would move on to discuss Notre Dame, Catholics in general, the Longhorn Network, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and the schools of the SEC. Somehow, Gee managed to insult them all. It was a remarkable feat of foolishness.
But should it have cost an otherwise capable employee his job?
Gee should never have insulted Catholics. Let's get that out of the way first. Replace "Catholic" with "Jewish" or "Muslim," and Gee gets fired on the spot regardless of intent. Ripping major world religions -- and even minor ones -- is always a bad idea. But Gee's words -- while ill-advised -- come off on tape as little more than good-natured ribbing. At issue is whether the CEO of a large, publicly-funded institution has any sort of license to kid about these matters. I can certainly understand why many would say he does not. But Gee did not sound like a hateful person -- just a terrible comedian.
What makes this truly absurd is this doesn't get blown up if Gee doesn't go after two of sports' biggest sacred cows: Notre Dame and the SEC. Saying anything about Notre Dame football guarantees page views and television time thanks to a huge nationwide fan base and an even larger group that loves to complain that Notre Dame gets too much attention, while reading every blessed word written about the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, the SEC has arguably the most passionate, volatile set of fan bases in American sports. When we in sports media see a major public figure bashing Notre Dame AND the SEC at the same time, it's like hitting the Web traffic lottery. Gee never stood a chance.
(Heck, I'm one of the people Gee targeted. Thursday, I documented my struggles with SEC-induced illiteracy. But I'm a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant. I'm essentially the butt of every socially acceptable joke out there, so I don't get offended by much.)
Officially, Gee will resign on July 1. Officially, he didn't get the ax. But whether he was forced out or whether he simply decided he couldn't deal with the double-secret probation and babysitters monitoring his every speaking engagement proposed by the Board of Trustees in its "remediation plan," Gee's stand-up routine cost him his job. That's a shame.
He was a lousy comedian. That didn't make him a lousy university president.
Read More: Ohio State's Gordon Gee was a lousy comedian, not a lousy president - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
Gordon Gee, with his signature bow tie, infamously joked he was lucky Jim Tressel didn't fire him.
Terry Gilliam/AP
During an interview a few years ago, University of Florida president Bernie Machen said something intriguing. "You have to take care of the docs and the jocks," Machen said. I asked what he meant. He explained the old higher-ed trope. Essentially, issues within a university's medical school and/or athletic program can get a president in outsize trouble because of the front-porch visibility of each. So, in situations regarding docs or jocks, a president must remain on high alert.
No university president knows that better today than Ohio State's Gordon Gee, whose loose lips while discussing matters regarding the jocks have now cost him his job. Gee will resign, effective July 1. While inside Columbus he will be regarded as an excellent administrator and fundraiser, to the wider world Gee's tenure at Ohio State will be remembered for two instances involving athletics and a microphone. The second was the speech at the Dec. 5 athletic council meeting that ultimately led to Gee's departure. The first probably will wind up in Gee's New York Times obituary far ahead of some of his more relevant achievements in the field of higher education. It came March 8, 2011 during a press conference to announce that Ohio State officials had caught football coach Jim Tressel lying to the NCAA and reported the violation. When asked if dismissing Tressel ever crossed Gee's mind, Gee said this: "I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me."
It isn't fair, but that statement will be Gee's professional epitaph.
If Gee hadn't stammered out that poor attempt at a joke, his equally poor attempt at comedy on Dec. 5 wouldn't be ending his tenure at Ohio State. But because sports draws so much more attention than the much more important day-to-day operation of a major state university, here we are. (I write this with full knowledge that I am trivializing my own job. That's fine. If the nation straightens its priorities tomorrow, I'll begin looking for plumbing apprenticeships. Fortunately, the flow of you-know-what will never cease.) We're a sensitive society made more sensitive by the advent of technology that allows us to share our outrage and multiply it exponentially within minutes. You can blame the people who write and publish the stories all you want, but you are the ones who retweet them and respond and echo the calls for firings. In fact, that has become our standard response. "Fire him," we say. It's almost as if we've forgotten that the subject is an actual human being about to get separated from his job. Though, given the heft of the golden parachutes awarded to the presidents, athletic directors and coaches who usually get targeted, we probably shouldn't flagellate ourselves too much.
AUDIO: Listen to Gordon Gee's controversial remarks in their entirety
Gee did his job very well -- with one glaring exception. A president's most important task is raising funds by either cajoling the state legislature to appropriate funds or by convincing private citizens to give their hard-earned (or inherited -- it all spends the same) cash to the school. Gee was a master at the latter. The same goofy style that made him a PR director's nightmare in a press conference made him relatable to his individual constituents and donors. But the fear now, based on the reactions to the stand-up act first unearthed last week by The Associated Press, is that he may have offended enough people to turn off those donors and those potential donors. In essence, he made himself poisonous.
The routine began, as the acts of so many awful comedians do, with a tap of the microphone. "Is this thing working?" Gee asked as he took the floor at the athletic council meeting. Then Gee began talking about the weather. As everybody whose mom ever sent them off to dinner at someone else's house would agree, he probably would have been better off staying on that topic.
Gee would move on to discuss Notre Dame, Catholics in general, the Longhorn Network, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and the schools of the SEC. Somehow, Gee managed to insult them all. It was a remarkable feat of foolishness.
But should it have cost an otherwise capable employee his job?
Gee should never have insulted Catholics. Let's get that out of the way first. Replace "Catholic" with "Jewish" or "Muslim," and Gee gets fired on the spot regardless of intent. Ripping major world religions -- and even minor ones -- is always a bad idea. But Gee's words -- while ill-advised -- come off on tape as little more than good-natured ribbing. At issue is whether the CEO of a large, publicly-funded institution has any sort of license to kid about these matters. I can certainly understand why many would say he does not. But Gee did not sound like a hateful person -- just a terrible comedian.
What makes this truly absurd is this doesn't get blown up if Gee doesn't go after two of sports' biggest sacred cows: Notre Dame and the SEC. Saying anything about Notre Dame football guarantees page views and television time thanks to a huge nationwide fan base and an even larger group that loves to complain that Notre Dame gets too much attention, while reading every blessed word written about the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, the SEC has arguably the most passionate, volatile set of fan bases in American sports. When we in sports media see a major public figure bashing Notre Dame AND the SEC at the same time, it's like hitting the Web traffic lottery. Gee never stood a chance.
(Heck, I'm one of the people Gee targeted. Thursday, I documented my struggles with SEC-induced illiteracy. But I'm a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant. I'm essentially the butt of every socially acceptable joke out there, so I don't get offended by much.)
Officially, Gee will resign on July 1. Officially, he didn't get the ax. But whether he was forced out or whether he simply decided he couldn't deal with the double-secret probation and babysitters monitoring his every speaking engagement proposed by the Board of Trustees in its "remediation plan," Gee's stand-up routine cost him his job. That's a shame.
He was a lousy comedian. That didn't make him a lousy university president.
Read More: Ohio State's Gordon Gee was a lousy comedian, not a lousy president - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
I am glad he is out. I think it was the right thing to do.
Maybe G Gordon Gee shouldn't have insulted Catholics after all.
Andy Staples>INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ohio State's Gordon Gee was a lousy comedian, not a lousy president
Ohio State's President Gordon Gee resigns
Andy Staples>INSIDE COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Gordon Gee, with his signature bow tie, infamously joked he was lucky Jim Tressel didn't fire him.
Terry Gilliam/AP
During an interview a few years ago, University of Florida president Bernie Machen said something intriguing. "You have to take care of the docs and the jocks," Machen said. I asked what he meant. He explained the old higher-ed trope. Essentially, issues within a university's medical school and/or athletic program can get a president in outsize trouble because of the front-porch visibility of each. So, in situations regarding docs or jocks, a president must remain on high alert.
No university president knows that better today than Ohio State's Gordon Gee, whose loose lips while discussing matters regarding the jocks have now cost him his job. Gee will resign, effective July 1. While inside Columbus he will be regarded as an excellent administrator and fundraiser, to the wider world Gee's tenure at Ohio State will be remembered for two instances involving athletics and a microphone. The second was the speech at the Dec. 5 athletic council meeting that ultimately led to Gee's departure. The first probably will wind up in Gee's New York Times obituary far ahead of some of his more relevant achievements in the field of higher education. It came March 8, 2011 during a press conference to announce that Ohio State officials had caught football coach Jim Tressel lying to the NCAA and reported the violation. When asked if dismissing Tressel ever crossed Gee's mind, Gee said this: "I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me."
It isn't fair, but that statement will be Gee's professional epitaph.
If Gee hadn't stammered out that poor attempt at a joke, his equally poor attempt at comedy on Dec. 5 wouldn't be ending his tenure at Ohio State. But because sports draws so much more attention than the much more important day-to-day operation of a major state university, here we are. (I write this with full knowledge that I am trivializing my own job. That's fine. If the nation straightens its priorities tomorrow, I'll begin looking for plumbing apprenticeships. Fortunately, the flow of you-know-what will never cease.) We're a sensitive society made more sensitive by the advent of technology that allows us to share our outrage and multiply it exponentially within minutes. You can blame the people who write and publish the stories all you want, but you are the ones who retweet them and respond and echo the calls for firings. In fact, that has become our standard response. "Fire him," we say. It's almost as if we've forgotten that the subject is an actual human being about to get separated from his job. Though, given the heft of the golden parachutes awarded to the presidents, athletic directors and coaches who usually get targeted, we probably shouldn't flagellate ourselves too much.
AUDIO: Listen to Gordon Gee's controversial remarks in their entirety
Gee did his job very well -- with one glaring exception. A president's most important task is raising funds by either cajoling the state legislature to appropriate funds or by convincing private citizens to give their hard-earned (or inherited -- it all spends the same) cash to the school. Gee was a master at the latter. The same goofy style that made him a PR director's nightmare in a press conference made him relatable to his individual constituents and donors. But the fear now, based on the reactions to the stand-up act first unearthed last week by The Associated Press, is that he may have offended enough people to turn off those donors and those potential donors. In essence, he made himself poisonous.
The routine began, as the acts of so many awful comedians do, with a tap of the microphone. "Is this thing working?" Gee asked as he took the floor at the athletic council meeting. Then Gee began talking about the weather. As everybody whose mom ever sent them off to dinner at someone else's house would agree, he probably would have been better off staying on that topic.
Gee would move on to discuss Notre Dame, Catholics in general, the Longhorn Network, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and the schools of the SEC. Somehow, Gee managed to insult them all. It was a remarkable feat of foolishness.
But should it have cost an otherwise capable employee his job?
Gee should never have insulted Catholics. Let's get that out of the way first. Replace "Catholic" with "Jewish" or "Muslim," and Gee gets fired on the spot regardless of intent. Ripping major world religions -- and even minor ones -- is always a bad idea. But Gee's words -- while ill-advised -- come off on tape as little more than good-natured ribbing. At issue is whether the CEO of a large, publicly-funded institution has any sort of license to kid about these matters. I can certainly understand why many would say he does not. But Gee did not sound like a hateful person -- just a terrible comedian.
What makes this truly absurd is this doesn't get blown up if Gee doesn't go after two of sports' biggest sacred cows: Notre Dame and the SEC. Saying anything about Notre Dame football guarantees page views and television time thanks to a huge nationwide fan base and an even larger group that loves to complain that Notre Dame gets too much attention, while reading every blessed word written about the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, the SEC has arguably the most passionate, volatile set of fan bases in American sports. When we in sports media see a major public figure bashing Notre Dame AND the SEC at the same time, it's like hitting the Web traffic lottery. Gee never stood a chance.
(Heck, I'm one of the people Gee targeted. Thursday, I documented my struggles with SEC-induced illiteracy. But I'm a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant. I'm essentially the butt of every socially acceptable joke out there, so I don't get offended by much.)
Officially, Gee will resign on July 1. Officially, he didn't get the ax. But whether he was forced out or whether he simply decided he couldn't deal with the double-secret probation and babysitters monitoring his every speaking engagement proposed by the Board of Trustees in its "remediation plan," Gee's stand-up routine cost him his job. That's a shame.
He was a lousy comedian. That didn't make him a lousy university president.
Read More: Ohio State's Gordon Gee was a lousy comedian, not a lousy president - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
Gordon Gee, with his signature bow tie, infamously joked he was lucky Jim Tressel didn't fire him.
Terry Gilliam/AP
During an interview a few years ago, University of Florida president Bernie Machen said something intriguing. "You have to take care of the docs and the jocks," Machen said. I asked what he meant. He explained the old higher-ed trope. Essentially, issues within a university's medical school and/or athletic program can get a president in outsize trouble because of the front-porch visibility of each. So, in situations regarding docs or jocks, a president must remain on high alert.
No university president knows that better today than Ohio State's Gordon Gee, whose loose lips while discussing matters regarding the jocks have now cost him his job. Gee will resign, effective July 1. While inside Columbus he will be regarded as an excellent administrator and fundraiser, to the wider world Gee's tenure at Ohio State will be remembered for two instances involving athletics and a microphone. The second was the speech at the Dec. 5 athletic council meeting that ultimately led to Gee's departure. The first probably will wind up in Gee's New York Times obituary far ahead of some of his more relevant achievements in the field of higher education. It came March 8, 2011 during a press conference to announce that Ohio State officials had caught football coach Jim Tressel lying to the NCAA and reported the violation. When asked if dismissing Tressel ever crossed Gee's mind, Gee said this: "I'm just hopeful the coach doesn't dismiss me."
It isn't fair, but that statement will be Gee's professional epitaph.
If Gee hadn't stammered out that poor attempt at a joke, his equally poor attempt at comedy on Dec. 5 wouldn't be ending his tenure at Ohio State. But because sports draws so much more attention than the much more important day-to-day operation of a major state university, here we are. (I write this with full knowledge that I am trivializing my own job. That's fine. If the nation straightens its priorities tomorrow, I'll begin looking for plumbing apprenticeships. Fortunately, the flow of you-know-what will never cease.) We're a sensitive society made more sensitive by the advent of technology that allows us to share our outrage and multiply it exponentially within minutes. You can blame the people who write and publish the stories all you want, but you are the ones who retweet them and respond and echo the calls for firings. In fact, that has become our standard response. "Fire him," we say. It's almost as if we've forgotten that the subject is an actual human being about to get separated from his job. Though, given the heft of the golden parachutes awarded to the presidents, athletic directors and coaches who usually get targeted, we probably shouldn't flagellate ourselves too much.
AUDIO: Listen to Gordon Gee's controversial remarks in their entirety
Gee did his job very well -- with one glaring exception. A president's most important task is raising funds by either cajoling the state legislature to appropriate funds or by convincing private citizens to give their hard-earned (or inherited -- it all spends the same) cash to the school. Gee was a master at the latter. The same goofy style that made him a PR director's nightmare in a press conference made him relatable to his individual constituents and donors. But the fear now, based on the reactions to the stand-up act first unearthed last week by The Associated Press, is that he may have offended enough people to turn off those donors and those potential donors. In essence, he made himself poisonous.
The routine began, as the acts of so many awful comedians do, with a tap of the microphone. "Is this thing working?" Gee asked as he took the floor at the athletic council meeting. Then Gee began talking about the weather. As everybody whose mom ever sent them off to dinner at someone else's house would agree, he probably would have been better off staying on that topic.
Gee would move on to discuss Notre Dame, Catholics in general, the Longhorn Network, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany, Arkansas football coach Bret Bielema, the University of Louisville, the University of Kentucky and the schools of the SEC. Somehow, Gee managed to insult them all. It was a remarkable feat of foolishness.
But should it have cost an otherwise capable employee his job?
Gee should never have insulted Catholics. Let's get that out of the way first. Replace "Catholic" with "Jewish" or "Muslim," and Gee gets fired on the spot regardless of intent. Ripping major world religions -- and even minor ones -- is always a bad idea. But Gee's words -- while ill-advised -- come off on tape as little more than good-natured ribbing. At issue is whether the CEO of a large, publicly-funded institution has any sort of license to kid about these matters. I can certainly understand why many would say he does not. But Gee did not sound like a hateful person -- just a terrible comedian.
What makes this truly absurd is this doesn't get blown up if Gee doesn't go after two of sports' biggest sacred cows: Notre Dame and the SEC. Saying anything about Notre Dame football guarantees page views and television time thanks to a huge nationwide fan base and an even larger group that loves to complain that Notre Dame gets too much attention, while reading every blessed word written about the Fighting Irish. Meanwhile, the SEC has arguably the most passionate, volatile set of fan bases in American sports. When we in sports media see a major public figure bashing Notre Dame AND the SEC at the same time, it's like hitting the Web traffic lottery. Gee never stood a chance.
(Heck, I'm one of the people Gee targeted. Thursday, I documented my struggles with SEC-induced illiteracy. But I'm a white, Anglo-Saxon protestant. I'm essentially the butt of every socially acceptable joke out there, so I don't get offended by much.)
Officially, Gee will resign on July 1. Officially, he didn't get the ax. But whether he was forced out or whether he simply decided he couldn't deal with the double-secret probation and babysitters monitoring his every speaking engagement proposed by the Board of Trustees in its "remediation plan," Gee's stand-up routine cost him his job. That's a shame.
He was a lousy comedian. That didn't make him a lousy university president.
Read More: Ohio State's Gordon Gee was a lousy comedian, not a lousy president - College Football - Andy Staples - SI.com
I am glad he is out. I think it was the right thing to do.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University has announced a $5.8 million retirement package for former president Gordon Gee (ghee) following his departure from the university after comments jabbing Roman Catholics and Southeastern Conference schools.
The five-year contract with Gee includes a one-time payment of $1.5 million and an annual salary of $410,000.
The deal was announced Monday. It gives Gee a $300,000 annual grant for research on 21st-century education policy and retains him as a full professor in the university’s College of Law.
The 69-year-old Gee retired July 1, a few days after The Associated Press first reported remarks he made to the university’s Athletic Council in December. Those comments included remarks critical of Notre Dame, the Big Ten and the University of Arkansas football coach.
Gee apologized for the remarks.
Ohio State reaches $5.8 million retirement package deal with ex-president who jabbed Catholics - The Washington Post
So his annual salary is still 25,000 less than the median public school president salary.
The five-year contract with Gee includes a one-time payment of $1.5 million and an annual salary of $410,000.
The deal was announced Monday. It gives Gee a $300,000 annual grant for research on 21st-century education policy and retains him as a full professor in the university’s College of Law.
The 69-year-old Gee retired July 1, a few days after The Associated Press first reported remarks he made to the university’s Athletic Council in December. Those comments included remarks critical of Notre Dame, the Big Ten and the University of Arkansas football coach.
Gee apologized for the remarks.
Ohio State reaches $5.8 million retirement package deal with ex-president who jabbed Catholics - The Washington Post
So his annual salary is still 25,000 less than the median public school president salary.