by Travis Normand

I remember watching the fall-out after the news on Tiger Woods broke.  I remember thinking, “I know stuff like this has happened before, but if Tiger has skeletons in his closet then everyone does, right?”  After all, Tiger Woods was untouchable.  He was a Saint, or so everyone thought.

Next came Jim Tressel and his Ohio State program.  I really thought that Tressel was one of the guys that “did things the right way.”  I know, that is a huge cliché but he just seemed like a very straight-shooter.  I mean, if Tressel hadn’t been a football coach, I would have guessed he was a CPA.  Tressel gave the impression that everything was by the book when clearly it was not.

At the time it was almost completely unbelievable that both Tiger Woods and Jim Tressel had been busted for their particular sins.

What next?  Are you going to tell me that Penn State has been hiding a secret?  Yeah, right.

Speaking of Penn State, I remember the morning I saw the headline about Jerry Sandusky. The entire Penn State incident was truly unreal.  Looking back now, I remember thinking that everything happened extremely fast — the news on Sandusky broke, Joe Paterno was fired, Joe Paterno passes away, and the Freeh Report is released.  Every moment of the Penn State scandal was bizarre to the point that, at times, I thought that it had to be fake.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t.

Speaking of fake, I am sure you heard about Manti Te’o, right?  From what anyone can tell, Te’o didn’t actually do anything wrong.  He was simply duped by a guy with some serious issues that will hopefully get resolved.  Regardless, it was a huge “bomb” that got dropped on everyone, including Te’o himself.

Finally, this past week, it was announced that University of Texas offensive coach Major Applewhite engaged in an inappropriate, yet consensual, relationship with a student.  Major Applewhite is nowhere near the level of Tiger Woods, Jim Tressel, or Joe Paterno.  Further, Applewhite’s “mistake” is nowhere near as devastating as those made by Woods, Tressel, Sandusky, etc.  However, as I read the current news on Applewhite, I can only think . . . “I guess I was right, and if Tiger has skeletons, everyone does.”

*Note 1:  The University of Texas Board of Regents is having a special called telephone meeting on February 3.  After reviewing their agenda, I am starting to think we may not have heard the end of the Applewhite saga.  I hope, for his sake, that we have but only time will tell.

*Note 2:  After everything we have seen over the past couple of years, I would have to say that nothing is out of the realm of possibility.  I mean, why in the world is this news on Applewhite just now coming forward?  The incident happened in 2009, so there has to be a reason, right?  I guess the reason could be anything at this point, but hopefully it is nothing more than something extremely simple.    On the other hand, University of Texas women’s track coach Bev Kearney recently resigned under fire for an affair she had in 2002, so the Applewhite situation is not completely unfamiliar territory for the Longhorns.