Henry Mertens: May 2011

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

One-Year Reflection

During its first year in business, CrossFit Elysium faced many challenges. Co-owners Leon Chang and Paul Estrada share what they’ve learned.

An oft-repeated statement in the affiliate community is “focus on being a great trainer. If you provide superior training to your clients, the business results will come.”

Sometimes this is summarized as “the cream will rise to the top,” referring to the implication or hope that being a great coach will inevitably yield success. These statements have increased in usage as the number of affiliates and concerns about the overall level of training and the effect on the CrossFit name have grown. Unfortunately, they might delude an owner/operator into thinking that all he or she has to focus on is training to make the affiliate or business successful. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As Coach Greg Glassman said when asked how to evaluate the quality of an affiliate, “How clean is your bathroom?” So much that goes into running a successful business and an affiliate has little or nothing to do with training. Life skills, people management, organization, good old-fashioned hard work and, to put it plainly, luck all play a decisive role in determining the fate of one’s business. The goal with this article is to give the reader some general insights discovered in the year CrossFit Elysium has been open. After the trials and tribulations we’ve been through, we hope to offer advice that hopefully any affiliate owner—but especially smaller affiliates—will find useful.

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Saban donates $50,000 to build homes near Bryant Denny Stadium

A couple weeks ago, Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly pledged $5,000 for Alabama tornado relief. This week, Alabama coach saw Kelly's donation and raised it 10-fold.

Nick Saban and his wife, Terry, through their charity Nick's Kids, pledged $50,000 to Project Team Up, a group that is looking to build 30 new homes a few miles from Alabama's campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The goal is to have the homes built before the football season begins.

"We wanted to help someone in this community, our community, to be able to rebuild their homes," Saban said to a group while standing on the foundation of one of the new homes. "This is not just for this community. This is a concept that we hope gets adopted by many people in many groups that say they want to do something and are out there looking for something to do. This is something we do individually to help ourselves, and help those in need in our community.

"This is why we supported this project."

Saban did a special radio broadcast a couple weeks ago in an effort to raise funds for Alabama's Acts of Kindness Fund and other organizations to help with the relief following the tornadoes on April 27.

Scenes of the damage were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated and Dennis Dodd, senior writer for CBSSports.com, proposed a charity football game between Alabama and Auburn to raise money to help the storm's victims.

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wed, jan 26, 2011

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Russell Wilson’s current employer ‘disappointed’ in his football flirtations

Russell Wilson may or may not have been testing the waters in Auburn Tuesday, but the national headlines that followed the rumor only confirmed his status as the most coveted transfer student in America. Besides Auburn, the former N.C. State standout — a first-team All-ACC pick in 2008 and a second-teamer last year after leading the conference in passing yards and touchdowns — has also been specifically connected to Wisconsin and speculatively linked to just about every quarterback-poor program in the country for his final year of eligibility this fall. Frankly, most of them could use him.

With his height and less-than-elite arm strength, though, the NFL scouts are indifferent: If Wilson has a future as a pro athlete, it's always been in baseball, where he was drafted in the fourth round last year by the Colorado Rockies and is currently in the midst of his second season with their Class A affiliate, the Asheville (N.C.) Tourists. This is an obvious problem for his football prospects: Wilson's inability/unwillingness to commit to returning to N.C. State before the end of baseball season this September forced coach Tom O'Brien to cut him loose last month. But his apparent unwillingness to give up on his football career isn't sitting too well with his current employer, either:

[Rockies' senior director of player development Marc] Gustafson also said it would be difficult for Wilson, who is struggling offensively with the Tourists, to return to baseball if he played football this fall.

"It would be hard for him to come back to baseball because he would miss a lot of games and have had so much time away," Gustafson said.
[…]
"It's an interesting scenario," Gustafson said. "He's a premium athlete who doesn't know what he wants to do. Until we know something different, we consider him to be a baseball player only.

"Would we be disappointed if he chose to play football? Yes, we would."

I don't know if that necessarily amounts to a threat, but I'm not sure a guy currently hitting a team-low .216 with more than twice as many strikeouts (53) as hits (25) in 116 at-bats is in position to test his boundaries. (By contrast, Wilson's Asheville teammate, former Clemson quarterback Kyle Parker, is hitting .303 and has accounted for nearly twice as many total bases.) Wilson would also have to return "a significant portion" of the $250,000 signing bonus he received last year if he leaves the team before the end of the regular season on Labor Day, Sept. 5, the same weekend most of the country kicks off the regular season for college football.

So: By pursuing another year of football, Wilson could be risking hits to both his bank account and the goodwill of an organization that's yet to see much return on its investment to be a four-month stopgap at an unfamiliar school, if he's able to wrestle the starting job away from a more tenured member of the team after arriving on short notice. Oh, while also enrolling in graduate school to remain eligible. If he does, at least no one will even question his commitment to the game again.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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An NBA Mock Draft Where Derrick Williams Doesn?t Go 2nd

Some weeks, we're too swamped to provide an NBA mock draft. So Steve Kyler at Hoops World will have one for us.

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tues, jan 18, 2011

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Forging Elite Leadership

After surviving SEALFIT’s Kokoro Camp, Greg Amundson outlines a leadership model based on the physical modalities of CrossFit training.

“I’m leaving on a jet plane. Don’t know … .”

Lying on our backs, covered in wet sand, our heads pointing towards the ocean in the middle of the night, a large wave crashed over Tommy Hackenbruck and me, pulling us deeper into the frigid Pacific waters. As soon as we resurfaced, Tommy and I re-locked arms and continued in harmony, “Don’t know when I’ll be back again!”

I was freezing cold, hungry, tired, chafed from sand drills and incredibly sore, and I faced the dark truth that I had over 30 more hours of torment ahead of me. However, as Tommy and I sang our favorite John Denver song at the top of our lungs, there was nowhere I would have rather been than at Kokoro Camp No. 12.

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tues, jan 4, 2011

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Every Man Dies, but Not Every Man Really Deadlifts

Mark Bell takes a closer look at the deadlift to help you blow through your sticking points.

Deadlifts are considered by many to the ultimate test of brute strength. The deadlift is simple, right? Just bend down and pick the damn thing up.

If only it were that easy.

In powerlifting, a lot of hours are spent refining form and developing efficiency. Powerlifting, unfortunately, has become a game of inches (and I’m not talking “Internet inches, guys”). How you set up will determine how you finish—or if you have a good chance to finish—the lift. Improving the deadlift is very difficult. Even the big pullers have a hard time.

There are many reasons for stalled deadlifts. Let’s examine how to troubleshoot your sticking points.

Mark Bell will be presenting a CrossFit Powerlifting Seminar May 28-29 at CrossFit Brea in California. For more info, visit the CrossFit.com Specialty Courses page.

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The next Heisman Trophy will be brought to you by Aflac

America's most infamous, supplemental insurance-pushing waterfowl has a new voice this season, and now a new, hallowed platform from which to shout it:

ATLANTA (AP)?The insurance firm Aflac is sponsoring the Heisman Trophy next season.

The company said Friday it will offer its key accounts and brokerage partners access to Heisman-themed events. The vice president of sponsorships and emerging markets says the company is working with major universities to line up the events.

Vice president Danny Fleishman says the company is honored to be partnered with the Heisman and he is excited about the future of the sponsorship. Fleishman says the Heisman Trophy Trust and Aflac have a mutual level of respect.

A mutual level of respect, indeed: One evokes a 76-year-old legacy of mahogany-paneled excellence, the other evokes a spokesduck that has been cruelly bred to communicate a single word and introduce trivia questions. (As well as, more recently, with inappropriate jokes about the Japanese tsunami.) A match made in corporate heaven.

The official press release from Aflac sheds precious little light on the details of the multi-year arrangement, but based on the Heisman's previous arrangements with the likes of Suzuki and Nissan, we will be mercifully spared the indignity of "the Heisman Trophy presented by Aflac" after a relentless, season-long advertising campaign. (Not that Aflac lacks exposure during college football broadcasts, anyway. If anything, I suspect you might want to bone up on your Heisman history for this year's trivia breaks.) And let's face it, as indignities go, the trophy has seen worse. As long as the duck doesn't go all Billy Sims during the ceremony, it will survive.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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The next Heisman Trophy will be brought to you by Aflac

America's most infamous, supplemental insurance-pushing waterfowl has a new voice this season, and now a new, hallowed platform from which to shout it:

ATLANTA (AP)?The insurance firm Aflac is sponsoring the Heisman Trophy next season.

The company said Friday it will offer its key accounts and brokerage partners access to Heisman-themed events. The vice president of sponsorships and emerging markets says the company is working with major universities to line up the events.

Vice president Danny Fleishman says the company is honored to be partnered with the Heisman and he is excited about the future of the sponsorship. Fleishman says the Heisman Trophy Trust and Aflac have a mutual level of respect.

- - -
Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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CrossFit Radio Episode 173

On Episode 173 of CrossFit Radio, host Justin Judkins interviewed regional qualifier Andrew Williams; Darwin Hunt, creator of the CrossFit Charity Calendar; and Cliff Lewis, Reebok CrossFit Games Open masters champion. This episode was webcast live at 6 p.m. PDT on Wednesday, May 25, 2011.

5:50 Andrew Williams knows the elation of having hard work rewarded after he secured a spot to compete in the Northern California Regional. Unfortunately, he also knows the bitter disappointment of being sidelined after being hit by a car while biking. Andrew came on the show to give his thoughts on becoming a spectator after working so hard to achieve his goal of qualifying for the regional.

13:40 Darwin Hunt is currently traveling around the country visiting different affiliates and taking pictures of well-known CrossFitters. He isn’t a member of the paparazzi but rather the creator of a calendar aimed at capturing the lighter side of the CrossFit community. The best part about the project is that all profits will go to deserving charities. Darwin came on the show to talk about how the idea was conceived and put into motion. He spoke about the charities that will benefit and how and when CrossFitters will be able to get their hands on their own calendar.

31:20 Cliff Lewis is the owner of CrossFit Heath in Heath, Texas, but he’s better known for being the champion of the Reebok CrossFit Games Open masters division (45-49). Cliff came on the show to give his thoughts on the Open and his performance. He spoke candidly about entering the Games with a target on his back and described his strengths and weaknesses, as well as how he found CrossFit. According to Cliff, his life has transformed since starting the program a year and a half ago. Finally, the affiliate owner explained what his training and diet will look like with the Games looming on the horizon.

51min 52sec

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Monday, May 30, 2011

Just a reminder about the real collateral damage of Reggie Bush's perk-feast at USC: your last...

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Miami Dolphins' Brandon Marshall in hospital after being stabbed

? Wide receiver was stabbed in the stomach
? Wife arrested for aggravated battery

The Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall is expected to make a full recovery after he was stabbed and his wife arrested for assault.

ESPN reported that Marshall had been stabbed in the stomach by a woman and taken to Broward General Hospital where he was treated in an intensive care unit. According to Broward County Sheriff's Office documents, his wife Michi Nogami Marshall was arrested on charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The documents classified the incident as domestic violence.

"This is a very difficult time for Brandon and family. Thankfully, he will make a full recovery," Marshall's agents, Kennard McGuire and Harvey Steinberg, said in a statement. "We simply ask that his privacy is respected."

Marshall's friend, the Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Mike Sims-Walker said on Twitter: "Brandon will be ok and is in good spirits."

Although a talented player, Marshall's career has often been controversial. While with the Denver Broncos he was suspended by the league before the start of the 2008 campaign for off-field issues and he was banned by the Broncos for conduct detrimental to the team during the 2009 training camp.

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The WAC could fill the Sunday NFL programming void

With the NFL lockout extended until at least late June or early July, speculation continues about what programming might fill a television void should the lockout extend into the season.

The popular answer has been the Pac-12, which already has struck a lucrative deal with ESPN and FOX as broadcasting partners. But what about one of ESPN's old standbys filling he void? What about the WAC?

That's what The Honolulu Star-Advertiser is asking as ESPN looks for programming options. After all, there's probably someone, somewhere who would rather watch Idaho and Louisiana Tech instead of the Patriots and the Jets, right? Especially if there are no reruns of the World Series of Poker available.

While ESPN and the WAC are television partners, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said there have been no talks regarding his conference and television availability on Sunday evenings, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't listen.

"I think we would always consider it (a Sunday date)," Benson told the paper. "We've played some Sunday games in the past, at ESPN's request."

The WAC and Conference USA played Sunday games on ESPN in November of 2008 and '09 and the WAC also played some Sunday games on Labor Day weekend.

Sunday college football isn't anything new. SMU and Texas A&M will play Sunday, Sept. 4, on FOX Sports and West Virginia and Marshall also play that day.

However, ESPN spokesman Michael Humes wasn't sure the WAC would be the channel's top target should the lockout continue through the NFL season.

"We are optimistic that everything will get resolved," Hunes told the paper. "We are evaluating a number of alternate programming scenarios to minimize the impact of potential lost games."

Graham Watson is a regular contributor to Dr. Saturday. Follow her on Twitter: @Yahoo_Graham

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Tom Strobel's Visit Reaction

Ohio DE Tom Strobel (6'5", 245 lbs) took a trip up to Ann Arbor this past weekend. Strobel has had his interest in MIchigan steadily rise the more and more visits he's taken. Here's a look at his film and what he had to say about the most recent trip.

TOM: Who came up to Ann Arbor with you this time, and what did you get to see?

STROBEL: I've been up there before for the spring game, but I went with both my parents this time. We got a small tour of campus and facilities. We talked to all the coaches.

TOM: I'm assuming that this visit gave you a better chance to actually get to know the coaches?

STROBEL: For sure, we got to sit down and talk with them. They talked about football and family mostly. We didn't really go over scheme or film. We really just talked about football here and there, it was honestly more about the person they want to come to Michigan. It was all about character. They said they want to get someone that fits as soon as possible. I told them I wasn't supposed to make a decision any time soon. I'm not sure exactly when I'll decide, sometime in the near future.

TOM: Since your parents were there what was the overall impression of the coaches for both you and your parents?

STROBEL: The coaches are very kind, respectful, and very personal too. They didn't really talk about football it was more about my mom and dad. They asked me about how I feel about academics, which I appreciated. It's nice not to talk football all the time. They just explained to us that they want to have that Michigan man.

TOM: Have you narrowed your list down yet, or started to?

STROBEL: I'm starting to narrow schools down now. Michigan's in the top with schools like Ohio State, Stanford, and Notre Dame. Academics are big for me.

TOM: Have you been out to see all of those schools yet?

STROBEL: The only places I haven't been are Stanford and Nebraska. I'm interested in Nebraska also.

TOM: What's the criteria to evaluate these schools? How will you narrow it down?

STROBEL: I look for the pros and cons in each school. I'll look at the facilities and the strength and conditioning coaches. I'll be spending most of my time with them so that's important. I want to get in depth with the core of the program, rather than all the bells and whistles. I want to see the food too, I want to see what kind of food I'll be eating. I also want to see what type of coaches they are at each school.

TOM: I have to ask, since you're from Ohio did you grow up an Ohio State fan?

STROBEL: I think everyone in Ohio is an Ohio State fan. I grew up a little Buckeye, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will affect my decision. I'm looking at this without the fan side in it.

TOM: Did you know anything about Michigan before your visits, other than they're the Buckeyes' rival?

STROBEL: I just knew that it was Michigan. To be honest I didn't expect much going there, but then when I got there it was just an eye opener. These visits are what got them in the top group.

TOM: What about any of the coaches? I know they're new to Michigan, but did you know anything about them?

STROBEL: I knew that Mattison had been at Baltimore, but it shows that he's going to be there and he's not going anywhere if he came from the pros. I don't want to be switching coaches constantly, so it makes a difference for a coach to be there the whole time.

TOM: How do you think your recruitment is going to play out? Do you have a timeline yet?

STROBEL: I'm not sure how it's going to pan out yet. I want to get out to Stanford and some other places. I'd like to get my official visits in, but we'll see.

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Dwayne Polee transfers, leaving St. John’s with just one returner

Already shaping up to be perhaps the least experienced Division I team in the nation next season, St. John's somehow became even greener on Sunday.

Starting forward Dwayne Polee Jr., one of just two returning scholarship players from last season's NCAA tournament team, instead decided to transfer to a school closer to his Los Angeles home. The sophomore-to-be's departure means St. John's will have no returning starters, and reserve point guard Malik Stith will be the only scholarship player to return to provide guidance to the Johnnies' nine highly touted newcomers.

"I really enjoyed my experience at St. John's and I'm going to miss the staff and New York," Polee said in a statement released by the school. "Right now I feel it is best to be close to my family and help us get through a health issue."

Polee, a former Los Angeles player of the year, started 27 games for senior-laden St. John's last season and averaged 4.4 points and 2.5 rebounds, showcasing a knack for defending on the perimeter and finishing on the fast break. Among the schools that will reportedly show interest in the springy 6-foot-7 forward are San Diego State, Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount.

Of course, the good news for St. John's is that its nine newcomers are certainly well regarded.

Coach Steve Lavin inked the No. 3 recruiting class in the nation, a group highlighted by junior college transfer God's Gift Achiuwa and six freshmen ranked in Rivals.com's top 75 in the Class of 2011. There's also talk the Johnnies may land former Arizona point guard MoMo Jones, a New York native who could provide leadership next season if the NCAA grants a hardship waiver to allow him to play right away.

For St. John's to even be competitive in the Big East, it would have been imperative for those newcomers to arrive ready to make an impact on the collegiate level even if Polee had returned for his sophomore season. Now that he's gone, the challenge just becomes that much more daunting.

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Pose Method: Origins and Innovation

Pose Method creator Dr. Nicholas Romanov sits down with Sevan Matossian to discuss how he made his influential discovery.

When he was deciding upon his career, Romanov says he was driven toward science.

“Science is really what I want to do,” he says, explaining how his research in exercise physiology and sport biomechanics came together when he started teaching.

However, Romanov says he became dissatisfied with teaching when he found that textbooks couldn’t prepare coaches adequately. To figure out a different way of teaching, he looked at martial arts and dance and tried to figure out how their coaches were successful.

“An answer came in one single day,” Romanov says.

His epiphany was the Pose Method. Dr. Romanov found that any movement from any sport could be broken down into different positions or poses. For the first time, this allowed a frame-by-frame method of analysis and the identification of key poses to create the backbone for the movement.

“Any movement is just a series of poses,” Romanov says.

12min 02sec

Additional video: A Violent Agreement: Part 1, by Greg Glassman, Louie Simmons and Dr. Nicholas Romanov, originally aired March 22, 2010.

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HOLGO THE BARBARIAN WOULD LIKE TO HIT ON 22

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Higher calling compelled Mark Richt to sell his second home

Georgia coach Mark Richt is not selling his lake home because he thinks he's going to be fired.

But he knew we'd all think that.

That's why he waited until the offseason to place his Hart County lake home, valued at nearly $2 million, on the market. But because Richt is on the proverbial coaching hotseat, the real estate move caused mass speculation about why he would sell.

"I was actually compelled to do this much earlier," Richt told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I made the decision to do it a while ago but I didn't want to do it during the season or during recruiting because I knew it would be blown out of proportion."

And Richt would be the first to tell you that he didn't do it for the money, he did it for a higher power.

In an interview with Chip Towers, the AJC's Georgia beat writer, Richt states that he read a book called "The Hole in Our Gospel," by Richard Stearns, and it compelled him to downsize. The lake home is actually Richt's second home.

"I'd challenge anybody to read this book and not be affected by it, Richt said. "We just live in such wealth here in America. And I'm talking about everybody. Anybody who's making 30 grand a year is extremely wealthy compared to rest of the people in the world. These kids, these families will walk two or three miles, half a day or more, to get water that's really not healthy. They're drinking stuff that's not safe for them. Then children die of AIDS, they die of malaria and they die of dehydration. Kids end up dying or the parents die and they've got nothing.

"This book just talks about how much of that is going on around the world and, if it was sitting right outside our door, what would we do about it? It's a very compelling book. Compelling enough for me to say, 'you know what, I don't want to pour money into a home like that when I can use it for better things, for eternal things.' It was just very alarming to find out what's going on out there and we need to do something about it."

Stearns is the president of World Vision U.S., and Richt believes in the book and the World Vision cause so much that he and his family are going to Honduras later this summer to help build water wells.

This story is no doubt a cautionary tale about jumping the gun and making assumptions. In this day and age when college coaching salaries are going through the roof, it's actually pretty admirable of Richt, who makes $3 million a year, to take into consideration that not everyone has been as lucky.

Graham Watson is a regular contributor to Dr. Saturday. Follow her on Twitter @Yahoo_Graham

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EDSBS Embedded Poster Oscar Whiskey Reports: Iraq is hot and boring

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?If I Just Would Have Done CrossFit?

Professional athlete John Stone, owner of CrossFit OWS, wishes he had found CrossFit earlier in his sports career. After playing college football for Wake Forest, he spent five seasons in the NFL, including three years with the Oakland Raiders. He is now a CrossFitter and gym owner in New Jersey.

“I’ve obviously been involved in fitness all my life,” Stone says. But he says CrossFit would have helped him become even more successful.

“If I would have had this when I was playing, I think I would have been a lot more effective athlete, especially efficiency-wise,” he says.

CrossFit has actually increased Stone’s fitness, especially with the Olympic lifts, and the program provides him an outlet to compete again. Nutrition also adds another new dimension to his training.

“The better I eat, the better I perform,” he says.

Stone has been CrossFitting for a year and half but still found himself out of breath after Open workout 11.2. Says Stone: “I should be used to this by now, right? Great thing about CrossFit—your body never adapts.”

6min 46sec

Additional reading: The Marlins Go CrossFit by Paul Fournier, published March 1, 2010.

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Beyond the CrossFit Games: Part 2

Jesse French suffers a severe hand injury but still finds a way to stay competitive in the CrossFit Games Open.

He has an uncharacteristic way of modifying workouts: he tapes one hand to the skipping rope during Annie. He tapes his left hand to the ring when he does muscle-ups. He lifts weights wearing a powerlifting glove with a piece of doweling slapped on the end of it.

You might, too, if you were missing four fingers.

Twenty-three-year-old Jesse French may be short four fingers, but that didn’t stop him from competing in the Reebok CrossFit Games Open. And not only did he compete, but he also finished in the top 60 and earned a spot at regionals.

Not bad considering a year ago at this time French couldn’t work out. He couldn’t even cut his own apple or tie his own shoes.

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sun, jan 9, 2011

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Sunday, May 29, 2011

Forget the facts: Can Jim Tressel convince the NCAA it can still trust Jim Tressel?

I'm a fake doctor, not a lawyer, and odds are most readers haven't passed the bar exam, either. Maybe a few of you have served on a jury. But if you've been keeping even one eye on the cover-up scandal slowly engulfing Ohio State coach Jim Tressel over the last two-and-a-months, you don't need a J.D. to put together a straightforward case based on the evidence: No one disputes that Tressel learned about possible NCAA violations involving multiple players from an e-mail tipster last spring, failed to notify anyone in the school's administration or compliance department, signed a form in September affirming he had no knowledge of possible violations, allowed the potentially ineligible players to play the entire 2010 regular season, lobbied to keep them on the field for the Sugar Bowl after news of the violations broke last December and still concealed his prior knowledge until the e-mails were discovered on the coach's computer earlier this year. That's Ohio State's version of events (not to mention the NCAA's), and even OSU didn't see any choice but to levy a fine and suspension against its head coach in response.

Case closed? Maybe. If you're the kind of person who makes judgments solely based on, like, evidence, then yeah. But facts and stuff aren't the only factors the NCAA is interested in, according to Tressel's new attorney, former NCAA Committee on Infractions chair turned NCAA consultant-for-hire Gene Marsh, who's seen these kinds of cases from every angle and told the Columbus Dispatch that the school's all-important appearance in front of the committee on Aug. 12 will more likely come down to Tressel convincing members that his heart was in the right place:

"The exchanges that matter most when it comes to coaches who are the subject of a serious inquiry like this are the ones that come directly between the committee and the coach, not the exchanges from the committee to the coach's lawyer," Marsh said.
[…]
Marsh said the real value in such hearings is when committee members look into a coach's eyes when he answers questions that cut to the heart. Tressel, he added, can be expected to expand on his admission that he did not forward information, as is required by NCAA rules, about some of his players possibly receiving improper benefits from a tattoo-parlor owner.

"'What were you thinking? What motivated you to do this?'" Marsh said. "If that didn't matter, you wouldn't have a hearing.�... The body language, and how sincere the individual is, it matters a great deal. It is the show."

If there has ever been a show written specifically for Jim "The Senator" Tressel, it's one that calls on him to look middle-aged bureaucrat types in the eye and convince them that they can still trust Jim Tressel. As Marsh continues, "what really matters to committee members is to try to get an understanding for the coach, their ethic, their lifelong work, their reputation, and whether their institution believes in them."

Clearly, the institution still believes in him —�or, at the very least, is committed to demonstrating to the rest of the world that it still believes in him. If loyalty and remorse qualify as a standard of proof where the NCAA is concerned, the Buckeyes have nothing to worry about.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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