Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith’s days are numbered. He’s retiring and giving way to new AD Ross Bjork, but he’s firing shots at a familiar enemy on his way out the door.
When asked whether the current Michigan football win streak over Ohio State should have an asterisk next to it, Smith pulled no punches and was as honest as the sign-stealing saga appears to be deep up in Ann Arbor.
“Of course I do,” said Smith on WOSU’s All Sides with Anna Staver on Thursday this past week.
“Yeah, of course I do,” Smith continued. “The rules are in place to protect the integrity of the game and try your best to create a level playing field, and when those rules are violated, then it affects those principles. And so, we have to keep that in perspective.”
Say what you want, but if the depth of Michigan’s sign-stealing is has been portrayed, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone outside of Ann Arbor that would disagree. Of course they are all allegations still being investigated by the NCAA. But the football program accepted a three-game suspension for head coach Jim Harbaugh as a result of evidence the Big Ten had. So, there’s something there, right?
Either way you slice it, Smith’s sentiment is sure to resonate with almost every Ohio State fan and taste like sour grapes to every Michigan fan still basking in the glow of last season’s national title and three-game winning streak over the Buckeyes.
Gene Smith's last act as OSU AD should be approving the cost of asterisk cards to be passed out to fans at The Game in November. https://t.co/H4ZVZBeHIk via @DispatchAlerts
— Rob Oller (@rollerCD) May 10, 2024
As with most things, it depends on your perspective and rooting interests, at least until the NCAA gets cranking and levies whatever penalties are forthcoming.
