At one time associated with unrivaled success and a five-star football school, the name Jim Tressel will now likely become permanently attached to what turned out to be a dirty program. You could certainly argue that most of what Tressel and his players were caught doing is commonplace across NCAA Division 1 athletics, but with the help of Sports Illustrated Tressel and company have become the microcosm for rule-breaking.
While there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding who will be the next coach at The Ohio State University, we know one thing for certain: he won’t be rocking a sweater vest. For that reason, the Twins’ minor league affiliate Fort Myers Miracle has decided to host a “Rest the Vest” night to acknowledge Ohio State fans and the disappointment they have been dealing with.
The Miracle — the same team who brought us bullpen hazing via the Justin Bieber backpack — is encouraging fans to bring their sweater vests to Hammond Stadium on Monday, June 6 and place them in a retirement bin near the front gate. Those fans who participate will be given the opportunity to test drive a sports car from Classic Cars of Florida.
Promotions are always a good way for minor league clubs to draw a crowd, but this seems like a bit of a stretch to me. For one thing, they’re in Florida and closer to Gator country. I understand there are Ohio State fans all over the country, but I’m skeptical many of them would go to a minor league game for a chance to test drive a sports car. More importantly, sweater vests aren’t cheap. With the exception of an actual Ohio State sweater vest, why would you just give a nice piece of clothing away because Tressel happened to wear one? I certainly wouldn’t, but I guess you can’t blame the Miracle for trying.
Chest bump to Darren Rovell on Twitter for the story.
