The secondary violations, which include assistant football coach Mike Vrabel using smokeless tobacco on the sideline and head coach Urban Meyer wishing luck to a recruit during a non-contact period, were first reported by the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Athletic Director Gene Smith said it was a “typical year” of inadvertent mistakes.

Other violations include the women’s hockey program spending $4 too much for five framed jerseys and men’s basketball video coordinator Greg Paulus coaching during a game.

Most of the violations required education sessions or repayment of nominal sums of money.

The team announced today Richards has agreed to a two year contract through the 2013-2014 season.   Richards took over as interim coach after the firing for Scott Arniel in January.  Richards guided the Blue Jackets to 18-21-2 record, including a 16-14-1 mark over the final 31 games with wins in seven of its last 11 outings.

In a statement, Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson said, “At the end of last season, (Hockey Operations Advisor Craig Patrick)  and I reviewed all aspects of the year and took a close look at the job Todd did leading our club over the final 41 games. As we analyzed available coaching candidates and individuals who might become available, it became very clear to us that he is the right person to lead our team.”

“Our team continuously improved under Todd and he has earned the opportunity to build upon the work he started,” Howson added.

The Blue Jackets finished the season with the NHL’s worst record at 29-46-7.

It’s a Monday evening at Ohio State’s aquatics center. Bailey’s students line up in their Scuba gear along the side of the pool waiting to enter the water. They listen as Bailey outlines the dive plan.

“We’re going to start off with our giant stride,” Bailey says. “Descend and equalize; we’ll do our fin pivot for five minutes.”

Pretty easy so far but Bailey is about to make things more complicated. In one drill, the students will remove their masks, swim the length of the pool below the surface, put on another mask and clear it of water. Another drill simulates an out-of-air emergency.

These drills are repeated week after week. They prepare the new divers for potential underwater emergencies.

“Generally it’s not one problem that causes the demise of a diver,” Bailey says. “Usually you can handle one. It’s when you have a second one and that compounds to being a third one, that’s generally when you wind up with fatalities. And that’s the whole point of the training is to learn how to handle problems.”

Even though he’s been diving for 32 years Bailey practices his skills regularly. One of his favorite dive locations is a flooded quarry near Lancaster called Lakeview. He dives it year ‘round no matter what the water temperature.
Bailey has a remarkable 4,000 dives to his credit. He’s happiest, says a dive buddy, when he’s in the water.

“I go diving because I enjoy diving,” Bailey says. “And the same thing when I’m teaching; I figure if I’m not enjoying this dive there’s no way my students are enjoying this dive.”

More often than not, Bailey dives in quarries. But he’s also made some incredible forays. He’s been inside the wreck of the Andrea Doria which is called the Mount Everest of Diving. He helped excavate portions of the U-85, a German submarine sunk during World War II. He’s also an accomplished cave diver. And he’s dived in various parts of the world including New Zeeland, Bermuda, and Iceland. This summer he’s headed to Turkey.

Bailey is aware of diving’s inherent risks.

“I’ve gone beyond my fingers and toes of people that I know who have died,” Bailey says.

A friend of Bailey’s died while on medication diving the Andrea Doria.

“The two medications combined together with the pressure of the depth he was at increased the sedative effect and basically he fell asleep during his dive and drowned,” Bailey says. “It was a sad day when that happened.”

Bailey has had his own close calls. Once he was diving a cave and became stuck in an opening.

“My buckle opened up on my weight belt and got wedged between two rocks and the yoke on my regulator – as I was struggling to get free I popped that into an area of the roof so I … because I didn’t know where I was stuck I didn’t know what I needed to do. And all you can do then is wait and trust your buddies,” Bailey says.

That’s the benefit of having a dive buddy. The risks, though, don’t discourage him.

“I don’t really think about the risk,” Bailey says. “I guess I think about the reward. The reward for me is just being in the water and diving.”

Bailey’s enthusiasm for the sport is contagious.

“It’s awesome,” says Nick Martin, one of Bailey’s students. “I enjoy it quite a bit. It’s a good experience, for sure.”

Martin adds, “He’s a great teacher. He definitely knows what he’s doing and he definitely keeps it fun.”

A former student of Bailey’s, David Fleming, who’s now one of his diving partners, puts it this way.

“Marty is world-class,” Fleming says. “If you’re lucky enough to have Marty teach you Scuba diving, by the time you’re done, you will understand what it takes to be a Scuba diver and you will have the skill set to actually do it safely.”

“Yes, I get paid to dive, and that means it’s work, but it never feels like work,” Bailey says. “And when I dive, when anybody dives, you should be diving because you enjoy what you’re doing.”

As in life, there are no pads in rugby, and few moments to rest. Broken bones and black eyes are par for the course. That alone makes most people think we’re all a bit nuts to play this sport, and maybe we are.

In the best-case scenario we’re thought of as men’s men. And in more ways than one we may be that too.

Until a couple months ago I hadn’t played rugby for several years now. Part of why I stopped playing was that I didn’t feel the sort of camaraderie with my old team that I do now.

That was mostly because many of my old teammates, like so many teammates on so many different sports teams in my past, felt comfortable making the same tired old jokes about being gay or denigrating women.

And sadly, instead of telling them to stop, that I was offended, I quit.

But now, the rugby team I play for is part of the IGRAB league, the International Gay Rugby Association and Board.

And if I were gay that would seem obvious, however I’m a hetero man, playing in a gay rugby league because, even though it is defined in part by sexual orientation, it is somehow less filled with sexual politics than a straight league.

So what is it that in this day and age, where you would be hard pressed to find a sports league based on race, you still have sports leagues based on sexual orientation?

Most of my teammates have some experience playing on mostly straight sports teams. They said in that environment they usually felt they couldn’t be honest, and needed to test the waters before coming out. That coming out process is hard enough as it is, so to do it simply for a recreational sports team can be a tough decision to make.

Of course I can imagine what some of you are saying, well don’t ask and don’t tell.

But when you’re first getting to know someone, particularly in a social setting, like adult sport leagues, after talking about the weather, how long does it take before the conversation strays into the realm of work and more to the point, family.

And that’s the subtle, or maybe not so subtle, difference between the leagues. Joining a straight rec league generally means people will make the assumption that you’re straight.

With gay rec leagues there just doesn’t seem to be an assumption, whoever you love is all right.

So can we finally stop with sexual orientation being used as a political football, and instead just get back to playing some football?

The one conceit I’ll give is that for all of my talk about peace and love, it’s never alright to love the other team, especially not in rugby.

18-year-old Rebecca Dowling-Fitzpatrick is among the 20 soccer players chosen for the USA Deaf Women’s Soccer Team. Dowling- Fitzpatrick was the goalkeeper for Desales High School that won a state championship in soccer last year. She was born deaf, but has worn a hearing aid most of her life.

In the exhibition games at Crew Stadium and in the World Cup Games, she won’t be able to wear one. None of the athletes will.

“In the hearing game, you use your voice and other people can hear you, behind you, in front of you, at the side of you, wherever. But in a deaf game, you have to be able to look at each other, keep your head up, know where everyone is, and that can be a hurdle if someone doesn’t do that.”

The hearing teams will be able to talk to each other, which could be an advantage.
Dowling-Fitzpatrick has almost total hearing loss in both ears. She also says it will be a challenge for her to play on defense instead of as goalkeeper, her normal position.

While the exhibition games will follow the standard U.S. Soccer Federation rules, interpreters will be on hand to use the American Sign Language or ASL to help players, referees, and coaches communicate with each other.

Dowling-Fitzpatrick does know ASL, but she says some players on her team do not.
The coach of the women’s team, Yon Struble says the team’s opponent will face its own challenges.

“The biggest difference for Otterbein is going to be the officiating. There’s no whistles, so most players are used to hearing a whistle and they stop. So there’s a professional courtesy. Quite simply, if there’s a foul and somebody sees the flag raised on the official everybody stops and put their hands up.”

Coordinator of the Exhibition Matches, Vincent Sabino played for the men’s deaf team in 2009. He says organizing these games is his way of giving back.

“Here in our own country we’ve not had that many events where we’ve been able to play in our own country, so I got the idea that maybe we should have some exhibition games to allow the deaf community to see what talented athletes we have in our deaf community.”
The women’s team will play Otterbein University, while the men’s team competes against players with the Crew Soccer Academy.

Dowling-Fitzpatrick is looking forward to playing the game even though it will be much quieter for her and her teammates.

“In soccer, when you make a mistake you can get up and try it again. You’ve still got more time to do it.”

Her mother Carla Dowling- Fitzpatrick says playing with other deaf players will be like a dream for her daughter.

“She has always had the requirement of being the different one. She’s never ever had a level playing field. This for her is the first time she’s ever played with anybody who had something in common with her in terms of deafness.”

The USA Deaf National Teams compete in the 2012 Deaf World Cup in Ankara,Turkey in July.

The measure would require coaches or referees to remove a player from a game or practice if the athlete shows signs of or is suspected of having a concussion. School authorities and youth sports organizations would be banned from allowing people to coach unless they were trained to recognize concussions and head injuries.

The legislation contains some immunity provisions for coaches. But Beth Tsvetkoff of the Ohio Alliance of YMCAs says they are inadequate. She says record-keeping and paperwork requirements in the bill would increase liability.

The measure is pending before an Ohio House panel.

The two-time All American forward announced yesterday he’s forgoing his final two years at OSU to turn professional.

“It was a lot,” Sullinger says. “I had a talk with coach (Thad) Matta and he pretty much told me ‘do what’s best for me.’ I thought the best decision for me was to go to the NBA.”

Matta says he’s comfortable with the sophomore’s decision.

“You go through this, and the top-tier programs in the country all deal with the same thing. When it’s all said and done, we pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and say ‘OK, what do we need to do to win again next year.’”

Sullinger, a Columbus native who starred at Northland High School, is expected to be a first-round draft pick in the NBA Draft in June.

At this point in the college basketball tournament a few things ARE certain.

“I mean you’re going to see a lot of ridiculous basketball.”

Dunks, sticky defense, blocked shots, fast breaks, rainbow three pointers, Kentucky coach John Calipari says its all part of the college game. All part of the excitement. Remember the last time Ohio State played this deep into the tournament. The 2007 trip to the Final Four hinged on a last second shot.

Knowing a tightly contested game this week-end could be decided by a shot in the final seconds, all four head coaches want as much shooting practice as possible before Saturday night tip-offs. Louisville coach Rick Pitino.

“Just make sure you get used to the dome.”
Borgerding: What is that practice in the dome is so important?
Pitino: “You know, it is depth perception, no question about it. Its the wide open space. But, its something that you just need to get a little practice in, get used to, and then I think you’ll feel comfortable in it.”

Louisville plays Kentucky in its semi-final. Kansas coach Bill Self and Ohio State coach Thad Matta say they too will take most of the allotted court time for shooting practice so players can get used to the dome before the teams face each other in the late game on Saturday.

“I think its a factor, I think sometimes coaches can make too much out of it, like altitude or something like that. You know, but it is different and I do think you have to get used to it.” Self says.

“You know we’ll get to work out down there on Friday. Get a game day shoot-around on Saturday and y’know you hope for the best.” Matta says.

Matta says the game against Kansas will be the team’s first in a dome.

Those CBS highlights we heard earlier are music to the ears of basketball analyst and former Ohio State player, Clark Kellogg. He says the arena and surroundings are definitely a factor.

Kellogg says for a player, getting used to a dome is much like getting used to a playground court.

“Some courts have nets, some have bent rims, some have rough spots, you just have to deal with it.” Says Kellogg.

And, Kellogg adds with only seconds on the clock and the game on the line, most players want the ball. He says the players who block out distractions or thoughts about what can go wrong are usually the most sucessful.

“So, as a player, you want to have chances like that and typically the most confident and free-flowing players are the ones that come through.” Kellogg says.

Ohio State this week-end will try to win its second national championship in men’s basketball. But, it will have to beat Kansas and the winner of the Kentucky, Louisville game to bring home the trophy.

“The one thing I would like to do at some point is take a deep breath and take five minutes and look around, and enjoy. Be it on the plane ride down, look back at the plane and see the players back there and grasp completely where they’ve put us at this point in the season.”

Ohio State plays Kansas in a national semi-final on Saturday. Its OSU’s third trip to the Final Four since 1999.

Matta says he took nothing for granted this year even as the team shared the Big Ten title and won games over Duke and Florida.

“I’ll be honest with you, I realized the team could reach the Final Four when there was 1.6 seconds to go and we were up by seven and Syracuse had the ball out of bounds. Because you can’t take anything for granted in today’s day and age.”

Ohio State defeated Syracuse to win its 11th trip overall to the Final Four.