Friday column: They said (and didn't say) what?

Ah, this week in words:

What Jim Tressel said was inadequate.

What Notre Dame didn’t say was disappointing.

What Cappie Pondexter said was bizarre.

According to The Associated Press, Tressel, Ohio State football coach, on Tuesday “apologized several times during his first public speaking engagement since being suspended and fined for violating NCAA rules.”

Here’s what The AP quoted Tressel as saying to a group of Buckeye fans:

“I sincerely apologize for what we’ve been through. I apologize for the fact I wasn’t able to find the ones to partner with to handle our difficult and complex situation.

“I also apologize because I’m going to have some sanctions.”

Now, The AP may call that an apology, but it appears to me that Tressel — who violated NCAA rules by lying about the violations committed by his players — apologized for everything except for doing something wrong.

Notre Dame has made it clear that the university did something wrong, accepting responsibility for the Oct. 27 death of a student videographer killed when a hydraulic lift blew over as he filmed football practice.

But the school is hardly clear about who made the decision to send up Declan Sullivan on that windy day.

“I don’t (know) a specific person,” athletic director Jack Swarbrick told the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration. “It is done on the administration side of the football program.”

What does that mean? Or, rather, who does that mean? What about head football coach Brian Kelly?

No, Kelly said, he wasn’t in charge of the photographers.

Perhaps video coordinator Tim Collins is the man. After all, when Sullivan reported to practice the fatal day, Collins reportedly told him that practice would be outdoors “contrary to his judgment.”

But when asked by an OSHA investigator if he thought at the time that the lifts shouldn’t be used because of the conditions, Collins said, “No.” This despite the fact Collins balked at sending up a novice videographer — because of the conditions.

Notre Dame, it appears, is obfuscating.

Cappie Pondexter, on the other hand, is … well, you pick a word.

This is what the WNBA player tweeted on the devastation occurring in Japan:

“What if God was tired of the way they treated their own people in there own country! Idk guys he makes no mistakes.”

As if that weren’t enough, the former Rutgers star later added, “u just never knw! They did pearl harbor so u can’t expect anything less.”

After a discussion with her employer, the New York Liberty, Pondexter eventually tweeted, “I wanna apologize to anyone I may hurt or offended during this tragic time. I didn’t realize that my words could be interpreted in the manner which they were.”

In other words, the problem wasn’t so much what she said but how it was interpreted.

On the sincerity meter, her apology moves the needle about as much as Tressel’s. Which is to say, not at all.