With Ohio State’s unbeaten football team set to roll into town and John Groce’s basketball squad three days from tipping off the season, Monday’s spotlight shone on firings, buyouts and Tim Beckman’s foul mouth. Just another day on a campus where chaos has been a constant all fall:
u279c Two months and change after he fired his second football coach in four years — this time Beckman, his Stone Creek neighbor — Mike Thomas’ (right) pink slip arrived Monday. Ousting its athletic director without cause and with nearly four years left on his contract is a costly decision, UI officials acknowledged: There’s no way around paying Thomas’ buyout of $2.