Lacrosse ugliness at U.Va.

I think it's fair to assume that not all women are assaulted by fellow students. College campuses are wide open and attract predators for that reason.

 

I get what you are saying but it needs to be carried over to all students and extra-curricular activities. If a kid can't play sports because of an arrest another kid shouldn't be able to be in the band or a fraternity or anything else.

 

You could be the only person who thinks screening court records is not doable.

According to the Washington Post:

[U-Va. President John T. Casteen III] said the school would begin to screen students against public records before each semester.

If UVA seems to think it can handle it, what's the problem?

I don't understand... It's like you first cried McCarthyism... then when the police blotter was pointed out, you went to the 'inefficiency' argument. Make your argument, then back it up with something... anything.

 

Just curious how many of those who think Huguley's attorney should be offering him up on a platter approve of Texas' custom of assigning narcoleptic PDs to capital cases.

 

This is beside the point.

Once again, if you want to pretend there's some sort of nobility in this (as Jennings did), or if you think justifying murder (and, please, let's call this exactly what it is) is OK, you can do that. But some are going to disagree -- or at least ask you not be too enthusiastic about it.

 

It's his job. We have this odd notion in this country that the accused is entitled to legal representation.

 

I really hope Dom Starsia doesn't take the fall for this. He's one of the classiest people I've ever dealt with. Furthermore, he cleaned up the program by instituting some discipline. Apparently, this didn't work perfectly. One of the players committed an atrocious act for which he will be justifiably punished. But I really hope a common-sense approach to the big picture wins out here.

The fact is that this tragedy can happen anywhere. In fact, it did. Three years ago, something awful happened at Virginia Tech. The killer in that case had issues. But the sad fact is that in some cases, schools are tied in what they can and can't do with any knowledge they may have.
If you're going to claim that UVa should have known about this creep's previous criminal record in a jurisdiction 70 miles away, then you believe every school should have had such a system in place. I would venture a guess that very few of them have that system.

 

Hadn't read the most recent Post story about the attack on the teammate.
Not knowing all the specs of the situation, I can't say for sure what sort of punishment that merited.
The general point is that hindsight is perfect.

 

Anyone who knows Dom Starsia, or has dealt with him, doesn't want to see him lose his job over this. But the attack on the sleeping teammate is a good example of why the "We'll handle this internally" stuff is a dangerous, macho game to play for coaches. The alcohol stuff in another city, Virginia can rightfully say they knew nothing about this kid's rage issues. But punching another teammate in the head while he's sleeping? He knew about that and decided it was a "boys will be boys" thing. If Virginia is looking for a scapegoat, and lord knows they eventually will look for one, Starsia unfortunately gave them an opening right there. I still can't find it in me to blame him for anything Huguley did. That's ultimately only on the player. But damn. What a mess.

After the stuff with his father, this has to be probably the most miserable week of his life.

 

Why though? Are those kids who are simply regular members of the student body getting free tuition, room and board to serve as public representatives of the university, both in the community and across the country?

What's wrong with holding those athletes to a higher standard? I say this as a former athlete. No one is saying you can't drink. But don't drink to the point that you get arrested. And if you do get arrested, it's no longer a "coach's decision" as to how much you're punished. (And it's also not up to him to get you some help if you need it.) It's taken out of their hands, and the Dean of Discipline gets to decide the next step. It's absolutely different that if T.J. or Lance or Dax from the Sigma Nu house threatens a cop while wasted. Because he's not attending school for free, getting interviewed by newspapers and television, wearing orange and black and serving as a public advocate for the University of Virginia.

Why are we afraid to hold these athletes to higher discipline standards when it's already a given they're not being held to the same academic standards during admission as the rest of the student body?

No one is saying throw them out of school or take away their scholarships and ruin their lives because they got too drunk and took a swing at a sleeping teammate who tried to hook up with his girlfriend. (Although if UVA did know about the alcohol incident, and the fight, that should have been enough to do SOMETHING to either defuse the ticking time bomb, or get him as far away from everyone as soon as possible.) But don't leave it up to the coach to decide what to do about it. He's not qualified, and 9 times out of 10, he's not making that decision without factoring in his own selfish interests.