In his commentary, “Miami, FIU have to take stand,” Richmond Times-Dispatch sports columnist Paul Woody writes what some of us are thinking about Saturday’s mind-boggling brawl in the Orange Bowl.
“...Miami coach Larry Coker has lost control of his players and his program. He should be fired immediately. Very little can be said for the control FIU coach Don Strock has over his players. All that should save his job is that there is no record of player misbehavior trailing him as there is Coker.
“Strock should be placed on probation. Any future indication that he has lost control of his team should lead to his dismissal.
“And both programs should be shut down for the rest of the season.”
Well, I certainly agree with Woody on this one. Suspending players for one game is not enough, not hardly.
Those two universities should pay a more serious price for allowing an atmosphere to exist where a gang-style street fight could happen. If the schools don’t fire/suspend their head coaches, then their conferences should step in. If their conferences don’t say neither school can go to a bowl game, or be on television for a couple of years, etc., then the NCAA should step in.
If the NCAA allows those outlaw programs to discipline themselves so lightly, so cynically -- without cracking down along the lines of what Woody calls for -- it will once again have shown all the world what a joke it is as an overseeing body.
This is the same NCAA that jumps all over an assistant coach for giving an athlete a ride to the airport, or a school for having feathers in its logo.
Maybe the real discipline should be dealt out by a Florida judge. When I look at that replay, I see what appears to me to be evidence of crimes being committed. Sorry kids, stomping on opponents is not part of football. Nothing that happened in that gang-like brawl was part of an amateur/collegiate football game.
Why should football players be immune to being charged with assault?
Since 1985, in various formats, SLANT -- an independent voice based in Richmond's Fan District -- has offered its readers original commentary on politics and popular culture, including cartoons and selected sundries. Warning: Sometimes that means satirical content. All rights are reserved.
1 comment:
Terry,
We have a program in Blacksburg that is headed in the same direction.
Who in the administration of a major university makes the decision to become a home for thugs and semi pro athletes. Is it something that naturally occurs as you lower admission standards for athletes and seek TV dollars? Or, do these administrators accidentally create the monster themselves?
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