I never, ever get a chance to stalk sports on this blog, but I wanted to address the current situation at the University of Oregon.
I love the Oregon Ducks – I stayed up all night over here in GMT-land to watch every single football game this year. Over the last few weeks, there has been a high number of incidents with football players, many of them requiring legal action. But the sheer number of incidents is no doubt troubling:
- Theft and breaking and entering: QB Jeremiah Masoli and WR Garrett Embry
- Assault – DE Matt Simms
- Assault – K Rob Beard
- Domestic Abuse – RB LaMichael james
- DUI – LB Kiko Alonso
- Insubordination – Jamere Holland
Some of these have had team discipline applied where there was clear evidence of guilt or admittance of guilt by a player, regardless of the legal process. However one case, the most severe, has yielded almost no comment and no reaction thus far from the football program. Star running back James is accused of assault and domestic abuse, having allegedly strangled his girlfriend.
The media and fans are calling for James to be disciplined but the coach has done nothing yet, but wryly indicated on ESPN that he knows a lot more about the case then what has thus far been reported.
Guess what everyone: people are innocent until proven guilty! Coaches can’t run around kicking people off a team because someone has levied accusations against them. James, whom right now no one can know his guilt or innocence, has a right to due process and to defend himself against these accusation. More importantly, his accuser needs to prove that he’s committed a crime.
For a country that has one of the greatest legal traditions in the history of the world, one would think that citizens would be grateful for due process. But it seems that the urge for blood and an opportunity to tear down a young, talented, rising star is too great.
If James is guilty, he should most definitely be punished and kicked off the team. But until that is proven, then the calls for his head and the head of Chip Kelly, need to stop.
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Maybe people are (over)reacting because the general public is finally getting sick and tired of athletes being treated as somehow superhuman. Take the world’s most famous golfer as an example. I shouldn’t be surprised if the adulations given to sports stars, even at the college level, tempt them to an “I’m above the rules” attitude. (By “rules” I mean both actual laws and also just the common sense rules of social interaction that our culture has in place.)
I suppose I can’t really make that statement without citing some scientific study of rates of misbehavior in athletes vs. couch potatoes, but my gut feeling is that our society gives way too much glory, honor and power to the sports stars and they in turn let it go to their heads.
Tiger Woods mentioned that in his statement last week. He said that he had felt entitled to give in to the temptations that surrounded him. That makes sense. Star athletes (and actors and musicians) are normal human beings thrust into extraordinary environments, so it’s not surprising what happens. It’s sad, but not surprising.
I hadn’t been aware of the LaMichael James news. I’d hoped that the Duke lacrosse team case would have served as a warning to people not to prejudge athletes. But I guess it hasn’t.
I don’t know anything about LaMichael James. I do know that star athletes get harassed all the time by people claiming sexual abuse or whatever. Just a week or two ago, ex-Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin counter-sued a Florida woman who claimed he raped her two years ago. Irvin claims she tried to extort $1 million by threatening to sue him.
And did this bombshell news get lots of air time? No. It got about two sentences (that I can remember) on a local radio program. Nobody really cares, because this stuff happens all the time. Nobody really thinks that Irvin did it, but nobody is surprised that he’s being accused of it.
thainamu, I agree with you that everyone (including myself) is sick and tired of some of the benies that athletes get. But that doesn’t mean that I would be justified in a “make up call” by advocating guilty until proven innocent.
Jew, I did not know that star athletes deal with accusations often. It makes sense, I just never noticed it.