Punishment for the crime

Urban Meyer is following in the footsteps of the legendary coach in Florida, Bobby Bowden. Bowden didn't suspend Deion Sanders after he physically assaulted a store clerk just before a bowl game to determine if FSU would be national champion (before BCS). Being sat down for a half is not a suspension. It's a benching. At least it's better than the last time when Meyer made a punished player sit out the first series of a game.

The player should have been suspended and not allowed to dress for a determined period of time. The problem is if this player is missed and Florida loses a shot at the national championship powerful alumnus could get Meyer fired. If the Florida president demanded Meyer suspend the player, the president could get fired if they lose.

It's all a case of misplaced priorities. Then again, with BCS bowl money versus other bowls it's also about the buck, or millions of them. Always follow the money trail .... Meyer keeping his job and salary, the president keeping his job and salary and BCS bowl money.

This is a case where someone above the coach should hand out the punishment if the coach will not.

Its an interesting set of questions rz. Some of the things you listed would result in an ejection which may carry a fine (professional) or further suspension (college conference rules for example...in the Pac-10, if you are ejected for intentionally throwing at a batter, you serve a 3-game league suspension).

This one seems a little different...definitely not accepted as "part of the game" like some of the others you listed...this appears willful and outside the lines if there is such a thing.

I'd like to see at least a 1-game suspension in this case, but then again I don't know everything the coach or AD knows. Seems to me the SEC could do something about it too...similar to the Pac-10's ejection rule.

half a game (vs. Vandy) is the whimpiest punishment ever. what a crock of crud.

Half-game suspension for what I view as a criminal act has turned Urban Myer into a national laughingstock and the butt of many jokes on ESPN the last 24 hours. It's also the second time in the last month he's been exposed as a win-at-all-costs coach unconcerned with consequences. The first was when he chose to play Tim Tebow with a concussion, risking the kids health and professional future. JMO.

Crime (or psuedo-crime) and punishment seem to be interwoven with political considerations....

One man abuses dogs and goes to prison for several years...

Another man runs a man over, kills him, gets a 30 day suspended sentence and does not even serve out the full 30 days....

One man bites another's ear off in the boxing ring and continues to be allowed to box...

One man spits in another's face and you would think he shot him in the face by the uproar it caused...

The question I always have is, where are the local prosecutors?

The fact that this happened on a football field does not make it any less of a crime. Why not bring criminal charges?

This is an assault and battery. A football player impliedly consents to physical contact within the rules. He doesn't in any way consent to this kind of thing.

I think there was actually a prosecutor who went after a baseball player who charged the mound with a bat in hand. And the player was convicted of at least some charge.

The coach can do as he pleases I suppose, but whether he does or doesn't, it's still something for the police and the prosecutors to handle as well.

I was under the impression that the AD, Jeremy Foley, is pretty tough.
He was the one who let the baseball player go who got arrested for drunk driving last year (though he was reinstated).
I guess that possibility of not winning a national cahmpionship for football is most important.
This one really shocked me.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
I was under the impression that the AD, Jeremy Foley, is pretty tough.
He was the one who let the baseball player go who got arrested for drunk driving last year (though he was reinstated).
I guess that possibility of not winning a national cahmpionship for football is most important.
This one really shocked me.

The baseball program doesn't pack a 88,000 seat stadium and bring in BCS bowl money.

Where is the NCAA?

Dez Bryant got a year suspension for having lunch with Deion Sanders (which isn't a violation) and then lying about it.

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A travesty...

...and par for the big $ course...

...and we wonder why stars believe that there are no consequences for their actions?

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The initial cast of characters replying to this thread reminds me of the ol' days.

quote:

Originally posted by rz1:
The initial cast of characters replying to this thread reminds me of the ol' days.

GOOD...ol' days?

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quote:

Originally posted by observer44:

GOOD...ol' days?

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Old timer or Alzheimer, some times they all blend together....I think good, but I can't remember

44 and we also wonder why kids feel the same way?

Coach Meyer had a chance to use this as an example of how to coach the right way. He blew it big time.

I would have suspended him for the remainder of the year. I would have made him pay his own way to Athens and personally apologize to not only the player but their team. If he was willing to meet with the conditioning coach at 4am the rest of the year for some training and did some community service work I would have allowed him to return for the bowl game. If he were my son Coach Meyer wouldnt have a say in this if this was his response.

Now after seeing how this was handled doesnt it make you wonder how infractions we never hear about are handled within this program?

I believe the message Coach Meyer sent is loud and clear. And it stinks.

oh, guys, come on.... he's a first round pick for sure... the kid that never quits!

Urban Meyer made me sick with Tebow and the way he handled that. Win at all costs - and it seem like he is.

But wait, there's more

Coach May makes an excellent point - What don't we see?

quote:

Originally posted by observer44:
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A travesty...

...and par for the big $ course...

...and we wonder why stars believe that there are no consequences for their actions?

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The sane part of rz1 agrees, but the devils advocate sees this behavior in the dorms, intermeral sports, bars, and campus parties with college age kids and other environments for that age that does not attend school. While the high profile athlete is filmed in "combat" the aggressive "Joes" of the world runs rampant with total disregard for common sense and remains more times than not anonymous.

While the pampered athlete is rightfully highlighted, IMHO, we seem to put those neighborhood thugs within our society on a back burner. Maybe we should spend more time singling out those in our own back yard as the trend setters for our youth and let the jocks destruct on their own.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4619952

Interestingly enough, Ealey thinks Spikes should not have been suspended. I wonder what part he actually played in all of this.

Hey, folks for those who complain baseball only gets 11.7 scholarships, it's ALL about football and the $$ it brings in.

Deldad, as it was explained to me today, the NCAA has little to do with it in football, unlike other college sports. They mainly handle admissions and off-season rules stuff. The conferences carry the big weight. The SEC, and namely Commisioner Slive who rubber-stamped this "suspension" is the second party bearing blame here. And here in the SE Slive, the SEC, Florida, and Myers are catching hell. Good luck to them with this public relations nightmare. I suspect it ain't over.

Actually, Meyer is the darling of Florida, so it's been pretty quiet here about what happened. Of course there are some saying that teh player wasn't hurt and there was no real intent to injure the player, but can one just assume that? Don't actions show intent.

Wayne is right, the NCAA has no control over issues such as this, only the individual schools and their conferences.

The 2-quarter benching sure doesn't seem severe enough to me.

Oregon suspended Blount for the year* after sucker-punching the Boise State player. And what wasn't common knowledge, I have heard on pretty darn good authority, that the Boise player used the "N word" in taunting Blount.

And what did Oregon do after the suspension? Undefeated since, beat three ranked teams including the absolute dismantling of USC last Saturday (which I attended.)

So sometimes suspending the star is a huge plus for the team.


*Looks like they will reinstate Blount this week, after 7 games.

I haven't seen this mentioned on here...what if Spikes' action was retaliation? Does it change anything? I didn't see what he did, but I did see him (Spikes) get his helmet ripped off and poked in the eye pretty early in that game. He came out of the game for a play or 2. Any chance his actions were retaliatory?

My personal opinion is that this is another instance of the over invasion of of a woosified PC media creating a PR firestorm that's much ado about nothing. The players usually (or they used to anyway) have a way of settling things on the field. Kudos to the GA player for understanding that concept.

WAG!

WAG, I kinda have to agree with you, although I have stayed out of this because I am at UF and not objective. Yes, it was in retaliation for an uppercut that knocked Spikes' helmet off. Football is a violent game, much less violent that it was in the old days, but still violent. My office is right across the street from the football stadium. To see these enormous young men walk across the street every morning on pre-season practice days is to be in awe. You take that kind of mass, add to it the way they are mentally prepared to hit people or be hit, to do anything to win, combine that with the (relatively) controlled violence of a football game, and no wonder stuff happens in the pile. I was kind of surprised at how shocked everyone was, and from what I read the Georgia player was, too.

I have read that you do NOT want to be in one of those piles during a rugby game!

With apologies in advance to those who may be offended... Captain Insano shows no mercy

Like probably many of the men on this board I played football and it was my sport of choice in college as well. It is a very violent sport and there are alot of things that do go on in a game. But there are some things that are out of bounds. Spitting in someones face , intentionally trying to hurt someone by going after a knee or as we used to say , going low. And of course taking your fingers reaching inside a players facemask and trying to grind his eyes out. The great Jim Brown once bit a players finger almost off in a game. His comment was "Whats outside my facemask is fair game whats inside my facemask belongs to me." The player was trying to do the same thing to Brown that Spikes attempted.

Spikes actions go above and beyond what is accepted in the game. The Georgia player is saying what alot of players would say in this situation. He doesnt want to come off as some crying whimp. But its not up to the players to decide in a situation like this. Spikes went way over the top with his actions. There has to be some discipline in the game or it will get totally out of hand. Coach Meyer had an opportunity to put this to rest but he chose to create this firestorm by the way he did deal with it.

You can hit someone as hard as you possibly can and if you knock them out and put them in the hospital its just part of the game. You might even get a helmet sticker for a big hit. But putting your hand inside a facemask of a player trying his best to hold onto the football who is being gang tackled and then grinding violently at his eyes is not part of the game. It is so out of bounds its ridiculous. There is no defense for it.

quote:

Originally posted by 2Bmom:
WAG, I kinda have to agree with you, although I have stayed out of this because I am at UF and not objective. Yes, it was in retaliation for an uppercut that knocked Spikes' helmet off. Football is a violent game, much less violent that it was in the old days, but still violent. My office is right across the street from the football stadium. To see these enormous young men walk across the street every morning on pre-season practice days is to be in awe. You take that kind of mass, add to it the way they are mentally prepared to hit people or be hit, to do anything to win, combine that with the (relatively) controlled violence of a football game, and no wonder stuff happens in the pile. I was kind of surprised at how shocked everyone was, and from what I read the Georgia player was, too.

I have read that you do NOT want to be in one of those piles during a rugby game!

With apologies in advance to those who may be offended... Captain Insano shows no mercy

I don't disagree that there weren't dirty plays on both sides but I believe Spikes needs to learn how to properly wear his helmet, it came off 3-5 times during this game and I've seen it come off in other games also. As far as the attempted eye gouging, their really is no excuse for it, no matter what happened before that play.

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Coach May nails another one...

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Coach May,
You're obviously entitled to your opinion and I'll agree to disagree with you on this. However, your story about the great Jim Brown kind of proves my point about players settling it amongst themselves. One could say that JB almost biting the guy's finger clean off was so out of bounds it was ridiculous. After all that could be considered attempted aggravated assault. But, it was done in retaliation for getting intentionally poked in the eye which Spikes probably believed happened to him earlier. I bet no one ever tried to poke JB's eyes again after they heard what happened, and that's what I believe Spikes was reinforcing. Once again these are players settling it amongst themselves.

I do agree that the better choice would have been to make a big legitimate hit on someone, but I just don't think this was such a big deal that he should be kicked off the team or suspended as some have suggested.

I also disagree that Coach Meyer created this firestorm by taking the disciplinary action he took. If he had taken no action, I'd say he contributed to it, but he assessed what happened and decided on what he felt was appropriate. The firestorm was created by the PC media and ESPN's never-ending appetite to fill 24 hours TV time with whatever they can whip up into a story.

Again, these are only my opinions, but I wanted to make the point that I hadn't heard raised here that I believe it was retaliatory and not just "out of the blue".

WAG!

First of all I do NOT condone what he did or any dirty play... BUT

It is football; these guys are drilled to be aggressive and to try to absolutely destroy everyone in their path from the time of Pop Warner. Play fast, hit hard, hit harder, intimidate and hit harder again.

Leave the criminal element out of all on field trangressions as well please.

Spikes suspends himself for a whole game, but it is against Vanderbuilt how bold!

If he agrees he did wrong, why not for the whole season?

Are you serious Homerun? For the whole season? That would be too harsh for the thing he did. At least he is taking responsibility for what he did and not blaming it on someone else or avoiding the responsibility.

Win at all cost nobody criticizes the win these days. Very little sportmanship left.