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October 17, 2006
More Suspensions Handed Down
Before the update, kudos to Bill Curry, a man whose opinion many should listen to and respect. Curry has been in the college football business a long time. He prevails with a cool head at a time when many, myself included, have written very harsh articles on the action in Saturday's game. If you haven't read his thoughts on the brawl, it should be a must read for all interested in college football, and maintaining the integrity of the game.
With that said, a few of my thoughts have come to pass in the wake of the brawl. First, Lamar Thomas was fired by the television station late Monday for his comments during the brawl. As stated before, Thomas's comments during and after the brawl will be removed from the video when the game is re-shown later this week.
In terms of the players, Anthony Reddick, the helmet swinger from Miami, has been suspended indefinitely by the team. The other players still are only suspended one game with other actions to consist of community service and unnamed other discipline.
Florida International has taken the suspensions a step further. They dismissed both Chris Smith and Marshall McDuffie from the team, although both will remain on scholarship this year. Smith was the originally tackler of the Miami holder on the extra point. McDuffie came in after the tackle and kicked the holder in the head. The other 16 players who were suspended for one game had their suspensions extended indefinitely. According to a report from the Miami Herald, they will be on athletic probation for the remainder of the year, and will fulfill some other requirements including the development of a course on why this is not appropriate behavior during an athletic event.
It is disappointing that Miami apparently is not taking this as seriously as Florida International. Suspending only one of the players involved longer than a single game, against Duke even, shows a lack of judgement in this area. When punishments only go this far, it will only be a matter of time before it happens again, maybe even this season. The university community, the fans of the team, and the fans of college football, deserve more appropriate action in these circumstances, much like Florida International has put into place. It is time for Miami's leadership, especially president Donna Shalala, to do the same
Shalala called the punishments handed down "a new standard" in her press conference on Tuesday afternoon. She claims that players involved in fights will be removed from athletic teams. It doesn't seem that her words fit with her actions so far in this case. If she really wants to set a new standard of "zero tolerance", then she needs to start now. Watch the video again, and make sure that all players are punished appropriately, as you say they should be. If you want to let them remain at the university for their education, do so, but make sure you stay true to your word and remove them from the team.
Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted by bmiraski at October 17, 2006 12:00 PM
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