Ark vs. Tennessee

[Dossenator]

Well, just in. Tenneesse's starting Running Back and two other players were just arrested in a bar for fighting and underage consumption. Fulmer is set to make a statement later today on their status. Here is the link to the story.

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?slug ... &type=lgns

[RazorHawk]

And D McFadden has a high ankle sprain.

[Spence]

You know some of this bothers me. OK, so these guys went to a bar, drink to much and got into trouble. Let the law deal with their part and let the chips fall where they may. Let the coach deal with the violation of team rules and make their life hell for the next two months. I agree with all of that. Lets just not bang on the program for something that a couple of idiot kids did after a football game and lets not pretend that we never did anything like that when we were 18-22. If they miss a game, that should be up to the coach. If they have to spend days or weeks with a tackling dummy or running the stair of old "rocky top" that is up to the coach. Let us not tar and feather a program for kids being stupid.

I know no one has done that yet, I am just ranting.

These kids should be accountable for their actions. They should be accountable to their team and their coach. They shouldn't and aren't accountable to the public's perception of the program or what the public deems acceptable punishment. People act like they have never screwed up and want to throw these kids in a hole when they do. Let them answer to the people they need to answer for and let us not dwell on it.

[mountainman]

lets not pretend that we never did anything like that when we were 18-22.

Uh, well .... now that you mention it ...

[Spence]

Me too and that is exactly what I am saying. We tend to forget that sometimes,

[Spence]

Or maybe he just didn't get caught.

The spectacle that the school makes has nothing to do with it IMO. The law should handle it and Fulmer should handle it according to what punishment he thinks fit the crime. My point is that we shouldn't get all indignate if the kid plays the next game for this sort of thing. If it where my kid or your kid, you wouldn't want him getting his life ruined because he went out and drank some beer and got into a fight. I am not saying he should get away with anything. He should own up to what he did with the authorities, do his punishment as far as the law is concerned and then have to face what the coach has in mind for breaking team rules.

I don't think some people realize the punishments coaches can give kids. Missing a game is the least of what most coaches do to kids that break the rules. Just because he plays the next game doesn't mean the coach went soft on him. Likely he meets with the coach every morning at 6:00Am for a little training session. Coaches are real good at that.

Besides that, unless the kid does something really bad, I don't see why people care. Why should we expect a harsher punishment just because he plays sports and is well known in his area?

I did things when I was his age that were on par with what he did. I would bet many here did as well. I'm not proud of it, but I sure made some bad decisions and I paid the price anyone else would have paid, but no more. I didn't turn out to be Jesse James. Chances are he won't either.

[mountainman]

I didn't turn out to be Jesse James.

Jesse was a better golfer. He often put a "hole in one".

[Spence]

True, the best I have done is two shots.

[Spence]

Would a student on scholarship to the Art dept. be held to a higher standard? They have gotten the same amount of benefit from their scholarship that an athlete does. Only the football player helps generate 1000 times the cash in return for their scholarship. The art major can only return that back to the school after graduation, if they are lucky.

I don't believe in keeping someone around for criminal behavior, but drinking to much and getting into a fight is hardly something to be concerned about in regard to criminal behavior.

Athletes give so much back to their schools. Aside from the cold hard cash the schools make off of the money making sports, they give a sense of pride to their school. They give notoriety to their school. They pay back the school for their scholarship before the leave the campus. I don't know of one other group of students on scholarship who leave their school, that have already given back so much.

I am not saying they should be given a free pass on these situations. They should answer to the authorities and they should answer to the coach and AD. After that, though, they have paid their dues. If the guy would have been charged with a felony, I would feel differently, but this is a misdemeanor offense. Would you want to be suspended from your job for running a stop sign. That is what we are talking about here.

[Spence]

I never said should, I said would. Big difference.

Your boss would have a problem with it, or should. How about when you were 19 though? We can't apply our standards now to our standards when we were 19. They were very different.

I am not try to say these kids should walk. That they are above the law or anything like that. I just think that sometimes we try to hang people for and offense that should get a swat on the butt.

[Dossenator]

Spence...actually yes. At the University of Arkansas I was a music education student and later received my masters in music composition (both arts degrees). To graduate with the first degree you must participate in Marching Band during the Football season. Many students have done things just like what these students have done. There is a no tolerance policy. It clearly stated the rules when you signed up for the program...they especially drove this home if you were on scholorship. Any criminal act was immediate dismissal. You were representing the University of Arkansas, the band program, and the music program for your time at the University. They simply kick you out of band and revoke your scholarship....no questions asked. That rule has prevented several people from being able to complete their degrees at the University of Arkansas. They do not want people that make those kind of poor decisions. You know that many people do not break those rules. They know the punishment and it is harsh. Athletes know that they are able to get away with a lot. It is only human nature that if you can get away with it then you will do it.

[Dossenator]

Man the Tennessee game is going to be a tough one. Michael Grant, a cover man, that has not given up a big play all year, tore an ACL in the South Carolina game and is out for the season. All SEC linebacker Sam Olijabutu is stil injured even though he played. Darren McFadden has a high ankle sprain....man that is not good news. I hope the crazy, hecktic spectacle that is College Game Day does not distract the players. Man I am getting more and more worried about this game. The Hogs are just too banged up in key areas right now, and I am not sure the Hogs can stop their passing attack. Having D. McFadden 100% is crucial....I am not sure if that will happen either.

[Spence]

In some ways the are privileged, in some ways they aren't. Campus police in Columbus love to put the bite on athletes. They are usually former athletes who weren't good enough to play at that level. (Campus police at Ohio State are real cops, they are an extention of the Col. Police dept and do not work for the U.

Sometimes these guys go out and some guy wants to prove his manhood by taking down a guy who plays D-1 ball. The player should have the sense to look the other way, but you only have two cheeks.

What your sargent would have done would be an appropriate punishment. You would get the point, but not get kicked out. That is actually what I was talking about.

[RazorHawk]

Fulmer handed down suspensions for the three players involved. One player for the first half of the game, one player for the entire game and the third for two games.

Not sure if the suspensions were determined by their degree of involvement in the incident or based on the team's need of their talents

[Dossenator]

All three athletes were charged with the same crimes....

The starting running back is only suspedend for the first half of the Arkansas game.

The full back is suspended for one game.

And the player that never plays is suspended for two games.

I think we all can draw the same conclusion....if you are important to the team then the penalty is going to be less. Bottoom line...they screwed up and are all three going to be punished.