There are good reasons to be the lead story on Sports Center.
Today's news about the UT football program, unfortunately, wasn't one of them.
For those of you who've missed the story, three of our highly touted freshman players--Nu'Keese Richardson, Janzen Jackson and Mike Edwards--were arrested last evening on charges of armed robbery. Apparently said incident took place at the Pilot on the Strip around 2 a.m.
The old adage that nothing good happens after 2 a.m. certainly seems to apply here.
What's interested me most--beyond the speculation about the three guys' future with the team--is the response that's come from various sides. I heard a guy on talk radio this morning rush to judgment saying that it was "funny" that this had happened since Lane Kiffin was out selling UT as a "clean" program. And how he was sure now that recruits and their parents would think twice about coming to UT since "nothing has changed."
I'm guessing he's a Florida or Alabama fan...or maybe he's one of the many people that Kiffin has rubbed the wrong way.
I wonder if a similar incident had happened to his favorite team if he'd be so quick to rush to the judgment and/or indictment of the program. I know that when I've heard such reports from other schools, I've taken the tactic that whoever the player or players are that they should be dismissed immediately, if not sooner.
I do think in this case--and any other case involving a team--that once due process has run its course that if the players did it, there should be severe consequences. I'm not talking an Urban Meyer punishment of a game, but I think these guys should be dismissed. Off the team, gone. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.
Lane Kiffin is facing a critical moment for his tenure at UT. If he thought the media spotlight was bright for making off hand remarks about Meyer or the officials, he hasn't seen anything yet.
Labels: tennessee football
posted by Michael Hickerson at 11/12/2009 07:56:00 PM |
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