Oklahoma State boots Chris Collins from Football Team (Finally)

Today Oklahoma State finally came to the conclusion, six days after they should have, that players convicted of aggravated sexual assault have no place on their football team:

Linebacker Chris Collins was permanently dismissed from Oklahoma State's football team Monday, six days after he pleaded guilty to the felony aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl in Texas.

Coach Mike Gundy met with Collins to inform him of the dismissal, according to a statement released Monday evening by Marlene Strathe, the university's interim president.

"Chris has been a model student-athlete since he arrived at OSU last year and coach Gundy felt that he had earned the privilege of hearing the decision face-to-face from his head coach," Strathe said in the statement. "During the meeting coach Gundy informed Chris that he would no longer be a member of the football team and the university supports coach Gundy's decision." . . .

"Because of the way Chris has conducted himself since coming to OSU, we will honor his athletic scholarship so that he can continue his education at OSU, if he is so inclined," Strathe said. "If he decides to transfer to another school, we will assist him in doing so. We feel deeply sad for everyone involved."

Head coach Mike 'the press is the problem' Gundy has adopted the same approach in this case:

Gundy bristled when he was asked a fourth straight question about Collins, on what information the university was lacking before it could make its decision.

"I'm not going to talk about Chris Collins all day, OK? You with me?" Gundy said. "I'll talk about Baylor but there's just not anything to talk about. As soon as we get everything, we'll try to do the best we can to give all the information and come to a conclusion."

Get a clue Mike. There is no one to blame for the bad press in this case but you.

Grats to the Lady Huskies/Graduation Data

Congratulations to the Lady Huskies of Bloomsburg on defending their Division II field hockey title, their fifth in the last six years, by defeating UMass-Lowell 5-2 this afternoon. Junior Jamie Vanartsdalen scored two goals to cap a DII record-setting year in which she scored 35 goals, added 19 assists, and was named Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference field hockey athlete of the year. This also marks the fourteenth national title in field hockey for head coach Jan Hutchinson.

Bloomsburg also posts a 73% graduation rate in women's sports other than basketball, cross country, and track. Their final four rivals post similar numbers. Defeated finalist UMass-Lowell posts a 79% graduation rate, with semi-finalists Indiana (PA) and Bentley coming it at 63% and 93% respectively. Once again, there is clear evidence that academic and on-field success are not mutally exclusive. Many congratulations to all of the fine STUDENT-athletes who participated.

Serfs of the Turf?

Thats how NYT op-ed columnist Michael Lewis describes FBS football players, in yet another column advocating paying them. He makes some excellent points along the way:

College football’s best trick play is its pretense that it has nothing to do with money, that it’s simply an extension of the university’s mission to educate its students. Were the public to view college football as mainly a business, it might start asking questions. For instance: why are these enterprises that have nothing to do with education and everything to do with profits exempt from paying taxes? Or why don’t they pay their employees?. . .

But between buyer and seller sits the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to ensure that the universities it polices keep all the money for themselves — to make sure that the rich white folk do not slip so much as a free chicken sandwich under the table to the poor black kids. The poor black kids put up with it because they find it all but impossible to pursue N.F.L. careers unless they play at least three years in college. Less than one percent actually sign professional football contracts and, of those, an infinitesimal fraction ever make serious money. But their hope is eternal, and their ignorance exploitable. . . .

The lie at the bottom of the fantasy goes something like this: serious college football players go to college for some reason other than to play football. These marvelous athletes who take the field on Saturdays and generate millions for their colleges are students first, and football players second. They are like Franciscan monks set down in the gold mine. Yes, they play football, but they have no interest in the money. What they’re really living for is that degree in criminology. . . .

Of course, no honest person who has glimpsed the inside of a big-time college football program could actually believe this. Even from the outside the college end of things seems suspiciously secondary. If serious college football players are students first, why — even after a huge N.C.A.A. push to raise their graduation rates — do they so alarmingly fail to graduate? Why must the N.C.A.A. create incentives for football coaches to encourage their players even to attend classes? Why do we never hear of a great high school football player choosing a college for the quality of its professors? Why, when college football coaches sell their programs to high school studs, do they stress the smoothness of the path they offer to the N.F.L.? . . .

Lewis' ultimate argument falters because he fails to address two fundamental points. First, a minority of FBS schools have profitable football programs. The immense profits at programs such as Notre Dame, Texas, and Ohio state represent the exceptions that prove the rule. Paying players would thus create an ever greater gap between the haves, who could afford it, and the have nots who are in some cases struggling with mountains of debt. The end result would be an escalation in the college football arms race. Second, if paying players were allowed, the NCAA, and Division I athletic programs would no longer be able to maintain their not for profit status, and the well of money which has enabled the the current profanity in intercollegiate athletics would dry up.

Sports Gambling: Knowing the Enemy

Check out this fascinating AP article on Michael Franzese, an ex-mobster who is in high demand for advising both pro and college sports teams and players on the game of fixing games:

And it's clear, from the wide eyes and dropped jaws in a George Mason University auditorium on a recent evening, that these kids in their gray hooded sweat shirts are listening intently, drawn in by Franzese's message and mien.

They're hearing Franzese deliver the same, simple points he makes to college athletes and coaches, to NBA rookies and Major League Baseball players and umpires, to professional tennis players and NFL veterans.

Know the dangers of gambling, because, he says, "If you don't have a gambling problem, you know somebody that does. Guaranteed."

Be careful not to get mixed in with the wrong crowd.

Don't wind up being forced into the sorts of situations he put athletes in, where they felt compelled to affect the outcome of a game.

In sum: Do as I say, not as I did. . . .

"I was surprised they would have a guy like that come speak to us," said Folarin Campbell, a guard on George Mason's basketball team. "But what he said makes you think twice about even thinking about gambling."

Why has Major League Baseball hired Franzese to do tours during spring training?

Why did the men's professional tennis tour have him meet with hundreds of players at a tournament this spring?

Why was he invited to speak to the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins?

"You have to know your enemy," said Kevin Hallinan, who recently retired as security chief for Major League Baseball. . . .

Asked whether he fixed games, Franzese replied, "Yes. Did it with a number of sports."

He continued: "This stuff with me is '70s and '80s, and I don't see any reason to bring it up. Everyone wants to hear it, but it can't do me any good. I've got a lot of credibility with the leagues at this point, and I enjoy what I'm doing, and the leagues shouldn't be besmirched because you had a couple of bad apples way back when."

During his speeches, Franzese describes one way it might have happened.

Maybe a cohort mentioned that his daughter was dating a basketball player from Such-and-Such University. Or maybe they ran into a college player they recognized at a club and would get to know him.

Then would come the soft sell.

"Hey, you're a great player. But you're 6-foot-2. You're not going to the pros," is how a pitch might start, Franzese said. "You've got a 2.1 GPA. Where you going when you get out of here?"

Then Franzese lowered his voice as he portrayed what would come next: "Look, shave some points. You're favored to win by 10? Win by six. Be smart. Here's some money. Put it in your pocket. You do this for me a couple of times, you've got $50,000 before you leave school."

Franzese's coda to his re-enactment: "That's real hard for these kids to pass up."

And if someone tried to get out of it?

"You know what my response is?" Franzese said. "'Hey, we made a deal. You're not taking money out of my pocket. We're going the distance. What are you gonna do? Go to your coach?"' . . .

"I've seen guys get their arms and legs broken because they're in debt with a bookmaker, go into the hospital, come out, go across town and gamble with another bookmaker the same ... day they come out of the hospital," he said. "So if that's not an addiction, I don't know what is. ... It crosses all gender lines, all race lines. Nobody is immune to a gambling problem." . . .

"I hope when I'm finished, next time they jump on the Internet, next time they think about placing a bet, my ugly face is going to come up there, and they're going to associate organized crime with the Internet, organized crime with poker," Franzese said. "They're going to remember this night that this mob guy came in and gave them this whole thing, and they're going to associate those two items and maybe they're going to say, 'I shouldn't do this."' . . .

Words of wisdom indeed. . .

Chris Collins and Oklahoma State: Telling Commentary

From Joel Klein of Tulsa World:

There's no place for felons in college football. And, the way things are starting to play out in the NFL, there's no room in the pros, either.

Yet, here was Collins causing Gundy another headache he doesn't need. What was needed was immediate action, not a wait-and-see attitude. The legal system has run its course. Collins is a felon. Time for him to hit the road.

On Thursday, about 24 hours later than it should have happened, Collins was pushed off the OSU football team.

We believe in second chances in life. Just not in college football. When Collins walked in and plead guilty, he forfeited the privilege to play college football in the Big 12.

There may be a place for him somewhere else, but OSU can't take the hit of having a felon in the lineup.

There are plenty of non-felons who would probably love to play linebacker in the Big 12 and get a good education for free.

The NCAA has tons of rules. Here's one to add. If you are a felon, you forfeit the chance to play NCAA football. . . .

OSU made a mistake by not immediately kicking Collins off the team. Gundy didn't hesitate to boot players three years ago for various legal and academic reasons. He kicked off nine players in his first eight months.

Among those were potential impact players like Prentiss Elliott and Brad Girtman.

Those two were among the first to be pushed out the door during spring practice just two months after Gundy got the job.

Deservedly, Gundy was praised for cleaning up the program as he took over from Les Miles. This latest incident should have been a no-brainer. . . .

It is Barry Tramel of the Oklahoman which really gets to the heart of the matter:

As we demand to know what Gundy was thinking when he brought in Collins on scholarship, trying to be Father Flanagan or Dennis Erickson, and we wonder what kind of research was conducted that made anyone think this was a good idea, maybe this is the detail that slipped from scrutiny. . . .

She was 12 years old. Twelve years old and snuck out and hopped into a car with some older guys, and they drove her to the Comfort Suites and gave her vodka and orange juice, and she wandered in and out of consciousness, and they had sex with her.

As OSU suspends Collins for the rest of this season and tries to determine where to go from here, and the university wonders how its coach went from being the tough sheriff who ran off the bad seeds to the man who signed off on a sex offender, and some try to rationalize what happened that night in Texarkana, remember this.

She was 12 years old. Twelve years old and snuck out and hopped into a car with some older guys, and they drove her to the Comfort Suites and gave her vodka and orange juice, and she wandered in and out of consciousness, and they had sex with her, and her life forever was changed. . . .

The fall championship season kicks off this afternoon with the semifinals of the Division II Field Hockey Championship. Thank god for the opportunity to be Prof-Fan rather than slogging through Profanity!

Random Misbehaviour (and Worse), 11-08

I. Florida State coach Bobby Bowden has suspended linebacker Marcus Ball for one game for violation of team rules:

Bobby Bowden announced after practice Wednesday night that FSU sophomore LB Marcus Ball is suspended for the game Saturday at Virginia Tech.

Ball, who backs up Dekoda Watson at SLB, was suspended for a "violation of team rules" and he will not travel with the team this weekend. The suspension puts a damper on the good vibes that have surrounded the Seminoles since they beat No. 2 Boston College last Saturday.

Bowden, who spoke tersely and quietly about Ball's suspension, was obviously frustrated by it.

Leaving us with an enigmatic:

"That's today's nature."

II. Two Maryland players, forwards James Gist and Landon Milbourne, have been suspended for their opening game as a result of a violation of NCAA rules:

Maryland senior James Gist and sophomore Landon Milbourne will be suspended for the Terrapins' men's basketball season opener against North Florida on Sunday because they violated an NCAA rule by playing in an organized offseason game in Ocean City, Maryland Coach Gary Williams said yesterday.

"The players are very aware of the rules," Williams said in a telephone interview. "They know they can't play in any outside competition unless it is a sanctioned summer league. This was just a game organized by someone in Ocean City."

The players participated in one day of the Maryland State 5-on-5 Tournament in April, which violated an NCAA rule that prohibits athletes from competing in unsanctioned competitions outside the university. Williams said Maryland immediately reported the incident to the NCAA, which reviewed it and imposed a one-game suspension because the two players had competed in one unsanctioned game.

"They made a mistake," Williams said. "Obviously they were swayed by some people. We have to be tougher. When you are 19 or 20, you make mistakes. It has nothing to do with their character."

Of course not Gary, of course not. BTW, hows your graduation rate been lately?


III. UW-Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter has tossed his leader scorer, guard Avery Smith off the team for the dreaded 'unspecified violation of team rules'. Kudos to Jeter for taking firm action:

MILWAUKEE -- Scoring leader Avery Smith was tossed off Wisconsin-Milwaukee's basketball team Wednesday, a day after his suspension.

Panthers coach Rob Jeter suspended Smith for an unspecified violation of team rules a half hour before Milwaukee opened its season by beating Wisconsin-Parkside in an exhibition game Thursday night. The school said Smith would remain on scholarship.

"It has become clear we need to move forward as a team and a program without Avery," Jeter said in a statement. "I've focused a lot on team chemistry and togetherness and now it is time to move into the season with a group that is committed to those ideas."

IV. Oklahoma State linebacker Chris Collins has been sentenced to 5 years in prison after pleading guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 12 year old. He may, however, merely receive probation:

The Oklahoma State sophomore linebacker Chris Collins received a five-year prison sentence yesterday for aggravated sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl three years ago. But the jury, in New Boston, Tex., recommended that his punishment be served through probation.

Collins’s sentence was announced after the jury of seven men and five women deliberated for 55 minutes, said Lisa McDermott, a public information officer for the Bowie County district attorney’s office. He had faced a prison sentence ranging from five years to life, but he was eligible for probation as a first-time offender.

Collins was ordered to undergo a psychological examination as part of a presentence investigation. His probation could be for as long as 10 years and will be decided by a judge on Dec. 10, said Kristian Young, a Bowie County assistant district attorney.

At that time, the judge will also decide if Collins must register as a sex offender, Young said, adding that if he violated his probation, the maximum sentence he would serve would be five years. . . .

Gary Shutt, Oklahoma State’s director of communications, said the university was still gathering information about Collins’s sentence and would soon make a decision on whether he would continue to play for the Cowboys (5-4, 3-2 Big 12). . . .

“We can say this: Chris Collins has been a model student and athlete since arriving at Oklahoma State University,” Shutt wrote in an e-mail message. . . .

Given that Oklahoma State and coach Mike Gundy went into this with its eyes wide open, it is difficult to find sympathy for the bad publicity which they are now receiving:

Collins did not play his senior year at Texas High School in Texarkana because of the charge against him. A scholarship offer to Texas was rescinded and he sat out in 2005 before accepting a scholarship to Oklahoma State last season. As a freshman, Collins was Oklahoma State’s second-leading tackler before sustaining a season-ending knee injury in its sixth game. . . .

At the conference’s news media days in July, Gundy defended offering Collins a scholarship and said he investigated Collins’s situation over the telephone.

Gundy said then that he expected Collins to play all of this season and praised him.

“He’s been great,” Gundy said. “We can hardly get him to talk. He never says much at all.”

He added, “I want him to be able to finish his career at Oklahoma State and graduate.”

Before the season, Cowboys defensive end Marque Fountain said Collins had no concerns about the indictment against him.

“He knows what happened,” Fountain said. “He’s not worried about it. The only thing he’s worried about is going to school and playing football.”

Please excuse me while I take a long shower.

UPDATE 9:06 PM:

Chris Collins has been suspended from the Oklahoma State football team. Interim President Marlene Strathe issued a statement:

Chris Collins will not play in the remaining games on the 2007 Oklahoma State University schedule. We will not make a final decision on his long-term status on the OSU football team until we have fully reviewed and considered this matter in the wake of what has happened this week, and had a chance to talk to Chris in detail.

What took you so long Dr. Strathe? And what are your thoughts Coach Gundy?

NCAA Investigators meet source on Reggie Bush Affair. . .

. . .according to a report by Charles Robinson and Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports that is. Background here.

The co-founder of a failed sports marketing agency met with NCAA investigators for nearly six hours Tuesday afternoon, apparently following through on last week's vow to turn over materials tying former USC running back Reggie Bush and his family to a string of improper benefits taken while Bush played for the Trojans.

A source confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that Lloyd Lake, one of the financiers of now defunct New Era Sports & Entertainment, spent much of Tuesday afternoon with NCAA investigators in the Pasadena, Calif., office of Lake's attorney, Paul Wong. When reached Tuesday night, Wong declined comment.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that a meeting took place," Wong said. . . .

Lake's attorneys said last week that they were preparing to meet with NCAA investigators, a summit that was expected to include Lake submitting to a wide range of questions, as well as agreeing to turn over documents and possibly even recorded conversations between himself, Bush and Bush's stepfather LaMar Griffin. Four sources have confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that such taped conversations implicate Bush and his stepfather in a financial relationship with Lake.

At some point, Charles and Jason, we need to know who those anonymous, entirely unidentified sources are. Are they NCAA investigators? Members of Lake's legal team? USC administrators? Otherwise we are obliged to take your stories with a grain of salt. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times, which reported a non-denial denial from another of Lakes attorney's, notes that USC was excluded from the meeting:

Meanwhile, USC was not invited to attend the meeting Tuesday, a top administrator said.

"We have repeatedly requested to be included in all interviews and all aspects of the investigation," said Todd Dickey, USC senior vice president and general counsel. "We were not given the opportunity to participate."

The NCAA had previously declined to comment on the investigation.

It is the NCAA's comment which will, of course, ultimately matter.