Kicking dope heads (James Ingram, Ed Colington, John Holmes) off WVU’s team pronto earlier this month was easy.
Especially if the dope heads: a) are caught with dope in their car, b) invite the cop back to their apartment to see more, c) have said stash in ready-to-sell baggies and, d) are not starters.
New head coach Bill Stewart looks like the no-nonsense moral sheriff in town, doing the right thing.
Now comes the case of Noel Devine and Jock Sanders.
West Virginia papers are reporting that the pair was involved in a fight outside a Morgantown night club early Saturday morning. (What’s that old phrase? Nothing good happens after two in the morning?)
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A student claims that a dust-up in the club led to an assault on the sidewalk outside that resulted in some bruises and kicking, and two of the perps were Devine and Sanders.
So far, silence from the WVU football headquarters.
This one is not so clean-cut as the case of the three dope heads.
This situation: a) has only a complaint, and no response from Devine or Sanders, b) has no admission of guilt from Devine or Sanders, c) does not involve drugs or a felony charge and perhaps most importantly, d) involves next year’s starting running back and starting slot receiver.
Devine is expected to step in where All-American Steve Slaton, who has left for the NFL, left off. Sanders was being groomed all last season as a replacement for slot receiver Darius Reynaud, also to the NFL.
If either is kicked off the team, it’s a palpable hit. If both are kicked off, it might be disastrous. About the only way the night club incident could have been worse was if Patrick White and the sole returning defensive starters were involved, too.
Some WVU fans have been holding their breath, waiting for something like this to happen involving Devine (both parents dead, friend shot to death in front of him, father of two children by two different women and, most worrisome, mentee of Deion Sanders). But there’s nothing I find violent in Devine’s background. Same for Sanders.
Still, if it turns out that Devine and Sanders did help beat up a fellow student, no matter what their value to the 2008 Mountaineer football team, Coach Stew needs to treat them as if they were walk-ons. That’s the message he needs to send.
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6 months ago
Why don't you list your references of where you obtained this information? Nothing but journalistic muck if you ask me.
6 months ago
First off the police do not plan on filing any charges there is enough reasonable doubt to show neither one was invovled at all (per the Sgt. of the Morgantown police department). Secondly if true which like perviouly stated that is now seeming to be a huge if, it was a little scuffle outside of a club, neither person filing the complaint was seriously injurned, a busted lip and sore shoulder. What we are gathering here in wv is this will be handled internally by the footbal program, meaning they will get run until their lungs bleed for the next couple of weeks, which either way this goes is plenty of punishment. This is somthing that happens a lot in college towns all across the country and it only comes to the light if an athlete is involved or someone is seriously injurned or both. This would have never seen the light of day if said knuckle heads would have been beaten up by normal college students.
6 months ago
You sad it man. It was just a little scuffle by the time coach stew is done with these boys they will have wished they had stayed in bunk that night. Not a single one would care about this sorta thing if they were not athletes. This is the year man, ain't nothing gonna stop us now.
6 months ago
After reading the reports and talking to folks close to the situation, it sounds like the football players were enticed into a fight and the sore losers then filed a police report hours after getting their @$$ beat!
6 months ago
Yes, but the players should not have been in that situation due to them being under the drinking age. I do agree with the fact that it looks like the players were enticed into the fight.
from 6 months ago
so ur saying u've never drank while under 21...i think u did, and so do a good 90% of football players. this says nothing of their morality by drinking under 21. since most people do it, are all college students immoral. if i'm putting words in ur mouth then sorry but that is what it seems like you are saying
6 months ago
Here we go with the kids being kids argument from the homers.
Also, of course no one cares if this is not football players. Football players at a big time program are under a microscope and representatives of the University and are expected to conduct themselves accordingly. If these were regular college kids, they would still be punished. We just wouldn't be reading and commenting on articles about it.
6 months ago
I checked out the one "victim's" Facebook and it had something about a lawsuit against Noel. Whenever someone mentions a lawsuit with something like this, it really is fishy.
6 months ago
Frank you have been my favorite writer since joining bleacher report. But man I wish you would of left this alone until some facts come out. We don't need any more negative plublicity. Especially when we are going on word of mouth.
Journalisitic obligation need not apply!
6 months ago
Even if they did the, they then probably deserved it. Noel loves WVU and wouldn't do nothing to hurt it, and unless it deserved it. This whole thing wont even be a story a week from ow, so you might as well forget about it all right now. ESPN, Bleacher Report, etc. all just can't believe West Virginia is any good. We're gonna shock the country.
6 months ago
I go to wvu and the saturday after the luisville game earlier this year noel devine suker punched my friend and broke his nose. I was right there in the middle of it and my friend did not do ANYTHING to provoke it besides pushing noels hand away when noel tried to take a bite of his sandwich. Please listen to me all you people who stick up for this punk and let me tell you that he is a thug and it was olny a matter of time till he got caught. This is not the first time something like this has happened and it prolly wont be the last. as much as i dont like him i think he is one of the most talented players i have ever seen and i would hate to see him not playing for wvu because he cant control himself off the feild but because i think with devine we will make a run for the title but something has to be done to him to teach him a lesson.
from 6 months ago
afraid of a knock to the nose urself, seeing as ur aren't giving out ur name, i'm assuming out of FEAR cuz devine is a BEAST
6 months ago
the word in mo-town, is that its Over, No evidence. Too many witness reports not matching
The PD wont be investigating it any further, the video tape didn't show anything incriminating towards Noel or Jock.
Case Closed.
6 months ago
I walked by the club Saturday morning (not knowing anything about the alleged incident). There was still a rather large pool of blood in a doorway next to club z. It looked to me as someone got the bad end of a beating.
6 months ago
All of all of things Noel Devine has been through in his life, my view is that being mentored by Deion Sanders to be a positive for him.
After all, I don't remember Deion ever being involved with too dramatic outside the law. Yes, he dressed like a clown and he was an awful rapper, but I don't think anyone is confusing "Prime-Time" with WVU alum "Pac Man."
I get the feeling that the cops in Morgantown have nothing better to do than harass the local college football team. I also feel that this town is the sort of backwards, ultra-conservative town that was glorified by a stupid movie like "Footloose."
6 months ago
OK, I am calling BS on this one.
6 months ago
I just finished chatting with Noel on a poker game on Bodog. Talk about someone who is all about 'ME" and is arragant. He bragged about his stats and how if he would have started against Pitt they wouldn't have lost. How his "ex" coach did nothing for him and his team quit. That sounds like another Deon Sanders/Randy Moss/T.O. to me. I wouldn't want him on my "Team" as he doesn't sound like a team player.
Dave
6 months ago
yeah because theres no chance that that wasnt someone pretending to be devine at all. and the reason that they're making a big deal about it being football players is the fact that they are basically stronger than anyone else and can kick anyones asses.
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