Yet another example of unfair treatment is on display right now, in my own conference of the Big 12.
This spring, my Missouri Tigers were victim to some poor decisions by their players. Star guard Stefon Hannah had his jaw broken in a fight in downtown Columbia, and it was ALL OVER the news. Holy crap. I couldn't get away from it.
With that, almost half the basketball team was suspended, Hannah was kicked off, and the program took about 20 steps back while trying to recover from the Quinn Snyder era.
Well, this weekend, two Oklahoma Sooner athletes, football player Frank Alexander and basketball guard Ray Willis were stabbed at a local nightclub. Both of them suffered wounds that required surgery, but will fully recover.
Yet this is merely a blip on the news, and probably won't affect the Bob Stoops dynasty at all.
The question is a resounding WHY?!?!
A couple of years ago, Stoops had to kick his starting quarterback off the team, and now a player of his gets STABBED. That is a whole helluva lot worse then Hannah, who got hit with a "one-hitter-quitter" after barking too loudly at a fellow patron.
Quite frankly, it's a load of Baylor's defense (insert expletive here) that teams like the Sooners will get very little negative publicity over this, and will still probably pull in a Top 10 recruiting class.
Am I partially a bitter Missouri Tigers fan who wishes to see the whole football program collapse and struggle? Absolutely! But is there a part of me that thinks this is legitimately terrible? Yes, and this emotion is stronger then even the jealousy factor.
In this fight, people were allegedly wielding knives, guns, and tire irons, and a 19-year-old girl was even run over by a car! That's a whole lot worse then the fist that Hannah was hit with.
I hope that there is a bigger deal made about this, because regardless of my affiliation, this is a terrible occurrence that needs to get addressed.
Bob Stoops is running a program that clearly needs help policing itself, and the NCAA should be more then willing to give him some assistance.
13 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
James Morrison 10 months ago
I have felt this way for a looong time. My grandfather and father both went to The University of Miami, aand we all know "The U" has had its problems. Miami got labeled a "thug university" while the same things went on in the "good ol' boy" schools like Oklahoma and Texas and it all got swept under the rug. The things I see off campus from Arizona States student/athletes show that they are so scared to mess up that I've been told noone that isn't family can even buy me a sandwich.... While Reggie Bush was getting all kinds of gifts and once found out is was brought up for a couple months then swept under the rug. The NCAA is getting, and has gotten, so commercial it will go to any lengths to protect its "money makers" high profile schools with high profile athletes......and I see it first hand. So do you're slightly athletically smaller D1 schools like my ASU or your Mizzou have a chance? Yeah but its alot harder to recruit when your players know they can go to a big school and be slightly "morally loose".
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Peter Fleischer 10 months ago
Thanks a lot James, your perspective is certainly a unique one. I totally hear what you're saying about the "good old boy" reps that some schools get. As terrible as the cheating scandal was at FSU last winter, it doesn't compare to athletes getting stabbed. Recent news says the athletes at OU might or might not have been attacked, but the bottom line is that this is a horrible occurrence that needs to be addressed.
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freddie douglas 10 months ago
Great Article!!
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Peter Fleischer 10 months ago
Thanks Freddie. Glad you liked it.
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Chad Lindsey 10 months ago
I agree with you in concept but possibly not on this particular instance. The way I understand it, the people causing the problem were not allowed into the party and started problems with anyone who came out. So, can you punish college kids for going to a party where security keeps out problem people? College kids are going to go to parties...this seems like it was at least setup correctly to not be a problem.
But, your arguement is sound without that little piece of information and I think everyone is sick of big schools getting a free pass on some of the shenanigans that athletes are pulling. They bury it because the paychecks from alumni might stop if they don't.
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Peter Fleischer 10 months ago
Thanks for reading Chad. I've heard both that the players were only attacked and also that they left the club looking for a fight. Either way, I feel that this is a MUCH bigger deal then the Missouri incident, and many other incidents involving student athletes, yet I doubt OU athletics will take any heat for this incident. The bottom line is that their athletes have found trouble one way or another, and whether that heat falls on the staff or the players themselves, somebody needs to be held accountable for these problems.
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a b 10 months ago
The Sooners atheletes, one a football player and one a basketball player, were at a PRIVATE club/party where they were invited and were attacked by a group of people who were upset they were not allowed to crash. The Sooners didn't crash-they were invited. They didn't start a fight. They were not even IN a fight. They were brutally attacked. Why should they receive negative publicity for being attacked? How would Bob Stoops or the NCAA for that matter, have jurisdiction over private citizens that show up to start trouble? Get your facts straight before you start crying and whining. Speaking of getting your facts straight, the incident occurred SUNDAY morning, and as Monday was Labor Day there was no school the next day.
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Peter Fleischer 10 months ago
Thanks for reading, a. I wrote and published this article as soon as the news hit the wires, and I've read some of what you're talking about too.
The latest article that I have read on Yahoo!, and numerous other blogs that I have read, all cannot confirm whether or not the athletes were instigating or involved in a fight or not. Some say yes, others no. The bottom line is that this is another HUGE deal involving OU athletics, and while other schools like Miami, FSU, etc. get a lot of heat, the Sooners don't have a reputation for this, despite a reoccurring trend.
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damon smythe 10 months ago
Gotta say that I agree.. Private party... getting attacked and ...STABBED by gate crashers??? The kids a(atheletes) are the victims here... Not fighting, not brawling... ATTACKED, and STABBED... say it out loud or to your self... better yet let's wait til' the facts come out...
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Benjamin Crane 10 months ago
Actually, I hadn't heard about either incident.
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Don Reece 10 months ago
Peter, all I know about the Missouri deal is what I read here in your artical. One of your players went out to a bar and started a fight and got in trouble for it. That's very sad. All I know about the Oklahoma deal is what I read in the newspaper taken from police reports. The two Oklahoma players were at a party very late after an OU football game. So late it was the next morning. My first thought was that they shouldn't have been out that late. Then I remembered the OU game started about 6;30 PM. About 4 hrs for the game makes it 10:30. They had an hour and half lighting delay at half time. This makes it about midnight. Give them an hour to shower and etc. (although one of them was a basketball player and didn't need that extra time). Now we're up to around 1:00 or 1:30 AM. They were at a private party, not a public bar. Outsiders tried to crash the party. Maybe they should have ran away or found a girl to protect them. The outsiders were armed with knifes and guns and these two guys were stabbed. Maybe if OU had not beat your Tigers twice last year you would feel a little different about the whole thing. Now after that is said I agree atheletes especially at major schools (& Missouri is one of them) get far to may breaks. OU is not worse than any other school and Bob Stoop is not easy on his players. He does not protect them when the screw up. OU reported Bomar, the Q-back that was kicked of the team. If they had covered up for him they had a very good chance to win a national championship that year. This is the part that may be hard for you to understand being a Missouri fan, but Bob Stoop had enough charactor to do what was right even if it cost him and his team.
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James Morrison 10 months ago
Sorry Don but you're wrong. I see first hamd the things that go on and its not pretty. I ma not a OU fan or a Mizzou fan, but the whole point is that they are treated differently. You cited the "police report", now Im not saying they are, but its easy for a former OU player who is now a cop to change the perspective a bit and no one at a private party is going to finger someone at that party.... Its cut and dry, some schools are treated differently.
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Don Reece 10 months ago
James you say you have seen first hand and that makes it all gospel. You should get into politics. Just saying it doesn't make it true. I have no idea what you have seen so you haven't proven anything. Another reason you should get into politics is that it doen't bother you to try to raise suspisions about the Norman Oklahoma police dept. I am sure they have former OU players in their dept. but how many were involved in this investigation? As far as you and I know none were. Yet it doesn't bother you to suggest "they" might have changed the perspective of the report to make the OU players look better. Next you assume that people at the party know something they are not telling. As to the OU players and the Missouri player being treated differently I would agree with there. They acted different and were treated different. One guy went into a bar and started a fight (I can understand why a Miami fan would not have a problem with this) the other two were at a private party. I don't know if they were even involved in the fight, but they did get cut. There are a lot of problems in College sports. From the over reaction at Duke to poeple like you assuming you know everthing all the way to actual wrong that are committed by athelets. In some cases schools cover up for their players and they should have to pay a price for it. In some cases schools try to police their players and never get any credit for it. OU turned in the quarterback, Brett Bomar, they finally had to kick off their team. I he had played that year, they would have had a good chance of winning the national championship. However all your interested in is they didn't over react to two guys gettin attacked at a party by gate crashers. But I forgot, you've seen it first hand, what ever it is. Nothing lis cut and dryed, schools are treated differently because schools act differently.
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