D.B. Doucette wrote:
 
 
> What if those involved were NOT "student athletes" -- how many days after
> the incident do you think would have elapsed before a story and their names
> made the police blotter in Fosters Daily Democrat (the local rag which
> covers the New Hampshire squad) ?   "A few weeks" ?? I think not.
 
Please note that the Foster's released the story the same day as every other news organization that bothered to cover it, including the AP. Yesterday was the first day formal charges were made, apparently because the authorities were trying to determine how many people (and which ones) to charge.
 
> What kind of Keystone Cops police force or prosecutor's office needs "a few
> weeks" to complete a preliminary investigation and decide whether to drop
> the charges, or move along to file formal complaints, against five persons
> involved in an "altercation" or "trespassing" ?   Were the three hockey
> players, and two football players, there or not ?  Gee, is that so hard to
> determine ?
 
My understanding is there were more than just five people involved in the incident. It seems to have been a party incident (following finals) where people were either denied admittance to a party or asked to leave a party and took offense. (Bear in mind, these are not official facts, this is just the sense I've gotten from the area rumor mill.) At this point things basically devolved into a brawl, and it took police quite a while to get everyone's statements (particularly since many involved went "home" for break) and decide who to charge.
 
> What kind of treatment is it by local law enforcement and University
> officials to leave the "student-athletes" hanging in the wind for a couple
> of weeks while they decide what to do ?  It's either incompetence, or
> special treatment to the "student-athletes".  "A few weeks" would never
> transpire if the alleged perpetrators under investigation were
> out-of-staters enrolled in the Arts & Sciences college...
 
Actually, under the circumstances, I think that whoever was involved would have been "left hanging in the wind." My wife interned with the local police forces, and knowing the officers in the area, I find it hard to believe that they handled this case any differently because there were hockey players involved. Not impossible, but difficult.
 
As far as the University doing anything: The incident took place off campus, and is out of their jurisdiction. Unless another student files complaints against one or more of the players through the University judicial system, the administration can do nothing until the case is settled one way or another. After that point, I am unsure about what they can and can't do; pretend they aren't athletes for a minute. If Joe Engineering student was busted for something similar, say at a bar downtown, could the University expel or suspend him? I honestly don't know. I'm pretty sure the coach can suspend them, and if they are found guilty of something serious, I would expect him to. (How serious does it have to be? That's a whole different debate. One which we might end out having after the players have their day in court.)
 
> This weekend, Maine fans have every reason to yell "cheat" at Coach Umile.
> Burying a police matter...come on. Decide.
 
Here's that cheating thing again. First of all, there has been no cheating here. (Although I won't begrudge Maine fans the right to yell it; all's fair in love and hockey cheering.) There are no NC$$ rules that mandate that players be suspended because they have been charged with something. I'm not even sure that there is one if players are found guilty of a charge. (Probably there should be, but based on Miami of Fla football and UNLV basketball in the recent past, there doesn't seem to be.) So, no cheating has occurred here.
 
Second, I'm not sure it's fair to accuse Umile of "sitting on" the issue. He seems to have reported the incident to Judy Ray (athletic director) as soon as he knew about it, and that actually may be the extent of what he was supposed to do. He certainly couldn't suspend the players before they had even been charged with anything, and what would be the point of announcing it to the press when no charges had been filed yet? In fact, why would he be under any obligation to go to the press anyway? Isn't it their job to find these things in the police reports and such? And, beyond that, it seems pretty clear that no one really knows the whole story yet, including the coach. If it turns out that these players did do something horrendous, I would certainly expect Umile to take action. But I also expect him to know all the facts first.
 
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