Being a student-athlete has its pros and cons. The arrests are examples of
the cons. Sure, a student arrested for the same ordeal may not mak efront
page news, but the student-athletes "problems" eventually will.
 
While I was attending Ferris state we had 3 players accused of "having
unwanted sexual relations" with a woman. These three players were suspended
by the school from participating in hockey and were suspended from school.
Two weeks later the case was dropped because the story by the woman kept
changing. I'm not accusing the woman of anything, but the school took a
very hard stand on the issue and these players missed out on two weekends
of hockey.
 
Being a student-athlete (or pro athlete) demands that you act on your best
behavior at all times, like it or not. If you are willing to play the game,
and willing to bask in the glory, you'd better be darn ready to face the
music when you screw up. Is it right, maybe, maybe not.
 
Perhaps the toughest thing to remember is that these are young men and do
they know better, I'm sure they do, but we all know what happens when faced
with a group of your peers!
 
Now that I referee maybe our little slogan works off the ice as well. We
alway say that the stick is a brain-sucker. As soon as the player touches
it, it sucks his brain out. Maybe that holds true off the ice sometimes
too.
 
Craig Lisko
Ferris State 1990-1994
 
 
 
 
[log in to unmask] on 02/02/99 11:09:28 AM
 
Please respond to [log in to unmask]
 
To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:    (bcc: Craig Lisko/HCS/CSC)
Subject:  Re: New Hampshire Players Arrested
 
 
 
 
>  OK, "innocent until proven guilty", I'll grant everyone.  But one
wonders:
>
>  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.
Students get in altercations with each other pretty frequently at colleges
and
universities everywhere. It doesn't always make headlines.  And how much
better off would you have been if it had been in the paper the very next
day?
>  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 ?
That's a question best answered by the Durham P.D. You could call them at
(603)868-2324 to discuss it, unless you'd rather just sling unfounded
accusations around. In that case, just stick to your current course of
action.
Maybe paperwork was lost. Maybe it took a while to find witnesses. Maybe a
pipe burst in the police station, ruining all their computers and setting
back
their work. Maybe the guy who provides the police report went on vacation,
and
the guy who was filling in was getting a divorce, and was distracted, and
forgot to take care of it. Who knows? There are too many possibilities for
you
to go around screaming about conspiracies and cover-ups right from the
get-go.
>  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...
UNH doesn't have an Arts and Sciences college. And without knowing what
happened, I think it's hard for you to say what would have taken place if
there was an Arts and Sciences college, and unruly out-of-staters (perhaps
from Maine...) were involved in a scuffle. Maybe the same circumstances
would
have been in place, causing the report to be delayed. Would you care? Would
you be crowing about special treatment of out-of-state students enrolled in
the Arts and Sciences college? Or would you realize that it is of no
consequence to you, and go on with your life?
>  Maine campus police and the athletic administration were much less
>  protective of its own players in the recent racial threatening incident.
>  They were suspended from the team, pending the outcome of an
investigation.
>  It was reported in the paper the day after the incident.
I think there's a difference here. I seem to remember that there was a
voice
mail recording of the players making the threats. And what's more fair to
the
students, anyway? Suspend them at the suggestion that they committed a
crime,
or find out the facts of the case? Do you think that if Walsh had any doubt
about the players' guilt, he would have suspended them? Would Umile be
doing
his job if he benched two key defensmen and a decent forward during some of
the most important games of the season IF HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED?
Your suggestion that Umile should suspend the three players just because
Walsh
did is pretty funny. Since when did Shawn Walsh become a model of ethical
behavior?
>  >Are you saying you want these players subject to the same
>  >tar-and-feathering >that Walsh was?
>
>  No one should be treated that way.  I did not like the way Walsh and his
>  players have been treated -- still are treated -- on this list, and
those
>  that call "cheat" at games.  Why are you posters so protective of these
>  three New Hampshire players while others earlier said the Maine players
>  deserved their suspension ?  In this latest case, some local person(s)
had
>  problems big enough to call in the local police.
And they'll be dealt with properly by local police. I'm pretty sure that
people yell "cheat" because, after due process, the NCAA found that Walsh
was
indeed cheating. If I'm wrong about this, feel free to correct me. I've got
a
strong feeling I'm right about this one, though...
>  And don't try the "proportionality" argument like the USCHO thread, that
>  "trespassing" is different than a verbal racial threat.   I certainly
hope
>  that those of you making that argument are supporting the President and
>  calling your Senators to say he should not be removed from office. Crime
is
>  crime in the eyes of the NC$$ when it came to the case of the University
of
>  Maine, no proportionality there.  How many times do I have to point out
>  more serious infractions in basketball and 1-A football which yield less
>  punishment than meted out to Maine ?
There *is* a difference. Drunken college students tend to get in fights.
Although it's not condoned, it's expected. And whether you agree with it or
not, it's accepted to a certain extent. Racism, on the other hand, is not.
Especially at a University. Especially coming from athletes after said
University has faced NCAA sanctions. Call it unfair if you want, but a
state
University that knew about this type of behavior and chose to do nothing
would
be under quite a bit of public scrutiny (unless you're saying that's
accepted
behavior at UMaine).  Walsh/UMaine treated their players the way they did
because they *had* to, not because they wanted to. Do you think the UMaine
players would have been suspended if it was just a fight, and they had left
the racial slurs out of it? I know that *any* UNH student, including
"out-of-
staters from the Arts and Sciences college", would have been suspended had
they been recorded making such threats.
>  This weekend, Maine fans have every reason to yell "cheat" at Coach
Umile.
>  Burying a police matter...come on. Decide.
Yeah! Do it! Everyone yell "cheat" at Umile!!!   In unison... One... Two...
Three... CHEAT!!! That will get him! That will teach him to treat his
players
with fairness and respect!!! That will affect him in some adverse way!!!!
Or
maybe it will just make you look uninformed.
Yes, let's all ignore the idea that somebody screwed up in getting the
report
to the press, and that somebody may not have been Dick Umile, as much as
you'd
love to believe otherwise. Let's assume it was him, and demand his firing
today.
Maybe as long as we're just throwing accusations around, I'll start one:
Maybe
Walsh paid Filipowicz, Enders, and Ficek to get in a fight, and then paid
the
Durham PD to delay the announcement until now, hoping that it would effect
Sunday's game at Orono! Sound ridiculous? It's not too far off from what
you're doing.
The facts that we know are this:
1) Three UNH players have been charged with a crime, but not convicted.
2) For some reason, the police report on the crime was delayed.
So far, no one on this list has come forward with any reliable information
regarding the incident, and no one has a right to assume anything. I'll
tell
you what: If you can prove that Dick Umile actively influenced the Durham
PD
to cover up this story, I'll kiss your bare buttocks at center ice at
Alfond.
If you can't, maybe you should settle down on the accusations.
-Mark
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