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Ducks must give Blount the boot!!
Everyone is going to have the exact same reaction to the devastating punch thrown by Oregon senior running back LeGarrette Blount to the jaw of Boise State defensive end Byron Hout following the end of the Broncos' 19-8 win over the Ducks on Thursday.
Everyone is going to instantly demand that Blount be kicked off the team. He'll be made out to be the embodiment of everything that might be wrong with college football, and many will ask for an even heavier punishment. Some might wonder aloud about possible assault charges. There will be various degrees of knee-jerk analysis following the ugly punctuation to the start of the 2009 season, but it'll all follow the exact same form.
And with good reason.
There is no excuse for physical violence as a reaction to anything said. Never. Yeah, anyone who has ever competed at something and has had their heart ripped out in a loss knows exactly how raw nerves are in the immediate aftermath. Everyone has had a moment when they'd like to inflict bodily harm on some jerkweed who gives them the finger after getting honked at for talking on a cell phone while going 45 in the left lane.
But we don't, for the most part, and we can't.
All fans get it, to a point, and fully understand that 10 minutes after their team loses in the bottom of the ninth on a home run, or gets beaten on a last-second prayer from half court, or sees the championship dream die in a blink of an eye, that there is an irrational, emotional aspect to sports that's part of the reason why winning is so special and losing hurts so much. And to be fair, Hout appeared to be taunting Blount and was looking to rub it in to the point where Boise State head coach Chris Petersen had to take his player by the shoulder pads and yell at him. And then came the punch.
Had Blount missed, this would've been seen as an ugly incident that deserved a suspension of at least a few games. But Blount connected in a dream shot that buckled Hout's knees and appeared to knock him out for a few seconds. Whatever happens to Blount, he might be busted as much for being accurate as he will be for throwing the punch in the first place, and that's an important distinction. Had he missed, he could've argued that he got caught up in the heat of the moment and at the last possible nano-second chose to sail his shot wide. But there's no mistaking this punch and its connection, and there's no sugar-coating what needs to happen next.
Blount's career as an Oregon player needs to be over. If football programs are the ultimate public relations tool for a university, which they unfortunately are, then there can't be any incidents like this of such a high-profile nature. All week, talk-radio shows and columnists will be talking about Blount and how he was able to be on the team in the first place after a tumultuous offseason that included a suspension.
Had Blount punched a guy in a bar, this would've been side-item news; he would've been suspended for a "violation of team rules," and then he would be back for the USC game. But Blount can't escape this, and now, because the images are so vivid, he'll be thrown in the same bus as Michael Vick, "Pacman" Jones and other sports figures who are seen as lawless thugs and will end up feeling the outrage of a bored sports nation that's desperate to jump all over the villain of the moment.
That Blount went ballistic, after being taunted by a fan in the stands, and had to be restrained by assistant coach Scott Frost, who made the best tackle any Oregon Duck came up with all night, only adds fuel to the fire. In college football, in this case, it's one strike and you're out, and no one knows this better than Oregon, which famously has been all about image thanks to super-booster and Nike chairman, Phil Knight.
Of course, if this was the NFL, even in Roger Goodell's iron-fisted world, it would be a different argument. Albert Haynesworth's stomping of Andre Gurode was far more vicious and far more dangerous than Blount's punch, and now the Washington Redskin has a $100 million contract. It could be argued that Brett Favre's chickenspit crackback block on Eugene Wilson of the Houston Texans was far worse than Blount's action, but that was in the middle of a play (although it was totally inexcusable and Favre should be suspended for it).
But for all the hypocrisy and issues that surround college football, its players have to be held to a higher standard because they're the representatives of something more than a multibillion-dollar corporation. This is what Blount will always be known for no matter what he does with the rest of his life, and this is what's going to define the Oregon season that's not more than a half a day old.
Oregon fans, don't try to make excuses just because he's a superstar player and your season might go in the tank without him. Do your university proud and demand that you don't want him representing you or your school on the football field.
Activists, don't make this a black-and-white issue (unless it comes out that Hout said anything racially motivated, in which case there's a whole other story to deal with). At the moment, this is simply one player talking smack to another, and getting bopped for it, at a time when emotions were high.
And let's not make this a world-against-LeGarrette Blount issue. It wasn't a sucker punch, and wrong as it might have been, he was provoked. He's only 22 years old, and while he obviously has anger management issues, it's not fair to let one very public incident that'll be replayed a bazillion times on YouTube over the next few months ruin his life.
Blount shouldn't be allowed to play football at Oregon anymore. And for his sins, hopefully, others will learn from the price he'll no doubt end up paying.
By Pete Fiutak of Fox Sports...
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Everyone is going to have the exact same reaction to the devastating punch thrown by Oregon senior running back LeGarrette Blount to the jaw of Boise State defensive end Byron Hout following the end of the Broncos' 19-8 win over the Ducks on Thursday.
Everyone is going to instantly demand that Blount be kicked off the team. He'll be made out to be the embodiment of everything that might be wrong with college football, and many will ask for an even heavier punishment. Some might wonder aloud about possible assault charges. There will be various degrees of knee-jerk analysis following the ugly punctuation to the start of the 2009 season, but it'll all follow the exact same form.
And with good reason.
There is no excuse for physical violence as a reaction to anything said. Never. Yeah, anyone who has ever competed at something and has had their heart ripped out in a loss knows exactly how raw nerves are in the immediate aftermath. Everyone has had a moment when they'd like to inflict bodily harm on some jerkweed who gives them the finger after getting honked at for talking on a cell phone while going 45 in the left lane.
But we don't, for the most part, and we can't.
All fans get it, to a point, and fully understand that 10 minutes after their team loses in the bottom of the ninth on a home run, or gets beaten on a last-second prayer from half court, or sees the championship dream die in a blink of an eye, that there is an irrational, emotional aspect to sports that's part of the reason why winning is so special and losing hurts so much. And to be fair, Hout appeared to be taunting Blount and was looking to rub it in to the point where Boise State head coach Chris Petersen had to take his player by the shoulder pads and yell at him. And then came the punch.
Had Blount missed, this would've been seen as an ugly incident that deserved a suspension of at least a few games. But Blount connected in a dream shot that buckled Hout's knees and appeared to knock him out for a few seconds. Whatever happens to Blount, he might be busted as much for being accurate as he will be for throwing the punch in the first place, and that's an important distinction. Had he missed, he could've argued that he got caught up in the heat of the moment and at the last possible nano-second chose to sail his shot wide. But there's no mistaking this punch and its connection, and there's no sugar-coating what needs to happen next.
Blount's career as an Oregon player needs to be over. If football programs are the ultimate public relations tool for a university, which they unfortunately are, then there can't be any incidents like this of such a high-profile nature. All week, talk-radio shows and columnists will be talking about Blount and how he was able to be on the team in the first place after a tumultuous offseason that included a suspension.
Had Blount punched a guy in a bar, this would've been side-item news; he would've been suspended for a "violation of team rules," and then he would be back for the USC game. But Blount can't escape this, and now, because the images are so vivid, he'll be thrown in the same bus as Michael Vick, "Pacman" Jones and other sports figures who are seen as lawless thugs and will end up feeling the outrage of a bored sports nation that's desperate to jump all over the villain of the moment.
That Blount went ballistic, after being taunted by a fan in the stands, and had to be restrained by assistant coach Scott Frost, who made the best tackle any Oregon Duck came up with all night, only adds fuel to the fire. In college football, in this case, it's one strike and you're out, and no one knows this better than Oregon, which famously has been all about image thanks to super-booster and Nike chairman, Phil Knight.
Of course, if this was the NFL, even in Roger Goodell's iron-fisted world, it would be a different argument. Albert Haynesworth's stomping of Andre Gurode was far more vicious and far more dangerous than Blount's punch, and now the Washington Redskin has a $100 million contract. It could be argued that Brett Favre's chickenspit crackback block on Eugene Wilson of the Houston Texans was far worse than Blount's action, but that was in the middle of a play (although it was totally inexcusable and Favre should be suspended for it).
But for all the hypocrisy and issues that surround college football, its players have to be held to a higher standard because they're the representatives of something more than a multibillion-dollar corporation. This is what Blount will always be known for no matter what he does with the rest of his life, and this is what's going to define the Oregon season that's not more than a half a day old.
Oregon fans, don't try to make excuses just because he's a superstar player and your season might go in the tank without him. Do your university proud and demand that you don't want him representing you or your school on the football field.
Activists, don't make this a black-and-white issue (unless it comes out that Hout said anything racially motivated, in which case there's a whole other story to deal with). At the moment, this is simply one player talking smack to another, and getting bopped for it, at a time when emotions were high.
And let's not make this a world-against-LeGarrette Blount issue. It wasn't a sucker punch, and wrong as it might have been, he was provoked. He's only 22 years old, and while he obviously has anger management issues, it's not fair to let one very public incident that'll be replayed a bazillion times on YouTube over the next few months ruin his life.
Blount shouldn't be allowed to play football at Oregon anymore. And for his sins, hopefully, others will learn from the price he'll no doubt end up paying.
By Pete Fiutak of Fox Sports...
<!-- LexisNexis Disclaimer --><!-- Edgeinclude not created for non-existing logical name: /public/story/footerlink/24 -->
Typical knee jerk reaction. I agree a suspension is warranted, but he does not deserve to be kicked off the team.
Normally, I'd be the first one to say that he should be given the boot. But in this case, he was being taunted and he lost his cool. He's a kid - it happens. He has apologized profusely.
I thought it was funny that the guy taunting him got laid out. Let that be a lesson to him.
This just goes to show that making the kids shake hands before a game is a joke. Society has already regressed past that point. Poor sportsmanship is constantly rewarded in the NFL. Trying to turn back the clock is pointless. It is hypocritical for people to call for this kid to lose his scholarship.
Normally, I'd be the first one to say that he should be given the boot. But in this case, he was being taunted and he lost his cool. He's a kid - it happens. He has apologized profusely.
I thought it was funny that the guy taunting him got laid out. Let that be a lesson to him.
This just goes to show that making the kids shake hands before a game is a joke. Society has already regressed past that point. Poor sportsmanship is constantly rewarded in the NFL. Trying to turn back the clock is pointless. It is hypocritical for people to call for this kid to lose his scholarship.
that is not a better question at all.
the boise team is disciplined, well coached and obviously more gentlemen like in this case, not resorting to the hip hop, gangsta mentality which has in many ways, poisoned pro sports.
Why would they want to risk a suspension when they have a chance to run the table?
pretty silly idea if you ask me.
:>(
Good Point.
Smart kids at Boise. They may have won the football game, but they would be underdogs in a street fight with all those thugs that Oregon imports from the back alleys of sunny California.
Wonder how Phil Knight feels with his Nike brand splashed all over this embarrassment?
Then again any publicity is good publicity.
