Duke players get extra year of eligibility

[Al DeFlorio]

[quote jhib]"This past weekend, Duke University's Director of Athletics Joe Alleva decided to forfeit last Saturday's and today's scheduled men's lacrosse games. His decision, which I fully supported, was based on facts team members have acknowledged about their March 13 party. A majority of the team members attended the party, which included underage drinking and the hiring of private party dancers. This conduct was wholly inappropriate to the values of our athletics program and the university."[/quote]
"America's team."::rolleyes::

[Jeff Hopkins '82]

[quote Al DeFlorio][quote jhib]"This past weekend, Duke University's Director of Athletics Joe Alleva decided to forfeit last Saturday's and today's scheduled men's lacrosse games. His decision, which I fully supported, was based on facts team members have acknowledged about their March 13 party. A majority of the team members attended the party, which included underage drinking and the hiring of private party dancers. This conduct was wholly inappropriate to the values of our athletics program and the university."[/quote]
"America's team."::rolleyes::[/quote]

Calling Dickie V...::moon::

[2]

[quote jhib]
"This past weekend, Duke University's Director of Athletics Joe Alleva decided to forfeit last Saturday's and today's scheduled men's lacrosse games. His decision, which I fully supported, was based on facts team members have acknowledged about their March 13 party. A majority of the team members attended the party, which included underage drinking and the hiring of private party dancers. This conduct was wholly inappropriate to the values of our athletics program and the university. Forfeiting two games was a substantial penalty for a team that hoped to compete for the national championship. Director Alleva made clear that this move was not a punishment for pending allegations that team members deny and that remain unresolved."[/quote]

I think it is a drastic underestimation of Duke to think that they did not orignially suspend them hoping the rape allegations would go away.  It was well documented and well known in the neighborhood that the lax players, especially in that house, were out of control far beyond normal college behavior.  in a neighborhood largely populated by school-related people and bordering crack houses and seriously dangerous blocks, the lax players were known for being particularly bad.  the school never suspended them before for the many violations, but only did so becuase they knew the rape allegations were coming.

[jhib]

[quote 2][quote jhib]
"This past weekend, Duke University's Director of Athletics Joe Alleva decided to forfeit last Saturday's and today's scheduled men's lacrosse games. His decision, which I fully supported, was based on facts team members have acknowledged about their March 13 party. A majority of the team members attended the party, which included underage drinking and the hiring of private party dancers. This conduct was wholly inappropriate to the values of our athletics program and the university. Forfeiting two games was a substantial penalty for a team that hoped to compete for the national championship. Director Alleva made clear that this move was not a punishment for pending allegations that team members deny and that remain unresolved."[/quote]

I think it is a drastic underestimation of Duke to think that they did not orignially suspend them hoping the rape allegations would go away.  It was well documented and well known in the neighborhood that the lax players, especially in that house, were out of control far beyond normal college behavior.  in a neighborhood largely populated by school-related people and bordering crack houses and seriously dangerous blocks, the lax players were known for being particularly bad.  the school never suspended them before for the many violations, but only did so becuase they knew the rape allegations were coming.[/quote]

Sure, but since that was the official reason given at the time, it's just one more reason to think it stinks that they get a whole new season.

And they wouldn't have fired the coach, either.  (oh, sorry, he "retired")
Is he getting his job back now, too?

[billhoward]

Not many of us agree with the NCAA's decision (not me). Whatever the NCAA does, the opposite makes sense just because of the kind of people they are. So here's why, as a practical matter, you could argue that the NCAA, if not doing the exactly right thing, normalized the situation:

-- Duke lacrosse did incur a lost season.
-- The sexual assault thing didn't happen.
-- The boys-out-of-control, hire-strippers, urinate-in-public, act-boorishly situation apparently did.
-- The season got cancelled for a combination of the two situations. Decide for yourself on the ratio. Maybe at the time it appeared to be 50 assault charges / 50 bad behavior.
-- Maybe it should happen, but almost nobody gets a season cancelled just for general bad behavior. Take away the assault charges and the season wouldn't have been cancelled. So the NCAA uncancelled the lost season by allowing one more year of eligibility for the 2007 seniors [edit add: also the 2007 sophomores and juniors].

If there's one person who's the bad guy in all this within Duke, it's the grown-up in charge who should have had more backbone, Duke's president, Richard Broadhead. The lynch mob chanting outside his window may have shaped his thinking in 2006. If Broadhead discovered cojones in 2007, come this spring when Duke wanted to apply for that postgraduate year in lacrosse, Broadhead should have said:

"A year ago, acting on the facts then available to me, I caused the lacrosse season to be cancelled. Since then, the most serious charges turned out to be untrue and were a distortion of the legal process. To the three wrongly accused players, I apologize. What remains, however, is a record of misconduct and behavior unsuitable for those who represent Duke on one of her most public of stages, the playing field. The players, the coaches, the athletics department, and ultimately I am responsible for too long tolerating this behavior. To underscore that point, I have denied the request of the athletics department to effectively reinstate the 2006 season by allowing 2007's graduating seniors to participate in a fifth year of Duke lacrosse. We intend to compete at the highest levels of college lacrosse and we will do it honorably."

[Chris '03]

[quote billhoward]. So the NCAA uncancelled the lost season by allowing one more year of eligibility for the 2007 seniors.
[/quote]

Bill, the classes of '07, '08 and '09 ALL got an extra year. It's more than just an issue for next year.

[jtwcornell91]

Hey, so hypothetically, if a Duke sophomore had suffered a season-ending injury in the Cornell game last year, he would not have qualified for a medical redshirt.  But would he get the extra year of eligibility after the season was cancelled?

[BillCharlton]

Yes. All current sophomores, juniors, and seniors get an extra year.