Gophers players to boycott Bowl Game

[tinselwolverine]

true, true.

also, that guy said in another video on the same tape he watched, two other football guys were doing the same volleyball girl, and they put a pizza box on her back and started eating pizza at the same time they were doing her.

Man, those football guys...

I gotta confess, the pizza is a pretty cool touch...

 

[everyoneneedsasmil]

So according to the players, they were boycotting because they felt the suspended teammates weren't give due process. Given that no legal action was actually taken, that's not an unreasonable position (the suspensions were handed down after the legal case closed). From that initial standpoint, I actually feel for the players a bit, as they could easily feel targeted as primarily black athletes getting the run around for the university to save face.

However, the actual report basically shows that the suspended players really did commit assault. Now, that's not the same thing as saying it can be proved conclusively in court (very different standards for conviction), which is the real reason that the police department didn't file charges. It wasn't that the police thought the players were innocent, it's simply that they wouldn't have been able to prove guilt.

Once the rest of the team got ahold of the report, they immediately ceased the boycott. This is both a story and a non-story. The boycott was, it seems, done in good faith that an injustice was happening - exacerbated by the university failing to provide the details of their own investigation that led to the suspensions. That part, ultimately, is the non-story. Players look dumb in retrospect, but did make the best choices given the information they had.

The real story here is that 1) Police are unable to convict anyone even when "the preponderance of the evidence" shows an assault was committed and 2) the university (which clearly believes the players DID commit an assault) basically just slapped them on the wrist. 1 is tragic, but based on a system of innocence that is at least designed to protect more people than it harms. 2 is just complete bullshit. The university report lays out that these kids committed assault, but all they get is a suspension? The evidence is so clear even their die-hard teammates completely reversed course from reading it. Why are these kids not kicked off the team? This isn't petty theft that you can say, "well, they really learned from this and we are trying to help them be better people." This is sexual assult, a crime based on power and entitlement, and the university is basically just enabling these players by keeping them on the team. The real bad guys, as seems to be the recurring theme, are the university higher ups that care more about protecting their brand than protecting their students.

 

[Michchamp]

whaddya know... Minnesota somehow pulls off a big upset and wins their bowl.