Thursday, December 15, 2011
I am proud of the hockey team from my alma mater Boston University. Not just because they beat Cornell and silenced Cornell’s obnoxious and sophomoric fans when Meg and I were there, and not just because they have risen to ninth place in the polls. I am proud of how the university and coach handled a problem in a manner much differently than how similar matters have been handled at other schools.
The New York Times yesterday had this brief:
Corey Trivino, a Boston University center and the leading goal scorer in the Hockey East conference, was thrown off the team by Coach Jack Parker after he was arrested Sunday on charges of indecent assault and battery. . . witnesses described an intoxicated Trivino breaking into the room of a female student and trying to kiss and grope her.
The more complete article describes in essence a burglary and sexual assault.
Contrast this with the University of Nebraska. According to journalist Jeff Benedict: “In 1995 and 1996, the University of Nebraska won consecutive football championships with a starting lineup that included players charged with sexual assault, theft, assault and unlawfully firing a gun at an unoccupied vehicle. One reserve player had been indicted for attempted murder.”
One hopes that the culture, even at Nebraska, has changed in 15 years, but still, I think BU’s actions are exemplary and unusual. In light of the protection of Jeff Sandusky, even to the extent of committing perjury by members of the Penn State administration, the immediate removal of a drunken sex offender from the hockey team is worthy of admiration. Let’s hope this results in the loss of his scholarship and expulsion from school.
Protection of athletes has been common policy for years. My friend Noel Blum prosecuted a high school football player charged with sexual assault and the entire football team would come to court in their letterman jackets as a sign of support. The victim, of course, was harassed to the point of having to transfer, while the defendant got to graduate with his class, and go on to play in college. I imagine the poor victim at BU is suffering much the same problem.
Hockey at BU is equal on campus to football at Nebraska. BU is a large school but with modest athletic aspirations, aside from hockey. Football is a distant memory, and the basketball team occasionally finds a way to win its conference only to become fodder for a Duke or Kentucky in the first round of the tournament. You know how no number 16 seed has ever beaten a number one seed?
But there is a proud history in hockey. I arrived in the fall of 1972 following back-to-back national championships. In my four years we won three league championships, and should have won at least one national title. (Watch the movie Miracle for an explanation.) They have won three national championships since I left, the most recent in 2009.
Can you imagine a top football program handling a similar matter the same way? Of course, hockey does not generate the interest or income of football, but that is more indictment of college sports than defense of Nebraska’s action. Like Lehman Brothers, football is too big to fail, and football players too big to punish. At least the NFL and big city prosecutors often are not cowed—ask Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress. Even Ben Roethlisburger was suspended, if not prosecuted.
I do think the Penn State scandal has forced a re-examination of college sports. People are disgusted. Of course, no one has been convicted of anything yet. We all know how difficult child sex assault charges are to prove in the most routine case. Those victims should be grateful he waived his preliminary hearing, their cross-examinations will be brutal, I imagine. But at least the public perception has caused college administrators to look in the mirror. Penn State will suffer from their ineptitude, and worse, in the Sandusky affair. BU, on the other hand, should gain. Parents can be sure the school takes allegation of sexual assault, even those committed by high-profile athletes, seriously.
The New York Times yesterday had this brief:
Corey Trivino, a Boston University center and the leading goal scorer in the Hockey East conference, was thrown off the team by Coach Jack Parker after he was arrested Sunday on charges of indecent assault and battery. . . witnesses described an intoxicated Trivino breaking into the room of a female student and trying to kiss and grope her.
The more complete article describes in essence a burglary and sexual assault.
Contrast this with the University of Nebraska. According to journalist Jeff Benedict: “In 1995 and 1996, the University of Nebraska won consecutive football championships with a starting lineup that included players charged with sexual assault, theft, assault and unlawfully firing a gun at an unoccupied vehicle. One reserve player had been indicted for attempted murder.”
One hopes that the culture, even at Nebraska, has changed in 15 years, but still, I think BU’s actions are exemplary and unusual. In light of the protection of Jeff Sandusky, even to the extent of committing perjury by members of the Penn State administration, the immediate removal of a drunken sex offender from the hockey team is worthy of admiration. Let’s hope this results in the loss of his scholarship and expulsion from school.
Protection of athletes has been common policy for years. My friend Noel Blum prosecuted a high school football player charged with sexual assault and the entire football team would come to court in their letterman jackets as a sign of support. The victim, of course, was harassed to the point of having to transfer, while the defendant got to graduate with his class, and go on to play in college. I imagine the poor victim at BU is suffering much the same problem.
Hockey at BU is equal on campus to football at Nebraska. BU is a large school but with modest athletic aspirations, aside from hockey. Football is a distant memory, and the basketball team occasionally finds a way to win its conference only to become fodder for a Duke or Kentucky in the first round of the tournament. You know how no number 16 seed has ever beaten a number one seed?
But there is a proud history in hockey. I arrived in the fall of 1972 following back-to-back national championships. In my four years we won three league championships, and should have won at least one national title. (Watch the movie Miracle for an explanation.) They have won three national championships since I left, the most recent in 2009.
Can you imagine a top football program handling a similar matter the same way? Of course, hockey does not generate the interest or income of football, but that is more indictment of college sports than defense of Nebraska’s action. Like Lehman Brothers, football is too big to fail, and football players too big to punish. At least the NFL and big city prosecutors often are not cowed—ask Michael Vick and Plaxico Burress. Even Ben Roethlisburger was suspended, if not prosecuted.
I do think the Penn State scandal has forced a re-examination of college sports. People are disgusted. Of course, no one has been convicted of anything yet. We all know how difficult child sex assault charges are to prove in the most routine case. Those victims should be grateful he waived his preliminary hearing, their cross-examinations will be brutal, I imagine. But at least the public perception has caused college administrators to look in the mirror. Penn State will suffer from their ineptitude, and worse, in the Sandusky affair. BU, on the other hand, should gain. Parents can be sure the school takes allegation of sexual assault, even those committed by high-profile athletes, seriously.
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