The University of Oregon!After Oregon's opening game against Boise State, one of the Boise State players (Byron Hout) celebrated the victory by shouting at and then tapping the shoulder pad of Oregon player LaGarrette Blount. Before the Boise State coach could pull his player aside to chastise him, Oregon's Blount threw a right hook to Boise State's Hout, knocking him to his knees.
Blount is a senior. He's a 6' 2", 240 pound running back. He rushed for over a thousand yards last year. He also set a school record by scoring 17 touchdowns. Those are great stats. Blount was a huge part of Oregon's offense.
In spite of that, the University of Oregon chose to suspend Blount for the rest of the season, including Bowl games. The Pac-10 supported the decision.
Athletes are not above the rules. Regardless of whether they want to be or not, athletes are role models to our young people. Not to mention, college athletes represent the schools they play for. The University of Oregon recognized that Blount's behavior was well outside of what is acceptable for their student athletes and took swift action to make that point.
Kudos for doing the right thing!
Living in Blue Chip Conference country, I wonder if any of our local principals, coaches, or athletic directors would have made the same decision for their star basketball player. Unfortunately, I doubt it.
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