This lacrosse thing has gone way too far. It's time to act and act strongly.
Cancelling the season and getting rid of the coach isn't enough.
Fire the Athletic Director!
Kill the whole program!
Lock up all 47 lacrosse players!
Throw away the key!
Fire the President of the University!
And don't wait. Don't do it tomorrow. Don't do it this afternoon. Do it right now.
It is about time that someone was made accountable for all of this.
Because we have all been wronged. These players are role models for the community. They must be held to a higher standard than all of the rest of us. Who cares if they haven't even been charged with a crime? Just punish them already.
You know where they do it right? Colorado.
Just two weeks ago, The Rocky Mountain News reported that all but one of the golfers on Colorado's team went to a strip club while the team was on a road trip.
Sure, going to strip clubs is legal and permissible for everyone else in the world, but these are athletes. We can't have athletes running around looking at naked women in their free time. Athletes are role models. Role models don't like naked women.
So you know what Colorado did? They suspended all of the players. Because they're role models, and role models don't look at naked women.
"Within 24 hours of being notified of the incident, we took swift and punitive action and believe this reinforces our zero tolerance for these types of episodes," Colorado AD Mike Bohn said.
Swift. Punitive. Zero tolerance.
It's exactly what Duke needs. Zero tolerance for athlete immorality, whether or not they're breaking the law.
Who cares if hiring a stripper is "legal"? Athletes should be better than that.
Who cares if racial slurs are "legal" and tens of millions of Americans use them every day without punishment? These are athletes, they should be better than the rest of us.
Who cares if suspending an athlete from school for writing a vile e-mail is essentially equivalent to suspending him for the contents of his thoughts? Athletes should be suspended for their impure thoughts.
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Who cares if-in the first weekend of school alone-194 Duke students were charged with crimes similar to the ones 15 lacrosse players have been charged with in the past? Students can do what they want, but athletes are role models. Role models don't even think about tasting alcohol until they're 21.
Who cares if the legal system needs time to operate? Who cares about innocent until proven guilty? We're talking about morality here, not laws. These are athletes-they need to be held to a higher moral standard than we even want to reach ourselves.
And if they (and their coaches, ADs and University presidents) can't hold themselves to that standard, we need to do it for them. Forget treating them like men. Forget offering them the same protection from defamation that everyone else gets.
Let's convict those suckers in our minds right now. Let's call for Joe Alleva's head and Brodhead's head right now if they don't see it our way.
These are athletes. They need to be better than we are. Or they should pay for it.