Cal Sports Update
An update on previously reported sports stories:
Leon Powe was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 2nd round (49th pick) of the NBA Draft last Wednesday, then traded immediately to the Boston Celtics. At one point, Powe was predicted to be a 1st round pick, but many have expressed their doubts that he is ready to perform at the NBA level. Also, Boston is far from being a contender team, and Powe’s prospects of immediate success may be slim.
Meanwhile, the Cal Football program continues to reel from the Steve Levy fiasco. The length of Levy’s suspension from the team is not yet definite, but it will extend through at least Cal’s opener against Tennessee on September 2. Additionally, many news sources are criticizing Jeff Tedford for not keeping his players in line.
Tedford surely hated this, at least the third time in 19 months he has addressed a matter involving his players and police. The February 2005 arrests of defensive back Bernard Hicks and wide receiver Robert Jordan followed by two months the arrest of tight end David Gray.
Then there were the team members who were said to be in a dispute with Meleia Willis-Starbuck shortly before she was shot and killed last year, allegedly by a friend she had summoned for assistance.
The charges against Hicks, Jordan and Gray were minor enough to be dropped in some cases, reduced in others. The same very likely will happen with Levy.
Which is not to suggest these incidents are irrelevant to the student-athletes, the victims or, more to the point, the coach who recruited them.
The Levy matter is the latest incident involving a football player that reflects on Cal in a way that brings a measure of shame to alumni who once made shame-avoidance a very high priority.
While I agree that Cal Football cannot continue to have these sorts of PR disasters, it’s also important to remember the fact that Levy has not been convicted of anything yet. There are major discrepancies between witness accounts (duh, it was a barfight) and the case won’t even go to trial until late July. No one will deny that there is a double standard with athletes, but it goes both ways. They may be less likely to get in trouble, but once in trouble, they often find themselves guilty until proven innocent.
it is also important to remember that these athletes are ADULTS. whatever shit they pull is their own doing and if there is anyone besides them to blame, it is the people who raised them until this point. Tedford cannot be expected to be a babysitter year round. It is already too late in life to teach many of these boys how to be responsible men. At least he has them decently controlled on the field and does a good job at keeping their grades at a decent level.
Comment by Anonymous — July 2, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
If you actually read the article in the Merc, you would know that they are praising Tedford for not being a pro. They refer to being a pro as a coach allowing a pitcher to pitch a night after he assaulted his wife. Tedford did the right thing by punishing Levy, now stop being an asshole and support the best football coach at Cal in 40 years.
Comment by anon — July 2, 2006 @ 4:23 pm