Fire and Smoke from the South
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 10:47 AM PST
148 comments
For the past year we have been writing that there are some serious cracks (quacks?) in the foundation of the Oregon Athletic department. If you are a Duck fan the typical response is what cracks? We won the Pac 10, went to the Rose Bowl, and are the hands down favorite to do it next year too.
Oregon fans can also point to a recruiting class that is every bit as good as anyone's in the Pac 10. They also might mention that six year winning streak they have going over the Huskies. So the educated Oregon fan is more than entitled to ask what exactly are these crazy Husky fans talking about?
The coaching change was more difficult than you would think. The Boise State game was a good example of that. Oregon also wasn't impressive during the first quarter of the season and a lot of us were starting to write them off. Chip Kelly did a marvelous job pulling his team together and by mid season Oregon was one of the best teams in the country and they proved it with crushing wins over California, and USC.
Even with that success the cracks in the foundation of the program were still there. They started to erupt again after Christmas when several Duck players including QB Jeremiah Masoli were accused of burglarizing a frat house. They erupted again when a kicker was nearly beaten to death by another student. Another player on the squad than beat up another student in supposed retaliation.
What we have been hearing this week is the Masoli case is now being examined by a Grand Jury in Eugene. Nobody is quite sure if there is enough evidence to charge him with anything but Oregon insiders are very nervous because they know he was involved even if there isn't enough evidence to prosecute.
The latest incident happened this past weekend when star TB LaMichael James was jailed because of a domestic violence complaint. James has been charged with assault-4, which is a misdemeanor that carries a potential one-year prison term, as well as strangulation and menacing.
By itself, James' arrest is just another another notch to Oregon's month of hell: In a little more than three weeks, the Ducks have seen their star quarterback and another player implicated by witnesses (though not charged) in a campus robbery; their starting kicker badly beaten and later charged with assaulting a girl in a massive brawl that apparently included another kicker, prompting a vigilante response by yet another teammate; and now their All-American running back is booked on a sinister-sounding count of domestic violence. All three backups and scout-teamers in that sextet have already been shuffled off the roster. As for the starters, the respective fates of RB La Michael James and QB Jeremiah Masoli are still pending at the moment. From Yahoo
It is one thing to lose some kickers and backups but it is an entirely different thing to lose the glue that guided the team to a Rose Bowl.
Chip Kelly's swift suspension of LeGarrette Blount after the Boise State incident showed that the Oregon Athletic Department knows how to perform damage control when the Pac 10 and the NCAA demands it. The decision to suspend Blount was made with serious pressure from the Pac 10 office and the NCAA.
The current incidents while just as hideous have the advantage of not being played out on national television. Since James is in jail right now his future is in serious doubt. Masoli on the other hand just has to keep quiet and isten to his attorney and hope that the evidence doesn't pile up enough so charges are filed.
The big picture illustrates that Oregon has lost control of the discipline of its student athletes. Any Husky fan will tell you that the erosion of discipline is hard to reverse and is usually the harbringer of bigger problems inside the department that inevitably leads to the fall of the program.
Chip Kelly and Mike Bellotti have some serious challenges ahead of them in keeping this program on the right track. The decisions that were made early this fall and the superior performance of a football team that could have easily fallen apart are impressive. Oregon needs to follow that up this spring by cleaning house and putting the discipline back into the behavior of their football players. If they don't accomplish that they could be in for a serious fall in the not too distant future.
(Editors Note: I Forgot to put the italics around the quote from Yahoo with the appropiate link. Apologies to Matt Hinton over at Yahoo.)
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I don't think so...
These are civil/legal matters so they have to wait for due process to play out in the legal system.
He was a major player in the suspension of Blount. He basically forced Oregon’s hand in that one. Difference is it happened on the field and he can make the call in that situation.
The thing to keep en eye on is the NCAA. When they see smoke and fire they usually decide to take a closer look to see what is going on inside of the program. Continuous incidents like this are indications of a lack of institutional control. While they can’t censor the school for most of the players off the field problems they can come to the conclusion that they need to audit the Oregon Athletic Department to see if there is any funny business going on.
As we have seen with Washington, Oklahoma, USC etc… things like this are signs that something is amiss with the administration.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 10:58 AM PST up reply actions
Well the good thing is...
…anything that causes the NCAA to take a long look at Eugene is good.
Disicpline? Accountability?
Blount should have been out the whole year. That was not an acceptable way of dealing with it. He didn’t miss anything of meaning. It was like Aaron Brooks not being forced to attend the Washington game a few years ago.
Not like the Utah Jazz... it's about REAL jazz. Go Dawgs, Go Blazers, Go Tarheels!
Where there is smoke, there IS fire.
I’m surprised the Oregon faithful haven’t blown up this thread yet . . . . . . just wait, there coming.
"Legends are made on the shores of Lake Washington"
"BOW DOWN TO WASHINGTON"
They’ll tell you these are just isolated incidents, no convictions yet, the program is fine, blah blah blah…
Kirk
We used to say the same thing at Montlake.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 2:21 PM PST up reply actions
Yep, hence the “blah blah blah” part of my response. There’s an issue in Eugene whether our Duck friends want to admit it or not. Maybe it’s just a few bad apples blowing up in a very public way, maybe it’s a lot more systemic of a problem – but there’s a problem, and it’s threatening to derail what could be a very strong season for the Ducks in 2010.
Is denial a river in Egypt or is it in Eugene?
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 5:14 PM PST up reply actions
What can they honestly say?
They have some problems that they need to deal with pronto or it is really going to get out of hand. Of course the argument can be made that it is already aout of hand…that was a bad month.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 12:23 PM PST up reply actions
“Several Duck players including QB Jeremiah Masoli were accused of burglarizing a frat house. They erupted again when a kicker was nearly beaten to death by another student. Another player on the squad than beat up another student in supposed retaliation. TB LaMichael James was jailed because of a domestic violence complaint. James has been charged with assault-4, which is a misdemeanor that carries a potential one-year prison term, as well as strangulation and menacing.”
“They’ll tell you these are just isolated incidents, no convictions yet, the program is fine, blah blah blah…”
You gotta be fricking kidding.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 12:21 PM PST reply actions
Great Point
The violence in Eugene that has been actually encouraged by the Athletic Department has gone on way too long.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 12:44 PM PST up reply actions
So first Portland has the Jail Blazers,
and now Oregon has the Jail Birds. :P
by Mind of no mind on Feb 17, 2010 1:28 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
How about we stick to football?
Just sayin…
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 2:09 PM PST up reply actions
my bad, its a day that needed a distraction :-)
I smell varmint poontang. The only kind of good varmint poontang is dead varmint poontang
Addicted to Quack
I can understand...
I heard rumors that there was something going on but figured it applied to Masoli…when I read the info on LaMichael James it floored me…who would expect something like that to happen.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 2:19 PM PST up reply actions
Roy was a husky – see not everyone is perfect
I smell varmint poontang. The only kind of good varmint poontang is dead varmint poontang
Addicted to Quack
Deleted Posts
I had to delete some posts today that had to do with the question of possible steroid use by the Oregon football program and the correlation that it was one of the factors that was causing the string of violence which erupted this past month.
I hate to delete posts…especially when they are made by long term members but posting something like that when there isn’t a shred of evidence to support it is not going to fly on this blog.
As a poster remarked in one of the strings…if a member of the media or a blogger wrote an article based on that theory without any substantiation they could be opening themselves up for legal action.
Another reason for deleting it is the Oregon guys are going to be over here here sooner or later as that poster is very well aware of and the fur will fly as usual. Every once in awhile we throw a barb Oregon’s way for fun but the inuendo of possible steroid use isn’t fun…it is simply over the boundary.
Thanks for understanding.
No Problem, I apologize...it was made for a point for Reference and Discussion, Not Mayhem
That is interesting on Masoli though. I thought charges had been dropped.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 2:25 PM PST reply actions
For fun, I feel obligated to post the EDSBS piece
More distrubing news on LaMichael James
It is not the first arrest for James, a 20-year-old from Texarkana, Texas, who was a redshirt freshman in the 2009 season. James was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct and third-degree battery in June 2008, just prior to arriving in Eugene.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/02/oregon_football_lamichael_jame.html
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 2:45 PM PST reply actions
Not to downplay, but read the rest
Those charges, stemming from a fight involving rival high schools, were dismissed in July of 2009.
Rival HS junk that never stuck.
It gives a history of James for the Prosecutor to use against James...even if the charges have beeb dropped.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 3:16 PM PST up reply actions
"Remember! This is the same guy who had dismissed charges of fighting!"
Hmmm… doesn’t have a very good ring to it.
This explains why programs in the Big 12 took a pass on James
When players come with baggage, most prominant schools will take a pass. This explains why the Longhorns, Aggies, and Sooners took a pass. Keep recruiting nationally Oregon, we all know what sort of players you’re going after.
All I saw was purple
....or he was an under the radar kid
Seriously, this thing happened well after LOI day. He held offers from quite a few other schools but wasn’t a highly rated kid.
that's right...
- is pretty high up though, considering alot of schools take two. I wonder why he got slept on…must be the size.
Weird formatting
Size seems to be it. He did hold big 12 offers from Nebraska and Baylor. Seems like being 5’9 didn’t help his case much with some.
He is built for Oregon's system with his speed..
he can beat nearly anyone to the edge on the read option.
Meanwhile he is sitting in jail isn't he?
I think the integrity of the kid turned off a lot of folks. Why would a Texas kid leave the region to play at Oregon? Sure he fits the ducks offense like a glove. But wouldn’t he want to stay closer to home?
I think he had questionable character flaws from the get-go, just like Masoli. If you recruit questionable charcter, you’re going to have questionable character on your football team.
Example: WSU recruited a LB from the state of Florida that has questionable character who was a 5 star athlete.
All I saw was purple
Think about this....
None of these character issues occurred until after HS and after recruitment.
All recruitments are different and some kids don’t want to play close to home, either.
I don't buy it
Now I realize kids do dumb things now and then, but this LaMichaels kid has had two incidents with the law. One incident is making a bad decision, but when a kid finds himself into multiple situations then it becomes a character flaw. It might just be bad judgement. But bad judgement can get you in a heap of trouble FAST. I think this kid has a problem with bad judgement and that is a character flaw. So if you recruit kids that display bad judgement, then you’d better be ready to deal with it and if you recruit a bunch of kids with bad judgement then you might find yourself in Chip Kelly’s shoes. A kid can learn, but he can’t be forced to learn, he’s got to want to learn. Blount learned this the hard way and it should’ve been much harder!
All I am saying is that if you recruit kids w/ baggage you’d better be willing to deal with it.
All I saw was purple
youre still missing it
Off field issues had nothing to do with his recruitment. That arrest happened well after lois were in
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 8:18 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
On paper
But how many incidents was he involved in that were dismissed? Do you know? Do I know? Hell, nobody really knows. A kid might have a troubled youth and it might not show up on paper because the courts dismiss it do to his age. Once you become an adult at the age of 18 it becomes part of your rap sheet.
I don’t know James and I don’t pretend to. But considering the thought of him being involved with 2 domestic violence issues in the last 2 years, it tells me that he “might” have a problem dealing with his emotions, might have an anger management issue, or simply has a troubled past that is now surfacing.
I’m not convicting James nor Chip Kelly and Mike Bellotti. I’m merely saying that if your recruit kids that have questionable character, then you’d better be prepared to deal with them.
All I saw was purple
One issue
The issue after hs sounds like a rival hs brawl and nowhere near what may or may not have just happened.
You just cannot make assumptions about a kids character and what was known about it after the fact having not been involved in his recruitment
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 9:09 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
cougfan - arrests are not usually the "first incident" when it comes to kids
… if he had character issues, its a pretty good bet they mainfested themselves long before LOI day.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Your missing it too
Cougfan is right, there was no arrest record (at least one available) before he signed his LOI at UO. Saying that Belotti knew he had character issues isn’t true (at least it can’t be proven). The incident with the rival HS was after he signed and the recruiting process was over. Crazi was implying (or it least that’s how I took it) that Belotti should have seen this coming.
Juvinile arrest records are sealed if I’m not mistaken, so it’s not like if he got in trouble when he was 13 that Belotti would have been able to find out.
The point is that he might have had them, but this is clearly not an incident where Oregon is targeting iffy-character guys on purpose.
Its also tough to say what was known about character
Making assumptions after the fact is easy, but unless you were recruiting the kid or you knew him in high school, you can’t assume they had character issues. Again, projecting how a 17 year old kid will be on and off the field is much like throwing darts at a board. You just don’t know how it’s going to turn out.
Vilify the staff for not handling discipline while the kids are in the program if you want, but you can’t show that the staff knew about any character issues during recruitment.
When coaches are recruiting kids, they usually ask around about the kid to see what issues there might be. That generally comes from the high school coach(es) and connected alums and former teammates. Coaches usually have some idea of the character of a kid before they get to campus.
That said, stuff can happen out of the blue too. I have no idea what was known about James prior to him signing with Oregon. But if he did have some issues, it’s highly likely Bellotti knew about them.
And I agree
But for us to sit here at home and assume that Bellotti or Kelly knew isn’t right. We can’t show proof either way. The coaches may have done their due diligence and found nothing, but we, not being involved, don’t know that either way.
Oh, I totally agree. I’m just disputing the idea that Bellotti couldn’t have known of any possible issues about James during his recruitment because the rumble he was in didn’t happen until after he’d signed his letter of intent. If there was anything else in his background that was in question, it’s highly likely Oregon’s coaches knew about it.
I did alot of really stupid things in High School
that would have had me labeled as “questionable character”, maybe not to the extent of abusing Women, but none the less some bad things. Nobody knew I did these things, except my closest friends who did them with me. Coaches/Teachers/Parents/insert Mentor here never knew.
I’m a pretty charming individual who gets alot done at the office with my schmoozing abilities. I guess I just know first hand how easy it is to make people believe something.
Never underestimate the power of denial.
Sure, not saying they’ll know everything about a kid. And not saying that you can do some bad stuff and manage to keep it well hidden. But let’s be clear – most kids that have questionable character traits have done enough things that their H.S. coaches and/or connected people in the community would know about them, and that info would be available to college coaches recruiting them if they ask.
Not saying that James was a known problem kid in H.S. – just talking in general terms here.
Why would a Texas kid leave the region to play at Oregon?
Ask Lache Seatrunk…my family is from Eguene (well, thurston) and it’s really not a terrible area, especially juxtaposed next to Texas.
Some kids just want to leave (see: Austin Sefarian-Jenkins)
He is sitting in jail, but I’m not disputing character issues. I’m saying that the fact is that he had no record prior to signing with Oregon. To say that Big-12 teams knew this would happen is beyond speculation.
Agree in part
But most kids that leave the region are seeking big time programs. How many kids in the last 30 years and beyond have we lost in-state kids to Michigan, Notre Dame, and USC?
It’s not because they merely want to leave the state. Kids are looking at schools that fit them academically, socially, and spiritually. If a football recruit has a future as an engineer, then he might look at the most prominant engineering schools that also have a great football program. But most of them aren’t leaving just to leave. Their motive is much much more then that.
All I saw was purple
Oregon is a big time program
And these kinds of running backs and athletes go there to showcase themselves. They see a kid like stewart or dixon in that offense and it sells them. Not to mention the facilties and such
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 8:26 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
NO it's NOT
Oregon is a regional program. Ohh … they’ll tell you they are bigtime, but bigtime programs win big bowl games. Check their history in Rose Bowl games. And how much winning tradition do they have? All their winning traditon dates back to this freakin decade.
In a nutshell the Oregon football program is a trend. Schools that have a tradition in winning football is considered “big time” i.e. MIchigan, Alabama, Notre Dame, USC, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Washington, Nebraska, Penn State, LSU, Texas, Florida State, and Miami. Oregon is just the flavor of the month (decade). We don’t know if it has shelf life.
If you think Oregon is big time then you are a lot younger then I originally thought!
All I saw was purple
Recruits go to the hot team
Oregon has the hot team. Recruits don’t care 50 years ago. These days its what have you done for me lately. When Oregon is on national TV and run an athlete friendly system where kids can use it as a stepping stone for the league, recruits take notice.
So yes, as it is currently, they are a player all over.
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 8:44 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Fellas ... I understand all that
But bigtime is in a class all itself. Do you think Oregon would be able to pull off a top 15 class coming off a TW 0-12 season like Washington did?
That right there is an example of a “big time” program. When you can bring in a top 15 class like we did after an 0-12 season then you have “big time” status. If Oregon fell off the map and went winless, they’d be off the map for … well probably for about 2 or 3 decades. We on the other hand can go winnless and within a fiscal year bring in a top 15 class.
Oregon is the flavor of the month. Sure they’re hot now, but does it have shelf life?
All I saw was purple
My point was
That at this moment, right now, they’re a player. It says nothing about their past or future but right now they are
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 8:59 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Of course not...
they’re also in Eugene, while we’re in Seattle. If they start winning titles before that shelf life expires then they’ll be around for a long time.
Then at that point...
You could label them as “big time”.
Oregon has carved a nice little niche for themselves. They became very maket savvy, spent Phil’s money wisely. and booted Moos out of the AD.
Question: Why did UO push Moos out of the AD? Phil wanted to run the show from his Nike office. Moos was in the way of Phil/Duck progress. Phil needed a “yes man”, so they pushed Moos out and Phil lobbied hard to bring in his personal yes man confidont Mike Bellotti. With Moos out of the way, Phil runs the show thru Bellotti’s voice.
All I saw was purple
Oregon is the flavor of the month. Sure they’re hot now, but does it have shelf life?
I think you mean flavor of the decade, and “big time” programs aren’t built overnight.
I smell varmint poontang. The only kind of good varmint poontang is dead varmint poontang
Addicted to Quack
Define "big time"
because under most definitions, Oregon is not one of them.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
ACADEMIC
Losing prospects to those three doesn’t bother me as the are usually self centered glory seeking immature 18 year olds.
It’s the ones we lose to STANFORD that hurt.
Agree
When you lose a kid to Stanford you are usually losing a pretty good kid.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 18, 2010 10:40 AM PST up reply actions
It's just so tough to compete with them recruiting wise
If a kid has the ability to get in to Stanford, and the interest from Stanford is there, you might as well kiss him goodbye most of the time.
Example: WSU recruited a LB from the state of Florida that has questionable character who was a 5 star athlete.
Apples to oranges my friend…apples to oranges.
Agreed, much different case
The kid we recruited was a last second recruit who has been out a year after being a non-qual academically and had off field issues as well. We took a flier on him because we have to at times at WSU. If nothing else, the staff (with some help from Devard Darling) did quite a bit of due diligence on him.
Exactly...
they know what they’re getting into. He’s on the market because of academics. If he slips up he’s probably gone, but he could be great both on and off the field.
Why was he out for a year?
Maybe it has something to do he had no place to go.
All I saw was purple
Saying that the program has lost control of it's athletes is ridiculous.
What could the program have done to stop this? It’s about a person’s character, not the damn athletic department.
LaMichael to you, THE Michael to me....I have a man-crush on the Maehlman.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Feb 17, 2010 3:31 PM PST reply actions
We aren’t talking about one persons character…we are talking about a significant amount of problems in the past month and that isn’t even bringing up Blount who was in an out of trouble during most of his stay at Oregon.
I just wouldn’t write it off as a bunch of isolated incidents…seems like a trend that has gotten out of hand and needs to be nipped in the bud for the good of the program.
I am not trying to be anti-Oregon here at all….just asying you need to get a grip by kicking the problems off the team and out of school in addition to laying down the law to those who stay.
The sad thing if you are a Duck fan is there is actually more to come.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 3:40 PM PST up reply actions
How can you say that there’s more to come? Do you know this? Blount paid his dues. He lost the vast majority of his senior year. He’s a changed man. EVERYONE speaks highly of his character. He was pissed because we got our asses kicked. Hout made a remark (racial or otherwise), and tempers boiled over.
I hate when people blame athletic departments for the misconduct of their players. You can harp on people ALL you want about how to act, but a person is going to do what their character and emotions direct them to. That’s all I’m saying.
LaMichael to you, THE Michael to me....I have a man-crush on the Maehlman.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Feb 17, 2010 3:47 PM PST up reply actions
Maybe you should talk to your Associate AD about his character.
As a fan you make a lot of assumptions and hope for the best. When you are closer to the source you realize things are seldom what they appear.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 5:17 PM PST up reply actions
I think you have to look at the recruits Oregon is recruiting
Seems to me that Oregon is in this mess, because of the type of recruits they are bringing in. Some (not all) have a criminal rap sheet. If you recruit kids with dysfuntional characteristics, then your going to have dysfuntional characters in your program.
All I saw was purple
you answered your own question
If you recruit questionable character and then fail to manage those people closely, that is the same as losing control of your program.
First rule of crisis management (just ask Toyota) is that the first issue is never the last issue. Oregon needs to take action. And I’m not talking about two sets of rules where, on one hand, reserve WR’s and DE’s get dismissed while, on the other, stars get their issues swept under rugs. They need to root out the big issues otherwise no parent is going to want to send their kids there.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
by Gekko Mojo on Feb 17, 2010 4:29 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
the "program" and the "athletic department" have a huge influence on determining
the type of “character” that is recruited to represent your university. they are the face of your team.
and yeah it can and did happen here in the late ’90’s into the neuweasel era. look where we’ve been until last year.
this reflects on the conference and i hope that if there is an incident like this here, we show a better example of there being consequences for actions that reflect poorly on “the program” than what is going on down south.
yeah guys will be guys and we fight and rumble sometimes, part of growing up, but violence against women whether provoked or not is a serious character flaw.
what is the matter with those idiots down there?!?
So, if CK would have said:
“Hey, LaMichael, remember not to beat on your girlfriend!”, this wouldn’t have happened. Coaches are coaches, not babysitters. How would the athletic department know that he would allegedly do something like this when he was recruited? Like it or not, nothing is going to come of the Masoli incident. The incident with Beard and Bowlin was ridiculous, yes, but 3 or 4 kids in the program don’t represent the whole character of the program. They represent themselves as individuals. Like I said, coaches are coaches. Not parents, not babysitters.
I have a man-crush on the Maehlman.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Feb 17, 2010 3:59 PM PST up reply actions
And coaches are much like parents
Parents give their kids to coaches expecting them to mold them in to men. The coaches are responsible for the kids while the kids are at school.
All of our schools have had some bad parenting bouts at one time or another, as well.
The question is less about what they should’ve done differently in recruiting James as to what will they do as punishment for what he did? What example are they going to set for the rest of their athletes? Does the star player get special treatment, or do they come down hard on him?
And yeah, it’s not likely anything will come out of the Masoli incident, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it. And I’d bet people in the athletic department have a pretty good idea if he was involved or not, so the question (again) is what will they do in response?
Also worth noting that neither one of these guys had pristine records before they enrolled at Oregon…
The kid already had a history of assault and anger management problems when he was recruited.
You can make all the excuses you want but the facts are they took a chance on this kid despite his past history and now he is in trouble again.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 5:19 PM PST up reply actions
Really? A minor fight between high school football rivals that ended up being nothing are "assault and anger management problems"?
I have a man-crush on the Maehlman.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Feb 17, 2010 5:28 PM PST up reply actions
Clearly he did not manage his anger very well if he was involved in a fight
We’ve been through this here. For all of Willingham’s faults as a coach, he did run a clean program. He kept a tidy shop, almost to the point of excess. Do you really think if somebody like Willingham took over last year that all of these incidents would have happend? I beg to differ.
I think you tend to dismiss his behavior because he is a valuable player. I mean if he hit your kid or strnagled your daughter maybe you would feel differently about him. Take football out of the equation and look at the individual…he has some problems.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 5:58 PM PST up reply actions
In fairness
that incident did happen after his LOI came in, so he didn’t have this history during the process. Still though, it’s something that I’m sure Chip knew about and still decided to play him.
He redshirted
So who knows what kind of punishment came with it. This was one of Belotti’s recruits, as well.
That's right
I forgot he redshirted. They had two very quality and healthy backs his Fr season though, so maybe it was just overlooked.
He was going to redshirt either way, I bet
That backfield was stacked with JJ and Blount. Any discipline feasibly could’ve happened during that RS year, though (Besides the usual 5 AM lifting sessions, etc).
Come to think of it
Damn, redshirting sucks. Except for the whole being able to go to school for free thing
The Athletic Deptment...
…the coaches etc. set the tone. The Athletes follow…if it is not delt with properly then it is the fault of the athletic dept. and coaches. If you deal with the bad characters strong enough the rest get the message. If you recruit questionable characters you run the risk of these kind of issues. That is up to the coaches and athletic deptment. That is why they ultimitley get blamed.
Oregon football: LaMichael James will wear ankle bracelet
Oregon running back LaMichael James, in Lane County Jail on domestic violence charges, is expected to be released late today or Thursday but will have to wear an ankle bracelet for electronic surveillance.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/02/oregon_football_lamichael_jame_2.html
WOW..they are afraid this kid was going to run
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 5:38 PM PST reply actions
LOL
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 5:40 PM PST up reply actions
C'mon
It is common practice for him to wear the ankle bracelet…it has nothing to do with him being a threat to run.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 5:59 PM PST up reply actions
It is not common for the accussed to be wearing a ankle bracelet in Domestic Violence Issues...
A No Contact Order is put in place and court date is set. When the next court reconvenes it is up to the court and the Plantiff whether the No Contact order is Permanent.
In James case it is diiferent. He has 5 charges he is facing, has prior history of violence and bail is set $100,00.00.
Now that is common in this case.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 6:26 PM PST reply actions
Sure it is
It’s common for someone out on bail on house arrest to have a bracelet. In fact it’s mandatory
Not where I work
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 6:37 PM PST reply actions
Do you work in the courts, then?
Because in lieu of having to pay bail, courts may release a defendant pre-trail with an ankle bracelet. Additionally, most bail bonds companies will also make their clients wear a GPS ankle bracelet.
The bail was also $40,000 which is common.
You’re grasping at straws here. Yes it is serious, but none of these measures are extraordinary.
Deuling Links!
Oregon Live reported $100,000 bail.
http://blog.oregonlive.com/behindducksbeat/2010/02/oregon_football_lamichael_jame_1.html
"Anytime, Anyplace"
"Life is hard, it's harder if you're stupid." - John Wayne
Mandatory Arrest
The law requires a police officer responding to an incident of domestic violence to make an arrest if the officer has probable cause to believe that a domestic violence assault or other serious domestic violence offense was committed within the previous four hours.
If the officer determines that family or household members have assaulted each other, the officer will arrest only the person he or she believes to be the primary aggressor. State law also requires mandatory arrest for violations of No Contact Orders and Civil Protection Orders.
A person arrested for a domestic violence offense will usually be held in jail until he/she appears before a judge, usually the following day. The Court may require a defendant charged with domestic violence to sign a No Contact Order as a condition for release from jail prior to trial.
Prior to arraigning domestic violence defendants, Court probation counselors attempt to contact victims to determine whether they wish a No Contact Order to be issued. Probation staff in the jail can also determine whether or not a defendant has been released from jail. Victims may contact the probation counselors by telephone at (206) 386-1543.
http://www.seattle.gov/courts/prob/dvprob.htm#mand
This is how it works in Seattle.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 6:49 PM PST reply actions
what does that have to do with ankle bracelets?
Look; it makes me as happy as any UW fan to see the signs of Oregon’s football program crumbling. But to sensationalize this is overboard. This is a 19/20 year old kid, who’s going to get dealt with. In no way should it be glorified because it’s the rivals star player.
I live for UW sports, and I can tell you do as well. However, some of the things you say are out of line. Even if the bail is 100k, or he has to wear a tracking bracelet, that is not out of the realm of ordinary. Alot of things you say are bordering on hateful, towards somebody that has not been convicted of anything.
P.S. Please use the reply button, it makes things 10x easier to navigate.
Where have I said anything hateful. I just reporting fact not gossip.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 8:17 PM PST up reply actions
I'll back bdd999
I’m not sensing hate in his post. He is offering credible information pertaining to the story on James. Sensationalism? I would imagine that almost everything in the blogosphere is sensationalized to some extent. I’m sure if you go over to addicted to quack or cougcentral you’d find the same exact sensationalized blogs. We’re not trying to incriminate James or distort the truth on his behalf, – he did all that by himself. All we’re doing is discussing it. Down Goes Ducks!
All I saw was purple
Subjects like
“Oregon football: LaMichael James still in jail, will face 5 charges….WOW "
“More disturbing news on LaMichael James”
That is sensationalism. He also made steroid allegations and mentioned that he was a flight risk (which was debunked by his post from the sherrifs office reguarding bails). I’m just saying that throwing things out and seeing what sticks is not appropriate at this stage. Once facts come out (besides the fact he was arrested in a dispute in which someone has to go to jail) then we can demonize this guy for actually doing something.
I agree with John’s original idea of the post that the infastructure that is UO football is starting to crack. Instead this turned into a digital lynch mob. And as much as I’m into anything bad for UO, I’m even more into level-headedness.
I think you are reading way too much into all of this
Maybe bdd999 is just happy as hell to see more bad publicity coming out of Eugene. Again, nobody on this blog is attempting to incrimate James. The courts will decide his civil punishment, if any. Furthermore the Oregon Athletic Dept. will decide his football-playing fate at the UO.
But I can’t see what all the fuss is about. I for one believe Oregon has been recruiting kids with questionable character for some time now and it’s finally catching up to them. I’m not the judge nor the jurry, I’ll let courts will decide.
All I saw was purple
Give examples of kids not named Masoli who had pre Oregon character issues
Back up your statements
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 8:50 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Well that's a no brainer...
Does LaGarrett Blount come to mind?
All I saw was purple
Blount had many well documented issues pre-Oregon ...
… but I’m not going on a link hunt for you.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
I'm not seeing them
And the point is this: making assumptions about kids and what was known by all the schools recruiting them is unfair. Us sitting here on the sidelines judging a kids character and saying the people who recruited them had to have known isn’t right. Unless we were personally involved in the recruitment, who are we to say what is and isn’t known about these kids.
It’s hard enough trying to predict how a 17 year old kid will perform on the field, try doing the same off the field.
The big problem at Oregon is entitlement and special privleges which sets the football team apart from the general student population. That type of environment yields the attitude that we are better and more important than everyone else its. We can do what every we want because we are special.
When you build that type of culture it is easy to see how the system can be abused and how difficult it is for the powers that be to maintain order and discipline.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 18, 2010 10:39 AM PST up reply actions
Bingo
They get a ton of things handed to them. Look at the facilities, the academic center, the blinged out macbooks they get to check out. Before they even hit the field they are afforded quite a few privileges. Is it fair that athletes get these kinds of things while other students don’t? Maybe not, but Joe Student isn’t bringing in the athletic department millions of dollars.
You may not be able to predict what a kid can do, but you can instill discipline and make them earn what they are given. That, in my opinion, is where many programs, including my own on many occasions, have gone wrong.
I agree whole heartedly
that is the root of the problem. Poor character and personality issues are never good, but that is not what’s going to be the downfall of Oregon. Especially if Kelly/Belotti can’t see things coming.
I think that’s what Cougfan and I are trying to say, these kids obviously have character issues, but a few people in here are unfairly saying that they had them all along and/or the recruiters knew about these and overlooked them.
"/>
I agree that they have...
but James is not one of them. He may have had tendancies, but he didn’t show signs of them until after he had already signed.
Like I said before ...
… an arrest is usually not the first sign of trouble for a kid. Its usually one of the last.
Damn, my eyeball tastes good.
Con-men can be the most charming people you'll ever meet
that’s why they are able to con so succesfully, they can get close to people and earn undue trust. It’s easy for me to put on a “good kid” face when Coach X comes to town and then go out and be a piece of crap. These coaches don’t get that close to these kids when they have 100+ offers out and 100+ kids to keep in touch with on a weekly basis.
Obviously strangling a woman (allegedly) is something that doesn’t just manifest itself one day. But saying that it’s the Coaches responsibilty to see through what these kids give them to work with might be unfair.
Crazi
Your a little late to the party Crazi….you haven’t seen the half dozen or so posts I have had to delete.
You would think the guy would get the point that we aren’t going in that direction on this issue.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 17, 2010 8:55 PM PST up reply actions
Fare enough
But I still don’t see what all the fus is about. Bdd999 is not going to preside over the LaMichael James case. The courts are going to decide his civil punishment. I just think bdd999 is just having a little fun with it. I don’t think it is meant to be hateful in any form of the imagination. He’s just having a little fun with the negative publicity stemming from Eugene. We’ve had our share of misery around our program for a few years now, while Oregon has been boasting about their current winning trends. I think it’s okay to vent a little hostility towards Oregon now and then and I firmly believe that is all bdd999 is doing. I think we all do it from time to time.
Now I realize this is a kid (James), but he made his mess, he is a public figure in the spot light of things. If he is going to be wreckless, endager his image and reputation out in society then the public opinion will have it’s day with it. It goes with the territory of being a public figure. If we didn’t respond then we’d be no different then a bunch of robots or live under a communist dictatorship.
All I saw was purple
That's fair
I don’t mind poking fun at the guy for, if nothing else getting himself involved with a crazy woman and getting into a terrible situation. It just seemed like more than one person in here was about to crucify the kid because he’s a duck who may have commited a crime.
THX...crazi, couldn't have said it any better.
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 9:51 PM PST up reply actions
Does the Chipper call a team meeting for Oregon Football Players???
Time for a team meeting. Time to tell them, hey fellas, everyone has a clean slate today. But the next one of you who embarrasses the university, I don’t care if you’re all-Pac 10 or a scout teamer, hand in your playbook. You’re finished here. Any questions? Though I don’t know how much more clear I have to be. Got it?
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 9:49 PM PST reply actions
Much better
I think anyone can agree with this
by cougfan on Feb 17, 2010 9:53 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Heck Cougfan...I haven't even started on the Cougs yet...lol
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 17, 2010 9:55 PM PST up reply actions
I think they have had more than a few team meetings. As Ted Miller says the volume just keeps increasing with each progressive meeting.
by John Berkowitz on Feb 18, 2010 6:30 AM PST up reply actions
Oregon needs to follow that up this spring by cleaning house and putting the discipline back into the behavior of their football players.
But they won’t. Oregon has just experienced a small taste of what it’s like to have USC-type success and they want it bad. Not Oregon-bashing because I think it’s very bad for the Pac-10 but Oregon is gonna fall.
Also, this is exactly why I fought against the “win-at-any costs” Husky fans that came out of the woodwork during Willingham’s tenure. The Huskies need to make sure that Discipline and Character are never again traded for Wins and Bowl Games. It turns your whole program into a house of cards.
The Huskies can win the right the way, but only if we believe it can be done.
That is the real question. do they dare keep dancing in the gray area with the chance of more fallout?
by John Berkowitz on Feb 18, 2010 6:31 AM PST up reply actions
Dancing With the. Wolves
The Tunnel is Hallowed and Sacred Ground
by bigdawgdaddy999 on Feb 18, 2010 7:51 AM PST up reply actions
ducks are hypocrits.....
so here is a walk-on prolly on the scout team, Simms, who is charged with a misdemeanor assault.
as soon as he is charged he is booted from the team.
we have lamike charged with the same misdemeanor and there is no action.
oh wait this is part of our Heisman duo, the standard is different. when the chipster is trying to get his 9 wins for his 1 million dollar bonus after next year.
what kind of a message does this send to the players?
if you want to be a thug just make sure you’re a starter.
what kind of value based motivation is that?
maybe tennesseequackattack can ask his boarder budding on addicted to quack this simple question.
i swear they think this is typical modus operandi for this team.
just win baby.
wow!
In English, please?
I have a man-crush on the Maehlman.
by TennesseeQuackAttack8 on Feb 18, 2010 6:11 PM PST up reply actions
sorry, misspelled buddies
On m.o. try wiki it refers to your program.
? Means a question. What don’t you get?
There is a double standard when a walkon gets cited and kicked off the team, but lamike gets cited for the same offense and nothing happens. Don’t you think? Please defend your program.
Or just tell me assualt and battery, domestic violence charges are acceptable at your program especially if the team is winning. Because that is what is most important in D-1 football, right?
by PandG on Feb 18, 2010 8:35 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
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