Stoneburner and Mewhort have athletic scholarships removed.
ESPN.com is reporting that Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort have had their athletic scholarships removed after being charged with obstruction of official police business. They pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of disorderly conduct. Urban Meyer has stated that they will have a chance to "earn" their scholarships back after the summer. My question is simple... Is this a real punishment? Or, is this a "Hey, as long as you don't do anything else dumb you'll be in uniform game one." type of situation. Link: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8059261/coach-urban-meyer-removes-scholarships-two-ohio-state-buckeyes
Definitely only temporarily, they'll be on the active roster after the Summer term. They will apparently will have to pay out-of-pocket for this term, likely six credit hours. That should leave them with a bill around $1500 each, Ohio has to be around $250 a credit hour. Highly doubt they can register unless that bill is paid. If strings have to be pulled then they will be. Expect them on the field for the first game.
don't give away the final exam questions
Last I checked OSU is on a quarter system, which means the summer counts as a full quarter. Tuition for a quarter is $3000, unless they are taking less than full-time hours in which case you'd be correct.
I'm just not entirely sure that a ~$1500 estimate is accurate.
Also, I don't view the monetary payment as the most serious consequence, at least not in the long run. Stoneburner and Mewhort won't be able to practice with their teammates throughout the whole summer. This is especially detrimental to Stoneburner since a new offense is being installed and he needs as many snaps as possible with Braxton to develop chemistry.
The final quarter at OSU ended 2 weeks ago. There is a shortened session beginning this week, and semesters will begin in August.
They are switching to semesters beginning in August.
"Had their scholarships removed" isn't the same as "had their keys to the athletic complex confiscated".
This seems a bit extreme for public urination/disorderly conduct. College kids make some stupid decisions sometimes--this seems pretty benign, as these things go. I'd be surprised if they don't earn their way back on the team and into their scholarships. And rightly so.
This has the added benefit of making Urban look like he's serious about discipline (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
He's notorious for playing favorites on his teams...
This sounds a lot worse than it is. While it is a punishment and I commend Meyer...I know he also has a motive behind the punishment and it has nothing to do with the players in questions.
Also, what if these guys decide not to take a full summer course load? What if they're ahead in credits anyway and this just puts them "back" with their regular class? And in the end, they both come from reasonably (or better) well-off families. It's nothing the parents can't take care of.
This punishment would refute the favoritism argument because these are two upperclassmen leaders about whom Urban speaks very highly, and Stoneburner would tend to be considered one of his "favorites".
when your public urination "interferes with official police business."
Disturbing visual, that.
Surely someone has a lawn that needs cutting for the bargain basement price of $200.
Meyer was known for having criminals at Florida, so I think this is a thinly veiled effort to make people think he's serious about discipline. The kids will probably get their scholarships back, but hey...Brady Hoke did a similar thing to Darryl Stonum (whose punishment was more serious because he was a repeat offender), and Stonum ended up screwing up again and getting booted.
I say kudos to Meyer for trying to scare the kids straight.
The difference between the Stonum situation and this is that Hoke was trying to teach him a lesson without throwing him to the curb. He was suspended for the season but had the opportunity to come back if he showed improvement. Obviously his crime was a lot worse but this is obviously a ploy to make Meyer look "tough" when they really aren't going to miss any games, workouts, etc. They lose (according to the person above) $1500, at most, which can easily be paid for by parents or the money they get here and there from "jobs" and charity events.
I'm pretty sure Stonum never lost his scholarship. Just wasn't "on" the team during that period
So, for guys who did a lesser crime and aren't repeat offenders, they're essentially getting fined $1,500. Yeah, I know the situations are different (season vs. offseason, etc.), but as someone else said, we would be totally in support of Brady Hoke and proclaiming his stern disciplinarian role if this were Michigan.
Of course they will be back. Meyer used to coach in the SEC fergodsakes!
Better pray to God of skinny punks.
"They can work out at the team's facility but not with their fellow teammates during the summer."
To me, that means that the chances of them being able to make a relatively seamless transition back to being scholarship athletes is pretty high, so this definitely seems like a temporary move.
Nonetheless, discipline, even if during a part of the year when a move such as this seems a bit disingenuous (given the history of Meyer and discipline), is discipline and I will give Meyer a little credit for trying to impress upon these kids that the scholarship is a privilige that can be removed (or at least giving people the impression that this is the idea).
Does this also mean they have to pay for school until re-instated?
That strikes me as a real, and perhaps overly-harsh punishment for peeing outside.
I think it's the flee not the pee that is causing the harshness of the penalty. Based on legal language, I'd be hard pressed to find a guy who hasn't urinated in public, however I am acquainted with very few gents who have attempted to flee a police officer.
Maybe Meyer decided that if they can't even outrun a police officer, they aren't fast enough to be on his team.
I urinate in public about 2 or 3 times a week. It's probably one of my favorite things to do.
"I am acquainted with very few gents who have attempted to flee a police officer."
Spoke like a man who never had AAPD raid a house party.
Point taken, still, I can't ever remember fleeing police in their endeavor of breaking up a party. Most party's I went to were keggers; No reason to futily attempt to evade anyone on such occasions.
I blame lack of effort, top end speed.
"Based on legal language, I'd be hard pressed to find a guy who hasn't urinated in public..."
Wait, what's the legal definition of "urinating in public?" Does it differ from, you know, just "urinating in public?"
Confession time; I don't know the precise legal definition of UIP, but a couple of buddy's of mine were ticketed for said offense behind a 7-11 in Romulus. For them, it was hilarious and embarrassing at the same time. Lotsa snickers in the court room.
Yeah. Same- when I was visiting Michigan as a 17 year old, I got a UIP from DPS. I was really embarassed; I'd grown up in the middle of nowhwere and actually didn't think it was a crime as long as you weren't exposing yourself, etc. Obviously, I was an idiot.
Yeah, the legal term is "Public Urination." It's a pretty important difference.
I dislike OSU but Stoneburner has given his all for the team and for him to even have the threat (even if it's a weak threat) to lose his scholarship over something like this is stupid. I'd understand if he had a DUI or was caught with an AK47 (like clarett) but for peeing on a wall? This doesn't make me respect Urban Meyer, I hate him even more.
Urban will NEVER be allowed into MY Circle of Trust!
After they were in jail, Mewhort wanted to call Meyer and tell him about the situation. Stoneburner tried to stop Mewhort because Meyer would be pissed. That went on until Mewhort asked a very astute question: "Do you really want him to find out from someone else?"
It turns out there was a video camera with audio recording them. The tape was released to the media.
I'm guessing Urban isn't happy that one of his senior leaders was recorded encouraging players to hide things from him.
If given the same circumstances, Hoke did the same thing, I'd think it was a good move. And in my hypothetical, if the players earned their scholarships back, I'd be happy about the situation overall. Meyer seems to be sending a message, but not being overly harsh for what seems, from the outside, a relatively minor incident compared to much that goes on. I'll give Meyer credit on this one. I hope that he cleans up the program (I'll believe it when I see it, but this looks, again--from the outside, like a positive first step). People like to talk about the respect that each team has for the other in this rivalry, but it's been difficult to have much respect for Ohio or its fan base. I, for one, would like to have a reason to give them more respect, and to also feel like we're competing on a level playing field (forgive the cliche).
They are lucky they aren't on the sex offender's list for this.
Wait, did your friend just stand in the aisle, whip it out, and just start peeing straight down the stairs in the middle of a game? That has to be one of the boldest public urination stories I have ever heard.