coverage of Gholston

Submitted by Jasper on

This is among the first explicit mentions of William Gholston's thuggery that I've seen in the mainstream press:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/stewart_mandel/10/16/titl…

Most of the writers in the Tom Dienhart class, if they've bothered to mention Will at all, have highlighted the Lewan punch and classified it with the Sparty "toughness."

The SI link leads to (ARRRGGHHH!) Deadspin:

http://deadspin.com/5850235/lets-watch-michigan-states-william-gholston…

Lousy site, but it gets lots of traffic.

More mainstream coverage here ( http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/24156338/32731364 ) with a mention of a "famed" referee's Twitter post ( https://twitter.com/#!/MikePereira/status/125280533742764032 ).

Raoul

October 17th, 2011 at 8:21 AM ^

Adam Jacobi, the CBSSports blogger you linked, also posted this in his Big Ten Winners and Losers column:

LOSER: Mark Dantonio's reputation as a disciplinarian. It seems like every season, fans are treated to anecdotes about what a great coach Mark Dantonio is, and how high his standards of player discipline are. "Zero tolerance" are his words, not ours. And it also seems like every season, there's an instance of Dantonio basically punting on discipline with his star players, like with Chris L. Rucker rejoining the team immediately after serving an 8-day jail sentence, or B.J. Cunningham taking part in a massive brawl on campus and missing one game as a result.



With that in mind, then, it's really not surprising to see star DE Will Gholston allowed to stay in a game after he punched Michigan OL Taylor Lewan (who, to be fair, had been holding Gholston's head on the ground earlier in the play). It was Gholston's second personal foul of the afternoon, with the first being a combination of a late hit and a face mask on Denard Robinson. The Big Ten may very well intervene and keep Gholston out for next week's game against Wisconsin, but the fact that Dantonio kept Gholston in the game after both incidents speaks far, far louder than Dantonio's claims of "zero tolerance."

Also, John Taylor of NBC Sports in his The Fifth Quarter column for the week named Gholston one of his losers:

Have a seat, Mr. Gholston

During the span of roughly a quarter, Michigan State’s William Gholston was called for two personal fouls — one for a late hit that was actually the defensive lineman twisting the face mask and thus the head and neck of Denard Robinson and the other for throwing a punch at a Michigan offensive lineman.  If the Big Ten has any testicles whatsoever, Gholston will be serving a one-game suspension when the Spartans take the field against Wisconsin next Saturday.  I’m all for aggressiveness, but the sophomore defensive end flagrantly crossed the line — twice — and deserves to sit the next one out.

Wendyk5

October 17th, 2011 at 8:31 AM ^

I like the first quote below. William Gholston is a thug and a criminal, but Dantonio is worse. If anyone deserves to sit a game, it's him and his Tony Soprano defensive coordinator. 

ijohnb

October 17th, 2011 at 8:51 AM ^

press that pisses me off more than the national press.  Local media is sooooooo pro-State, so much so that it is not even recognized anymore.  Kind of like if you watch MSNBC for so long to the exclusion of everything else you believe the world to be exactly as you see it on that channel..  In the local media, the Gholston incident on Denard will not be recognized as what it was, it will be brushed aside and glazed over, any mention of it will end up in discussions of Michigan "whining."  Michigan State can do no wrong, not in the eyes of the local media.  Gholston's attempted murder will be mentioned, but it will amazingly not result in any change in perception regarding Michigan State.   Everything in the local media, particularly local radio, has a Spartan slant, at times in very manipulative ways.

Strange thing about it is, of everybody in the local media, Valenti will likely be the hardest person on Gholston.  I expect Valenti to say that he should be suspended.  (And he will be, patience...)

bacon

October 17th, 2011 at 8:49 AM ^

Let it go guys. MSU will get what's coming to them from a team coached by a guy that actually knows how to teach his guys to play dirty. We'll worry about state again next year.

Wolvie3758

October 17th, 2011 at 9:08 AM ^

2 years ago Delaney went out of his way to go after  a M player who threw a punch including suspending him and making a example of him...MSUs Gholston???NOTHING...SILENCE from Delaney the Hypocrite

asquared

October 17th, 2011 at 9:17 AM ^

It's only Monday morning, relax. The B10 will usually give the school a day or two to make a decision on there own. If they do not act,then the B10 would then decide whether to step in. If it's going to hapopen it will be tomorrow or later today at the earliest

Mitch Cumstein

October 17th, 2011 at 9:25 AM ^

Here is the question I have.  If the b10 is going to suspend Gholston, do you think they'll let Dantonio know and give him the chance to do it first pretending like its him being a strict coach? 

Also, I'd honestly like to see Narduzzi get a small fine for the quote after the game.  Not that its a huge deal, but that really isn't a good way to represent the conference.  That , along with the fact that its hard for me to believe they weren't coached to target Denard late.

Bando Calrissian

October 17th, 2011 at 9:48 AM ^

It's interesting that one of the constant mini-themes going through John U. Bacon's Three and Out is the fact that Mark Dantonio goes out of his way over and over and over again to be a complete asshole.  It's rather shocking, and I can't wait for everyone else to read about it.  That's the single thing that stuck out to me watching this game on Saturday having read the book.  It's all completely in character for Dantonio.  

Cue the Sparty fans bringing up Bo.  Yet Bo never unleashed his goons with "60 minutes of unnecessary roughness."

justingoblue

October 17th, 2011 at 10:16 AM ^

I just want to know how many times Wisconsin will be watching that hit on Denard this week. I have a feeling that Beilema is telling them to make sure that doesn't happen to Wilson, by any means necessary. That OL will eat Gholston for breakfast, and now they have warning about his play, too.

bryemye

October 17th, 2011 at 11:19 AM ^

That O-Line will be up for a fight and I agree that Bielema will order that kid's season ended if it comes to it.

It won't, of course, because they reserve special thuggery for their uber-rivarly game (the rest of their thuggery is reserved for the game of sparty vs. success in life).

Number 7

October 17th, 2011 at 10:29 AM ^

I will be outraged if Gholston is suspended for 1 game.  It needs to be 2 games.  Both the punch against Lewan and the thuggery on Denard were suspension-worthy.  He'd better be suspended for two games -- otherwise the message is "commit one suspension-worthy act, get a blank check for the rest of the game."

cw51

October 17th, 2011 at 11:30 AM ^

Shouldn't he get an additional game for the arm bar that injured Lewan early in the game? I think that point needs to considered to cement the argument that his intent was to injure. Maybe that wasn't WG. Still, more evidence, as if any is needed.