Rittenberg on Gholston
http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/36066/no-word-on-possible-gholston-discipline
My quick take: Gholston should be suspended for this week's game against Wisconsin. His conduct in both cases is completely unacceptable. If Michigan State doesn't step in, which wouldn't totally shock me, the Big Ten should do so.
I agree that a one game suspension for Wisky would be about right. Love how he says that Dantonio doing nothing wouldn't shock him.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^
Do explain how it was coaching to be penalized 15 yards?
October 17th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^
Here’s a quote from MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi: “That’s what we tried to do, 60 minutes of unnecessary roughness. Just glad it didn’t get called every snap.”
October 17th, 2011 at 7:18 PM ^
Well, if that is the case, I stand corrected. Thank you for the quote.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^
Didn't a MSU coach actually say they wanted to play 60 minutes of unnecessary roughness and hoped they all wouldn't get called?
October 17th, 2011 at 7:36 PM ^
Narduzzi, the D(bag) coordinator
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/campusrivalry/post/2011/10/mich…
October 17th, 2011 at 7:39 PM ^
Yep. Pat Narduzzi the DC.
October 17th, 2011 at 11:53 PM ^
Guido...just for fun?
October 17th, 2011 at 7:14 PM ^
with teaching kids to hate.
No respect is ever deserved for people who teach that.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:08 PM ^
Not becuase Rittenberg is wrong; he's totally right about Gholston.
But Rittenberg doesn't even mention Marcus Rush.
It is as if Gholston's crime spree is going to overshadow Marcus Rus's intentional injury of Denard Robinnson, allowing Rush to get off the hook. I just hope that we didn't use any racial epithets that made Marcus Rush go crazy. Filthy upper middle class Caucasian prep school product...
October 17th, 2011 at 7:10 PM ^
If you look at the video of the play before the Rush penalty, you can see Denard's lips call him "Honkey".
October 17th, 2011 at 9:46 PM ^
if you're serious or not, but that made me laugh.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:23 PM ^
FWIW Tony Gerdeman from Ozone agrees with you:
October 18th, 2011 at 1:12 AM ^
it might not be in the best interest of our ivory tower of class and sportsmanship to bring attention to that incident. Roundtree threw Adams to the ground after the whistle and what looks to be intentionally gave a stomp on his helmet. It seems like Adams did not like that.
October 18th, 2011 at 9:03 AM ^
That's a very colorful interpretation of a pancake block by a WR. IIRC, it was Gallon, not Roundtree.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
but no one has ever seen the utter disregard for a defenseless player's well being by an intentional cranking on the helmet in an attempt to cause injury. Odds are that a punch with all the equipment on is not going to cause severe damage. The helmet twisting is far, far worse than the punch.
I would also add that the attempt to break Lewan's arm should also be included. If it were me - regardless of the player or the team, the minimum would be a 3 game suspension.
Go Blue!
October 17th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
"If Michigan State doesn't step in, which wouldn't totally shock me..."
Sadly it wouldn't shock anyone else either, Adam.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:27 PM ^
Agreed. Dantonio won't do a damn thing. I'm not holding my breath.
Remember a certain tsio LB choking a Wisconsin QB? Yeah Dantonio was tsio's DC at the time. So the thug behavior is nothing new.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:41 PM ^
It is an awkward sentence by Rittenberg; I tend toward thinking that Adam means to say that he won't be surprised if Dantonio imposes the suspension himself.
Because there's no way that Gholston is going to escape a suspension. None. Zero chance. Suspension for sure.
And the clever --and utterly disingenuous -- thing for Dantonio to do would be to make it look like he somehow disapproves of what Gholston did.
I am actuallly worried, that Dantonio will self-impose a suspension on Gholston. And expect that that would make all the rest go away.
I want that guy who hurt Denard. I want him suspended.
SUSPEND MARCUS RUSH.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
But he said: "If Michigan State does not step in, which would not totally shock me, the Big Ten should step in". I think the common reading is definitely correct, IIRC Rittenberg has been very critical of MSU in seasons past for their terrible discipline.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^
MSU has just announced a Press conference on Tuesday to address "the Gholston situation" according to Lansing tv and print sources.
"The Gholston situation." Which might confine it to Gholston. I really don't like where this is going. The somber Dantonio; saying he reviewed film; now saying he needs to take action to preserve the fine integrity of his program; what a fine young man Gholston is; how he is learning from this experience.
Fucking barf.
Delany -- You better fucking suspend Marcus Rush.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^
Again, I agree about Rush and how bad things were, and with Gholston. I do think Rittenberg was deliberate with his words, however.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:58 PM ^
And instead Delany lays down the punishment on both Gholston and Rush. One game each, this Saturday. Consistent with Mouton, Reckman and Kurt Coleman.
October 17th, 2011 at 11:51 PM ^
Dantonio self-imposed a 1 game suspension for Gholston at 4:59 on Wednesday, and the B1G announced a 2 game suspension at 5:00 (plus Rush and Narducci).
October 17th, 2011 at 7:16 PM ^
I dont see how his punch and twist are not two games.
Personally, I dont really see the big deal about a punch when your opponent is fully padded. Should be 15 yards - that's it.
The head twist to me was an entirely different story. It was not a "football play," and it was calculated to, and could have caused a very serious injury.
It alone should be worth a suspension of at least two games, but I would suspend him for 3 or 4.
They should suspend him for next week and for the game against M next year.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:19 PM ^
I don't think a punch is very dangerous either. However, I think the Big Ten would rather not have a B1G player punching some other guy on a football field on SportsCenter. It's really, really unsportsmanlike. Fifteen yards and an ejection should be a fair penalty, but the conference already set precedent with Mouton and they damn well better follow it.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:26 PM ^
For some reason I get the feeling this punk would never consider punching Lewan if he wasn't surrounded by 100,000 people to step in and break up the fight.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^
*76,000.
Fixed it for ya.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:16 PM ^
Gholston is not that much smaller than Lewan.
That aggression is deep rooted. Nothing that he might do off the field would surprise me.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:31 PM ^
More like 76,000.
Edit: Beaten to the punch.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:21 PM ^
I wouldn't be surprised if he were suspended for their game following Wisconsin, ala a page out of tOSU and Tressel's book with his guys, Tat Gate and the Sugar Bowl.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:17 PM ^
If it was a page out of Tressel's book, wouldn't he plead their case to let them play their most important game next and then sit out some games next season when it doesn't matter?
October 17th, 2011 at 7:21 PM ^
I think either one would be a game. so I would think 1 game for Rush and 2 games for Gholston.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:25 PM ^
Think about this: if Denard had been injured on the helmet twist, would Gholston/MSU/Dantonio be under fire?
Absolutely.
I mean, can you IMAGINE if Gholston had actually hurt Denard on that play?
He should be disciplined as if he did because that was the intent. Plain and simple. In my mind, Gholston should not be allowed on a football field again. I would feel the same way if he played for UM. That action was disgusting adn there's no call for it. Ever.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:28 PM ^
I'd bet a lot of money that the twist would have gotten anyone kicked off of the Michigan football team, and Hoke would probably require an essay on "How I Hurt My Former Teammates" in exchange for a transfer release.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:55 PM ^
I mean, can you IMAGINE if Gholston had actually hurt Denard on that play?
MARCUS RUSH REALLY DID INJURE DENARD! WE DON'T NEED TO WONDER MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED IF DENARD HAD BEEN INJURED!
October 17th, 2011 at 7:32 PM ^
Rittenberg is right on. Rivalry games can get chippy, but Gholston took it to another level. Gholston on 3 separate occasions deliberately tried to injure a UofM player. It is sad that some MSU fans try to excuse this.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:37 PM ^
Hahaha, everyone in the national media is ripping Gholston. He is going to have to live with the label as a dirty player and will ALWAYS be compared to Vernon and how he was a complete lazy ass bust in the NFL. At this point, he will be suspended because of the 24 hour news cycle. With how much press this is getting, if the Big Ten doesn't do something, the entire conference looks bad, especially Delany. MSU COULD save face and suspend him, but we'll see. There are some mind games going on between Big Ten offices outside Chicago and East Lansing. Other options are Gholston beating the shit of someone at an MSU Dorm and going to jail for the weekend, getting a DUI and going to jail, or stealing computers from Detroit Public Schools and getting arrested. All are very possible..
October 17th, 2011 at 7:38 PM ^
The problem is when you play for MSU, those later scenarios don't result in missing any game time
October 17th, 2011 at 7:52 PM ^
I want his "unnecessary roughness" quote on Sportscenter every hour for at least a day.
That's the real story here: not just some hothead losing his mind on the field, but players being directed by their coaches to go after an opposing player, repeatedly, outside the rules and after the whistle.
October 17th, 2011 at 11:10 PM ^
Cannot agree more. We have to fix the problem, not patch up.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:44 PM ^
A 1-game suspension is standard for throwing punches that aren't especially dangerous. Gholston went way out of his way to deliberately injure opposing players, which is far worse.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:46 PM ^
A punch should be an automatic 1 game suspension.
The facemask thing...that should be ANOTHER 1 game suspension, at least.
Douchetonio is not going to do anything, we already know that. The Big 10 has to step in..and they have a history of doing so. We should know by Friday.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:47 PM ^
Suspend Gholston if you want to, or even Rush as well. It won't actually change anything. I don't really think either of those kids are naturally evil or dirty players, I think they're getting all of that from their coaches. They promote and encourage this type of behavior, of course the kids are going to act that way. Someone said that after Rush injured Denard, the coaches and players were high fiving him on the sidelines. Suspending these kids just tries to cure the symptoms while the real problem goes unchecked and it will keep happening over and over until someone steps in, which doesn't seem likely. Suspend Dantonio and Narduzzi for a month and don't do anything to the kids Get the point across that this type of behavior is not acceptable from the coaches, and the players will stop doing these things.
However, the media has painted the narrative that Dantonio is a saint and is just trying to help these troubled kids out, so nothing will happen. There might be a suspension for a player or two, but it'll be one game and after that everyone will just forget about it.
October 17th, 2011 at 7:49 PM ^
Again, I hate bringing other sports into this, but there should be a limit on personal fouls before the coach is automatically ejected/suspended. Whether or not six is a good number, I don't know.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:02 PM ^
but more than just Dantonio are to blame; see nardizzi.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:05 PM ^
But it would act as a deterrent. Dantonio doesn't want to be suspended for 2-3 games a season, thus he (in theory) won't let Narduzzi coach the way he currently does.
And if he does, eff him, suspend Narduzzi as well if he's acting head coach and the same thing happens.
October 17th, 2011 at 8:00 PM ^
If I understand the rules correctly that Ritternberg transcribed, Michigan State has 3 BUSINESS DAYS to submit their findings/stance on the matter. That's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. The Big 10 then must rule on the matter within 3 BUSINESS DAYS. Thursday, Friday, MONDAY.
Anyone wanna take bets MSU submits their report at 4:59PM on Wednesday?
October 17th, 2011 at 8:09 PM ^
I actually want him in the Wiscy game. I don't want to hear, after they lose, that their team wasn't in tact and so it wasn't a legitimate win. I also want Wiscy to manhandle him, but that's my own private Idaho.
October 18th, 2011 at 9:32 AM ^
Let him play Wisconsin, which they lose regardless, then suspend him for the road trip to Nebraska, making that an eminently loseable game as well. If they lose those two, it puts us back in the Legends driver's seat.