Minnesota players threaten bowl boycott over suspended teammates
Minnesota's football team is threatening a boycott of the Holiday Bowl over the suspension of 10 teammates from a sexual assault investigation. No charges were filed, but the school's Title IX committee recommended that 5 of the players be expelled and 5 receive one-year suspensions.
I thought we would eventually see players boycott a game, but I always thought it would be for a better reason.
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-football-players-plan-to-threaten-boycott-of-bowl-game/406928136/
EDIT #1: This article has the best overview of the allegations & timeline that I've seen posted:
http://www.startribune.com/gophers-football-players-plan-to-threaten-boycott-of-bowl-game/406928136/
EDIT #2: The boycott is now official. The players have made a statement with video:
http://deadspin.com/report-minnesota-football-players-plan-to-boycott-bowl-1790167029
December 16th, 2016 at 7:40 AM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 3:19 PM ^
- Contrary to what feminists claim, much more damage is done to a man’s reputation, and indeed to his life, when he his accused of rape than to a woman who reports rape.
December 18th, 2016 at 10:28 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 8:43 PM ^
Who saw the video are all saying it was clearly consensual. The video came out and she was embarrassed and said stuff like, "I would never do that with black guys". Now in the video she is yelling "give it to me" multple times and "I can handle the whole team" and other stuff that clearly shows consent. The reason why there were no charges on illegally filming was because in the film one of the players asks are you ok to be on film and she says "yes". Now a few days later it gets out and she says they took advantage of her because she had been drinking.
I think the boycotting players have a point.
December 15th, 2016 at 11:24 PM ^
Where are you getting that info from? I'm highly suspicious. Because although I think there are problems with these cases, a video in which the girl explicitly says it's OK and loves it seems like a no-brainer for letting these guys off.
December 16th, 2016 at 12:07 AM ^
Haha the classic white racist female who secretly loves black men.
The worst scum.
December 16th, 2016 at 1:16 AM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 9:15 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 9:16 PM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 9:30 PM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 8:31 AM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 9:33 PM ^
Why does Minnesota have to be my second favorite team...
December 16th, 2016 at 8:06 AM ^
for me to give them the nod at number two #3 #4 #5. It will be at least 5 years so I know everyone of these kids are either dropped or graduated before I even consider liking that team.
December 15th, 2016 at 9:43 PM ^
Guilty until proven innocent. In today's political climate, an accusation is an assumption of guilt.
December 15th, 2016 at 11:04 PM ^
That's making a huge assumption...
... but in this day of Nancy Graces and of how Duke Lacrosse was treated, you have a point. The point just doesn't show a lot of compassion for the victims.
December 16th, 2016 at 3:56 PM ^
Process.
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December 15th, 2016 at 9:45 PM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 1:19 AM ^
December 15th, 2016 at 10:03 PM ^
This is a hard conversation to have without getting into politics.
This is also a huge deal in the college sports world, which this blog is centered around.
When I first saw this, I thought the Minnesota players were crazy. Of all the hills to die on, guys accused of rape? There are so many issues that college athletes get the shaft on that are less controversial.
Yet something is odd here. I've read a couple of the articles about this and it's difficult to determine what exactly is involved, but there were five players initially accused and suspended that did not set this off.
Five more players have been suspended. Did they assault this girl? Did they actively try to intimidate her, as a certain former Michigan OL was alleged to have done? Did they suppress evidence?
If the answer to one of these questions is yes, I could see a suspension being warranted. If the answer to all the questions is "no" or "um, no idea, but they were there" then this protest becomes much more legit.
It is odd that some are being expelled (presumably being found to have committed the crime alleged) and that some are merely being suspended. Why the difference?
From what the players said in their statement, it looks like they don't have all the information, either. So it's possible that they could look really bad if the five extra suspended players were involved in the alleged assault or if they attempted to suppress the crime. But the evidence is not available and these guys are basically being punished when nobody is able to properly address that evidence.
And that may be a hill to die on. I don't know.
This may get worse before it gets better.
December 16th, 2016 at 10:44 AM ^
Well, if they feel like they've been railroaded without any semblance of due process, I can understand their protest.
Many of the posters here make a de facto presumption that rape did occur, in which case any protest makes no sense. But if the players have a reason to think that either a rape didn't occur, or that some of the players were punished without having any involvement in alleged rape, then their actions become more justifiable.
From glancing through these posts many believe a rape happened and all the perps were correctly identified and punished, in which case a boycott is view as incredulous and unjustifiable.
December 15th, 2016 at 10:16 PM ^
Not the type of thing we need to see here. Arm chair sexual assult adjuicating by third parites that are predomenently male. Sports blogs are not the place for this.
December 15th, 2016 at 10:24 PM ^
Maybe some of that stuff, but I'm not seeing a lot of harsh condemnation on either side. So far the political issues have been avoided and it's been a pretty reasonable discussion.
So far. Perhaps your call is a bit premature.
Also, this is a huge issue that deals directly with college athletics. This is surely, at least in part, influenced by events at places like Baylor where the administration got it wrong. And it will reverberate to other schools and teams. Perhaps even ours.
December 15th, 2016 at 11:14 PM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 1:14 AM ^
This is a huge college football story. Some of us have take the conversation a little off-course, but this story & WakeyLeaks are going to be the top college football stories for the next couple days. If it gets deleted, another thread will probably pop up in its place.
Just like when a troll shows up in another thread, I think people are mature enough to filter what discussions they want to have.
December 15th, 2016 at 10:43 PM ^
Thought it was a good one.
December 16th, 2016 at 1:54 AM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 1:26 AM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 7:23 AM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 7:46 AM ^
They do realize that a girl is accusing these players of gang rape which in my experience is not a charge women like to be a part of for many very good reasons. Stay the fuck away from this one boys cause your goin Molly Hatchet flirtin with disaster. As far as I'm concerned if I were an administrator in that school we would tell the bowl officials now because there is still time, Find another team because this one doesn't deserve it. They clearly have some growing up to do and furthermore they are hurting every team in college football for it as well as demeaning some very deserved protests that need a boycott for good reasons.
This could make parents very, very, upset if this school caves in for these children. I personally as a parent would want to pull my daughter out of that school and send her to a University that respects the laws and the punitive arrangements that are given to those breaking the laws of this great country.
December 16th, 2016 at 11:50 AM ^
You do know about the Rolling Stone story, right? And before that, the Duke story? And the dozen or so stories you hear every year about someone well known being accused of sexual assualt, before the charges are either dropped outright, or found unfounded in the court of law.
This is a group finally standing up to slanderous allegations. These types of women have cried wolf enough and someone is calling their bluff.
December 18th, 2016 at 10:38 PM ^
December 16th, 2016 at 8:32 AM ^
you "always thought it would be for a better reason?"
The possibly inappropriate suspension and expulsion of 10 possibly innocent students is not a good reason???
If not, then wtf is a good reason?
I don't know if they are completely innocent or not. But the evidence presented publicly so far suggests it is a strong possibility. They were not charged with any crime after apparently exculpatory video evidence was produced. Yet 5 were suspended and 5 were expelled anyway. That should be extremely troubling to anybody who values fairness and justice.
The university needs to prove that all of these punishments were justified and that all the accused were afforded due process. If it cannot do so, the accused need to be reinstated and all administrators involved should be fired. And the university and administrators should face lawsuits. If the accusations are proven false, the accuser should be criminally prosecuted.
December 16th, 2016 at 9:49 AM ^
I'm glad I'm not a Minnesota football fan. I don't see any way for the football program to survive this with success moving forward unless the AD and President reverse their decision, and doing that would potentially create even more problems well beyond the football program.
Recruiting should be fun, and Tracy Claeys might just be looking for a job in the near future.
December 16th, 2016 at 11:51 AM ^
DEAR MICHIGAN ATHLETES: DON'T DO THIS.
The act/incident itself is the problem here, even if it was consensual. The lesson here is don't do shit like this in the first place. Don't put yourself in a position in which you run the risk of it turning into an ugly accusation later on and/or picking up an STD from one of your teammates. (Also I guess I shouldn't pass judgment on the habits of others but it also seems trashy and gross). And sure as hell - DON'T FILM IT.
It's bad enough we have one school in the Big Ten that is synonymous with rape, we don't need another one. If these Minnesota players turn out to be falling on their sword for 10 teammates who did in fact, rape a girl, that's a black eye that will mar the program for decades. So, Michigan athletes - take note and don't do anything stupid.
December 16th, 2016 at 3:53 PM ^
no due process and his future destroyed. The system needs reform because everyone is running to hang people on nothing more than an accusation. Now don't everyone go and get all offended because I suggest we have due process. That is what separates democratic nations from totalitarian regimes. Embrace it.
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December 16th, 2016 at 6:44 PM ^
One of the players leaked his 80+ page report from the University of Minnesota to KSTP, which they have redacted and made available.
December 16th, 2016 at 7:50 PM ^
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December 16th, 2016 at 8:27 PM ^
I suspect many of them don't. This has all come about because in 2010 the Department of Education, at the behest of the executive branch, threatened to slap schools with Title IX violations and funding cuts if they didn't adopt certain policies. These cases are the result of those policies.
December 17th, 2016 at 6:04 AM ^
December 17th, 2016 at 9:34 AM ^
Everyone loses in this scenario. The cause is just and unjust at the same time. The method is blackmail by the team, which isn't the best political method of going about your business. The situation that brought this on is ugly. Duke had a similar situation but I believe their players did a better and smarter job of handling the situation. Crossing new grounds here. Interesting story. I believe this will blow up in everyones face. Nobody wins.
December 17th, 2016 at 2:24 PM ^
Looks like the players have backtracked on most or all of their demands, and they will play in the game minus the 10 suspended players.
December 18th, 2016 at 10:40 PM ^
You might want to read it before making a heartfelt plea for "men's rights" based on this case.