I want to see SMU administration support Willis

[TacoPony]

I imagine that SMU administration feels they are between a rock and a hard place. they don't want to have a perception that they allow players to get away with "hate crime." So I think they should rally in support of Willis to show that this was not a hate crime. focus on the harrassment angle, show that Willis' response, while not very nice, was not based on discrimination or hate.

it seems Willis is not the kind of guy to go around assaulting gay people...

so SMU administration needs to make a strong statement here, can't leave this as a cloud. must make a PR campaign supporting Willis as a victim, say that 1-game suspension was for getting into a fight, and move forward from there.

we need to get past this, otherwise I'm afraid of a scenario in which what's best for Willis is for him to leave SMU.

is the SMU administration afraid to come out in support of the athlete with an otherwise clean record??

TP

[jtstang]

So the administration should rally around the football player who beat the crap out of the gay guy, and against the gay guy? Good luck with that plan.

The administration should handle this as it does any other allegations of assault between students. And if the investigation uncovers evidence that it was motivated by bias, the punishment should be set accordingly.

[Bergermeister]

baloney.

[Stallion]

SMU has established a procedure of due process. If or once it enters that procedure then SMU should follow that process as required by its own rules. SMU doesn't have to do anything for the Football team any more than SMU has to protect a student claiming to a victim..

[KnuckleStang]

I'd like to see Willis play this Saturday. But I do not understand people who say there was no grounds for suspension in this case. After watching the WFAA video again, it's very clear what happened:

The gay guy had been telling people that he had some sort of a relationship with the QB. The QB doesn’t like this because he is worried it makes people think he is gay, so he beat him up. It's that simple. Certainly grounds for suspension.

Hell, forget the whole assault thing for a second. The kid is out at 1-2 in the morning on a Thursday drinking Budweiser before an important game when team rules clearly state he's supposed to be in bed by 10? WTF? THAT ALONE ought to be grounds for suspension. And not just for Willis.

One more thing and I'll shut up: I assume SMU has some kind of policy that states if the media wants an interview with a player, they have to do it through the athletic dept. And I'm assuming Willis and his dad went behind the school's back in granting this one to WFAA. Or, if they didn't go behind the dept's back, whoever allowed Willis to give the impression he loves Playstation so much he can't put it down for a five minute interview ought to be fired immediately. Turn off the video games, put a tie on, and act like a freaking adult.

I agree that the whole idea of "hate crime" is stupid and un-American. And the guy Willis beat up is probably pretty stupid too. But if you don't suspend a player for missing curfew and assaulting somebody, what do you suspend him for.

Oh, and I believe "bigdaddy" is Justin's dad. Can't believe I never put that one together until now. If somebody already beat me to it, I apologize.

[TacoPony]

I'd like to re-state my point.
- yes, due process should run its course, I don't mean to railroad justice and have a cover-up

but then SMU needs to support the result and take a stand. they can't say "this was just a "minor" hate crime, so we are imposing a small penalty". I think they need to decide if this was a serious infraction or not, and then make a statement. I'd like to see the conclusion in Willis' favor, and the Administration then provide a clear indication of that. but that's my personal opinion.

but that's going to be a difficult thing for SMU to do, with such a politically sensitive topic. so my point is that I'm afraid if they just hush up about it, move forward like nothing happened, then this will continue to loom over the university. one way or another, SMU should make a strong stand.

TP

[Grider]

Oh, and I believe "bigdaddy" is Justin's dad. Can't believe I never put that one together until now. If somebody already beat me to it, I apologize.

I've been thinking the same thing but haven't posted anything. I don't think anyone else has brought it up. Also, I don't believe the athletic dept wasn't involved in the Willis stmts to the DMN.

<EDIT>
Oops, I should read all the way through, I haven't seen the WFAA report.

[SMU Football Blog]

One more thing and I'll shut up: I assume SMU has some kind of policy that states if the media wants an interview with a player, they have to do it through the athletic dept. And I'm assuming Willis and his dad went behind the school's back in granting this one to WFAA. Or, if they didn't go behind the dept's back, whoever allowed Willis to give the impression he loves Playstation so much he can't put it down for a five minute interview ought to be fired immediately. Turn off the video games, put a tie on, and act like a freaking adult.

I thought Willis did himself a lot of good by being on Channel 8. People suggesting Willis should have put a tie on don’t know what is going on. Willis is a kid. You put him in a suit, he’s going to look like a defendant. They showed him as a kid being a kid in his parents’ house. That was a good thing. I thought he could have sounded a little more contrite, but overall, it was a good interview.

I suspect SMU had nothing to do with setting that up. When similar incidents have happened at schools in the past, the standard procedure is to keep the kid in hiding. I think Willis and his dad were reasonably concerned that Willis was never going to be allowed to play again and decided to go on the offensive. I am not sure it is a coincidence that Willis went on the station that did a feature on him in high school.

[ThadFilms]

I've thought that sense the beginning... but it was all but confirmed to me when I read the DMN interview with Samuel Willis. The tone and manner was very similar.

[ThadFilms]

They showed him as a kid being a kid in his parents’ house. That was a good thing.

That looked like his dorm room. In fact, I was surprised the dorms still had the same furniture as they did when I was there. Plus you could see the Broncos Ravens game on the TV in the background. Then Trahan reported from outside of the stadium, live, at ten o'clock. Now way he does the interview in Denton and then rushes back to campus to report from outside the stadium.

[KnuckleStang]

People suggesting Willis should have put a tie on don’t know what is going on. Willis is a kid.

Willis is not a kid. He's like 20.

Look, I'll be the first to admit I did some of the dumbest crap of my life when I was 20. Example #1 (I can give more if you want): Woke up in jail, and learned I had been arrested for trying to stumble out of Tom Thumb in a drunken haze, carrying a 25 lb. watermelon, and didn't stop when police told me to, thinking I could hide from them. Yes, this was embarrassing, and rightly so. But if I was on the team when this happened, I would have fully expected some kind of suspension from it. Because I realized what I did was very immature. And if I gave a public interview addressing the specifics of my unsuccessful drunken melon theft, and it was to lead the 6:00 news, I would use that oppertunity to show as much maturity as possible, and also show that I take this situation seriously. In other words, I would not play video games the whole time. And if the interviewer said something like "let's get some shots of you playing video games," I'd politely decline and say let's just do the interview.

And Thad, I think I recognize that furniture too.

[jtstang]

Was the watermelon stalking you? Or was it to be your date for later that night?

[SMU Football Blog]

Was the watermelon stalking you? Or was it to be your date for later that night?

[mrydel]

Was the watermelon stalking you? Or was it to be your date for later that night?

You can bet it was either red or yellow so we have some ethnicity issues here.

[KnuckleStang]

Was the watermelon stalking you? Or was it to be your date for later that night?

I tried to tell them it was stalking me, but the cop just called me a melonphobe.