The embarrassing situation involving St. John's University basketball players this week is just another example of the problems in college athletics. In case you forgot to step out of your box and read the newspaper this week, here's what happened:
After a game on the road against Pittsburgh Wednesday night, the Red Storm players returned to their hotel and were allegedly all present during a bed-check at midnight, their curfew time. However, after the bed-check, six players snuck out of the hotel, gained admission to a strip club (despite the fact that most were under-age) and proceeded to all have sex with a 38-year-old woman they met outside the club at 2:30 a.m. The woman filed rape charges at first, but then rescinded her statement, claiming that the players were supposed to pay her $1000 but refused and left her. She was then charged with prostitution, filing a false police report and attempted extortion.
Why did she rescind her statement? Because one of the players had videotaped the whole encounter on his cell phone! I wish I could afford a video camera on my cell phone.
One of the six players, a freshman, Tyler Jones, returned to the team's hotel and did not engage in the sex and was the only one of the six not to be suspended or expelled. The others, as of now, do not face criminal charges but will go before a disciplinary council at St. John's to determine the length of their suspensions. None of the players are expected to return to the team this season.
Does it get much worse than this? I have no problem giving athletes scholarships and free tuition to play sports; in fact, I'm a huge proponent of intercollegiate athletics, but not when behavior like this runs rampant. And this behavior is often the norm, not the exception!
The president of St. John's blames the players for this embarrassment, but when it comes down to it, I blame the coach and the school. I'm sure this wasn't the first time these players snuck out after curfew. In fact, they probably do this after every game. And why is the team even staying over night in Pittsburgh on a Wednesday night? Don't these players have classes? And don't talk to me about their "tutors" that go on trips with them. Give me a break. Were these kids going to get up at 9:00 a.m. the next morning to study with their tutors? Highly doubtful since they were out until 4:00 a.m. And if they weren't going to be studying, they should have at least been practicing, since the team sucks!
Okay, so maybe not all scholarship athletes are terrible human beings. I'm not saying they are. What I am saying is that maybe we should place some blame on the chaperones and coaches for not making sure that these players are in their rooms sleeping instead of out at strip clubs on Wednesday nights.
Hold everything! Stop the rotation of the Earth! The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) received 200,000 complaints about the Super Bowl's halftime show, which involved "bump-and-grind dancing," Nelly gesturing toward his crotch and a one-second flash of Janet Jackson's right breast. I guess the FCC shouldn't allow dancing, gesturing or any bare skin anymore, anyone agree? We might as well cancel every show on television.
Let's get something straight. Approximately 90 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl. For all you non-math majors out there, 90 million divided by 200,000 is .22 percent, which means less than one percent of the people watching the Superbowl contacted the FCC. What kind of person actually contacts the FCC directly about something like this? Can you imagine if your mother called up the FCC and filed a complaint? I would be horrified.
The people getting so upset about the halftime show need to calm down and think for a second. The Super Bowl is a game of football. Football is a game where players beat the shit out of each other for 60 minutes. If you don't want your children watching things like "bump-and-grind" dancing, why the hell are you letting them watch a barbaric game like football? What's next, a normal version of the Super Bowl and an edited version for children whose parents are ridiculously overprotective? Don't parents realize that the more they get upset about it, the more questions their children are going to ask? Most children probably weren't even paying close attention and didn't know what they were seeing.
People are so riled up about the halftime show, they've totally forgotten that this was one of the greatest Super Bowls ever. And who better to emerge victorious than America's team, the New England Patriots? Was there ever a doubt? I know I didn't doubt it for one second.
By the way, someone said something to me about Adam Vinatieri allegedly missing two field goals during the game. I think this guy went crazy because I don't remember that happening at all. The only kick Vinatieri attempted all game was the last one, the game winner. He's so clutch, what a hero.