UO's LeGarrette Blount Suspended for the Season
OK football fans: was the suspension of University of Oregon LeGarrette Blount for an entire season the decision you'd hoped for or not?
I watched the game, watched the sucker punch, watched a man out of control and asked myself if Duck fans would put sportsmanship above winning a few more games? What say you?
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September 4, 2009 |
Paulie Brading | Comments (59 so far)
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Posted by: Cafe Today | Sep 4, 2009 3:26:00 PM
Blount
Posted by: ben | Sep 4, 2009 3:31:48 PM
Blunt acted like a spoiled brat out of control democrat at a health care rally. Personally, I am surprised Blunt didn't bite the guys finger off.
Posted by: Joe White | Sep 4, 2009 3:57:32 PM
Has he been charged with Battery yet?
This should not be 'just a school matter'.
He should face legal consequences.
Posted by: Kevin | Sep 4, 2009 4:22:21 PM
Blount not facing charges was the decision of BSU's staff, not that of anyone with the Ducks. And frankly, it's their choice, so I've got no beef with it.
The thing is... now BSU's Hout just getting a talking to looks bad. They're gonna lose some serious face over this if they don't upgrade the punishment to their player.
I've just been cruising college football columns and discussion boards since hearing of Blount's suspension and I seriously think Boise's gonna lose a lot of respect if they let Hout off the hook. Maybe it's not entirely their fault since they've got no control over what the Ducks decision was gonna be. But the contrast in punishments is there for everyone to see and it makes the Ducks look responsible and the Broncos look like really poor winners.
Posted by: Kevin | Sep 4, 2009 4:28:00 PM
USAtoday's Cherner and Weir: What about the guy who taunted Blount?.
I'm guessing that when Hout was jawing away at Blount at game's end he was saying something other than "Nice game." Trash talking is out of hand across-the-board in sports, and if one player is going to have his college career ended over this incident it seems like the other also needs to suffer some bench time. Otherwise the message is to keep going after opponents verbally, and see if you can make them explode.
I agree. Blount got a dose of just desserts. Hout isn't.
Posted by: Kevin | Sep 4, 2009 4:29:28 PM
Messed up the hyperlink. Here's the URL
http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2009/09/and-what-about-the-guy-who-taunted-blount.html
Posted by: Old Ducker | Sep 4, 2009 4:40:18 PM
It's not just Blount losing control over Hout's taunting, it's his assaulting fans as well. I'm happy with this decision. Blount will never don Oregon uniform again, but he gets to finish his education, if he chooses. I also agree that Hout should suffer some penalty. Mostly I view this as a result of the unpunished unsportsmanlike and injurious conduct that BSU's #21 perpetrated last year.
Posted by: meg | Sep 4, 2009 5:10:04 PM
He one punched a giant douche bag who deserved it Was it right? No, and he should get a game for it, two max. But it's time for guys to be held accountable for running their mouths. Maybe it's the hockey in me.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 6:14:45 PM
Good points about the taunting made above. I think off the team and into angry management, no practicing, etc. But that's why coach Kelly gets paid more than even the U of O president does, to make these kinds of decisions and isn't that just a wonderful thing?
Posted by: Kari Chisholm | Sep 4, 2009 6:40:44 PM
To be clear, he's a senior - which means that a season-long suspension means that he's been kicked off the team.
And I actually think that letting him keep his scholarship is a good thing. His NFL career probably evaporated too, which means that he's going to need some education. Hopefully he'll seize the opportunity.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 6:47:42 PM
You can still go to school and not play physical sports. Maybe the UO isn't for him, but there are others. Our federal student loan program is wonderful (not) - maybe he can join the rest of us and at least pay for one year of what they charge these days to get your degree. If he wants it, he will get it.
Posted by: Nick Wirth | Sep 4, 2009 7:16:41 PM
His NFL career probably evaporated too, which means that he's going to need some education. Hopefully he'll seize the opportunity.
He probably is going to be undrafted now, but some team will take a chance on him I bet. If not the NFL, the CFL, UFL, AFL, or AFL2 will probably be interested.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 7:25:24 PM
I guess I need to explain that I think sports are a huge part of our cultures and good sportsmanship is a demanding virtue. These young men are trained from a young age to focus themselves and with that come a responsibility for self-discipline. The game was over. That team was better prepared than us and it wasn’t just that they were blue. The integrity of the team, the school, us – this is on the Huffington Post for goodness sake. We have to do what is right for him and the team. Oregon has an integrity streak and people are concerned about that right now and frankly, I understand.
Hopefully he get the help he needs now and proves to himself that he can do it because the NFL should put up with that type of behavior either. It’s embarrassing.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 7:28:51 PM
Corrections:
NFL should *not* put up with that type of behavior either
Hopefully he get*s* the help he needs
Posted by: commenter s | Sep 4, 2009 7:35:20 PM
It would be interesting to know what Hout actualy said. If he called him a F@#@@'n N@#@#ger, I'd say Hout had it coming.
Aside from that, maybe the Ducks can generate more than 152 yards total offense without Blount.
Posted by: Boats | Sep 4, 2009 7:46:22 PM
Five-minute major penalty for fighting carried forward to the next meeting between the teams.
Blount could have a UFC career ahead of him if he worked at it.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 7:52:25 PM
commenter s": I wonder if the N word was used too. Still, the classy thing would have been to walk away and then tell his teammates what was really fueling that fella if in fact he just called a black man the N word. That would piss me off and I’m not even this man’s literal teammate. Wow, this I all hypothetical of course. I hope Idaho would have more class too than for one of their players to use that word to a black person.
Posted by: RyanLeo | Sep 4, 2009 8:01:11 PM
Blount is never going into the NFL. The University of Oregon is an educational institution without the balls to dispense real justice and rid themselves of this 2Pac, thug life wannabe muther effer. Only cowards back pedal after throwing the first punch.
Anyways, why are we talking about yesterday's trash? It has been disposed of and we should continue on with real news other than some back and forth regarding the soon to be Oregon version of Maurice Clarett.
Posted by: meg | Sep 4, 2009 8:12:13 PM
No " N " word was used. Hout said "Nice ass kicking", something Blout promised was coming.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 8:15:34 PM
"The University of Oregon is an educational institution without the balls to dispense real justice"
Those are strong words and I see your passion. I too want titanium leadership. I went there for a time. We must be just, I agree with you on that but we don't have to be thugs ourselves. The guy needs some help. There is a psych department on campus for goodness sake. That is if he stays and that may be up to him ultimately. I feel for the guy, especially if…let’s hope it didn’t happen.
Posted by: Buckman Res | Sep 4, 2009 8:31:12 PM
It would be interesting to know what Hout actually said. If he called him a F@#@@'n N@#@#ger, I'd say Hout had it coming.
Doesn’t matter if Hout said “F-ing Nigger” or “Nice ass-kicking”, no verbal taunt warrants an assault. Short of a genuine physical threat to Blount, which in this case there wasn’t, he should have turned and walked away.
That’s what a man would have done.
Posted by: RyanLeo | Sep 4, 2009 8:32:56 PM
Thugs ourselves?! Don't make me laugh.
Blount like every other athlete with the potential to make it big has been cradled by the system ever since he showed his potential on the field.
If anything, the people to blame are his handlers (ie coaches and other close family) for not spotting and helping him with his inability to handle getting his proverbial ass handed to him with a prick up it.
We all fail in life. The measure of a man is not how he behaves in good time, but how he behaves in the rough times.
Last night, Blount was measured and he failed to differentiate himself from lowlifes like Maurice Clarett.
Posted by: mp97303 | Sep 4, 2009 8:44:39 PM
ESPN's NFL draft guru Todd McShay has Blount #53 overall and #2 at RB. Talk about a multi-million dollar screw up.
Posted by: commenter s | Sep 4, 2009 9:03:42 PM
Yeah, there is really no excuse. Even if the N word was used, Blount should have just walked away.
Posted by: RyanLeo | Sep 4, 2009 9:32:47 PM
Now that we are talking college football, I looked up Boise State University's remaining schedule. (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/teams/bbe/schedule)
A bunch of nobody's whom will be lucky to win half their games if that. I hear that San Jose State is real scary. Likewise, Bowling Green, Miami (OH), and Nevada are real contenders. Laughing my effing azz off!
I hear from all these Idaho folks that Boise State and the WAC had been robbed since 2005. Well, look at the craptastic schedule you guys make year after year to get that perfect record and then ask yourself if you are worthy of a title or Rose Bowl when you only play one team in the top 25 during a whole season?
Boise State, do you want respect? Then schedule USC, Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Texas, and Arkansas into yours just like every other title contender does.
Otherwise, the rest of your schedule is equivalent to Ohio State University playing a different Kent State every other week.
A weak schedule does not command a bowl game. You get what your schedule deserves.
Posted by: RyanLeo | Sep 4, 2009 9:32:49 PM
Now that we are talking college football, I looked up Boise State University's remaining schedule. (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/teams/bbe/schedule)
A bunch of nobody's whom will be lucky to win half their games if that. I hear that San Jose State is real scary. Likewise, Bowling Green, Miami (OH), and Nevada are real contenders. Laughing my effing azz off!
I hear from all these Idaho folks that Boise State and the WAC had been robbed since 2005. Well, look at the craptastic schedule you guys make year after year to get that perfect record and then ask yourself if you are worthy of a title or Rose Bowl when you only play one team in the top 25 during a whole season?
Boise State, do you want respect? Then schedule USC, Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Texas, and Arkansas into yours just like every other title contender does.
Otherwise, the rest of your schedule is equivalent to Ohio State University playing a different Kent State every other week.
A weak schedule does not command a bowl game. You get what your schedule deserves.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 4, 2009 9:43:37 PM
RyanLeo:
I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions when you said “real justice.” What do you mean by that term? I am both concerned about the integrity of the team if he is allowed to stay on even practicing, and what is best for him. I don’t think he should have a scholarship after last night, but I am free to disagree with the decision.
Posted by: Ted Olson | Sep 4, 2009 10:55:42 PM
Blount shouldn't have any problem playing in the NFL where moral standards are apparently a bit different than they are in college football. After all, they hired Michael Vick didn't they? Blount's rules of "debate" might also be better understood in the NFL.
Posted by: Bob Simmons | Sep 5, 2009 3:59:52 AM
So many comments on this board and elsewhere are a disturbing reminder of the damage done to our society by modern, politically correct, almost Orwellian "groupthink."
I'm referring specifically to the predicable knee-jerk response of so many people who automatically assume that the Boise State player simply MUST have called Blount the so-called "N" word. As always, whenever a black man freaks out and creates a savage spectacle of a completely uncivilized nature, there are those among us whose worldview requires that they insist that "it's not his fault. It MUST have been racism!!"
To think otherwise, after all, would force us all to question the entire welfare state and manner in which it has created a social and financial incentive for large groups of irresponsible mothers to raise what are essentially fatherless, "feral" children. Raised like cats--feed em, send em to school for free breakfast and lunch, job done!
I am certain (because I am an adult) that the BS player did not use the dreaded "n" word during the incident in question, but I am equally certain that a large part of America was thinking it...
Posted by: BOHICA | Sep 5, 2009 8:21:46 AM
I'm shocked, shocked to find that fighting is going on here! (With apologies to Captain Renault).
Jebus, what do you expect from a violence soaked culture? Boats mentions the UFC up thread. Exactly! We want to see blood and gore. Its like the old joke, "I went to fight and a hockey game broke out".
Meanwhile we dismiss the continued death and destruction being carried out in our name all over the world because the Pentagon learn from Vietnam not to let the American people see the brutality of war.
Posted by: t.a. barnhart | Sep 5, 2009 9:35:08 AM
finally got a chance to watch the video of the incident. two things.
1, that Hout doesn't get at lest a 1-game suspension is pathethic. regardless of Blount's actions, jumping into him and taunting him after the game is totally unclassy, immature and not what i think a team would want. if Boise State doesn't have the moral fortitude to punish him, the WAC should.
2, BSU should get some kind of WAC sanction for showing the clip over and over on the big screen. that was really stupid. talk about not thinking.
disappointed as Duck fans are with Blount (not to mention the game itself), we can be really proud of Kelly, Belotti and the UO program. they gave the player the right punishment, but they did not ruin his life. they've given him a chance for growth and redemption, and i hope he grabs it. the NFL is still a possibility for him, but that's the lesser of his concerns. being about to live his life successfully, in whatever vocation, is his real need. Chip Kelly & Mike Belotti have given him that chance, not something very many PR-anxious schools would do.
go Ducks.
Posted by: Unrepentant Liberal | Sep 5, 2009 9:57:45 AM
Blount's crime in this case stems from his choice of crossing the line from socially approved violence during the game to socially disapproved violence after time ran out.
I used to enjoy watching football but the violent, bone-smashing, ligament tearing, head injury inflicting core nature of the sport has severely dampened my enthusiasm.
It's all kind of a cruel joke anyway. If he had his helmet on and time was still remaining, venting his anger and aggression on the field would be praised by his coach, the fans and the broadcasters. As it is he's now just a national pariah because he broke the rules.
I don't in any way condone what he did but I blame the coach, his staff, the fans and football in general for praising and nurturing the more violent aspects of this young mans personality.
Posted by: gnickmckibbin | Sep 5, 2009 11:45:14 AM
Why is blueoregon spending time and space on this???
The big mouths at BSU athletics are priming the pump so to speak. Maybe they will continue their behavior as the season progresses.
I wonder if the Oregon coach talked to his players about baiting and being baited in a game such as this one. It reminded me of the situation our legislators had to face last month with town hall meetings, and makes me wonder what is really the mood of our country...
I hope that someone in the atheletic dept. @ UO will provide guidance (and some sort of in team encouragement like a job of some kind) for him to make the best of a bad situation. I doubt it, they will probably write him out of the program entirely which will not improve the image of the sports program at UO at all.
Mr. Blount should really concentrate on education now. since his potential for a professional career is considerably downgraded.
Posted by: billb | Sep 5, 2009 12:26:19 PM
The kid is a student-athlete , and kids make mistakes. I made my share as a college student. They were right to keep him in the 'family' , but should have suspended him some games , and let him earn his way back. He just threw punches at some obnoxious jerks , many of us , with emotions high would do the same. I say the Guvs of OR/ID have a beer summit.
Posted by: RyanLeo | Sep 5, 2009 12:44:55 PM
Tim Young,
By "real justice," I mean expelling him from the educational institution. That would entail kicking him off the team and revoking his athletic scholarship.
This was Blount's second chance. He was already suspended indefinitely in February for "failure to fulfill team obligations." (http://www.sportingnews.com/college-football/article/2009-09-04/oregon-rb-legarrette-blount-suspended-for-season).
We often forget that when someone puts on a uniform whether it be John Casey's mechanic overalls, a U.S. military uniform, or a University of Oregon ducks football jersey, then your actions are no longer in a vacuum where the repercussions are only felt by you. Your actions are representative of every Oregonian. Displaying that behavior in an Oregon uniform where little kids may look up to you as a role model is inexcusable and unconscionable.
Blount embarrassed every Oregonian and for that, he should be sent back home.
Posted by: conspiracyzach | Sep 5, 2009 1:05:38 PM
Funny how you Blueoregon types only get interested in sports after a real social and political train wreck like this. It is a very NIMBY point of view you cultivate here. There are some videos shot by fans of the incident that are less widely circulated here in the favorites section: www.youtube.com/luddite333
Posted by: Jack Roberts | Sep 5, 2009 2:01:29 PM
Bad as Blount's actions were, they were a first offense; as far as I know, he has no history of violent, out-of-control outbursts, and clearly this was not a premeditated act.
A multi-game suspension was clearly warranted, but as a senior, this is effectively the death penalty for his football career. Keeping him on the team and retaining his scholarship would make more sense if he were also given the opportunity to earn a second chance.
I respect the fact that Chip Kelly had to make the decision that he believed was in the best interests of the whole team and that he had more information in making that decision than we do. But I am troubled by all the people jumping to the front of the lynch mob handing out rope.
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 5, 2009 6:19:46 PM
Football is sort of like Oregon’s front porch. Mr. Roberts we are just concerned. I am happy we are moving on and the guy is going to get what he needs. The experts know best. I am so not one of those. Go Ducks!
Posted by: Tim Young | Sep 5, 2009 6:30:07 PM
Football means a lot and all I am saying is people around the nation don't always know what Oregon is really like and sometimes are likely to make judgments based on surface value stuff that you would only see from looking at the outside of our state "house." Some of us are expressing concern over fighting out on the lawn, essentially.
Posted by: j. lowen | Sep 5, 2009 7:11:44 PM
The U of O and it Athletic department did th right thing. Kicking the player out of school would have been a mistake. Having him practice and attend school while having to watch from the sidelines will be much better education IMO.
I do believe the Boise State coach failed to do as good a job when he didn't at least suspend his player for running his mouth after the game.
Posted by: ducks419 | Sep 5, 2009 8:09:37 PM
heard at end of game Hout mentioned "hey (expletive beginning with N" hows your auntie doing??" referring to Blounts recently deceased aunt whom he was extremely close to.
does this make it ok??? No.
but what the BSU player did was not ok either and Blount and him should both be punished no more than 3 games. Hout initiated contact, blount was being responsible and walkin off field peacefully when Hout came over with his cocky swagger and started the fight.
Posted by: Kevin | Sep 5, 2009 8:36:01 PM
Rumors of what Hout said the Blount are just that... rumors. The only people close enough to actually hear what was said (amid the noisy celebration) aren't saying.
It is highly irresponsible to be passing on unfounded rumors involving racial epithets. Not the least of which is because whether Hout used a racial epithet or not doesn't really change anything. He still initiated contact and Blount still utterly lost his cool. Nothing justifies either player's behavior.
Posted by: Pete Forsyth | Sep 5, 2009 9:06:47 PM
I just want to note one of the weirdest stats I've come across in sports: Blount will finish his NCAA career with a season over 1,000 yards, but with fewer than 1,000 yards if you combine his two seasons.
That is all.
Posted by: John | Sep 5, 2009 11:14:15 PM
With Blount's blunder now the focus of conjecture, presumptions and sneaking suspicions in more than 3000 web articles and countless sports discussion boards over the past three days, what more can possibly be said?
LeGarrette has been called everything from a coward to "another Mike Tyson."
There are more important topics:
Knowing what he does from past mistakes, could John Kitzhaber have come up with a better game plan for the Ducks to beat BSU?
Will Peter DeFazio switch to the Republican Party in order to get Jack Roberts' vote for governor?
What's with Google's mysterious new doodle on its search page this weekend -- which shows a flying saucer sucking up an "O" in a trackor beam and links to "unexplained phenomenon?"
Space aliens are in California this weekend to pick up Michael Jackson's body and return it to his home planet.
But is that all they have in mind? I hear they plan to abduct Oregon and take us with them -- they'll ditch Republicans, who get motion sickness at the thought of movement toward health-care reform, let alone space travel.
Google's cryptic on twitter translates to: "All your O are belong to us."
Posted by: Roger Pike | Sep 6, 2009 1:41:50 AM
Obviously, few people in this forum have ever played a down of football. I have. Coaches will tell you: "dancing is a contact sport...football is a hitting sport." They will say, "a good loser is just another loser." They will say, "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing." They will say, "we will hit and we will hit and we will hit and we'll have JV players around to wipe up the blood." It's hard, and brutal...and asking people to make nice after the game is idiocy.
LeGarrette Blount had been hitting and being hit all day. His team had just stunk up the joint. He was embarrassed and knew they could have, should have, done better...and the frustration was huge. Then some piece of crap grabbed him. The jerk could have just hit the pub to celebrate a great victory. Be he didn't. He grabbed a proud man's shoulder pads and started trash talking in his face. The jerks coach knew it was wrong. His coach ran to pull him away, knowing where where his jerk behavior might lead. Before he could get there Blount blew.
LeGarrette should be suspended...maybe for the season, at least for awhile. So should the offending Bronco.
But, if you expect these men to keep the rage that is kindled in them bottled up in the face of that kind of disrespect you don't understand the game. Maybe football, as barbaric as it is, has no place in modern society. I played the game, and I know you might have a point. But what Blount did was a reaction...and one that any football player can understand. NO, I am not condoning it. YES, he should be punished.
Still, before you go off all holy about how this kind of behavior is assault worthy of arrest and jailing; before you claim it's a hideous offense to all that is just in the world. Before you do that...play a down yourself.
You'll learn something.
Posted by: Pete F | Sep 6, 2009 2:43:23 AM
Roger, they're kids. They're still figuring themselves out.
If you put a competitor in a position to get in somebody's head, can you fault him for doing it? If it turns out he succeeded in getting SO far in the guy's head that a fist gets launched at his own head, does that suddenly make it worse than if Blount had just sheepishly walked away?
You're right, it's competition. And sometimes competition gets ugly.
But really, where do we get off drawing bright ethical lines, when in the end we're just consumers of the entertainment they provide?
Lines were crossed, people got pissed. It gave us something to talk about. But really, now we're going to judge these kids' characters? To what end, exactly?
Posted by: Kevin | Sep 6, 2009 7:56:40 AM
Roger, you are making excuses for bad behavior.
I've consistently called for Hout to be punished more appropriately. But the fact of the matter is that as rough and tumble as it is, football is only metaphorically violent compared to boxing. And boxers absolutely are expected to cease and desist the violence when the ref tells them to or when the bell rings. NO EXCEPTIONS!
There is no circumstance in the rules of football where opposing players are allowed to go fisticuffs with each other until one is knocked unconscious. If boxers, many of whom are no older than Blount or Hout, can unleash violence within the scope of such vastly less restrictive rules and behave themselves when it's not allowed then so too can football players.
Posted by: Ted | Sep 6, 2009 6:34:39 PM
When I was worried about Blount getting off easy, I thought it would be a 1 or 2 game suspension, maybe a loss of starting position for the first half of the season.
I thought a 5 game suspension, academic probation, public apology, and loss of starting position (i.e. Blount doesn't play in the 1st quarter for the rest of the regular season), would be due punishment.
It probably would have been if this was a black guy hitting another black guy. White guy hitting black guy? Let's not go there. Black guy hitting white guy? In Boise? For Oregon? Well, your whole career is over now. You'll probably never turn pro. Probably never have that athletic career that helps level the income distribution between black and white.
This is Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington, NBA 1977. White guy runs over and gets in black guy's face. Black guy loses cool and punches him. Kermit broke Rudy's jaw. Hout will only wake up with a slight bruise on his jaw. Hout will be a conversation piece for NCAA football all year, helping him get the attention of NFL scouts. Blount just lost millions of dollars and a rare shot among African Americans to make it big and give his kids everything he hasn't had himself. This isn't a Mike Tyson thing, it's a Kermit Washington thing.
Posted by: RyanLeo | Sep 6, 2009 9:00:52 PM
Seeing as how this is his senior year, his NFL prospects are basically over.
He can do the whole Canadian Football thing for a good living, but he will not be living the professional lifestyle.
For those who say, most of us have never played a down? That is an incredibly inane line of argument.
Since I have not stolen, raped or murdered, does that not give me the right to sit on a jury and decide whether someone gets jail time?
Since I am not involved in policy-making, does that not give me the right to come onto a blog and speak about public policy?
A right is a right, a wrong is a wrong, and you do not need to be an expert much less a beginner to call it how you see it.
As far as violence after a play, MMA and Boxing are much more violent, but do you see them hitting each other after the match is over? No, thus in even more violent sports than football, there is an agreed upon level of behavior. Blount overstepped the expected level of behavior in football by cheap shotting and back-pedaling like the little coward he is.
His college career is over, his likelihood of playing in the NFL is nil, and he is damn lucky to still be in school with no criminal charges levied at him right now.
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Posted by: paulie | Sep 4, 2009 3:24:38 PM
LaGrrette will remain on scholarship and stay on the team. He will not play in any games including Bowl games. He is still a member of the U of O football team. His career at Oregon is over.
Enough?