The Art of the Longview

I Drink Your Milkshake

Just as the college realignment frenzy seemed to be dying down, leave it to the staid ol' Big Ten to stir things up. News reports leaked out this weekend that both Maryland (of the ACC) and Rutgers (of The Big East) are in "advanced talks with the conference" Neither schools is what you would consider "a big fish", Maryland is an ACC middle of the pack football club and Rutgers is building on a winning tradition that started in 2001 with the arrival of Greg Schiano.

When you consider that the Big Ten snubbed Missouri and Texas A&M, then was snubbed in turn by Notre Dame (the Irish joined the ACC in all sports except football) this seems like settling to me. Rutgers and Maryland both are members of the American Association of Universities, "a point of academic prestige that is important to Big Ten presidents and chancellors" which means that if you're not a member of the American Association of Universities, then you're not getting into the Big Ten... no way, no how!

Wikipedia describes The Association of American Universities (AAU) is an organization of leading research universities devoted to maintaining a strong system of academic research and education. It consists of 60 universities in the United States (both public and private) and two universities in Canada. It's "perhaps the most elite organization in higher education" and it's also a strange mix of schools known for their athletic prowess and schools known for anything but athletics.

The University of Nebraska was member of the AAU when it joined the Big Ten, but has since been stripped of its membership. Chancellor Harvey Perlman stated that had Nebraska not been part of the AAU, the Big Ten would likely not have invited it to become a member. Other member schools include the Univ. of Texas, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Univ. of Oregon, Univ. of Colorado, Iowa St. Univ., Univ. of North Carolina, Univ. of Pittsburgh, to name a few.

So as the college conference merry-go-round continues, it becomes harder for a conference like the Big Ten to be picky about member schools. The number of schools out there that are members of the AAU and also open to switching leagues is dwindling. Thus Maryland and Rutgers are suddenly Big Ten material. Stupid is as stupid does, and the game of toppling dominoes will begin again. 

Already Dan Wetzel of Yahoo sports is mentioning Mountain West schools as possible targets of the Big East to replace Rutgers (Air Force, UNLV?) Jeesuz! doesn't the Big East find anyone in Conference USA or some other league attractive? The Big East probably does covet Midwest schools but they're too smart to get in bed with the sleazy Big Least. Starting in 2014 it probably won't matter anyhow, a playoff system will be in place to determine a national football champion.

The specifics are still being hammered out, as of now the FBS playoffs will have a six or seven game format. There's a possibility that  the Big East, Mountain West, Conference USA, Sun Belt and Mid-American Conference (MAC) will be lumped together and the best team from that lot would face off against either a team from the PAC 12 or the Big 12. Nothing is written is stone, the BCS movers & shakers, as they've always done, are making up the rules as they go along. 

Salsa Bar Mayhem

Surveillance cameras  captured video at Rancherito's restaurant in Provo, Ut. (think Bandito's across from UNM) showing a violent fight between BYU students and BYU football players on Halloween night.   Investigators are still trying to determine what led to the fight during which a woman was punched in the face and one student was beaten until (as they used to say in the fight game) "he was walking on queer street"

The following day, BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall announced the suspensions of Joe Sampson and Zac  Stout for a violation of team rules. This was confirmed by BYU officials, who  provided no further information or specifics. Both players have since withdrawn from school.  Provo’s police department later confirmed that it is investigating reports of an alleged assault and altercation at the 24-hour restaurant. Police have not identified the players involved.  

BYU corner back Jordan Johnson also appears in the video and is seen engaged either as a peacemaker or  as participant.  Johnson was suspended one game for his part in the melee.  A pair of videos time stamped at just before 3 a.m. on Nov. 1.  quickly turned up on YouTube and went viral.  One video shows the fight beginning in the dining area, when a man in a gray sweatshirt and a baseball cap (Zac Stout)  punches another man with his left fist. 

The melee that ensues involves at least a dozen people, including some women. Some of those involved in the fight appear to be wearing Halloween costumes. In the second video, the fight spills behind the counter and shows two men struggling on the ground as others try to pull them apart. Neither video has sound, so it’s not clear what precipitated the first punch.  Both Sampson and Stout are clearly seen either hitting or kicking  the man that Stout was fighting with.

It dragged out, kind of in different sections of the restaurant,” said Kyle Gashler, who found himself in the middle of the brawl. “The poor restaurant got destroyed.” Gashler says he and his friends went to Rancherito’s after a Halloween party to grab a bite to eat. They say another group threatened them, Gashler’s group tried to make peace, but things escalated quickly. “One of my buddies stood up and right when he stood up this big guy comes over and punches him right in the nose,” said Gashler. “At that point it just broke out, everyone just kind of hitting everyone.” 

The action starts with Zac Stout arguing with a group of students at a table in the dining area. One man throws a punch at Stout, who then starts fighting with a different man.  At this point a blonde haired man in a black security shirt rushes in from outside and starts throwing random haymakers. Joe Sampson enters the dining area. A woman tries to intervene and the blonde haired man viciously punches her in the face, knocking her to the ground.

Stout and another man come crashing into the lobby area as  Stout is taken down and seems to be getting the worst of it.  Joe Sampson enters the fray by sucker punching and kicking the man fighting with Stout. A man wearing a sweatband rushes in and jumps on Sampson's back, the football player flicks the man off and proceeds to violently pummel him about the face and head. Zac Stout and the woman beater, kick and punch the man on the ground, until another man intervenes and starts pounding on the woman beater.

Jordan Johnson enters the scene as the fight breaks up. The  combatants gather up their hats, phones etc. and exit out the side door with a restaurant employee trailing after them. The woman that was punched sits on the floor sobbing while a friend comforts her, all the men involved ignore her as they pass by.  Zac Stout re-enters the dining area searching for a lost item, he appears to make peace with the man he was fighting with. The other fighter is still angry, and he follows Stout out the side door as everyone rushes out to intervene. 

Flyboy Ethics

Wyoming coach Dave Christensen was suspended one week (the Boise St. game) for his Oct. 13 post game tirade directed toward Air Force coach Troy Calhoun. Christensen was also fined $50,000 for his profanity-laced outburst as he accused Calhoun and an Air Force player of faking an injury. The 38-second video that hit the internet,  includes Christensen using the F-word 15 times. He also questions Calhoun's ethics and integrity and calls him "Howdy Doody" and a "flyboy." 

Univ. of Wyoming A.D. Tom Burman issued a statement, "After a long and difficult week of consideration, I believed it was in the best interest of the University and our Athletics Department to take this action"  Christensen finished his suspension and apologetically re-entered civil society, sans $50,000. The entire affair caused quite an uproar in Wyoming with the majority of Wyomingites expressing disgust with Christensen's boorish behavior.

However, two professors of philosophy at the Univ. of Wyoming came to Christensen's defense. Joseph Ulatowski and Jeffrey A. Lockwood, in an op-ed published by the Casper Star-Tribune. The professors make some compelling points, without absolving Christensen, to explain how his "sense of etiquette and self restraint gave way to ethical discernment and moral outrage"

The point overlooked by most observers in this matter is did Coach Calhoun order his player to fake an injury and thus spare Air Force from burning a time out?  When you weight the facts and the game tape evidence, it does appear that he did just that.  Calhoun asserted that his quarterback had been "dinged in the head" although he walked 20 yards to the sidelines before he seemingly collapsed to the ground.

The player (Connor Dietz) returned to the a game a few minutes later, showing no ill effects from his "injury" The two professors take issue with Calhoun brazenly playing with the crowd's emotions, "the spectators surely believed at the moment that something potentially awful had happened to the young man. To evoke such empathy under false pretense is morally reprehensible" 

The professors profess that,  "After the game,  Christensen was expressing profound moral outrage over what he took to be an act of cheating on the part of the Air Force Academy when its quarterback evidently faked an injury to gain an unfair advantage in the game" "In terms of what this says about his (Christensen) program, the message is rather clear: “I cannot tolerate cheaters” (or “I cannot fucking tolerate fucking cheaters”) 

Professors Ulatowski and Lockwood ask, "Just what are the messages that have been conveyed to the public and the players? To which they respond, "For the university administration, the message appears to be: We do not countenance verbal abuse—at least when it’s made public. The delay of punishment until the coach’s actions became public via YouTube would seem to say: An action is wrong only when seen by others"

The Cadets of Air Force and by extension their coaches are bound to the lofty ideal that  “We will not lie, steal or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does" The Falcons should amend that to say "unless we're in danger of losing to a second tier conference school" harking back to Ulatowski and Lockwood, ”Ironically, it seems that when Wyoming played the Air Force on Military Appreciation Day, Christensen took the honor code more seriously than Troy Calhoun"

As an Air Force veteran, I have a better grasp of the Academy mindset than your average civilian. If Calhoun ordered Connor Dietz to fake an injury it will weigh on the young man's conscience and unless he's a total reprobate like his head coach, he'll eventually come out and spill the beans. "Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things you have not dreamed of"  fly right, fly boys or stay forever grounded.