Kansas football and basketball coaches come down on fighting players

[tornado]

well.....sort of....

they all held hands a sung Kum-Ba-Ya last night and issued a joint statement saying they're all back to being bosom buds now...

But new revelations say these multiple inter-team fights and near-riots have been going on for years and nobody, not even the athletic department people and coaches who have known all along about it have ever done a thing to stop it or even address it....
"a turf war that has been simmering underneath the surface for years, sources close to both programs said on Wednesday."


So the coaches have decided on strong discipline...they promised to get to the bottom of it all and nail the guys responsible...

so these statements have just been issued....

From Mark Mangino head Football Coach--
"...there will be no suspensions right now. "But based on what I have right now,
I don’t see anything that would have me discipline any particular player," Mangino said.
My track record speaks for itself on discipline here. I don't have to defend that..."

http://www.collegefantasyfootballinsider.com/news/10586/No-suspensions-for-KU-players

http://campuscorner.kansascity.com/node/272

The AD said...
"I am disappointed that some of our student-athletes put themselves in this position, and it's something that I am taking very seriously," Perkins said in a statement."


Basketball Coach Bill Self "refused to comment until he had compiled more information" and "KU basketball coach Bill Self hadn't yet returned from a recruiting trip."--- but sources say Self will not discipline anyone...


"KU chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little said she was disappointed but emphasized that it was only a small number of the school's student-athletes."
(so if only 1 player violates a law, that constitutes such a small number of the school's athletes, then there should be NO discipline??)

http://www.kansas.com/240/story/984014.html?storylink=omni_popular

[Da Coach]

While Bill Self is hard at work "compiling" information about these fights, which have been related to a "turf war that has been simmering underneath the surface for years" , rumors are starting to emerge of a similar series of violent skirmishes between members of the Kansas women's rowing and women's golf teams that has been related to another turf war that was simmering for years.

[tornado]

BTW - finally someone who calls a brawl a brawl instead of fracas and skirmish...

http://www.newstribune.com/articles/2009/09/24/sports/098sports21kansas09.txt

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/75992.html

[AZ BU Fan]

Local Kansas Police on the scene say they couldn't file charges vs any of the players involved in the fights because they couldn't identify any of them and no one from either team has come forward....

Hilarious....

All the football players involved must have had their helmets on, and, all the basketball players must have been wearing practice jerseys without numbers or names on them

Wichita Eagle Newspaper Sports Reporter's column on the incidents is also interesting:

http://www.kansas.com/252/story/983685.html?storylink=omni_popular

[KillerB]

self finally weighs in

Kansas basketball coach Bill Self says fights that erupted between his players and members of the Jayhawk football team were an embarrassment to the university.
Self and a few of his players met with reporters Thursday afternoon for the first time since the brawls Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning on the normally peaceful campus.
The only injury has been to basketball guard Tyshawn Taylor, who hurt a finger and will be sidelined for up to a month.
Self said the fighting was a negative note in a great start to the school year.
The football Jayhawks are 3-0 and ranked No. 20. Self's basketball team could be ranked as high as No. 1 in the preseason poll.

[tornado]

Dick Vitale weighs in...

http://www.kansan.com/blogs/full_monty/2009/sep/24/vitales_thoughts/

he uses the haggard old "bad decision" argument....just a bit of immaturity...
can anyone actually bring themselves to say that certain behavior is JUST PLAIN WRONG!

[tornado]

TWO DIFFERENT COLUMNS that suggest the Kansas players are not really responsible for their behavior....
that the real culprit is society....that through their inner city culture, and hip-hop lyrics, have driven those easily influ7enced athletes into bad behavior that is NOT of their choosing!

Talk about dumping off on responsibility!!

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/columnists/jason_whitlock/story/1467804.html

http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/tipsheet/tipsheet/2009/09/ku-basketball-lacks-self-control/

when the players were asked about their behavior...they even used this ridiculous excuse...
"I listen to my iPod all day..It??™s like second nature to us..
..They??™re kids. They??™re swept up in a culture that preaches to them on their
iPods that the way to handle any dispute is with violence"

[tornado]

Here's a classy guy....
it's the twitter of the University of Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks..

He tweets a slam against the Kansas players who are fighting!
"Had a call from Coach Cal and he is glad that our players are not fighting like
some other big school. Our guys are all in this together."

http://twitter.com/UKcoachbrooks/status/4366863849

http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/brooks_rich00.html

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=172&f=2481&t=4824206

[SFP]

This is a problem of our society. No one and I mean no one wants to take responsibility for what goes wrong. Look how we bailed out the car manufactures and banks. I was taught and believe that you know when you are not doing the right thing. Please, what an insult to the individuals that grow up in the projects, more or less saying they have no idea of what is the correct way to act in a civil society. It's called being responsible for your own behavior.