ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 4, 1996 TAG: 9611040098
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KEN PHIPPS
"WHAT'S going on at Virginia Tech?" people may wonder - yet they shouldn't be surprised, since it's taking place all over the country in collegiate sports. Take a look back a few years and you'll find other schools have had problems in their sports programs. Now it seems player misconduct is occurring at a faster pace than that of a couple of decades ago.
Frank Beamer shouldn't feel like the Lone Ranger. Jerry Claiborne, Charlie Coffey, Jimmy Sharpe and Bill Dooley all had to deal with adverse situations from time to time.
Tom Osborne of Nebraska is not setting any high standards for his players, however. To enhance his chances of winning the title game and national championship, he caved in and reinstated players who were fortunate enough not to be watching the game from a Nebraska correctional facility.
The University of Miami has the distinct reputation of being the Big East bad boy for its behavior off the field. It is puzzling why some football players shop so much. At Florida State, half the team went on a shopping spree.
Teams such as West Virginia, Texas A&M and Colorado have had problems, too. The few exceptions are likely to be the military academies, where strict guidelines are in place. An athlete there knows he has only one strike, and if it's flubbed he'll be on his way to the Greyhound bus station.
It's not hard to understand why some universities find themselves in these predicaments. When a problem arises, there's a tendency to hide it, tolerate it or compromise, rather than address it head-on. In our permissive society, that may be viewed as the direction to go, especially if drastic action might jeopardize a winning program.
How about the fans and the press? Do they help plant the notion in the athlete's mind that he is a special person to be given special privileges simply because of his athletic skills? Do they heap praise, honor and glory about his performance, sometimes elevating him to such heights that he becomes a legend in his own mind? These may be the reasons some athletes end up with a tremendous overload of "egomania," and when they are gathered down at one of the local watering holes, no challenge will go unanswered.
What part has the judicial system played in this regard over the years? In Montgomery County, the courts have been very generous in cases involving athletes. In fact, college students in general have fared better than their same-age counterparts in the local area.
Tech officials, too, may be on the verge of catching "the Vatican Syndrome" - of being a government unto themselves, releasing only information deemed necessary for the public to know. A university must have policies and regulations to govern a student's conduct on campus. It is not the function of a judicial panel to handle criminal complaints. Those offenses should be reported to the proper authorities for investigation and carried to court, if necessary.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of Tech's players were made of the same caliber as Caroll Dale? Oh, but that would be wishful thinking.
In sports where scholarships are offered, the term student-athlete is a misnomer. In reality, it should be reversed and called athlete-student. Those people chosen are selected first for their athletic ability and not their scholastic ability.
Coach Beamer has a choice: He can follow the example set by Tom Osborne, or he can take the high road and tell potential recruits that they're welcome to come to Virginia Tech provided they abide by two things - keep their noses clean and make passing grades, and only then be considered a part of the Tech family.
Ken Phipps of Blacksburg is a retired state trooper and former Montgomery County sheriff.
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