9/30 Columbus Dispatch - OU

Falcon Commander · Post by **Falcon Commander** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:06 am

Check out the FRONT Page of Saturdays Columbus Dispatch about todays opponet.

WOW !

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/sports- ... A1-00.html

GO FALCONS !!

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:24 am

Well when they hired him, they wanted Solich to bring Nebraska football to OU.

Looks like he's almost there.

OHIO fan · Post by **OHIO fan** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:33 am

Just an FYI....all but two of those players were Brian Knorr recruits (prior to Solich). Knorr was known to recruit convicts who couldn't do anything on the field either. Solich is turning all facets of our program around, and you'll soon find out about the "on field part" at around 2:00 today!

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:39 am

OHIO fan wrote:Just an FYI....all but two of those players were Brian Knorr recruits (prior to Solich). Knorr was known to recruit convicts who couldn't do anything on the field either. Solich is turning all facets of our program around, and you'll soon find out about the "on field part" at around 2:00 today!

I don't know that who recruited them matters when offenses like beating a man to the ground then kicking him in the head are involved.

Either way, here's to a good game this afternoon and BG coming out like they wanna be there!

able1 · Post by **able1** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:46 am

Assuming this were happening to a team I follow and support, who's recruits they are wouldn't make a bit of difference to me. I would be absolutely pissed at the lack of discipline and the attitude of the coach towards these things. It sounds like the players are totally out of hand and the coach doesn't really care.
Threats to kill a bar employee, punching a police horse (have to admit I laughed a bit at that one), and assault on the bar's owner who is a former player? That's just naming a few that stick out.

It's things like the following quotes that really would have me fired up if something like this was happening here.

Not one player has missed a minute of game time because of misconduct — drug abuse, alcohol offenses and assaults — that led to misdemeanor convictions in Athens Municipal Court. Ten have been convicted, four cases are pending, and three cases were dismissed after the players completed a diversion program

"We think it’s not only fair, but pretty tough,"

A felony, weapons-charge or second offense brings the possibility of game suspensions or dismissal from the team, Solich said

Informed that Johnson also was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2003, Solich said he did not consider that a second strike because the offense occurred before he became coach

Flipper · Post by **Flipper** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:07 am

What an embarrassment to the conference and the University. Our kids have had some behaoiral issues too, but they've been addressed with a much firmer hand than Solich has shown.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 11:11 am

Flipper wrote:What an embarrassment to the conference and the University. Our kids have had some behaoiral issues too, but they've been addressed with a much firmer hand than Solich has shown.

It sounds like three-year olds that reach for a hot stove have been addressed with a much firmer hand than Solich has shown.

BGSU96 · Post by **BGSU96** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:05 pm

Here's the story.

Busted Bobcats
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Randy Ludlow
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

ATHENS, Ohio — When 18-year-old Chris Kraus was nabbed with a can of beer in 1998, Ohio University football coach Jim Grobe suspended the linebacker for one game.
Last week, a 313-pound OU offensive lineman started a game two days after he was convicted of assaulting Kraus outside The Pub, an Athens bar managed by the former player.

A judge sentenced junior Paul Johnson, 22, of Vienna, W.Va., to 10 days in jail beginning Nov. 27 — two days after the Bobcats’ last regularseason game.

Coach Frank Solich gave Johnson the standard team punishment for first offenders: six days, including a Sunday, studying in the football office.

"Studying?" Kraus asked. "That’s not discipline." And Kraus is angry that Johnson apparently will play at home today against Bowling Green State University instead of sitting in jail.

Kraus and others wonder what is going on with the OU football program. Seventeen players have been arrested in Athens County in the past nine months, The Dispatch found, after only a smattering of arrests in recent years.

Not one player has missed a minute of game time because of misconduct — drug abuse, alcohol offenses and assaults — that led to misdemeanor convictions in Athens Municipal Court. Ten have been convicted, four cases are pending, and three cases were dismissed after the players completed a diversion program that involves counseling and community service. Solich, in his second year at OU after six seasons coaching powerhouse Nebraska, is displeased with the number of arrests but defends his discipline system.

"We think it’s not only fair, but pretty tough," he said.

A felony, weapons-charge or second offense brings the possibility of game suspensions or dismissal from the team, Solich said. Two players were kicked off the team last year.

Informed that Johnson also was convicted of disorderly conduct in 2003, Solich said he did not consider that a second strike because the offense occurred before he became coach.

The spike in player misconduct is set against an OU crackdown on student alcohol violations and Solich’s conviction for drunken driving late last year. The university’s get-tough policy says that repeated alcohol offenses could lead to student suspensions, and parents of underage students are being notified of arrests.

OU President Roderick McDavis would not comment about the football program. McDavis previously placed Solich on probation for his DUI conviction and ordered the coach to participate in campus alcohol-education efforts.

The chairman of the university’s board of trustees was stunned by the numbers.

"Not good news," said R. Gregory Browning, of Columbus. "I can promise you I will be following up on this immediately. It obviously raises concerns. We’ll make sure it’s dealt with in the right way."

Athletics Director Kirby Hocutt said he was not happy with the number of arrests but did not think further punishment was warranted.

The OU football team includes 85 scholarship players and 40 walk-on players. The 17 arrested players account for nearly 14 percent of the roster.

A total of 1,127 students have been referred this year by police for potential punishment by OU campus judiciaries following arrests and other misconduct. That number represents about 5.6 percent of the 20,000 students on the Athens campus.

Douglas Bolon, a health-sciences professor and chairman of OU’s Intercollegiate Athletics Committee, promised a review of player conduct and discipline when the committee meets Oct. 16.

Solich regularly issued game suspensions to players convicted of crimes while he coached at Nebraska and removed at least two players from the team.

The coach said most of those players were suspended because they were convicted of second offenses or, in one case, hit a fan of an opposing team who came on the field after a game.

Kraus, night manager of The Pub, suffered head and other injuries on April 23 when Johnson and player Ervin Jackson knocked him to the ground and repeatedly punched him after they had been ejected from the bar, according to court records. Johnson also was accused of kicking Kraus in the head.

Both were convicted at a trial on Sept. 21 before Athens Municipal Court Judge William Grim. Jackson, 21, of Kiln, Miss., also was charged with assault and found guilty of the lesser offense of disorderly conduct.

Grim declined a request for an interview. The judge typically tries to schedule students’ jail time during breaks or on weekends so they do not miss classes, city prosecutors said.

The Nov. 27 jail-reporting date for Johnson comes during OU’s break between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.

"The university, the athletic department is blowing this off like nothing, when I was being kicked in the head," Kraus said.

Kraus and three other Court Street bar managers and owners say they have contacted Solich and other OU officials since mid-2005 to complain about player misconduct in their businesses.

Solich said players have been forbidden to enter The Pub, where others also have found trouble. Two players, including one charged with punching a police horse, were arrested outside the bar on April 29. Another was charged May 6 with threatening to kill a bar employee.

Two other players were convicted of disorderly conduct for punching and kicking a man who apparently had an earlier altercation with a football player.

Solich stressed that players receive ongoing education about the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse and that he and his staff members work hard to make them responsible students.

The team’s grade-point average last year, about 2.7, was the highest since 1997. And OU ranked third in the 12-team Mid-American Conference in maintaining players’ academic eligibility and keeping them in school, Solich said.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:16 am

Yep, Ohio really showed us yesterday! 21-9. At least you kept it within a couple scores this year. That's 5-0 for BG in the last 5 by a combined score of 189-60. That's an average score of 38-12.

BTW, how are all the plagarism incidents going at OU? Yesterday, I read in the student newspaper they've uncovered 15 more incidents. LOL!

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:15 pm

I don't know if this is funny or sad, but an OU O-Lineman was arrested for underage consumption early this morning. It's his second offense.

http://tinyurl.com/j4rtx

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:23 pm

jacojdm wrote:I don't know if this is funny or sad, but an OU O-Lineman was arrested for underage consumption early this morning. It's his second offense.

http://tinyurl.com/j4rtx

But was his first offense during Solich's regime or not? Because that's what REALLY matters.

mmisbg · Post by **mmisbg** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:39 pm

The icing on the cake for this story is that it was the Columbus Dispatch who cracked the story. [subliminal message]Troy Smith, Steve Bellisari, etc.[/subliminal message]

Either way, they got what the deserved yesterday. I just want to know where the Ohio Bobcats fans are now. Why aren't they on here? They were so confident. Shouldn't they be grown up enough to accept the criticism you deserve when you talk smack about another team and then get burnt?

Go Falcons!

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 10:41 pm

mmisbg wrote:Either way, they got what the deserved yesterday. I just want to know where the Ohio Bobcats fans are now. Why aren't they on here? They were so confident. Shouldn't they be grown up enough to accept the criticism you deserve when you talk smack about another team and then get burnt?

Go Falcons!

In total fairness, there was pretty much only one OU fan that ran alot of smack. The others were generally courteous, but confident in their team. And we've been over what the one smacktalker is worth to society, so no need to worry about him.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Sun Oct 01, 2006 11:55 pm

TG1996 wrote:
mmisbg wrote:Either way, they got what the deserved yesterday. I just want to know where the Ohio Bobcats fans are now. Why aren't they on here? They were so confident. Shouldn't they be grown up enough to accept the criticism you deserve when you talk smack about another team and then get burnt?

Go Falcons!
In total fairness, there was pretty much only one OU fan that ran alot of smack. The others were generally courteous, but confident in their team. And we've been over what the one smacktalker is worth to society, so no need to worry about him.

Right on, TG. Plus, the fans in Athens were, by and large, very respectful. Granted, most of them acted like they didn't want to have anything to do with us (that isn't anything new based on prior experience) even before the game, but the ones that we did interact with were very nice. There were a few, though, that although they were wearing green, could do nothing but talk about the Ohio State game later that night. God, that even galls me with other teams' fans. GROW A PAIR AND BE PROUD OF YOUR ALMA MATER!!!

jacojdm · Post by **jacojdm** » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:42 pm

Just released: The football team is on a "zero tolerance" policy for the remainder of the season. Solich says the team needed "a wake up call." I thought he said there wasn't a problem.
http://tinyurl.com/pqqu4