Monday, October 16, 2006

Sometimes taking the hard-line stance is the only way to go.

After seeing what happened this weekend between Miami and Florida International players, you have to reflect back upon the six players dismissed from the UConn program this season.

It is easy to simply say these are apples and oranges, but in reality the events are similar. They are merely progressions. By Huskies coach Randy Edsall putting his foot down, he essentially said he wasn't about to tolerate the type of behavior that can lead to an unsavory reputation.

Look at Miami. Do people say they are a good football program? Not so much any more. What do they say? Thugs? Hitmen? Whatever it is, it isn't good.

I'm not picking on Miami or forgetting FIU's role Saturday night. But FIU doesn't have a track record.

When Edsall comes down hard on players for something as generally harmless as purchasing beer with the intent to drink, you realize he is laying a foundation. Yes, there had been far worse transgressions that he let go with little more than a slap on the wrist. Why? I don't know. But maybe he realized he made a mistake and needed to set a better example.

When some of the five players who were dismissed complained that they didn't deserve such a harsh punishment, they were wrong. It isn't for them to decide, now is it? They did something they knew was wrong. And just like with little children, if you give them an inch, they take a foot. So what would have been a foot for someone at Storrs?

Let's hope we never find out.

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