Taking a real stand

It’s a tale of two football programs....

Virginia Tech head football coach Frank Beamer should be commended for taking a stand and dismissing his starting quarterback, and now former Hokie, Marcus Vick from the team after Vick’s deplorable act of spiking Louisville’s Elvis Dumervil in Monday’s Gator Bowl....

Think about it, how many head coaches would take such a stand....one thing for sure, a coach along the Olentangy River in Columbus is not one of them...and there is proof to that claim....

Many Buckeye faithful like to forget about the unsportsmanlike act by former Buckeye linebacker Robert Reynolds in the 2003 game against Wisconsin....to refresh some memories, the defending national champion Buckeyes were playing at Wisconsin on ESPN’s Saturday Night Game of the Week on national television....
With the Badgers taking control of the game behind the play of quarterback Jim Sorgi, Reynolds took it upon himself to try and slow down the Wisky offense....after hitting Sorgi on a play, Reynolds deliberately and blatantly tried to choke Sorgi by sticking his fingers into Sorgi’s windpipe and throat....ultimately, Reynolds succeeded as Sorgi was knocked out of the game....in the end, Wisconsin won the game....

The national media were in an uproar about this classless, thuglike act.....after the game OSU head coach Jim Tressel smoothly said he had to review the tape because he did not see the play....as the media criticism did not stop in the days following the game, Tressel decided to take a hard stand and show the nation that this was unacceptable for anyone wearing the scarlet and gray of THE Ohio State University....

Tressel gave his starting linebacker a one game suspension.....yes, one game!!!!.....

Tressel said, "However, after getting a firsthand look at the tape and seeing what took place, I feel that the apology by itself is not enough. Robert's conduct was totally unacceptable and has no place in intercollegiate athletics."

Then to add insult, the "classy" Ohio State football players used Reynolds’ one game suspension as motivation for their next game against Iowa.....they wanted to win for their hoodlum teammate who had to sit out one stinking game....

Thank goodness some coaches like Frank Beamer will not stand for this thuglike behavior on the playing field....Vick was planning on coming back for his senior season and was a possible candidate for the Heisman Trophy....so it is not like Beamer bounced some bench warmer..... at least he had the guts to do the right thing.....