ACC blogger Davesez writes a fair take on the incident.
Barstool Sports thinks TOB was a jerk but also doesn’t feel like Glasper was horribly wronged.
Glasper even tempered his comments a bit in a Carolina paper. (I think he was wisely advised to cool it and just turn his focus to the NFL.) [UPDATE: for some reason this story has been taken down.]
Section Six, whom I like and who has guest blogged here before, thinks I’m guilty of trying to give the story momentum over at AOL. I can give this story as much momentum as I want here at atleagle.com, but the scope of this blog is pretty parochial. AOL gives me a platform to discuss other aspects of any story and the ACC. While they give us plenty of leeway in our style and which stories we jump on, there is an expectation to keep it interesting and somewhat attention getting. The easiest way to get people talking? Bring the worldwide leader in sports into the conversation. Plus this is the offseason, so we are looking for anything to discuss.
Although it might be too late, I don’t want to beat the story into the ground. I plan on doing one more thing: a piece on whether or not it was worth bringing Glasper back statistically. I also reserve the right to post any follow ups if TOB finally comes out of his shell on this topic.
Ultimately why I do care and why this is a big deal to many BC fans is that one of our own was mistreated. Glasper was a class act and a very good college football player. Our former coach, who claimed to stand for everything Glasper represents, abused his authority in a jerky manner. As Alex said, if TOB had gone to Glasper and said, “we need you” Glasper probably would have come back. But forcing him back against your promise and medical advice was a classless move. (And other fans wonder why the BC community never embraced TOB.)
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3 comments:
You're not beating the story into the ground. It is absolutely newsworthy within the BC community, and is probably newsworthy in the greater world of college sports. I think it underscores two things about O'Brien: his singular focus on getting out of BC as quick as possible, and his brazen hypocracy of presenting himself as some sort of "above the fray" straight-shooting marine while pulling garbage like that. The only niche BC has in college athletics is that we provide a platform for athletic success on a big stage, while aso ensuring that our student-athletes are taken care of personally and academically. You can find the big stage at any number of BCS schools; you can't find the actual personal committment to athletes at the factories. TO'B's actions were a direct attack on what BC's athletic programs are all about.
And, I'm looking forward to the statistical analysis, but I don't think there's any doubt that we'd be a better team next year with a healthy Ryan Glasper in the d-backfield. He clearly was not 100% in many games last season--and had two huge mental lapses--and, lest we forget, the season ended in the Menieke Car Care Bowl. Having a senior leader, and likely co-captain, back there to start off the brutal stretch of conference games in September would be invaluable. I think we all know that. And it sucks. But that's like #10 on the list of reasons to be pissed about this whole fiasco.
Everyone knows that TOB would not have forced Glasper to play last year if he knew he was returning to BC as the coach. But since he knew he was leaving g he decided, what the hell, let's have Glasper play. He tried salvage the season knowing full well he wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of the decision. Not only did it screw Glasper's playing future but it also hurt the BC program for the next season. There is no doubt that Glasper would have been a major contributor on the team. TOB's decision to force Glasper to play was one final FU to the BC community before he jetted off to NCST.
Bill, you're not beating it into the ground. I think, considering your team affiliation, you're being very fair and objective as possible. Good work.
Alex L.
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