Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Rudolph's suspension leaves bigger hole at DT

BC suspended Jaryd Rudolph indefinitely after he was charged with illegally audio taping his teammate's sexual encounter with a female student in their suite. He's still a BC student but I don't think Spaz can count on him returning for the rest of Spring practice. As long as he remains a student and fights the charges, there is hope he can return to football, but given BC and BC football's track record with players and anything related to sex and illegal activities (I don't know if this is considered a sexual assault), the odds of Rudolph's return are long. Rudolph wasn't a star, but he provided depth at a position where BC is now alarmingly thin. Connor O'Neal is gone. Kaleb Ramsey is still recovering from injury. None of the incoming recruits is slotted to be a defensive tackle.


I think Appiah is going to be a star. Ricci showed potential. Quinn is serviceable. Bryan Murray is okay. But that is it. We desperately need Ramsey to comeback at 100% and we better hope the rest of the guys stay healthy. I know players can be moved over and we can use more 3-4 and 3-3 formations, but this is not the best way to manage your roster.

23 comments:

mod34b said...

When did Connor O'Neal leave and why? He still had a year of eligbility

The Rudolph thing is mega stupid, partiucularly in light of the Rutger's criminal case. Being a dumb-ass 19 year old invading someone's sexual privacy is a crime!

Knucklehead said...

What were the circumstances surrounding O'Neal leaving?

The difference between this case and the Rutgers case is that there is no video, according to the newspaper reports.

How does anyone really know that the girl involved is the one on the recording. Sounds like she could have claimed that it wasn't her in the recording if she wanted to make the situation go away without filing a complaint/lawsuit against Rudolph/Boston College.

Leads me to believe that the victim may have been open/flaunting the fact that she was going to have sexual relations with the player or that the unnamed player told Rudolph when it was going down with the victim and then Rudolph taped the encounter.

Either way there is more to this than Rudolph taping a sexual encounter. One of the two parties involved in the sexual encounter must have tipped Rudolph off.

Taping it was wrong though.

mod34b said...

Knuck- If true, this is bad stuff by a BC student. No real diff btw video and audio. Both provide solid proof of an illegal invasion of privacy

But, just saw a local news piece on this that did raise my eyebrow. Two interesting factoids

1. This incident occurred a month ago. And victim found out a month ago. Did BC wait a month to take action; wait till victim pressed charges? That does not sound like the right way for BC to handle this. But Why did victim wait a month? Trying for a settlement before pressing charges???

2. Victim has a lawyer in place. Oh, really! Yes, and lawyer is talking about how BC should have had better training for athletes!!! Gee, maybe lawyer guy thinks BC should be Training students to not conduct illegal electronic surveillance ?? Huh?? Guy is making a case that BC is responsible for conduct of students. Please. That can't be right.

Somebody is looking for some $$$$ from 'OL BC.

matthew2 said...

Knucklehead -- I agree that it's possible that the girl might have some percent of the blame here. But please keep in mind that she might be an innocent victim.

This type of issue arises frequently, and it's dangerous to assume the worst in the female party, even if the worst is sometimes true.

Reminds me of when people claimed Erin Andrews set up the whole hotel camera issue -- sure, it's possible. But it's also possible that a talented (albeit, gorgeous) sports reporter was victimized. And I don't mean to start debates that aren't relevant on here, so let's not get crazy with the example. Just trying to make sure all sides are represented.

Dan said...

Mostly irrelevant, but, anyone know who the teammate was?

The Baker said...

mod34b

It took a month because it took a month for the girl to find out, file a complaint, respond to questioning by bcpd, have a closed door meeting within bcpd and bc to find that the matter should go before a local magistrate, have a hearing in front of the local magistrate, and find that there was enough evidence to charge dumbass rudolph with invasion of privacy. These things don't process speedily.

Secondly, this is shameful. BC should have better training for athletes. Everyone should remember the countless time Brady Smith got in trouble for "allegedly" (wink) using cocaine, shrooms, alcoholism, vomiting in a trash can and throwing it on a BC nurse, etc. only to be allowed back time and time again. But wait, it was only when he "allegedly" (wink) broke in a girl's room and sexually assaulted her that he was kicked out. Its shameful.
Don't let Rudolph back. Would you ever trust him again? If you let him back, what message does that send? Can it really be said that that kind of behavior is representative of a BC student? Kick him out if he's found guilty. If he's found innocent, I still wouldn't let him play.

Big Jack Krack said...

My first reaction to this - besides shame and disappointment was - this kid's gone.

19 years old and already having to rehabilitate himself - but not at BC.

I don't know the final result, but this stinks. Now that I have heard that O'Neal is gone, we're very short-handed at DL.

Big Jack Krack said...

If this keeps up, we'll soon be at the future Patriot League level - 56 scholarships.

This is trending just like Syracuse - but maybe worse.

The bad news is that I generally get excited about our prospects in the spring and summer - and I will always support the players who are serious and working hard.

Even this year - it's about Boston College, not Gene DeFilippo or Frank Spaziani or anyone else.

Will we ever have more than a few 5th year seniors?

Let's go BC players - let's find a way to deal with all of this.

NEDofSavinHill said...

The case against Brady Smith was a fake. The alleged victim only complained when her roommate woke up and saw her kissing Smith. His case in Brighton was dimissed. 2. A serious legal issue exists here. One must have the consent of both parties to record a conversation in Massachusetts.(Unlike Utah where only one is needed, so Bernie Fine's wife's recording corroborating Fine's crimes was legal) If Rudolf's roommate gave consent, then the recording may have been legal. There may be civil liability here mostly against the roommate who permitted the recording, but where is the criminal law violation? 3. Ambulance chasing lawyers will always try to make a mountain out of a molehill. 4. Rudolf is presumed innocent, all conduct was consensual. 5. Law enforcement should focus their attention on whether a continuing coverup of the Bernie Fine crimes is persisting.

Knucklehead said...

Rudolph should not have taped the encounter.

The other issue that I have with this is that the players' name is used in the media but the accusers name is not. After all the problems at Duke surrounding the lacrosse team there should be a law or journalistic standard that precludes the media from naming the accused perpetrator until he/she is found to be the guilty party.

This a whole other issue but line of demarkation between an adult and a minor should be re-evaluated. This guy is 19 years old. He cannot drink leagally but in court he is considered an adult.

If I am Boston College I don't ruin this guys life over this incident. If this is his only trangression while at Boston College I would suspend him from football for 1 year and make him pay tuition. I would let him practice as a walk on and give him the opportunity to play next year. If he decides to leave fine.

You are 19 and the Apple I-phone provides FBI level surviellance capabilities and you make a bad decision that doesn't physically hurt anyone and has boarderline hurtful emotional consequences on the victim. It is difficult to see how removing him from the University based on this incident is the correct move.

Knucklehead said...

By the way her lawyer is Mitchell Garabedian. He is the high profile sexual assualt lawyer who went after the Archdiocese of Boston.

Mitchell is essentially the Gloria Allred of Boston. There will be financial restitution here.

Jeff said...

"The difference between this case and the Rutgers case is that there is no video, according to the newspaper reports."

Well that... and that there weren't a dozen people watching it happen live... and it wasn't a gay encounter, so there's no bias intimidation... and the victim didn't subsequently commit suicide... and the only charge so far is "invasion of privacy."

Yeah, aside from that, the two cases are identical!

Jeff said...

On a more serious note, this story is troubling. I would have hoped that even an immature college kid would be smart enough to learn from the Rutgers story that you can't do this kind of thing. I mean, how much more of a warning could you get???

mod34b said...

Here is quick media account:


Police said he recorded his roommate and a woman having sex on Feb. 15. The woman found out three days later when another member of the football team told her about the recording. That football player played the recording from his cell phone, and she confirmed it was her on the recording.

Rudolph admitted he used his cellphone to record the couple having sexual intercourse. He said he placed his cellphone in the hallway, near his roommate's bedroom, police said.

Rudolph admitted that he forwarded the recording to his roommate, but denied forwarding it anyone else.

Rudolph, of Plympton, Mass., was released on his own recognizance and ordered to stay away from electronic media.

Attorney Mitchel Garabedian, who represented the female victim, said Rudolph was suspended from the team.

"She found out through third parties who were making fun of her," Garabedian said.

Rudolph's attorney, John Seed, said there's serious question whether the recording even exists.

"He is innocent until proven guilty. There are a lot of facts that have to come out," Seed said.

Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/30730932/detail.html#ixzz1prQqGb36

Ryan said...

This is not a scandal. This is college kids being assholes like college kids normally are. This is borderline even a crime, but you know BC will pay out the wazzoo for this because an ambulance chaser is on the case.

mod34b said...

The Baker -- you sound like you work for the victim's civil money-seeking lawyer -- really.

The recording was on Feb. 15. and "The woman found out three days later when another member of the football team told her about the recording."


She then waited a month A MONTH to file criminal charges. That is unusual. (Also troubling that BC took no public action for a month too) If there was a realy crime, the victim should have gone right away to the police. Instead, looks like she got a known plainitff's lawyer to shake the Catholic Church money tree. That kind of conduct raises real doubts as to her bona fides.

and The Baker, "BC should have better training for athletes." Really?? You sound jsut like the $$ seeking lawyer. BC has no responbility to train kids not to conduct ilelgal survelliance. Just More $$$ from BC to victim talk.

This is not a lott-o-pportunity

Thomas said...

1. This story has already hit at least one national news website.

2. What expectation of privacy should there be if the said recording device was in a common hallway, not in the more "personal" space of the dorm room?

3. Is it reasonable to think that Rudolph was tired of hearing his roommate's sexual exploits through the thin walls at BC and just wanted to complain to his buddies about having to listen to it constantly? If he was subjected to it regularly against his wishes, does he have a legal complaint against his teammate and the accuser?

4. IMO this reeks of someone wanting money or just plain revenge for something that should've been handled by the university without the media fanfare. What Rudolph did was stupid and ignorant, but criminal seems a stretch to me. I guess that's Mass law in action.

EL MIZ said...

outside of the silliness of the entire situation (from stupidly recording it to the somewhat dubious chain of events afterwards), this shows spaz's lack of planning for the future. we now have 4 defensive tackles on the roster. i thought last year's recruiting class was supposed to be the "best ever"? one DT de-committed and we had no backup, huh?

great thing we have the best coach of the past 15 yrs to cover up for it with his coaching acumen and ability to rally the troops!

Joseph said...

Can someone tell me exactly what is the point with all this mindless speculation? There will be some sort of hearing on this somewhere. The fact that Garabedian is involved has no bearing on the facts, unless of course some of our better speculators think that the whole thing is a conspiracy to bring BC down and the woman and lawyer make a ton of dough.

mod34b said...

So, Rudolph, a DT, records some bad stuff. He shares the recording with a roommate who is a football player. The recording is shared with others. Trouble starts abut a month ago.

Connor Neal, another DT, was on the 2012 Spring Roster. Neal was Looking at some PT this year. But now he is not on the roster any more. He left school per ATL. Maybe about a month ago.

Hmmm, Why is ATL mentioning Neal in this post?

Lenny Sienko said...

Who among us would like to see or hear recordings of some of the stupid things we did as undergrads? Cut the kids some slack.

This situation should be looked upon as an opportunity to deal with all Spaz and GDF issues.

We know that BC is stuck with Spaz, probably even if we have another losing season. GDF's in cya mode and Fr. Leahy is oblivious. But this is one issue that will make Fr. Leahy and the BOT sit up and take notice; i.e., SEX.

Nothing is guaranteed to get the attention of the celibates who run the show at our "...Jesuit, Catholic University..." quicker than the mention of SEX.

A SEX scandal, even a minor peccadillo such as we have here, is enough to give cover to act to remove GDF and Spaz for other than "health reasons".

All we need is one little attempt at a coverup or a "Joe Paterno"-like failure to follow up and BC will have a new AD and Head Coach real quick now.

ilbbaicnl1 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
ilbbaicnl1 said...

you idiots. she filed the day she found out---after the team harassed her at her place of employment she immediately called the police. get your facts straight before you start assuming the wrong information. the kid plugged it into an iHome too for everyone to hear as well.