It's a PR game as much as anything else and at some point their toxicity outweighs the upside.Originally Posted by FaninAma
That's why the Vikes put AD on inactive list.
For now.
Maybe forever.
It's a PR game as much as anything else and at some point their toxicity outweighs the upside.
That's why the Vikes put AD on inactive list.
For now.
Maybe forever.
Bleep'em.
That's all well and good but doesn't limit the heat that'll be on OU over Mixon.Bleep'em.
The media looks for sensational stories and this video will be explosive. It will feed a narrative of athletic departments and athletes out of control. It is definitely not the kind of thing the University will want to be in the news over.
Until the media flitters over to the next shiny object. Soon this too will be in the rear view mirror along with all the other social hot button issues the media has conjured up to sell newspapers and generate hits to their web sites. How long has it been since the Penn State debacle? Never hear a word about it anymore. So much so the NCAA lifted their Bowl Ban. It's all yesterday's news.
Look at FSU and their situation with Jameis Winston. They have been heavily criticized for the way they have dealt with Winston (or not dealt with Winston). What they also have is another National Championship Trophy in their case.
You could be right, and it could become a ****storm, but I just don't think there's enough interest nationally for it to stick. The video will get a reaction, but I think the timing may actually help in this situation. By the time the video is released, the Ray Rice/AD/Hardy thing will be two months old, and let's face it, the general public loses interest in 'news' over that amount of time. Mixon isn't the first kid to hit a woman, nor is he the first to have a video released, and none of those stuck...and in many cases, the players involved were given a slap on the wrist.
I'm sure it will be a major story in OKC, but the rest of the nation simply won't give much time/attention to it, and it'll fade quickly. The fact that Stoops/Boren acted quickly and delivered a severe punishment will help quell the storm.
SoonerPride, You seem very invested in this issue. I presume but it seems from your comments on this issue that you feel that the treatment of Shannon, DGB and Mixon has been too lenient and that the University and Athletic Department have been blinded by their competitive urges to the extent that they have lost sight of the long term interests of the school and the team. Please excuse me if I have misstated anything.
If that is correct, and considering that, so far at least, no criminal or civil proceedings have accompanied any of the aforementioneds' actions and that only a Title IX inquiry has held against Shannon (and is not applicable to Mixon or DGB), and that all three are serving out season or year long suspensions (and in Shannon's case, perhaps more)(setting aside the potential that Shannon may well be utterly innocent and yet publicly labeled a sexual predator), what would you have demanded?
Keep in mind that, in essence, these three young men (and Mixon less than 24 hours an adult when he transgressed) are being punished for 'Conduct Unbecoming'. And are paying with time and pretty important opportunities to develop in their chosen careers.
And keep in mind that, in all three cases, the relevant findings of fact and weighing of the equities were conducted in secret proceedings under abbreviated procedures that seem strongly biased to find against an accused and impose upon him whatever the administration felt was 'right'. And consider that the administration was both investigator, finder of fact, hearer of evidence and judge.
It seems to me that the punishment is sufficient and that the University has acted both promptly and in keeping with the letter and spirit of all applicable laws and the general tenets of our society's moral code. It may not be a popular position to take and it certainly will not please the yammering classes and their followers, but not every transgression warrants the death penalty.
If pressed, I hope Boren, Castiglione and Stoops say something along the lines that they have diligently and in a timely way carried out their responsibilities to the individuals in question and to the community at large. And they should say nothing more. The howling of crowds bearing torches and pitchforks is not a cogent argument; and rachetting of punishments until such crowds are placated is not wisdom or justice.
"I don't know karate, but I know ka-razor!" - James Brown
It's hard to predict since public reaction is so irrational. I was absolutely amazed (and wrong) about the public outcry when the 2nd Rice video came out given the nature of the 1st video. I didn't see anything new, but the outrage was huge as was the reaction.
The public may well be onto the next thing by then, but think of the situation had OU imposed a minor penalty. The CFB selection committee will have published it's first rankings a few days before with OU (knock wood) sitting pretty in a top 4 spot. *Lots* of national interest in those rankings I guarantee! Then the Mixon video comes out just about the time Mixon comes off a 6 games suspension. Or how about he was only suspended a couple of games? I think folks that criticized OU for being too harsh may change their tune (including me).
You summarized my feelings on pretty much spot on.
I agree with your feeling that the punishment for Mixon was sufficient, though not sure we should have touched DGB with a 10 foot pole.
But reality and PR are two different things. Had the Rice and Peterson things not happened, it probably would not have been as bad a firestorm.
But they did happen.
And I suspect the fact that Peterson is an ex-Sooner will be brought up when the Mixon video hits the airwaves.
^This exactly. I know I'm being redundant, but the NFL is acting crazy right now. I don't see how any organization can function if their rules are so fluid as to react to public opinion on a weekly basis. And then, the enforcement of these changing rules are even more fluid. OU should just say we gathered the information, made a decision, and we're done.
Eloquence...There be eloquence on board!
"Image is what people think we are. Integrity is what we really are"
Finally, some reasonable thought on this topic. The punishments doled out were timely and sufficient as far as I'm concerned, even a bit harsh in the Shannon case in my opinion. The university did not push the DGB appeal showing that while they are willing to give him a second chance for any transgressions that led to his dismissal at Mizzou, they weren't willing to "push the envelope" and he is basically serving a season-long suspension. Mixon made a huge mistake in a volatile situation as an 18 year old kid, and is paying for it with a season long suspension. And Shannon, is serving a year-long suspension for a transgression that may or may not have happened.
It sure appears to me that OU comes out looking pretty good as far as response and punishment, where other entities, namely the NFL, FSU, etc., appear to be the one's that need to be answering the questions about their lack of response, etc.
Of course, saying all of that, we all know that there will be those out there that will push the panic button once the Mixon video is released and say that something is amiss in Norman. Unfortunately, it's the name of the game with big-time football..
It was her alma mater that drove DGB to have all of that rotten stuff happen. If he had just followed his heart and not the S-E-C chanters and committed to Oklahoma like he was supposed to then he would have never had weed or girl problems*
*probably
100%
I was (and am) of the opinion that Mixon's punishment was too much. And that Shannon's is a travesty. And DGB's sitting out is kind of 'meh'. All that said, if Bob can keep the players more or less on board, the punishments handed out can insulate OU and the players from a bit of criticism and it's all good.
What's going on here is pure mob psychology. Don't mistake me: violence against anyone is not acceptable (subject to certain exceptions of which self defense would be a pretty non-controversial example), domestic violence is also unacceptable and should bear enhanced penalties, and sexual violence is over in a class by itself. But they are all acts that should be judged and adjudicated by the police, prosecutors and courts.
To me, applying Title IX to a sexual battery case is absurd. The 'crime' is so far beyond anything Title IX was legitimately intended to address that it's a mockery.
And, likewise, using non-judicial proceedings to attempt to appease those dissatisfied by the decisions of the court system is not only a dangerous precedent to set but outright morally wrong.
That the public is an *** may well come to characterize this whole affair better than we fear now. I just hope that the University holds firm and doesn't give in to the loud and the, so conveniently, outraged.
"I don't know karate, but I know ka-razor!" - James Brown
Initially (a couple of weeks ago), when I was discussing this topic, I didn't think there would be an ounce of national interest in the video. My thinking has evolved some since then, and given the current environment, I think it will garner some reaction, but I still don't believe it will last (on a national scale, I know it'll never be over in Oklahoma).
The more I think about it, the more I think OU did an excellent job getting in front of this matter. I'm still unhappy about the way Shannon was treated, but that's a different situation. In this case, the punishment was the most severe we had seen for this type of incident (at least in recent years), it made the NFL look terrible, and I believe added to the pressure the NFL felt after their initial punishment.
The video will come out, and it may, or may not make the national rounds. Even if it does, what will the follow up be? Mixon is out for the year (and for a kid that was expected to play, that's a pretty major punishment), so there won't (shouldn't) be any second guessing the way OU acted. I can see the story being rolled into the whole "there's a plague of violence against women on college campuses" issue.
I still wish the video had been released when the media had access. The sooner it's out there, the sooner the issues fades.
It's like Jenni Carlson became a Senator and wrote an article. Not that I read it anyway, but I won't be buying a USA Today anytime soon. There was no point to that article except to disparage a program which has been very evenhanded in its discipline over Stoops' 16 years. She sounds like somebody who is pissed that Pinkel got his *** kicked all those years when he finally had to play a real team outside of his division. 2 wins in 30 years would make me bitter too.
Yeah, all I had to see was Missouri Senator and DGB in order to bypass this one altogether. It's like asking a woman what she thinks of her ex-husband's friends.
Nobody buys USA Today. They just show up at hotels and get carried onto airplanes.
Ha! Very true.
Well hopefully Stoops proves you wrong about DGB. Everyone deserves a second chance and Stoops has been a good judge of character when it comes to that, as we all know.
Now I don't know if what Kanto assumed about you is true but anyone that thinks the University is being too LENIENT on Frank Shannon... Uhmm what... Is all I have to say to that
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