Florida Times-Union sports columnist Gene Frenette provides weekly commentary on various issues for jacksonville.com This is his entry for Thursday April 24.
It'll be interesting to see what the disciplinary measures will be for one of Florida State’s most skilled players, receiver/running back Preston Parker, after this week’s arrest on marijuana possession and a felony charge of carrying a concealed firearm. Under new athletic director Randy Spetman, FSU football has an opportunity to continue a makeover of its wrist-slapping reputation in the punishment department.
Not that schools like Florida, Miami, Tennessee and Georgia are any tougher on star players who wind up on a police blotter, but those athletic departments aren’t being presently weighed down by an academic scandal. Parker picked a bad time to be piling on a football program that is in recovery mode.
On the disciplinary scale, Parker’s case is as high-profile as it gets for any Seminole athlete. If all that matters to FSU is the 2008 won-loss record, Parker will be suspended for no more than a game or two.
But if Parker is either dismissed or misses a good chunk of the season, it’d be a clear message to all FSU athletes — and not just the ones sidelined for cheating in an online music course— that there’s serious consequences for bad behavior across the board.
In the long run, the football program may be better off if the hammer comes down on Parker.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment