Strong berated for others’ sins
Former UT coach unfairly criticized for player’s misdeed.
If Judge Margaret Taylor really wanted to do some good this week, she wouldn’t have ripped USF coach Charlie Strong for being unable to control two players who were arrested.
She would have hauled the whole Sports-Thug-Industrial Complex into court and wagged her finger in its corrupt face. Not that it would have done any good, other than enhancing Taylor’s supposed quest to be the next Judge Judy.
Strong, the former Longhorns coach, is just a part of the system that relies to a disturbing degree on criminal types for talent. Though what it truly relies on is fans not being bothered enough by criminal types (see: Joe Mixon and about 1.2 million other examples) to stop cheering, put their collective foot down and yell “Enough!”
In fact, based on the Barry Switzer Scale, Strong hardly warranted the lecture he got in absentia Thursday.
To recap: Taylor was hearing the case of USF defensive end LaDarrius Jackson, freshly charged with sexual battery and false imprisonment. Jackson, in his orange prison jumpsuit (USF 2017 motto: “Orange is the New Green and Gold!”) was actually appearing via closed-circuit from a holding area.
He is the second Bull to be arrested in the past two months. Defensive back Hassan Childs was charged with aggravated assault and marijuana possession in March. He ended up getting shot three times after allegedly pulling a gun in a road-rage incident near campus.
All this was too much for the 1989 USF grad in the black robe.
“I was never ashamed of being an alum until now,” Taylor said. “I’m embarrassed and ashamed, Mr. Jackson. Let’s just say my USF diploma is not proudly hanging in my office right now.”
Then she tore into Strong, who was not in the holding cell wearing orange. Taylor wondered whether Strong is a “good fit” for the community.
Answer: As long as the Bulls win the AAC title, he is.
“Judge blasts USF coach Charlie Strong” headlines quickly infested the internet. USF fans say that’s what Taylor wanted to enhance her TV resume. She was last seen on an episode of HGTV “House Hunters” searching for a ritzy condo in downtown Tampa.
I’ll give Taylor the benefit of the doubt and say she’s not suffering from Nancy Grace Disease. She truly was upset and embarrassed, but she was also unfair to Strong.
He’s been at USF only four months and inherited Jackson and Childs from Willie Taggart. He kicked Childs off the team and has suspended Jackson.
And while Texas fans certainly doubt Strong’s coaching ability, not many people question his character and commitment to running clean programs. The bigger issue, of course, is that programs can only be so clean if they want to be any good.
Every college welcomes questionable characters to campus if they can run 4.4 40s and bench press a Coke machine. Some, like Dalvin Cook, grow up and flourish. Others, like Aaron Hernandez, make a mockery of the term “student-athlete.”
Then there are places like Baylor, which turned into a criminal enterprise in pursuit of football glory.
A handy reference is the website Arrest Nation, which tracks the misadventures of America’s prized sporting youth. So far this year, there have been 157 arrests, citations or charges brought against college and pro players (and to a very small degree coaches).
If there were a Bad Boy Football Playoff, Louisiana-Lafayette would be the No. 1 seed. Thirteen players were arrested a couple of weeks ago on criminal conspiracy to commit felony theft.
It’s a good thing Judge Taylor is not a Louisiana-Lafayette grad or coach Mark Hudspeth might be working on a road crew picking up trash. If she were a Baylor grad, Art Briles would have had to flee the country like Roman Polanski.
Baylor showed just how seamy things can get when schools compromise their ethics. Most would never go that far, but almost all compromise their standards for athletics.
That’s how we end up with guys like Jackson wearing orange jumpsuits. The alleged criminal act is strictly on him, but everyone from the coaches to the administrators to the fans are guilty of aiding and abetting the system that produces such courtroom scenes.
On Thursday, a judge decided she’d seen one scene too many. Her point was right, even if what she did to Strong was wrong.