A few grown men cry and it’s plastered all over ESPN, sports websites and sports radio. Why is it that when Miami Heat players cry after a loss to the Chicago Bulls it’s such a big deal? Why is this a headline?
Brigham Young basketball player Brandon Davies was kicked off the team last week after he admitted to having consensual sex with his girlfriend, a violation of the school’s honor code.
Then I scrolled down ESPN’s site even more to find that Rachel Alexandra was pregnant. She is not a famous LPGA golfer or woman’s tennis player. No, this article was about 2009 Horse of the Year winner Rachel Alexandra, the famous “Filly” (girl) horse who won the Preakness that year. She is pregnant by two-time Horse of the Year winner Curlin’ in an attempt to create the fastest horse ever. Their foals are due February 1, 2012 (I also learned horses are pregnant for 11 months rather than a human’s cycle of nine months).
I then tried to revert to any TV or radio station that doesn’t have Chris Bosh crying or the never-ending financial downfall of the New York Mets. I came across people’s reaction to BYU basketball star Brandon Davies and, needless to say, their reactions were quite surprising. About half the people were mentioning how honorable and mature he was for informing the school he had sex with his girlfriend, thus getting him indefinitely suspended from the basketball team and, more importantly, suspended for the March Madness tournament in which BYU was likely to enter as a Number 1 seeded team.
The other half was asking “Why would he tell?” “Why didn’t he keep it a secret” “Why would he do such a thing?” Is this what our ethics and morals have come to? I’m sure we were all taught better than to lie, but it seems only half the people received this message.
This player should be commended for what he did, not ridiculed.
Certainly most of us can agree that BYU’s chastity rule may be a little harsh, if it should even be implemented at all, but they’re allowed to have whatever rules they’d like. Davies signed a wavier to follow their rules and to avoid having sex with his girlfriend (unless they’re married), and if he didn’t know that was a rule then he should have read the fine print. His suspension is his own fault.
He did the one thing our parents would have wanted us to do in his situation: tell the truth. BYU fouled up the game after Davie’s suspension terribly, losing 82-64 to New Mexico. BYU stuck by their decision and kept him off the team, and rightfully so. They would have faced tremendous criticism from their religious powers, alumni and donors alike. It would have been a story about a basketball player getting the star treatment and being exempt from punishment all over again. I’m glad we’re debating a story about someone doing the right thing rather than how long Donte Stallworth should get for killing a pedestrian while driving drunk.
From our college perspective this move is outrageous, hilarious and puzzling but it’s a strict Mormon school for a reason.
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