Athletes behaving badly
Poor sportsmanship goes unpunished in Richmond
Justine Sgalio
Issue date: 3/23/06 Section: Seahawk Sports
At the CAA tournament in Richmond over spring break, I had a not-so-shocking revelation about collegiate and pro athletes. They could pretty much get away with murder.
Northeastern guard, and 2006 CAA Player of the Year, Jose Juan Barea, lost his shoe after a play under the basket. As he tried to lace back up, he was heckled by ODU fans sitting just feet away. Rather than just ignore the nonsense, Barea proceeded to kick his shoe into the crowd of screaming fans.
In his defense, if CollegeInsider.com named me CAA and Mid- Major player of the year, I would probably be a little upset too if fans were chanting "overrated." The guy is averaging 21 points per game, and should be drafted in June.
However, as a former athlete, I would keep in mind that fans will be fans. I should be mature enough to let idiotic comments like these roll off my back.
To complicate matters, Barea's actions went completely unpunished. No technical foul, not even a reprimand from head coach Ron Everhart. Instead, a wound-up Barea headed back to the bench, sat down still mumbling to the fans and mouthed 'I'll pray for you' while patting his heart.
The saga continued as Barea, along with a teammate and coach Everhart, made their way into the media room. With all the reporters and journalists in attendance someone was bound to confront him about his behavior.
When a reporter questioned him about the shoe incident, Barea just laughed as his coach and teammate smiled. He responded something along the lines of "I guess it just slipped off."
So why does this kid think he can get away with this? The answer is quite simple: because we let him.
Beyond UNCW fans heckling him about it at the next game, the situation was for the most part forgotten. But if little things like this are happening at the college level, who knows what it could escalate into when it reaches the next.
So, when a college player does something like throw his shoe out of frustration, it should not be ignored. It should be addressed and made clear by not only the officials of the game, but by the player's coach, his teammates, fans, and the media. Otherwise, it is going to be assumed that acting like a 5-year-old out on the court is okay-and let's be honest, 5-year-olds don't make very good role models, do they?
Northeastern guard, and 2006 CAA Player of the Year, Jose Juan Barea, lost his shoe after a play under the basket. As he tried to lace back up, he was heckled by ODU fans sitting just feet away. Rather than just ignore the nonsense, Barea proceeded to kick his shoe into the crowd of screaming fans.
In his defense, if CollegeInsider.com named me CAA and Mid- Major player of the year, I would probably be a little upset too if fans were chanting "overrated." The guy is averaging 21 points per game, and should be drafted in June.
However, as a former athlete, I would keep in mind that fans will be fans. I should be mature enough to let idiotic comments like these roll off my back.
To complicate matters, Barea's actions went completely unpunished. No technical foul, not even a reprimand from head coach Ron Everhart. Instead, a wound-up Barea headed back to the bench, sat down still mumbling to the fans and mouthed 'I'll pray for you' while patting his heart.
The saga continued as Barea, along with a teammate and coach Everhart, made their way into the media room. With all the reporters and journalists in attendance someone was bound to confront him about his behavior.
When a reporter questioned him about the shoe incident, Barea just laughed as his coach and teammate smiled. He responded something along the lines of "I guess it just slipped off."
So why does this kid think he can get away with this? The answer is quite simple: because we let him.
Beyond UNCW fans heckling him about it at the next game, the situation was for the most part forgotten. But if little things like this are happening at the college level, who knows what it could escalate into when it reaches the next.
So, when a college player does something like throw his shoe out of frustration, it should not be ignored. It should be addressed and made clear by not only the officials of the game, but by the player's coach, his teammates, fans, and the media. Otherwise, it is going to be assumed that acting like a 5-year-old out on the court is okay-and let's be honest, 5-year-olds don't make very good role models, do they?