The Case of the National Spotlight
Your men's soccer team has had quite a season . While they came into the season ranked #9 nationally, they won some close games and moved up to #2 with only one loss on the season . Going into the last weekend, four days before they were supposed to leave for the national tournament, a lot of the team decided to go to a party . The party was at an off-campus house and the hosts made sure that alcohol was in no short supply .Things quickly got out of hand and in the end, the police were called to break up the party .
Details are pretty fuzzy, but in the end, 43 students were cited for underage drinking, nine students went to the hospital because of alcohol poisoning, and one student died from injuries sustained while falling off of a balcony . He was too drunk to catch his balance once he started to fall .
When interviewed by the media, the soccer coach insisted that his players who were there are good boys that made a bad choice . When asked if he would cancel the trip to the National tournament, the coach responded by saying, "Are you crazy? We earned that trip and we're not gonna let this stop us from our goals ." While the coach would later admit the timing of the statement was unfortunate, his comments have nonetheless led to a media frenzy focused on entitled student athletes who are "Above the Law ."
The Board of Trustees has convened an emergency meeting to discuss what should be done because this is the fourth major house party of the fall where the police needed to be called . At the time of the meeting, the team was only a day away from leaving for the tournament and it still wasn't clear how many soccer players were involved and to what extent they were involved with the party . The Board has asked you to give them a recommendation of what should be done .
> If you were President, what would you say should be done?
I feel like if I was the president, I would not let them go. If they didn't get caught, then they should get to play because obviously no one knows if they were drinking. But that's kind of like life. If you get an MIP during the school year, you don't get to play. You can practice, but you are not allowed to play for a certain number of days. I agree that there are some good people who make bad choices, but in the long run, they will learn from it by not playing. Everything has consequences and they have to live with them. The team is allowed to go, but those who got cited and went to the hospital are not allowed to play but can sit on the sidelines.
ReplyDeleteIf I was the president I wouldn't let them go even if it wasn't for sure if they were drinking or not. They made the bad decision to go to the party, knowing alcohol was going to be there. If they allow these athletes to go, what does that say about the college? It's basically saying it's okay for you to go party and make poor decisions and then get rewarded by doing so. If I were the teammates of those players I think it would be unfair to let them go. They let the team down. I say they made the decision to go, so they can suffer the consequences.
ReplyDeleteThis is a crazy case this week. Tough decision. I'd probably make them go, and watch their team lose. The ones drinking would have to go, and be benched. The ones who were smart enough to not drink can play. If you break the law, even if you're an athlete, you should have consequences. Even if you worked hard all season, you can't just expect the law to ignore your mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI feel like the team should not get to go. You may not know all of the facts, but you know that some of the team was there. You are a team which mean you are just like family. If one person does something wrong then you all should be punished. You are a team for reason. You all need to help each other and not let each other make bad decision. Hopefully they will learn a lesson and next year the players will not make the same mistake. The did something wrong and they shouldn't get away with it because they play a sport well. If would have been anybody else they would have got punished for it.
ReplyDeleteIf I was the president, I would not let them go. If they didn't get caught then no one would of knew but because they got caught I think they need to be punished. I know if you are in high school and you get caught drinking you can't play the game. Everyone makes bad decisions at some point but some make worse decisions than others. I think I would let the team go but the ones caught doing bad should be punished and not allowed to play.
ReplyDeleteIf i was the president I would let them go. They deserve to go to the tournament and they also earned it. When they get back from their trip then I would punish them.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't let them go. No one would have actually known if they weren't caught but that doesn't make it right and because they were caught they should have a punishment. Everyone messes up but you have to hold your head high and keep on keeping on. Don't give up because you can always reach your goals.
ReplyDeleteAlthough they may have made a bad choice. The details are fuzzy. If they are not for certain what happened, then i feel that they cannot make a fair choice. Also they would be putting the team out of money, because the travel arrangements couldn't be canceled in time. Also is they didn't go it would be to late for them to have another take their place. So i say they let them go, and deal with it afterwards.
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