"Violation of team rules."
That always implies it's a relatively minor issue that doesn't have any criminal or university implications. It implies that the punishment is temporary.
Name me one player (other than a superstar) from any school other than ND that you can recall getting suspended for violation of team rules. I can't do it without using Google...
Here's my point said a bit differently. No one outside of the fan base knew who Jay Hayes was before today. Now everyone knows who he is and their entire opinion of him is based on this one incident. Doesn't seem fair to me.
I politely disagree.
First, this wouldn't have even been discussed if he had not gotten on Twitter. Before he posted he knew good and well that what he was going to post would more than likely put him in the hot seat. Sometime in our youth we've all done something knowing there was going to be consequences, but we did it anyway. Then we learned the "life lesson".
Second, ESPN posted this because ND is hot right now and anything that can draw clicks is going to be reported no matter how minor. No one is is interested in reading a pregame report on ND vs. UMass.
Third, this kids reputation isn't going to be tarnished. You contradicted yourself saying you can't name one player not a superstar that got suspended, then you say this non-starters reputation will be tarnished for the rest of his life. You really think fans for UNC, scUM or KSU are going to think differently about him? They'll forget who he is in a couple of weeks. Next year when he has a sack, one of them might say, "Oh I remember him. He got in trouble for posting on Twitter. Ricky Watters and Tony Brooks missed a team meal prior to the USC game. Lou immediately put them on a plane back to South Bend. This was reported in the pregame with his picture on national TV. I don't think it hurt Ricky one bit.
Fourth, as has already been explained, BK handled this the right way. There is no way Kelly would go to the media with this without being asked first. If BK doesn't do something, this sends the wrong message to the team. By disciplining him, the team now has a very clear understanding on the use of Twitter.
A TOUGH LESSON : Brooks and Watters, Suspended by Holtz, Have Returned to the Fold
December 31, 1988|RICHARD HOFFER | Times Staff Writer
The two cooled their heels outside closed doors, waiting for the team to finish its meal. "That was a hard time," Watters said. Holtz appeared and addressed the two. Did he counsel them as a father or as someone truly steamed? "Kind of like a steamed father," Brooks said.
Holtz gave them the punishment, all three of them bound to suffer the consequences, and sent them back to an isolated hotel room, where they apparently drowned their sorrows in cocktail sauce. It was a wonder they could eat, though, their jaws were so slack.
"My mouth dropped," Brooks said. "I thought he'd change his mind. I still think it was pretty harsh, but at the time I thought it was a punishment that didn't fit the crime." He has come around on that, a little. "Something had to be done," he said. "We had to be in sync, on the same page. It's the team concept. It was something he needed to do to set a team example, and he started from the top instead of the bottom."
That, perhaps, is the remarkable part of Holtz's decision. Money, prestige, national ranking were on the line, but Notre Dame had reached this point on a principle of team discipline. The principle wasn't about to be corrupted. And cynics who are normally attracted to attacking Notre Dame--this is not a school shy about advertising its natural goodness--stretched to fathom Holtz's newest scam.
Anyway, Notre Dame won.
But for Brooks and Watters, it remained a tragedy, mollified only by their youth and Notre Dame's bowl bid. They hadn't missed their last game, after all. The shame of it all enveloped them, though. It was so harsh, as a matter of fact, they couldn't really believe Holtz was going to go through with it.
Watters said they were dropped off by a Notre Dame representative at John Wayne Airport, just before kickoff time, and left to themselves in the waiting room. They talked about it with each other and were sure someone would come back with the governor's reprieve.
"We thought they were just making us sweat, making us think about what we had done," Watters said.
No reprieve came, and the two mounted the steps to the airplane, on an outdoor ramp, pausing dramatically at the top. "We stood there and wondered if maybe we should turn around and go back," Watters said.
They finally boarded, flew to Chicago, and watched Notre Dame beat USC, their pictures flashing across the screen from time to time. "To see your pictures up there like criminals . . . , " said Watters, shaking his head.
It was bad, no question, but it got a bit better afterward. It's on the verge of becoming a laughing matter. At a little team ceremony, the week before they left South Bend, the two latecomers were presented with watches. And Holtz has offered a complete dispensation.
"If you can't hug 'em, pat 'em on the back or brag on 'em, you don't want them on your team," Holtz said. He wants Brooks and Watters on his team. "I have a special feeling for Tony Brooks and Ricky Watters," he said. "They're so full of life."
They're pretty good football players, too. But they were always that. It's just now they're on time. "You know how you're still sleepy when the alarm goes off," Watters said, "and you hit that snooze button? No more. I'm out of bed. I wake up in the shower."
As for Brooks, he's really taken the lesson even more to heart. He arrived here a day ahead of the team. "Beat the rush," he said, sensibly. He beat Holtz's, anyway.
