UM-FIU: Another Thug Story or Big Kids at Play?

According to the Miami Herald (Oct. 17, 2006), "the UM-FIU game Saturday was billed as a 'Salute to Florida High School Football'". No one, however, would predict the intensity of youthful emotions and pride backed by hulking, physical tuned bodies that erupted into a fullout backyard brawl. Yeah, there are those of us, who initially had WWF flashbacks and automatically started rooting for Hulk Hogan or Sgt. Slaughter, both characters we love to root for but what happens when they go up against one another. What side do you choose?
Most people, including UM Pres. Donna Shalala and Coach Coker, chose UM when in this case there was no choice to be made. Both team, players and coaches, plus the referees of the game were at fault for letting a skirmish escalate into the cage match we witnessed on national TV. There are those individuals who blame the kids, opps...I mean thugs playing the game. Kids being the optimal word. People forget that on any given Saturday during college football season, 100+ teenagers and young adults take a field to pummel each other in the name of sport and entertainment. Our modern day Roman Gladiators, in training. How is it that no one is blaming the adult responsible for educating and training the youngsters in the sports of football and LIFE? Where were the coaches and assistant coaches getting in the middle of this fracas and controlling the out of control emotions of their players? Where was Larry Coker hanging off of Brandon Meriweather's leg while he was busy stomping an FIU player? And what the hell are referees for if not to control the game and prevent this kind of situation from developing?
Simply put! The adults involved in controlling just this type of behavior and situation are once again passing the buck. Funny thing is, there's not much passing of the bucks to these same thugs when those game revenues roll in. The U of M administration and Coaching Staff are failing these young men, by failing to properly educated them, and continuing to properly exploit their talents. Wasn't Coker praised just three (3) years ago for turning around the culture at UM? What happened all of a sudden? UM is losing more games than anticipated and The U of M is losing out on those much anticipated football revenues.
I am sick and tired of everyone blaming and stereotyping these young black men in training, as THUGS. I say young black men because they are being singled out, when I saw a lot more white players initially involved in the incident. (UM Center Anthony Wollschlager, on an FIU player's claim that he started the brawl-that he couldn't finish-by pushing FIU Safety Marshall McDuffie to the ground: "I was defending myself. I didn't start anything.") Yet, when the black players came to the rescue of their white brothers, who gets all the blame and suspensions? Sh-t, Wollschlager isn't even one of the 13 suspended UM players, but FIU brass felt it necessary to ruin McDuffie's future by dismissing him from the team. Yet, Donna S. continues to support her players because after reviewing the tape she saw the truth. Can't hang them good-ol' boys out to dry.
In the End, 13 UM and 18 FIU players were either suspended indefinitely, dismissed from team, or suspended for one game. But here the big kicker and ultimate difference in culture between UM and FIU administration: FIU players were disciplined more like NFL players (professionals), with all players involved suspended from the team indefinitely and two dismissed, i.e. no longer playing for FIU (see FIU Safety Chris Smith's article: "Worth the Wait", Published on October 5, 2006, Page 1D, in the Miami Herald); on the other hand UM players were given a slap on the hand (like little children), with all players involved suspended for only one (1) game and another suspended indefinitely (and he was just coming off the injury list). How could starting UM safety and All-American Meriweather, who taped stomping an FIU player, get only a 1-game suspension (that 1-game is against lowly DUKE) when Albert Haynesworth of the NFL Titans was suspended 5-games plus pay for the same infraction.
The message has, is, and will continue to be the same! The U of M, its revered administration, and its coaching staff has once again put $$$s before character and education. Failing and exploiting young, at-risk men in the process.