The State rips Syvelle (C&P)

Apr 15, 2005, 4:30 AM

Posted on Fri, Apr. 15, 2005

Ringer proves to be a good judge of character

WE ALL OWE Jim Ringer an apology.

Ringer, you might recall, is the Rock Hill High School football coach who took the bold stand of not selecting Lexington running back Demetris Summers and Marlboro County quarterback Syvelle Newton to be members of South Carolina’s 2002 Shrine Bowl football team.

Ringer took a lot of heat for his decision. He took it from Lexington High and Marlboro County High coaches and fans. He took it from casual football fans who believed he was denying a chance for the state’s top two players to perform in an all-star game. He took it from the media, which generally did not understand the decision. And he took it from USC fans who believed he was somehow trying to belittle the school’s top recruits.

As it turns out, Ringer knew what he was doing.

His decision clearly was not based on the accomplishments of the two players. Summers remains the state’s all-time leader in rushing yards (9,076) and touchdowns (127), and he was ranked by one publication as the nation’s top running back prospect. Newton was the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year and was ranked by one publication as the nation’s fifth-best quarterback prospect.

Although Ringer never spelled it out, his decision was based on character issues. Newton was the central figure in a benches-clearing brawl between Marlboro County and Northwestern High that prevented both teams from participating in the 2002 high school playoffs. Summers was suspended during his senior season following a fight with another student at Lexington High.

“I know coach Ringer is pretty steadfast in his beliefs, and he’s going to take the people who will make this an enjoyable week and help him win the Shrine Bowl,” said Lakewood High coach Greg Crolley, who came closest at the time to touching on the reasons for Ringer’s decision.

Vindication for Ringer has come two years later.

Summers is no longer a member of the USC football team, having been booted for repeated drug-test violations. Newton is walking perilously close to getting the same boot following his involvement in an off-campus fight this past weekend in which charges against him were dropped.

Now we know why Ringer did not want the two on his football team. All you have to do is consider each player’s laundry list of on-the-field and off-the-field incidents to know Ringer had some foresight.

In high school, Summers also was suspended from the basketball team his sophomore year for an undisclosed violation of team rules. He was pampered to the point of needing a babysitter at USC. Then he was suspended from the USC football team for the second session of summer school a year ago for missing classes and/or team workouts. He was front and center at the bottom of the hill at Clemson this past season, taunting the Tigers before the game — an action that possibly instigated the brawl that occurred later. Finally, the failed drug tests got him.

Newton’s rap sheet is becoming Derek Watson-esque, and you have to wonder how many more chances USC coach Steve Spurrier is going to give the talented quarterback-turned-receiver. It begins with his involvement in the Marlboro County-Northwestern fight and ends with his allegedly punching USC student Justin Williams in the side of the face during an incident at the Masonic Temple on Saturday.

In between, Newton was suspended from the team for the second session of summer school a year ago for missing classes and/or team workouts. He recently applied for pretrial intervention to wipe clean charges that he stole property from the USC locker room in November. On top of that, it appears Newton stopped attending class following football season and must pass a heavy load of courses during the current semester and in summer school to retain his eligibility.

In hindsight, we can understand why Ringer did not want such distractions while preparing his Shrine Bowl team for what is supposed to be a lifelong, rewarding experience.

“If we don’t win this game there are some folks from Lexington and Marlboro County who probably won’t let me out of that stadium alive,” Ringer said at the time.

Ringer’s South Carolina team could not generate much offense without the services of Summers and Newton, and it was over-powered 28-0 by the North Carolina squad.

There probably are those who never will forgive Ringer for his decision concerning Summers and Newton. But, in retrospect, Ringer should be applauded for establishing principles and standing behind them.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/sports/colleges/clemson_university/11399244.htm

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Ron Morris should write for the National Enquirer. That is about his speed.

That article has about 12 blantant factual errors.

I am not going to debate what Newton and Summers have done 2 years after the fact because that is irrelevant.

What is relevant is Ringer allowed his personal dislikes of coaches and politics get in the way of choosing the best 2 players in the state that season. He also did not choose Justin Fulbright from Byrnes who passed for over 5000 in one season. David Smith who caught 75 balls for Union, Bradly Robinson from Byrnes, Marcus Howard who went to UGA, or Rodney Mc Gill from Clover who went to UNC. He left off 8 of the top 12 recruits and 11 of the 24 players from the AP All State Team.

Ringer used the Shrine Bowl to play favors with his buddies pure and simple. At the time he said Summers was not choosen because he could not block. Summers had only one discipline problem in HS ever. He was suspended for fighting after a punk called him a Nig........Newton was not even suspended for the Marlboro Northwestern fight. 21 players were suspended at least one game but Newton was not. Morris flat out lies on this point.

Summers deserved to be kicked out of USC and Newton might as well. But there is no way to justify an idiot coach's mistake from 3 years ago with what these 2 guys did in the future.

Oh and by the way.....there were 3 players on that Shrine Bowl with CRIMINAL RECORDS. Thats right Coach Jimbo selected 3 players who had been convicted of crimes and were part of the Juvie Justice System. Newton and Summers were never even charged with anything in HS.

The State rips Syvelle (C&P)

WOW..Who wrote that? The States phones will be ringing today***

Clap, clap, clap! ********

Oh I smell a BIG TIME boycott***

Ouch! That's gonna leave a mark!***

And let the church say AMEN!!!

Bravo! I can't believe SS is considering letting Syvelle

Not just considering it...

Like I said yesterday, Spurrier is already compromising his

That surprises me, i was pretty impressed myself that

Best thing to come out of the State in years

Don't know much about Ringer but he must be a great

Not sure if it's fair to lump Summers and Newton together

agree, but neither deserve a scholarship at USC***

No, they've used up all of their chances.

Sign of the apocalypse?

But wait...on this website, The State is an unreliable rag

good one Rowdy

LOL, I hear ya jg. :)***

Re: LOL, I hear ya jg. :)***

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