A whole lotta wrong going around

Nov 23, 2004, 10:54 AM

Pardon me while I climb up on my trusty high horse. Steady boy. Yes, boy, I know you're nervous after that barn incident with Ut.

There's a whole lotta wrong going around lately. Unfortunately, bad cases of kneejerkitis can often cause folks to make some pretty bad decisions... like storming a field for a fight. But there's no need to rehash that one...

Look, Mr. Barker and Mr. Phillips, I know y'all are pretty smart guys. But yesterday you made an extremely dumb decision. I know you and other fans thought it was the appropriate action to take. You know, send a strong message of discipline to the rest of the college football world.

That's very noble... and very naive.

We don't have to get into the semantics of who was wrong in the fight. I think it's clear that both sides were wrong. But rather than address the brawl on a case by case basis, you took out a baseball bat and just started bashing the whole group in hopes of nailing the guilty.

Let's break down why your decision is wrong:

-You never, ever, EVER, in any case of discipline, punish the entire group for the actions of a few. This ineffective form of punishment has been tried for centuries on many, many levels. It is NEVER effective. The intent of the punishers is to turn the innocent on the guilty and teach the guilty that they're hurting the group. Sure, some of the innocent might turn on the guilty. But in the end, all of the innocent don't blame the guilty. They blame the punishers. And now you've just turned a lot of innocent young men and some of your employees against you.

-Following that theme, you send a horrendous message to recruits: If you come to Clemson and keep your nose clean, you still might get punished for someone else's actions.

-There are young men on this team who did nothing wrong and gave their all for Clemson for four years. They thought with a win Saturday, they would play in one last game before moving on with their lives. Now they're left with only a sour memory from Saturday.

-You've turned a large portion of the fan base against you. I don't think I need to elaborate the implications of this, but keep it in mind when you keep begging for money for the five different fundraising efforts. You demand so much from us fans over and over and then you...

-Punish the fans as a whole as well. Yep, that's right. The innocent group isn't just the players and coaches. It's us, too. How is my uncle supposed to explain this to his 10-year-old grandson, who, after the Miami game, called him up and asked, "Papa, what bowl game do I get to go with you to?" You didn't just punish the innocent players and coaches. You punished people like him.

It saddens me to think that you made this decision possibly because the University of South Carolina forced your hand. I would like to think you'd base your decisions on what's right... not on some knee-jerk whim for good publicity.

When you punish the whole, the innocent will turn on you.

Steady, boy, I'm not climbing down yet. There's another group spreading a whole lotta wrong around.

This next portion is directed at the certain fans threatening boycotts, IPTAY cancellations and other measures to "get back" at Clemson officials for their decision.

Again, very noble in standing up for your cause... and also very stupid and very naive.

There are plenty of people inside Clemson's halls who serve only themselves and not the University. Barker and Phillips are not two of these people. People inside Clemson's administration make mistakes. Some of them make decisions that really hurt the school, such as Barker and Phillips' decision.

But when you decide to withdraw support from Clemson because of the actions of a few, you as well are hurting the school with your decision.

Are you catching my drift? You're making the same mistake that Barker and Phillips made: You're punishing those who don't deserve to be punished. You're punishing the innocent players. You're punishing the innocent students. You're punishing the innocent coaches. And you're punishing you're fellow fans.

Don't let a bad case of kneejerkitis cloud your judgment. There are ways you can battle their decision without withdrawing support for your school. Don't walk away from the problem in a huff and create a bigger one. Work to fix the problem.

Because, again, when you punish the whole, the innocent don't blame the guilty. They blame the punishers.

Okay, I'm climbing down now. Thanks for listening.

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[Catahoula] used to be almost solely a PnR rascal, but now has adopted shidpoasting with a passion. -bengaline

You are the meme master. - RPMcMurphy®

Trump is not a phony. - RememberTheDanny

This wasnt a case of punishing everyone for the actions of a few. The entire benches cleared. Thats unacceptable in all sports and usually results in severe penalties....i.e expulsions, fines, suspensions, etc. Last time I checked this is a team sport, and being that the entire team left the sideline, you have to be prepared to face the music on the ramifications of such an action.

To me the penalties enforced by TDP were realisic, although I would bet the barn we wouldnt be facing this type of penalty if we were BCS bound. But after weighing the negatives and the positives of declining a 3rd tier bowl invitation, i say the right choice was made. Its sad for the seniors, but maybe they'll learn a lessen about getting stiffed in life.....God knows it happens to me all the time.

A whole lotta wrong going around

I wholeheartedly agree!!!***

His email address is pterry@clemson.edu...

Im not saying I agree with it, but did you happen to see

O-linemen fron USC said the samething

Catahoula uber alles!***

HOF post. Well said, Catahoula.***

Naive=knave?***

Right on as usual, Cata...***

I have to respectfully disagree

Couldn't have said it better...worst situation in 22 years

i disagree in part.

Did the guilty really have to step forward?

Re: Did the guilty really have to step forward?

I have to agree with Sav82 on that one but

Bravo! Bravo!***

Better article than anything I've seen in the paper. Thanks*

Have any of you seen Full Metal Jacket?

That's a movie, not real life.***

Re: That's a movie, not real life.***

Are we absolutely positive that the UCS bench came onto

The footage shows...

Some of it is coming from you.

Integrity more important than one lousy bowl!***

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