My feeling is that the college athletics environment is what enables misbehavior. I don’t feel that top Universities are recruiting “thugs” to play for their teams, but within the locker room and at training camp they develop some sort of “boys will be boy,” high-ego, untouchable, can-do-no-wrong mentality with the team that can lead athletes to act out of character. I think it’s the same phenomenon associated with fraternities – the issue is not the moral character of the students but the culture they can become a part of.
Well, the Vanderbilt basketball team went to the Children’s Hospital today, as they do regularly, to visit the patients and do activities with them. This was their day off from practice since they had a game last night,
That said, Yes, there clearly is a “bro-code” these days.
If you read excerpts from Kyle Fuller’s book (Vandy bball alum), I think you’ll see that this type of culture can apply to the basketball team as well!
Oh, Pancaked. Kyle Fuller’s book is complete fiction and the former and current players are disgusted (see Twitter comments) and furious. I am really disappointed in Kyle, since I supported him and wished him the best. The book is a huge joke around here. He isn’t even accurate in the stuff he made up- i.e. the names of the dorms at Lipscomb where he had some of his sexual conquests, etc. He had to back-pedal really quickly, and you’ll notice that there hasn’t been much said lately about the book. I assure you that anything Kyle Fuller invented in his head is NOT the culture of the basketball team.
There have been a couple of problems and a few athletes have been dismissed from the team in the last few years, and I am well-aware of those circumstances and I assure you it is nothing comparable to rape or any type of sexual assault. One player had a failed drug test, one had a shop-lifting arrest and academic problem (is now playing at Gonzaga and sincerely apologized to Vanderbilt, his teammates and his fans for what happened), and one had a violation of university security policies (more than once).
I’m not sure what you mean by “around here,” but the general understanding around Vanderbilt’s campus is that while the stories may be somewhat exaggerated, the book overall is not untrue and the response from his teammates have just been intended to protect the University’s reputation. I’m sure you read about Stallings’ efforts to squash the book. As you can imagine, they have a lot of incentive to deny what he’s saying. I believe he’s already admitted to changing names, places etc. to avoid direct accusations or implicate others, and that was pretty much understood from the beginning. Some of us have heard evidence confirming some of the storied, despite what you might hear in social media.
I try to take a balanced approach to everything, positive or negative. I certainly agree that the basketball team does a lot of good and is full of great guys. I’m just saying the cultural issue can affect any group of guys.
Kyle is full of you know what. Stallings was trying to protect Kyle from making a fool of himself, but, unfortunately, failed. If anyone on campus believes much of what Kyle is saying, it’s a very naïve minority. As someone said, “If Kyle Fuller, who was a mediocre point guard who was only playing due to unfortunate attrition, had all that sex and was hiding women in suitcases, Riley LaChance must be having a ball!” (Riley LaChance - current player who looks like he’s 12.)
Again, just sharing the sentiment on campus and taking a balanced approach here. It’s not a minority. We actually know the girl from the infamous suitcase, and that story is essentially entirely true, but that of course doesn’t necessarily speak to the content of the entire book.
Anyways, I think this is off topic so let’s move on!
I have not read all the postings on this thread, so perhaps this point has already been made, and if so, I apologize in advance for being repetitious. Sexual misconduct and sexual violence continue to be way too prevalent in our society. We hear about the highly publicized cases such as the Steubenville High School Rape case, Maryville High School Rape case, University of Virginia Rape case, etc. and we hear about them because they are high school or college athletes or fraternity guys. The fact of the matter is that sexual misconduct and sexual violence occurs every day to high school and college aged women–but many of them never get reported. Unfortunately, our society tolerates a Rape Culture in which includes victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, and refusing to acknowledge the harm of some forms of sexual violence. Regardless of what kind of clothes a woman is wearing or how she is walking or talking, her appearance does NOT mean that “she is asking for it”. If a women is under the influence of drugs or alcohol (whether she took them voluntarily or involuntarily), she can NOT consent to sex! If a woman says “yes” to have sex and then says “no”—no means NO! Until our society stops having the double standard of “boys will be boys” but “girls must always be a lady and the thermostat” nothing will change. College campuses now have programs called RSVP (Rape and Sexual Violence Prevention), but those programs need to be occurring before our young men and women get to college. Each and every one us that has a son or grandson needs to convey the message that “no means no” and sex should ONLY occur when there is mutual enthusiastic consent by both parties. No more “Blurred Lines”!
CoMoMom, if a man is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, can he consent to sex?