Charges dropped for Yale Athletes (news item)

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>"Charges against five Yale student-athletes, stemming from an Oct. 1 incident outside a downtown market, have been dismissed.</p>

<p>Football players Mike McLeod and Matt Polhemus and hockey players Ben Mills, Matt Nelson and Alec Richards were all in Superior Court in New Haven Friday to face charges stemming from an altercation in front of Gourmet Heaven on Broadway on Oct. 1.</p>

<p>All but Polhemus faced a charge of criminal mischief in the third degree and breach of peace in the second degree. Polhemus faced a charge of breach of peace in the second degree.</p>

<p>Under the dismissals, each admitted to probable cause for the arrest. However, under Connecticut statute nothing appears on their criminal record, and they are permitted to swear under oath that they have not been arrested in the past. This also applies to job and graduate school applications..."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17326929&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7592&rfi=6%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17326929&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=7592&rfi=6&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>Mcleod hit the 200 mark AGAIN today. He's only a sophomore and , barring injury, he's going to be the best Ivy league running back soon.</p>

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<p>So in light of his prominence, and that of the QB, does this mean the entire incident will be swept under the rug? I take it money from somewhere will pay for the $3,500 of damage resulting from the fight?</p>

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<p>I assume from the students. Your implications are unfounded. </p>

<p>Polhemus is turning out to be a nice star as well. I think we might actually give Harvard a run for its money. Maybe they'll pull some more skit nights and then we can play a depleted cheerleader squad by november!</p>

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<p>"Unfounded?"</p>

<p>" .... each admitted to probable cause for the arrest." The Yale coach, apparently, will view this as insufficient basis for team discipline, unlike similar cases at Harvard, BC and UMass, among others, presumably due to their prominence.</p>

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<p>What does it matter what Harvard, BC, and UMASS do? Its not like they are a barometer of what is right and wrong for every team. Look, we are talking about third degree misdemeanors and the charges were dropped. They can even say they were never arrested according to the judge. Just because someone gets arrested doesn't mean they are guilty, nor should they be punished so. Its funny to see you on your high horse, but frankly, there is no moral high ground here. If a player physically assaulted his girlfriend, well, that would defintelely merit some sort of suspension as occured at Harvard as THAT IS A CRIME. Whether a player should be suspended for behavior like free speech or having an altercation with a violent bus driver is a totally questionable call and really isn't some sort of universal "this is how we should manage athletes" as you pretend it is. You can't even articulate why these players should be suspended. All you say is that if it happens at Harvard, it should happen elsewhere. But time and again, that's the most hollow of arguments on this board. </p>

<p>What is unfounded is that you are implying someone else, like an alumn booster, is going to pay hush money for the window. What you are implying, without any evidence, is inappropriate.</p>

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<p>You should read the Crimson article, which was right on the mark:</p>

<p>"Yale Coach Misses Chance To Educate</p>

<p>Stop me if this story sounds eerily familiar.</p>

<p>An esteemed school in the Northeast, known far more for its academic reputation than its athletic prowess, braces itself for the backlash as a number of its athletes face legal charges stemming from an off-the-field incident.</p>

<p>National media outlets that often shy away from the I-AA bubble, especially the Ivy League, jump at the change to cover the story.</p>

<p>Although it surely sounds a lot like the saga that has plagued the football program on this very campus in recent months, this time it has absolutely nothing to do with Harvard.</p>

<p>Early last week, five Yale athletes were arrested outside a market in downtown New Haven and charged with breach of peace after an alleged fight.</p>

<p>Three are hockey players still in the midst of the final weeks of their offseason, but the other two are Yale football players—starting quarterback Matt Polhemus and starting running back Mike McLeod.</p>

<p>Well, there goes some of the intrigue of The Game, I thought. After all, without their starting quarterback and running back, there’s no way they’ll be able to beat us on our home field when we play the 123rd edition of The Game in just over five weeks.</p>

<p>Well, you can imagine my surprise when I heard that McLeod had run for 198 yards and two touchdowns against Dartmouth last weekend, while Polhemus had 138 yards through the air.</p>

<p>Since when could suspended players put up stats like that?</p>

<p>But the thing is, neither McLeod, Polhemus, nor any of the hockey players have been disciplined by their respective coaches.</p>

<p>Despite the fact that they were arrested and charged by local police, they’re all still practicing and/or playing.</p>

<p>I’m all for innocent until proven guilty, but I’m also for swift, responsible justice.</p>

<p>Maybe it’s because of what I’ve seen happen here—a player commits a crime, faces a bit of legal trouble, or even breaks an undisclosed team rule that nobody outside the football program knows about—and they miss time, no matter what.</p>

<p>It doesn’t matter if it’s the team captain, the starting quarterback, or a wide receiver low on the depth chart.</p>

<p>At universities with some of the highest standards of admission, similarly high standards of behavior are expected to be upheld long after the acceptance letters have been received.</p>

<p>Is it unfair that athletes here are expected to keep their proverbial noses cleaner than those of the athletes at bigger, I-A schools? Of course it is.</p>

<p>But did anyone pull any punches when they laid down the recruiting pitch in getting guys to come here to play sports? I doubt it. Guys know what they’re getting when they go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton or Dartmouth. They have a name to uphold—on and off from the field.</p>

<p>As much as people might be willing to turn a blind eye to the indiscretions that happen at a stereotypical "big state school," where the football program is integral in bringing the university important alumni contributions and bowl-game dollars ever year, that’s not what Ivy athletics are about.</p>

<p>So when, after Yale’s recent arrests, Bulldog coach Jack Siedlecki chose to take no action pending the completion of the legal process, he sent the wrong message to his athletes.</p>

<p>Unlike the swift and direct “Murphy’s Law” that has (unfortunately) had to be exercised far too often recently around here, Siedlecki is telling his players that he’d rather win football games than send valuable messages.</p>

<p>And while his job title is ‘head coach,’ that doesn’t mean Siedlecki is only allowed to coach his team via X’s and O’s.</p>

<p>College is a time for growth, and his job is to help spur that growth athletically as well as personally. And that only happens when he holds his players accountable when an excursion into downtown New Haven gets out of hand.</p>

<p>I’m not out to chastise these players for making a mistake. It’s happened at Harvard, it’s now happening at Yale, and realistically, it can happen anywhere. But if it does, then that’s when coaches are given their greatest opportunities to do what they’re there to do: lead.</p>

<p>Besides, what’s the worst that can happen if a few guys get suspended? The team loses a few more games, the players in question finish their seasons with a few less stats, and Yale is a bit deeper down in the Ivy League’s final standings.</p>

<p>But look at the upside: guys like McLeod and Polhemus will more fully understand the value of the institutions they represent, the comrades who depend on them, and, most notably, the importance of their actions.</p>

<p>They’ll give up a few career yards in exchange for a myriad of life lessons.</p>

<p>And when it comes down to it, that’s what’s most important."</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514878%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514878&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>yawn. that's a very long article for lacking a real argument.<br>
This is all relativistic horse manure coming from the charles, yet again.</p>

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<p>Rather laughable attitude given your eager posting on the Harvard page about the <em>shocking</em> suspensions of Harvard plsayers whose offenses were less serious in most cases, and <em>none</em> of whom were convicted of anything. </p>

<p>More of your typically selective morality!</p>

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<p>that I just posted the article and didn't pass judgement as you do
see the post here. All I said was that it was serious:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=205314&highlight=football%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=205314&highlight=football&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>The incident I posted to was one FAR more serious in nature - when the football captain beat up his girlfriend. He was convicted of a crime unlike those involved in this thread. Very different. I didn't go parading around the harvard forum with the bullcrap you come here touting. And as a harvard sycophant, you wouldn't be posting here is your master Coach Murphy had acted differently.</p>

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<p>Oh? What crime was he convicted of?</p>

<p>You are not telling the truth. In fact, your false assertion is - to borrow your apt phrase, bulldog - "BULLCRAP".</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514776%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514776&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You also did a little posturing later in that thread, which you seem to have forgotten - sufficient to make an amusing contrast to your partyline "sycophantic" support of the New Haven whitewash.</p>

<p>SHAME, SHAME! Shame on YOU bulldog, and shame on Bulldog coach Jack Siedlecki.</p>

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<p><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514558%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514558&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>he was charged with a FELONY. And he is on probation currently. </p>

<p>And I never posted on those students who were suspended for the fight with the bus driver so please retract your statement. I have been consistent throughout. I said the students at Yale might be suspended. I said Murphy was a tyrant. I defended my posting of the article, but never once judged anyone or made a commentary on the events in the article. I did make an observation as to the number of suspensions with the following: "the team seems to be imploding before the season even starts. How many suspensions is it for this year?" That's it. </p>

<p>And there is no posturing whatsoever in that thread. You are silly. If anyone is posturing, it is you to secure some sort of criticism of Yale if they win the Havard Yale game. Always hedging your bets old man. </p>

<p>As you are yet again off your meds by the sound of your last line and on a posting rampage without end (I guess this is what you do on saturday nights), I will sign off. You can of course have the last and erroneous word on this topic.</p>

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<p>Now you are decending into your usual ad hominem attack, after being caught telling an untruth.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514776%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=514776&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>"In addition to the arrests being removed from their records, Polhemus said, those involved were not fined and did not need to pay Gourmet Heaven for the property damage caused by the fight. "</p>

<p><a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=33743%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=33743&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p><a href="http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=33780%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yaledailynews.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=33780&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>