4/24/06 - It had been my intention not to make any pronouncements regarding the Duke Lacrosse situation until after the legal proceedings were over. That is what I did with the Kobe Bryant “situation” and that is what I hoped to do here. However, I have to comment on an aspect of the current set of events not because I know what happened and feel a need to set the record straight. No, I need to comment because of the range and tone of other commentary on this matter that is out there and continues to appear.

Just so there is no misunderstanding, let me say this as unambiguously as I can:

I do not know what happened that evening.

I do not condemn people who do things that are legal; nevertheless, I may point out at times that they were stupid to have done something perfectly legal given ancillary circumstances.

I believe that the law should apply equally to everyone.

What has begun to bother me a little bit is that there have been so many people who have seized on this matter as a way to make proclamations that have a very thinly veiled political or social agenda beneath them. That's fine; the world is full of opportunists in various fields from gold miners to railroad builders to social/political activists. Make no mistake about it; some of the stuff happening now is pure opportunism and nothing more.

It took almost no time after the news of the allegations hit the streets for some folks to point to this as an issue of “the racial divide”. That one was actually pretty easy since the antagonists in this matter are of different races and that commentary was to be expected. But once you've said that, there really isn't much more to say until and unless you know what actually happened that night. I don't know and neither do the folks who want everyone to focus on this through the prism of race. It may turn out to be the critical factor here or it may turn out to be trifle. We won't know that for a while.

The Reverend Jesse Jackson inserted himself into the matter for a short period; I have no doubt that he will return to this when it appears to him to be in his best interest to reappear. He will not make it any easier for folks to arrive at “the truth of what happened that night” nor will he make it any the more difficult. His presence is irrelevant opportunism and nothing more. Rev. Jackson has in the past – repeat, in the past – participated in events that brought about highly positive social change in the country. In sporting terms, he hasn't exactly been on a hot streak for the last decade or so, but back in time he was really a unifying force for people of good will. Now he is an opportunist. Are you surprised that Rev. Jackson sees this as a matter of racial inequity? I hope not; I suspect that Rev. Jackson sees the game of chess as a symbol of the racial divide because there are white pieces and black pieces on the board.

It also took almost no time after the news of the allegations hit the streets for some folks to identify this as an issue of class warfare. That was pretty easy too. Duke University is an elite school; and on average, the students who attend Duke come from an economically privileged subset of America. At the same time, Durham NC is a city that is struggling to raise the quality of life for its residents and the alleged victim in this matter is clearly not part of the economically privileged subset of America. Just as Rev. Jackson will not make it easier or more difficult to ascertain what actually happened that night, neither will the people who keep harping on this aspect of the situation. It's there; you told us about it; it was not difficult to see in the first place; now, move on.

I also took almost no time after the news of the allegations hit the streets for some folks to say this was a gender issue. Wow, slow down there Sparky and let me be sure I understand this. A woman alleges she was gang-raped by men and you say there is a gender perspective to the matter. Oh, thanks, now I get it… And that revelation will assist in the uncovering of the facts of the matter by …?

It was easy for people to point accusatory fingers at college athletics and athletes in general for receiving privileged treatment. Not only are the accused here athletes; they are also members of a team that has had more than a few brushes with the law in the last five or six years. And the Duke Athletic Department would prefer for everyone to believe that they were sufficiently concerned about such pervious behaviors that they warned the coach to keep this team under control. Does the term “double secret probation” ring any bells here? Let me be clear; the fact that athletes are treated in ways that produce a higher than normally expected population of “spoiled brats with a sense of entitlement” is not news in 2006; it probably hasn't been news for 20 years.

Some folks recognized that most of the convenient niches for commentary in this matter already had occupants and that moved some folks to delve the level of examining the differences between an “exotic dancer” and a “stripper” as their way to chime in here. That brought a linguistic angle to the story with all of the connotations those words bring with them as they are used. That's not going to affect the search for the truth in any way, shape or form.

However, in all of the communications surrounding this matter, there seems to be something missing. Maybe it is so obvious that everyone feels it need not be said. The only reason I doubt that is that pointing to racial and economic divisions in American society is equally obvious. So, even though I risk pointing out something blatantly obvious that will not assist or retard the determination of what actually happened that night, I want to say something that seems not to have gathered much attention.

There was – with virtually no uncertainty – illegal activity ongoing that night. Not everyone in that house and at that party was of legal age to consume alcohol. In fact, the two young men who are charged at the moment with rape are both sophomores and if reporting is correct, are both underage. Look, I'm not one to carry a banner for the Women's Christian Temperance Union or anything of the sort. But it does seem to me that the folks at Duke who run the show there had to have more than an inkling that some of the problems caused by the lacrosse team's brushes with the law had to involve booze. I also know there is nothing that the Duke authorities could have done to prevent booze parties by team members; and in fact, they should not have done so when the parties involved only team members over the age of 21. But if they want me to believe that the team was on Duke's version of “double secret probation”, then these folks were really asleep at the switch. Or am I also to believe this is the first time all year that these folks quaffed a brew on or around the campus? I don't believe that.

Remember, I don't know what happened that night. Nevertheless, let me try to construct a scenario for your consideration based on things that I don't believe are seriously in contention.

A group of young males – athletes in this case but almost any group of young males would do – had been drinking for a while.

Some person or persons contracted with two women to arrive at this party sometime around midnight, to take off their clothing and dance in front of the semi-inebriated young males. Clearly, the form of dancing was not going to resemble Swan Lake; the implicit understanding in the “contract” was for the dancing to be “arousing”.

At this point, the only positive outcome is that the women do their dancing, collect their money, make like Elvis and leave the building. There is no potential to move the human condition forward here; the best that can happen is for it to end with no harm to anyone.

It is alleged at the moment that “the best” did not happen on that evening. It is now the responsibility of the authorities and the court system in Durham NC to ascertain what actually did happen. I know that I've heard and read more than was necessary from people who know no more than I do what actually happened. It is now time to go back to reporting news events and to stop with the thinly veiled socio-political commentary. And it is also time to stop giving breathtaking coverage to spin-control statements from prosecutors running for election in Durham and from defense attorneys whose only interest it is to get their clients off the hook. There will be real news items happening here in the future; let's wait to hear them and turn the volume down to zero on the rest of the nonsense.

And as the news reporters have some time on their hands awaiting the next outbreak of real news here, may I suggest that they turn their attention to the administration at Duke University and what their role in all of this might have been. For at least five years, the lacrosse team has behaved in clearly anti-social ways. Almost as certainly, the team members over that period of time have violated the drinking laws of the town and what has to be part of the Duke University “code of student behavior” or whatever they call it.

And what did the Duke Athletic Department do about that?

And what did the overseers of the Athletic Department do about that? By the way, the current president at Duke has only been there a year or two so maybe one needs to ask what the previous president and administrative trolls did about that too?

And what are they doing now to recognize that the scenario I painted above needs to happen far less frequently within the “Duke Community” in the future?

The scenario I painted above is now playing itself out for the folks who are in charge at Duke University; and it isn't all bright and rosy. What is happening now isn't at all about maximizing returns; it's only about minimizing regrets.

But don't get me wrong, I love sports...

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