What a bold statement and some strong discipline! Do something stupid and detrimental to your team and we will kick you off ... until we need you and let you come back and thereby teach our other student athletes that your actions really have no long-term consequences.
If Harbaugh had done this the media would jump all over him. The media covering MSU will do what they always do: sweep it under the rug, ignore it and bounce softball questions off Mork's fat, hard head.
Is it really sweeping it under the rug when the media just doesn't care that much about MSU? If Harbaugh had done this, the media would jump all over him because the media jumps all over Harbaugh no matter what he does--whether making him a villain or a hero. Sparty generally gets a free pass because no one outside of East Lansing is really paying that much attention.
Fair point, but the double standard between the two just drives me nuts.
Media won't sweep it anywhere... they'll celebrate what a strong, understanding mentor to young men he is.
Whatever.
Sigh. You called it. Same paper publishing his text message has a story today about how Mork made this a teachable moment. They'd say the exact opposite if Harbaugh had decided to do this.
I will give credit where credit is due. The Freep published an item this morning in which they obtained the actual text message that got Reschke in trouble. No link because its the Freep.
Here is the freep excerpt:
"Honestly don't know who for sure but probably (teammate's name redacted) or another s****y f*****g (N-word) with no morals," Reschke wrote in an undated text message obtained via screenshot by the Free Press.
Wow.
Apparently, a much much bigger story is Harbaugh not wearing a suit to B1G media days.
It's a fallacy that we "need" him; we have good returning productivity at LB and solid depth there. His absence was supposed to be a huge problem last year. Turned out, it wasn't. Solid unit.
I agree the optics of this are shitty if you're an uninformed outsider.
That said, the kid was out of football for a year, has lost his scholarship permanently (last year and this year), and his football aspirations were seriously derailed if not, it appears, permanently destroyed. Dantonio has already said it will remain up to his team to decide how far he progresses toward seeing the field this fall; it's not a done deal yet. He could have transferred. Didn't.
There's an argument to make on this one either way (I know our fanbase isn't united on how to react to this). But is this particular blog going to take an opportunistic glee and capitalize on the opportunity to mischaracterize the situation to whatever degree possible? Sure. Obviously.
Have fun with that, sorry to dampen it with a couple of facts :)
With due respect, you did not read the same thread I did. Some general issues:
- Your post added no new facts to the discussion. So I'm not sure what in your post dampens anyone's 'fun.'
- What you'll find here is not glee but outrage sprinkled in with some people who think that what he said doesn't make him a racist.
- The last time Dantonio made some sort of 'team vote,' it was just the team's leadership council, or whatever you call it. I'd be very interested on the specifics of this vote, because a leadership council's vote is decidedly not a 'team vote.' Side note: these are some of the details I thought you'd provide.
- Read the actual text message. It's broader than name calling. He doesn't call his teammate the n-word. He characterizes him as part of an entire group people.
- Do you think it's possible that he didn't transfer because no other team wants his baggage in their locker room? This was another opportunity to provide new information, but I didn't see it.
- A 'team vote' is a distraction. Dantonio leads State's program. He should make the decision. The buck stops with him, and for him to push it off to the kid's teammates is ridiculous
I disagree with #6 in this circumstance. I actually think that if the "team vote" was handled correctly it could have been used a good teaching opportunity to the rest of the team. Aside from the football aspect of it, what Reschke said was pretty serious and is the kind of statement that could invite permanent scorn against him, not only on the football field, but in society. But is that right? Is that healthy for anybody? It is not particularly easy to forgive somebody who said or did something that was particularly hurtful to you, but sometimes it is really the mature thing to do and doing so often makes you feel good about yourself because it removes the burden of your own anger.
If this "team vote" was not a sham and was handled correctly, I think it could have been a good opportunity for the MSU players to be put in a position to handle a "grown up" problem. What does somebody have to do to make amends? How long does somebody have to suffer the consequences for a mistake, even a serious one? When does continuing to hold somebody in contempt for a mistake serve no purpose other than to erode both of your emotional energy?
I agree, a team vote for a matter such as this is unusual, but I don't think it is inherently just a "punt" from Dantonio and could work to provide some valuable perspective to the players.
The optics are shitty because what Reschke did was shitty and allowing him back on the same team is shitty.
I almost got really political, but bit my tongue instead. I'll just keep my comment to myself.
You know we can't hear you, right?
Did it hurt?
Because a guy making racist comments is somehow “political”? Boy what the hell is happening to society.
That's not what I was getting at. Again, I'll keep it to myself because I don't want to risk being 86ed from this here wonderful blog.
Ladies and Gentlemen: Your Michigan State Spartans!
Personally I don’t think it should end his football career but I do know that if this was someone on Michigan’s team that did this it would be pasted all over ESPN and Finebaum would be blasting us daily.
Kid made a mistake and paid a severe price already. List him play and leave him alone to work it out with “his team” is what I say.
It should not end his football career, but it should end it at Michigan St.
See I don’t agree w that one bit! These kids do way more worse things on teams and are allowed back to play. They steal, cheat, Beat up other kids, Bone other players girls and they almost always get to return. The kid said some bad things and that’s it. He apologized and paid a price. That being said what he did is no way in hell worse then stealing and punching kids or women.
lol @ the tags, but really this is about as Sparty as it gets. They have zero expectations of class or dignity in those sports programs. I don't care if they win, they are still trash just like their fanbase.
Not surprised. Highly indicative of all the other decisions being made by authority figures up there. Fuck it all if there is any justice in this world Michigan will blow these fucks off the field by 30 this fall.
Is this the one Reschke or the other Reschke?
The one who played with the Bullough, or the other Bullough?
You mean the Bullough that got busted for using PED's?
You'll need to be more specific.
The part I don't understand is how he has any eligibility left. He matriculated in 2013 and redshirted. He played in 2014 and 2015. He had a season ending injury in 2016. He left the team in 2017 due to being a racist. He would need a medical redshirt 6th year just to eligible this year. How many of these sketchy redshirts does MSU get by the NCAA?
Agreed. This seems like the practical piece that's being overlooked. Generally speaking, your clock starts ticking when you matriculate, and you have five years to play four. This will be year six. How is he still eligible?
If by overlooked you mean it says right in the article he applied for and was granted a 6th year, then yes, it was overlooked.
I don't see anything in the article explaining how he is still eligible other than that the sixth year was granted. How is that? What is the basis for that decision? His clock should have run out, and losing a year to discipline, as far as I know, is not grounds for an exception.
If dropping a racial slur when you're not even 22 years old makes you a racist, then I suppose I'm a racist. And I suppose I deserve to have my career goals completely dashed as well.
If anyone here can say differently, great for you.
I've said things I regret, true, but when I said them I wasn't a scholarship athlete representing a major university.
He could play football for another college and maintain his career goal in that arena (though I doubt he has a future in the NFL). As for his career goals outside of football, I fail to understand how they would be completely dashed by him not being allowed to play football at Michigan State.
I know plenty of 22 year old and younger people who do not make disparaging remarks like this. Quit trying to excuse bigotry as if it’s equal to people sneezing.
Would you like a cookie?
Dropping a racial slur does make you racists, unless you’re too young to understand what a racial slur is. He had the entire English language to pick from and he specifically chose one of the worst words you can say. Definitely racist.
Literally no one in earth who matters would agree with your small-minded, uneducated take.
Most people who matter must be racist then
Nope. Just not sanctimonious pricks.
So being anti racist is sanctimonious?
I think you’re projecting. Racist prick.
So now I'm a sanctimonious AND a racist prick? Seems that you're the one with the projections.
But if you truly do dislike racism, I recommend reading Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X Kendi if you would like to become an antiracist.
Plus the context of his use is to intentionally discriminate between white and black people. This isn't just an issue of a slur but his shouting that he considers white people superior to black people based on race alone.
Context Larry. This is not just a simple "N bomb" that got blurted out in an innocent way. It was in a text with an adjective preceding it.
Dantonio was not planning to redshirt Reschke as a freshman. He got injured in fall camp and missed a lot of practice time. Along with 2016 that counts as two seasons lost to injury and why he's eligible for a 6th year. This time it looks like MSU made a legitimate request.
Hey, great, if the team voted him back, good on them. People deserve second chances...
But I can't, for the life of me, not think that some kids may have voted thinking they had to vote a certain way. Because, you know, the coach (or other team leaders) may have couched/phrased/said something a certain way - unintentional, or not - that can lead someone to believe there is only one way to vote. If this is true, or if the vote wasn't unanimous, Mick's team will be fractured by game 3. Good luck to them (NOT)...
I would be interested in hearing on how they did the vote. When I was playing in high school as a junior, one of the star seniors was booted pre-season for drinking. About a week later, the coaches reversed course and decided it would only be a four-game suspension IF the team voted that way. Everyone was given a chance to speak on the subject, but of course nobody was going to speak out against the well-liked senior starter. The vote was a show of hands, so of course it was "unanimous" to let him back on the team.
Yeah I think no matter how "secret" the vote is, kids still feel a lot of pressure to vote a certain way. I was involved in a situation in highschool where we had to vote on whether or not to kick a kid off. Many people voted for having him on the team, despite feeling the opposite. No one wants to be the reason the kid is kicked off, turns the spotlight off the kids actions and back on yourself. It's a really weak move when the coach decides to let players merit out justice instead of taking responsibility.
All that said, I'm glad they let him back on the team because what Reshcke did certainly added to the shitshow that resulted jn their 3-9 season.