I heard about the Shelden Williams incident late the other night, and the next morning, at the advice of a few people, I looked to see what contributors to the message board on the Duke Basketball Report were saying.
The first post I found was simply "relevant excerpts" from The Oklahoman story.
However, the second message, posted under the name "ervim" reads as follows: "Assuming this is true, that might have a huge impact on next year.... We will not have a big bruiser type on the team."
For those of you not familiar with the DBR, stop reading now--finding out about this crazed website where Duke fans can idolize their team, whine on the message board and bash UNC 24 hours a day seven days a week, will only corrupt your mind.
Quick aside: If you can't tell from my last paragraph, I normally try to stay as far away from the DBR as George W. Bush does from being President. I only look at it to see if they're bashing one of my columns (you've got plenty of time guys, I won't be up until noon today), discussing an issue or finding a link about a new story I haven't seen.
But alas, I digress. The main point is this: I'm not a big DBR fan, usually I'm pretty apathetic towards it, but this time, the fans on the beloved Duke Basketball Report rubbed me the wrong way.
You see, my first reaction when I heard about this Shelden Williams thing was something along the lines of "that poor girl" or "Oh my God, I can't believe what those @$!* did," not a "we might not have a "big bruiser type next year."
My initial reaction is, of course, wrong as well. As the son of a lawyer, I should have remembered Williams has yet to be charged and even if he is, he's innocent until proven guilty.
As a matter of fact, I'm a strong advocate of still admitting Williams into Duke unless he is convicted. No one should ever be denied something because they were named or charged. That logic is McCarthy-esque.
However, as many legal problems as my logic has, thinking only of Duke basketball, even in the face of rape, is absurd.
To my extreme satisfaction, the voice of reason appeared and the next two posts echoed my point. One even went as far to say that, "If it is true, then I feel sorry for the young woman and hope the perpetrators rot in hell."
That is the right reaction.
As quickly as reason appeared it was gone, and by the end of the posts, people were simply debating whether a buffed-up Mike Dunleavy or Michael Thompson would be able to fill the void Williams' absence might leave.
Granted it was far less because there was no crime involved, but this same type of logic is the one that pervaded when the media found out Sean Dockery did not yet have the grades to play in college, but had been offered a scholarship to a school that continually ranks in the top 10 in the country academically.
I know that not all players are like Dockery. As a matter of fact, most, I think, aren't. Jason Williams had a 3.5 grade point average last semester. But coach Mike Krzyzewski has become such a god in the college basketball world that he could get pretty much any player he wants. I know this too.
Despite that fact, with the case of Dockery it became quite clear to me through DBR posts and The Chronicle's letter to the editors that we were far more concerned about winning college basketball games than maintaining academic integrity.
The general feeling is that we would like 1,500 smart students with 12 great basketball players to win their games for them.
If that's true, fine, I don't agree, but so be it. Let's just stop masking it in this "great mix of academics and athletics" malarkey that schools use as one of their selling points.
This is not the way this fourth generation Dukie grew up viewing his favorite team, nor is it the thing about which Dick Vitale continually boasts every chance he gets.
But, it seems like the fans and possibly the administration, at least in one incident, have come to view the basketball team not as the scholar-athlete program admitting only students that could handle the pressures of a top-ranked academic school, but rather a win-at-all-costs team.
If Williams is exonerated and Dockery gets the grades--then what? Well, good for them, I don't think our recruits should even be mixed up in stuff like this, but, hey, maybe it was all coincidental and a big misunderstanding--I definitely make no promises of eating crow.
However, the populace's reaction is still the problem. The underlying theme in all this is that college basketball, as great of a sport as it may be, is not the be all end all of Duke's existence and never should be.
The game is fun and the players that play the game enjoy it, but when someone or something is violated by an athlete, the first concern should not be for the team--it should be for the victim. College basketball is just that, a game, and there are more important things, like forced sexual conduct that transcend the game.
If not, then it may be time for a priority check.
Paul Doran is a Trinity junior and sports managing editor of The Chronicle.
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