A Dose of Reality, A Pinch of Humility

The June 26, 2006 issue of Sports Illustrated contains an outstanding investigative feature on the Duke lacrosse scandal written by S. L. Price and Farrell Evans. It covers the case from the perspective of the accused, the accuser, the prosecutor, the (now former) coach, and the school. I found it to be the most comprehensive piece written about this incident and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the case.

I mention the feature here because there are some things in it I want to comment on. In particular, some of the comments made by the principals showed a glaring lack of perspective about where they and this case fit in the big picture of the world around them.

Brothers Dan and Chris Loftus are members of the lacrosse team. They grew up in Long Island, and their father Brian was a New York City fireman who worked 36 straight hours at the World Trade Center in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks. Commenting on the fallout from the investigation, Brian Loftus said, “I thought that (September 11) was the worst day of my life. You want to know something? This (the lacrosse incident) is the worst thing.”

The team’s coach at the time of the incident, Mike Pressler, has since resigned. He gave the eulogy at his 41-year old brother’s funeral two years ago, yet he told SI that telling his team that the balance of their season had been cancelled was harder to do.

WHAT?!

How can people honestly compare a cancelled sports season or damaged reputations to the loss of life? How twisted, how narcissistic can one get? I know I am addressing people under an unusual level of stress, and there are far, far too many people in the sports world that are even worse megalomaniacs, but this is Duke, the school where everything is supposed to be done the right way.

Aren’t people associated with the University supposed to hold themselves up to a higher standard? That’s what the school and its alumni want everyone to think, but this situation has given the general public a peek behind the curtain, and it’s not much different than what would be found at a lot of other schools with big-time sports programs.

That, in a nutshell, is my point. Don’t get me wrong, there are many more good things going on at Duke than bad (like their 96% graduation rate), and I suspect that ratio is still among the best of major sports colleges and universities. The staggering number of legal issues encountered by the Blue Devils’ lacrosse team (56 players involved in 36 on-campus incidents since 2003 according to SI) combined with J. J. Redick, the supposed poster child for all that’s right in college sports, being cited recently for DUI, points out that even Duke’s pristine image is not without blemishes.

When all is said and done in the lacrosse case, which I’m sure won’t be for quite some time, I doubt there will be any good guys. Everyone associated with this situation already seems to have been tarnished in some way. If Duke University, however, can gain a pinch of humility and those associated with it can take a dose of perspective, at least something good can come from it.