Leave Brandon Davies Alone

When I heard about the Brandon Davies situation at BYU, I was conflicted. First impression was, “Wait a minute, he might kicked out of school for having sex with his girlfriend? What the hell?” I was immediately grateful that I never went to BYU or became a Mormon, despite the fact that Big Love is pretty entertaining. As I considered the (puritanical and archaic) honor code in Provo I was impressed by the school’s willingness to hold an athlete, and a star at that, to the same standards to which a regular student would be held.  While I would never accept those conditions on MY college life, the students at BYU willingly signed that pact. They knew what they were getting into.

Danny Ainge speaking on WEEI talked about the sex, drinking, and general hedonism that prevails while being recruited. He talked about everything short of being led to a room with two porn stars waiting in the bed, but then he wasn’t quite as good as Jesus Shuttleworth and probably didn’t have Rick Fox as his guide on campus. Then he talked about the scene at BYU that drew him to the school: a party with music, dancing, and root beer floats.

 Yeah, that’s right- Root Beer Floats…. Apparently they were having a Sock Hop.

Once again I’m thankful that BYU was not on my list of college choices. “Chaste” wasn’t the word that I was looking to see on my college applications.

BYU is the very definition of anachronistic but congratulations to them as an educational institution that they are willing to pass up a potential long run in the tournament to ensure that their honor code holds its significance. Somewhere Reno Mahe is nodding. Now, Jimmer Fredette needs to channel Wally Szczerbiak in order for the Cougars to be anything more than one and done, but that’s a price a school should be willing to take in order to uphold its standards. Even if I think those standards are ridiculous.

But, while the school should be praised for keeping its standards ahead of sporting glory, I’m tired of listening to these pundits moralize that they are thankful that the Brandon Davies situation will finally teach kids that there are consequences to their actions. To the WEEI personality that made that comment you do indeed sound like a clueless 50’s sitcom parent or Glenn Beck. Take your pick.

Brandon Davies is not an example of student-athletes having too much power. He had sex with his girlfriend. While this breaks the BYU honor code why should anyone else care? This wasn’t a groupie or a girl that popped up at a club so why should anyone else care? He didn’t steal laptops, give away his sportsmanship award for a tattoo, or receive $180,000 to go to school. He isn’t a coach screaming in a kids face, putting him in a choke hold, breaking recruiting rules all while making millions of dollars. Those are the issues that deserve our focus and condemnation.

There are countless problems in the NCAA and it’s time to focus on trying to fix the real issues that are corrupting college sports and leave Brandon Davies alone.