From the Sidelines
By Cody Lillich
I’ve written about it before and I am now forced to bring up the issue again. What forces a person to throw a punch deliberately during a game, of any type?
Last fall it was the Oregon football player LeGarette Blount slugging another player to kick off the football season. Now it is Baylor’s Brittney Griner going way too far in a basketball game against Texas Tech. During the game, the 6’8’’ Griner got her arms locked with Tech player Jordan Barncastle, when they both pulled away, Griner turned back around and punched Barncastle in the face.
Griner was ejected from that game and the bench clearing fiasco put a bad shadow over Big 12 Women’s basketball for the two schools.
As I’ve said before, anytime something like this happens it puts the player’s image in jeopardy and puts that sport in a bad light.
With the incident in football, it was not looked at lightly and the player was suspended for the whole season. Meanwhile, in women’s basketball at Baylor, Griner was only suspended for the regular-season finale game versus Texas and the first game for the Bears in the Big 12 tournament. That suspension came down from Baylor Athletics and was approved by the Big 12.
Is it fair? Some say yes, some – like myself – think there is something else being considered.
Are people looking at this case as if it would be different if a male threw a punch?
I have to disagree with Baylor Coach Kim Mulkey and their athletic administration. This punishment is a joke in my opinion. In the game against Texas, which Baylor lost at home, Griner sat away from the bench at the game but seemed to act like the banner child of women’s basketball signing autographs, and seemingly having a good time.
Punishment is meant to punish someone, not to have them exemplifying an athletic program.
The punishment should have been at least through the Big 12 tournament, maybe extending into the first rounds of the NCAA’s. The punishment could change and be extended, but I think that move is highly unlikely. The only thing that can change that is if the NCAA steps in.
And now that Big 12 administrative officials are not happy about the punch itself, expect some more fouls called when they might not have been called before for things like yelling, pushing, etc.
Bottom line is players need to act like the sport is their job, play with professionalism. Let’s stop this troubling trend, if the athlete is so inclined to punch, maybe they need to take up a form of martial arts and leave it off the court or field.