Brawl requires fair punishment

For the last two weeks, there has been a media frenzy concerning the bench-clearing brawl between Miami and Florida International. In the aftermath, 31 players were suspended for at least one game. Thirteen players from Miami watched last week's action instead of playing against now 0-8 Duke, and 18 players from Florida International will watch tomorrow's game against Alabama instead of participating. "These suspensions send a clear and definitive message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated," ACC Commissioner John Swofford said.

While the suspensions might not have sent a message that the ACC will not tolerate that type of behavior, it did "send a clear and definitive message" that the Sun Belt Conference and Florida International were more willing to hand down harsh penalties for the actions that happened.

The Panthers kicked the two players who started the brawl off the team and handed down 16 indefinite suspensions. While it is unclear how long the suspensions will be for, they will all more than likely be for more than one game.

"There is no place in higher education for the type of conduct exhibited," Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Wright Waters said.

Of the 13 Miami players who were suspended for the Duke game, only one will be suspended against Tech. Safety Anthony Reddick was suspended after being caught on camera swinging a helmet in the brawl. Defensive captain and senior safety Brandon Meriweather and sophomore tight end DajLeon Farr were both caught on camera stomping defenseless players on the ground.

"You've got to back up each other," Miami quarterback Kyle Wright said. "You're not just going to sit out there and let guys get beat up."

Mr. Wright, stomping on players does not constitute backing up each other. Farr and Meriweather both deserve suspensions comparable to the five-game suspension that Albert Haynesworth of the NFL's Tennessee Titans received for stomping a player in the face.

I'm not saying that the Miami players were wrong for defending their teammates, and I'm not saying that they started the fight. However, it does take two teams to start a brawl. I fully understand removing a teammate from harm's way, but I do not condone actions that would land players in jail if they performed those actions on the street.

Farr probably should have received at least three games, and Meriweather should have received one additional game from Farr's penalty, because he's a team captain and is supposed to set an example for the other players on the team. Reddick probably should have been suspended for the season.

"We will not throw any student under the bus for instant restoration of our image or our reputation," University of Miami President Donna Shalala said.

Only a few people have asked for anybody to be thrown under the bus; most people just believe that players should be punished for their actions. A player that skips a class or threw one punch in the brawl gets the exact same suspension as players that were stomping on other players because they wanted to be involved without risking injury to themselves.

The NCAA is not completely absolved, as they have a rule on the books that they chose not to enforce. The rule states that any player that leaves the bench to take part in a fight is to be ejected and suspended for the following game.

"It's time for the feeding frenzy to stop," Shalala said. "These young men made a stupid, terrible, horrible mistake and they are being punished." I honestly believe that the feeding frenzy would have stopped if the players were disciplined and Miami's president didn't go on national radio saying that the suspensions "are comparable."

The brawl is the third incident in a seven-game span involving Miami players. The first was a fight in the Peach Bowl between LSU and the Hurricanes. The second incident was when the Hurricanes decided to jump on the Louisville Cardinal logo (and then join the list of teams that have been hammered on the scoreboard for it).

Miami might have received some undue criticism for its past reputation, but they certainly have not helped themselves avoid the "feeding frenzy."

"Regardless of who started it, this was an embarrassing display of unsportsmanlike behavior," Shalala wrote in a public letter about the incident. "Fortunately there were no injuries."

Finally, something that everyone can agree on.