Oregon running back LaGarrett Blount punched a Boise State player and was suspended for the rest of the regular season.
Baylor center Brittney Griner punched a Texas Tech player and was suspended for two games.
Hey, where’s the gender equity now?
Perhaps you’ve seen the latest episode of Girls Gone Wild. Griner, perhaps the best freshman in all of women’s college basketball, was going after a rebound against Texas Tech player Jordan Barncastle. They got their arms tangled up, and Barncastle spun around and sent Griner lunging toward the baseline. It didn’t look like the nicest thing to do to another player, but it sure didn’t seem all that bad either.
Still, when Griner got her balance, she straightened up, took two steps toward Barncastle, hauled off and punched her.
It was a right-handed roundhouse, right to the nose.
A scrum ensued. There were technicals called. There were players ejected.
Hey, who said the women’s game wasn’t exciting?
Haven’t we heard for years about how women’s basketball is catching up to the men’s game? I don’t really think this is what the advocates of the women’s game meant. If this is progress, then I’m not sure I want to see what’s next.
Ironically, Griner is the player expected to take the women’s game to new heights. She is 6-foot-8 and can dunk like no women’s player before her. She doesn’t need a running start. She doesn’t need to be all by herself. She can jump up and throw down.
But now, she’ll always be remembered as the player who wheeled around and smacked that player from Tech.
That she was only suspended two games is a farce. The first game is automatic after her ejection for fighting. The second game was imposed by Baylor coach Kim Mulkey. Two games isn’t nearly enough of a punishment.
I understand that Griner is young, only a freshman. I know that Barncastle had been playing her tough. I even hear that the two players had exchanged words when the teams played earlier in the year. But none of that excuses what Griner did.
No one made excuses for LaGarrett Blount or for any other male athlete who’s ever let his aggression get the best one him. The same should be true of Griner.
So how many games should she have been suspended? You know, I’ve heard that when you get angry and are about to do something stupid, you’re supposed to count to five to let that aggression subside. I’d have suspended Griner for five games as a reminder that next time, she needs to count to five and walk away.
Such violence has no place in sports. It is not okay to lose your temper to the point that you lose control of your behavior. I have played sports my entire life, including at the professional level, and am well aware of the pressures and the emotions that are involved in a competitive situation. The Baylor coach really needs to make this a ‘teachable’ moment and take control of the situation. She should immediately suspend Griner for the rest of this year. The young lady is going to be one of the great players of her generation. However, she needs to learn how to control her behavior under stress. She is a unique athlete and she will continue to see double and triple teams throughout the rest of her career. She is the Shaq of her sport. As such, she will be physically challenged EVERY minute she plays. The higher the level, the more this will happen. She is going to have to learn to deal with that. Her coach would do her a huge favor by teaching her now that her reaction to such abuse is NOT okay. A coach’s first job is to teach, not to win.