Then there is a large swath of our fan base who is being unreasonable.
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I sure miss F. Jay Taylor. We would be having a much more EXCELLENT athletics environment than what we have now.
Tell us something we haven't known for 3 or 4 years.
I'm also leaning toward us needing a new president as well. I just don't see the progress or proper decision-making needed in all areas right now. And he is getting close to the 8-year maximum that should be used as a benchmark to decide if a longer term is justified.
So......it sounds like you may agree with those of us who believe this has been mishandled by LA Tech's leadership?
Top be clear.....NO ONE that I know is absolving the 3 (or 4) players of their responsibility in this fiasco. It goes without saying, the players disobeyed policy, and they are ultimately responsible for getting suspended. That said, for the betterment of the football program, the team, the university and the fan base, the timing of this incident was terribly mid-handled by the adults we PAY to handle things at LA Tech. J'Mar Smith has been with us for 5 years. IF he's a big dope smoker, I'm sure he didn't just start smoking this season. It should have never come down to the final 3 games of his career to be dishing out punishment for stuff they had to have known about for a very long time. The timing was absolutely inexcusable. We can hire anybody to maximize our pain on these kind of issues. We pay T-Mac, Skippy & Les to minimize our pain on these issues.
This was totally mishandled by the grown ups. I'm just surprised that more Tech fans can't see and understand this.
I think one of the big questions is, to put it another way, is;
1. Exactly what is our policy, is it a fly by the seat of your pants policy or is it a strict regimented policy?
2. The timing of testing, i.e. does testing begin before fall practice and then so many weeks after that test all of the failures get retested again?
3. Those who pass the first test of the year, whenever that is, are they only subject to random testing after that point?
4. Are all players tested at different intervals during the year, or is there only one team wide test per year, or say when Fall or Spring camp begins.
5. Marijuana clears different peoples systems at different rates, mostly around the 21 to 36 day mark from my understanding, is that taken into consideration.
6. The strip test that gives immediate results, is only so accurate, it does not get into PPM or anything like that as far as I know. That would be the reason for the split test I presume, the B part of the test going to a lab for a more accurate and PPM test. Does that B test have any parameters as far as at what point does the existence of Marijuana constitute a failed test?
7. Who is responsible for this policy and all of its timing and punishment, The Athletic council, The AD, The Prez, The Boosters, The HC ? Who is it? All of them or maybe it all comes down to the AD?
8. If we have no policy on WHAT the punishment is to be for these infractions, who makes that call? Does it come from the top down and the HC is expected to enforce it?
9. Who wrote this policy, if we truly have one, and when was the last time it was visited and possibly revamped?
10. We know the NCAA has policy, but how much lee-way do we have with it? Can we choose how it is administered, it's punishments, and the level of how strict or lax it is?
This all still leaves us with more questions than answers, I would really like to know the answers and not just conjecture on what we think or heard it is. Many of you know all the technical process for all of this and I may have a lot of it wrong, that is why I asked the questions though, just trying to get somewhere with the process of elimination for right now. I would think, even with HCSH, that most HC's would like to see this relaxed some, this is a prevalent substance in most every community and program, it is not a serious offense, why so strict on it? Being caught with only a certain amount or the paraphanalia is only a misdemaeanor, am I right about that? A DWI/DUI is a felony charge and punishment is usually less for it, makes no sense at all to me. The argument of the legality and uses is a discussion for another time and forum, but many are self-medicating with it. Many users are knowledgeable about the different strains of it and what those are for such as sleep, depression, pain, etc..
The timing and severity of punishment all begs for an answer, were they delaying test as long as possible and hoping for good results and it backfired? I do believe our AD has a lot to do with this policy or lack of a good and updated one.
Everyone on here pretty well agrees with the fact that they broke the rules and are receiving punishment for it, the rules are the rules and we all have to follow them. Do we have an antiquated policy that somehow has been ignored and not updated or revised in many years? Maybe this will drive some to ask for that to happen, boosters could have a big say in this also, who knows?
Just saw where HD sorta asked this in a much shorter form on another thread, sorry for such a long post!
I don’t know the policy and really don’t have time to track it down. But I can clarify the criminal aspect of your query.
DWI is not a felony until a 3rd offense conviction. Simple Possession of Marijuana is not a conviction until a 3rd offense conviction. You are correct that a DWI conviction at every level is generally considered more serious than the simple possession of marijuana.
1st offense possession of marijuana has been downgraded at this point to a maximum of 15 days and/or a $300.00 fine and the conviction can no longer be used to enhance after 2 years. It is basically a ticket now and a number of jurisdictions informally don’t worry about it anymore.