Maurice Washington Faces Charges

Absolutely, so can I, but it's not the 90s or even the 00s anymore.

I'm not saying he should go to jail or not play football again.  What I'm saying is that in my opinion IF he is guilty of what he is accused, he should not play football at the University of Nebraska again.  Doesn't matter to me if the legal penalty is only a slap on the wrist.


Of what we know of Mo’s life, it would not be a good for him, and likely those around him, for him to be removed. He’s getting the kind of structure, and with a coach like Held, tough love, that he hasn’t had. I know a lot of people think that’s unfair, after all athletics can be very rewarding, but sports programs have also done a lot to help kids transition into productive adults.

 
Of what we know of Mo’s life, it would not be a good for him, and likely those around him, for him to be removed. He’s getting the kind of structure, and with a coach like Held, tough love, that he hasn’t had. I know a lot of people think that’s unfair, after all athletics can be very rewarding, but sports programs have also done a lot to help kids transition into productive adults.
Well said.

 
Personally, no. I think it's harsh but honest.

If someone thinks he should be kicked off the team, but is going to have little to no problem cheering for him in the fall if he isn't kicked off the team, that's fairly hypocritical. It has an air of trying to sound morally incorruptible while ultimately being the exact opposite.


Posturing sure, but elitist?  ;)  

ETA:  And the team is bigger than 1 or even a few players.  You can cheer for a team and hope they do well without necessarily being happy about a few individuals on that team.  (see C. Peter)

 
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You are aware that there are "Send Nudes" gifs that creatively display ways to spell out "send nudes".  It is naive to think that teenagers aren't passing around nude photos.   As a parent of teenagers and a former teacher, you would be surprised at the things you come across at school.  Unfortunately now it is all electronic so it travels much faster.  Sounds like someone is living in a bubble. 




Neither myself nor macroboy said kids aren’t sending nudes, so this reply confuses me. 

 
I think he was just saying it's going to be somewhat awkward for the people who are chastising Washington now if/when he doesn't get kicked off the team.  Are they going to cheer for him if he doesn't get kicked off the team and continues to do well?  Or are they going to continue to hold the opinion he's not a good person and that he shouldn't be playing?  I think most will probably go with the former, hence walking back their comments.


That's pretty much exactly what he meant.  Weird how you didn't try to spin it awkwardly to fit a different narrative.

 
I think it's more a lack of options than "elitist posturing." We don't have any control over the punishment here, and for most fans I'd say whether they want him off the team or not, this isn't so big an issue that they would stop being fans. You can wish he wasn't on the team, but does that mean you can't be excited when the team scores?

As people have pointed out countless times we don't have all the details, but I don't think continuing to support a team with a player you want off the team is inherently hypocritical. I never really cheered for Alex Lewis since he bit the crap out of an air force cadet and I wish he had not been on the team, but he was and I'm still going to cheer for the team.
For clarity, I intentionally drew a discrepancy between "kicking him off the team" and "when he scores," not the team scores, for this reason. I think some of those people who have stuck their flag in the ground already about wanting him off the team are going to openly cheer when he scores a touchdown, and they'll be grateful if it leads to overall team success.

 
Of what we know of Mo’s life, it would not be a good for him, and likely those around him, for him to be removed. He’s getting the kind of structure, and with a coach like Held, tough love, that he hasn’t had. I know a lot of people think that’s unfair, after all athletics can be very rewarding, but sports programs have also done a lot to help kids transition into productive adults.
This is basically the Osborne-Lawrence argument, in a nut shell, and I would argue there's definitely something to it.

But, it gets into something I mentioned in the Woodshed in regards to this case. He's accused of committing this crime prior to official enrollment at UNL. This all allegedly happened in the thick of the 'will MW even get to campus' question. If he avoids significant legal trouble, and then he's booted off the team, he's going to be sought by any number of powerful division one programs. I don't think a lot of other programs (including ones we want to emulate these days) would shy away from someone like MW if he were eligible to transfer.

 
I have no problem with someone saying they want Washington to stay because he will help the team win football games.  Or people that say they want him to stay because he is talented and they don't want another team to have him.  I may not agree with those opinions, but I can respect the honesty.

Are people going to stop cheering for the team if he IS removed?

 
For clarity, I intentionally drew a discrepancy between "kicking him off the team" and "when he scores," not the team scores, for this reason. I think some of those people who have stuck their flag in the ground already about wanting him off the team are going to openly cheer when he scores a touchdown, and they'll be grateful if it leads to overall team success.


Yeah, I don't know where the philosophical line is there. Can you cheer for the touchdown while wishing someone else had scored it? You can't really disassociate the individual scoring from the team scoring. And I do think you're right, a lot of folks will be more than willing to cheer for him after wanting him kicked off the team. I'm just not sure we can say every fan who wanted him off the team yet cheers when he scores is a hypocrite. It's hard to just sit there when they score, regardless of who it was.

This is basically the Osborne-Lawrence argument, in a nut shell, and I would argue there's definitely something to it.


I was going to mention that as well. I believe in Mo's case the benefit of the football structure has a place, this isn't LP territory by any means. But, at a certain point making decisions for the good of the athlete is wrong in my mind. LP probably was better off on the team, but IMO based on his crime we shouldn't have acted in his best interest anymore. Again though, Mo's is not in the same territory.

 
This is basically the Osborne-Lawrence argument, in a nut shell, and I would argue there's definitely something to it.


Unfortunately, in the end that didn’t work out well. There may have been no saving that particular situation, I don’t know. But there are lots of cases it does work. As mentioned, a big difference here is this case is pre-Nebraska, so there’s hope that Mo can reciprocate the help this staff is showing him and put some of these troubles behind him. 

 
When does he plan on returning to California to face the charges? Are Nebraska lawyers allowed to represent people in other states?  Does he actually have to be in court, or is he just going for questioning? 
He can and probably will be granted a waiver to not appear unless he enters a plea or to be sentenced. 

 
I can't really believe we are comparing LP's domestic assault to MW's indirect attempt at cyber bullying.  2019 I guess.


It's the most relatable example, I guess. Everyone knows about the LP incident.

It's kinda the Godwin's Law of Husker sports. Everything relates back to the 1990s or LP.

 
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