I'm not happy with Bryan Fetzer (UVA) - Team just publicly named 4 athletes they suspended.

I know one of the athletes personally, and he is a good guy. What could this rules violation have been?

+1. I understand OP's position but why did he link to the article?!

Tycobb wrote:

I would have never known about this without you posting it so you are getting these kids more attention that the school probably did. OP doesn't that make you part of the problem.

He is obviously teaching the team a lesson. I am guessing there is a culture problem going on right now and that was done for those kids and the rest of the team.

But Fetzer is a humongous dork. Dude needs to back off on his outfits at meets. Looks like Weird-Al.

Whatever that lesson is - what a boneheaded lesson - Google certainly won't forget, unless UVA takes the garbage down. The mere fact that the athletes are still active students at UVA points to this being the coach's hardheadedness rather than some horribly severe thing that the athletes did.

Public hanging wrote:

Does your attitude and feeling also apply to football players? Basketball players? Maybe this will deter other "student athletes" from refusing to follow stated rules? Ironically, you're calling out someone on a public forum, while remaining anonymous. Run along and find your safe space.

This.

I hear about football and basketball players getting suspended all the time... why is this any different??

rojo wrote:

If only UVA had issued a press release when they suspended their throws coach for a year. Or when they reinstated him.

http://www.letsrun.com/news/2015/09/university-of-virginia-employing-banned-doper-as-throws-coach-coaches-association-honors-him-as-regional-coach-of-the-year/

.

This. Exactly my thoughts.

Seems to me three things at play here. Judgment of athletes without knowing any of the facts, ie. pointing fingers at coach, more so than athletes (it is never the athletes' fault). Two, dislike of coach comes through loud and clear. Three, Distain for authority figures also comes through loud and clear (the old boys will be boys or everyone makes mistakes analysis).

Yet, many of you want track to be "big time" like the other sports, unless you don't like what is being posted on sites other than LRC.

Who is first to jump on coaches when something salacious comes along? Yup, right here on LRC. Think about all the crap written about Tenn, Georgetown, Wisconsin, Florida State, etc. Yet you get pissed when it is announced some athletes are suspended?

Maybe you all should practice what you preach rather than jump all over a track program or track coach.

Talk about being judgmental, you certainly don't have to look any further than this forum.

If Deshaun Watson or Christian McCaffrey got suspended it would have been on sportscenter.

Pointing to other, higher profile sports where young athletes are mistreated does not justify doing it in track and field.

The reason the athletes were named was to not confuse them with injured athletes also missing the meet.

An international athlete flew back to campus later than what the head coach wanted (saving the athlete a lot of money on their plane ticket) from the winter break. Don't know about the other three.

This type of thing happens at my school...but we don't put them on national blasts.

A source tell us that it's UVA athletics department policy to announce suspensions.

It seems odd that people are complaining about it. For years, we've been begging college sports departments to treat track like a real sport. When star runners just don't run with no injury report, it drives us nuts.

LetsRun.com wrote:

A source tell us that it's UVA athletics department policy to announce suspensions.

It seems odd that people are complaining about it. For years, we've been begging college sports departments to treat track like a real sport. When star runners just don't run with no injury report, it drives us nuts.

You want colleges to report when their coach is fighting with the AD too? When they're on the hot seat? Transparency is not always necessary. It's none of your business when college runners don't run. In the pros, there's a dependence on fans/reporting for existence. In college, athletes getting paid $0 don't owe you jack, nor do they benefit from openness.

Haha.

The international athletes were from Ireland and Isle of Mann. So the parents paid for the Christmas vacation tickets?

Maybe they shouldn't have broken the team rules.

douchelin^3 wrote:

Maybe they shouldn't have broken the team rules.

Yeah, even if their parents had to spend an extra 2 grand so the could start practice on time.

Shots shots shots shots shots wrote:

LetsRun.com wrote:

A source tell us that it's UVA athletics department policy to announce suspensions.

It seems odd that people are complaining about it. For years, we've been begging college sports departments to treat track like a real sport. When star runners just don't run with no injury report, it drives us nuts.

You want colleges to report when their coach is fighting with the AD too? When they're on the hot seat? Transparency is not always necessary. It's none of your business when college runners don't run. In the pros, there's a dependence on fans/reporting for existence. In college, athletes getting paid $0 don't owe you jack, nor do they benefit from openness.

Precisely.

deep pockets wrote:

Look up FERPA guidelines. This smells like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

1) The announcement of athletes being suspended happens dozens (hundreds?) of times each year. I am pretty sure FERPA does not prohibit it or the attorneys at the universities would not allow the announcement.

2) What happens when these athletes do not show up at a meet? A reporter ( I am being optimistic that any reporter even for the UVA student paper would even care about a track meet) is going to ask why. The reporter then is going to track down the athlete and ask.

3) How were they "skewered"? Talk about your snowflakes! And that is not directed at the athletes, but it is directed at the OP and others who think this is some great harm.

4) They violated a team rule. Yes it might be interesting to know the rule (and they could announce to the world although the school cannot).