trouble in allegany

[oleander]

Once again, most of you jump the gun and suspect the worse. I have no idea what happened, and will make no judgements till I do. With that being said, I didn't go to Bona's, but I’ve heard stories from way back, and this sounds like business as usual. Come on, Allegany is a college town, and guess what, college kids act crazy. Allegany is no different, go to any college town in America and you will here the same things, which I might add have been said for as long as said towns have had colleges. Ohhhhh, I forgot, Bob Lanier would never be seen late night at an old hang out which is now a Chinese restaurant. And that is only one example

[EddieBall]

Of course, as a parent, I must agree concerning the "respect and manners..." issue, but, has anyone bothered to look into the situation at the "O.P.", itself? Why the recurrence of violence THERE?! (time and again, that is) What about "The Hickey", "The Bird Cage", heck, even "The Burton" (owned by the same family, I believe)? No doubt, the SBU students, whether athletes or not, share a major load of responsibility, but, what about bar policies (the owner), the bartenders, and, perhaps most of all, one or two very over-zealous bouncers, accustomed to "challenging" students, both Bona and non-Bona, to go "out back and prove yourself"... this quote from an Allegany cop, in re., a supposed black-belt trained enforcer and a student. My annoyance with this issue lies in the fact that the blame game always has the SBU students as the faulting party, with very little, if any, attention paid to the "responsible adults" involved. This isn't intended to be another one of those "kids will be kids" excuses, rather, a suggestion that the powers-that-be investigate just what the h*ll is going on at that particular establishment!

[Phantom]

I realize we don't have all of the details.

But I am a bit surprised by some of the reactions. This really is a most frustrating cycle. There is always someone else to blame!

No one wants to take responsibility anymore. Parents bail out their kids for their misdeeds often.

This is a disturbing and prevailing trend!

[GoPadres]

I think most of you are related to Henny Penny. How do you get through life if your sky is always falling?

[FroMunga]

It's a known fact that the local police have a point system for the arrests they make. SBU basketball players once had the highest point value but they changed the point system because of how easy it's gotten lately.

Glad to see the admin still hasn't figured anything out. Until they start holding the criminal athletes accountable for their actions then this problem will continue. Enough with the wrist slaps. Either start enforcing code of conduct standards (I'm sure they exist) or revise them and make them stronger. I'm not saying don't let them have fun but the school is paying for these kids to be their representatives.

I agree the newspaper should have listed the names of everyone, but the fact remains, had everyone been listed, would it change the fact that yet another basketball player was arrested? Nobody would notice the names of the non-players anyway.

Thanks to bonnies basketball, the A-10 is a steal in Fantasy Criminal League.

[Phantom]

gopadres said:

I think most of you are related to Henny Penny. How do you get through life if your sky is always falling?

And you must be related to the three monkees of hear, see and speak no evil fame!

[hamrucker]

Including the fight between some JCC players and some Bona players back in May over a Bona player's girlfriend that resulted in a minor stabbing (scissors from a bookbag).

This is ridiculous. There is absolutely no backing to this statement or any other comment you made in this post. A stabbing??? A STABBING? Dont you think this would have somehow been talked about before this? Im glad everyone else has ignored this ignorant comment but at some point antics like this need to be called out. Unreal.

[GoPadres]

No Phantom, I just believe using a disturbance at a college bar as evidence that "no one wants to take responsibility anymore" or "that parents bail out their kids for their misdeeds often" is absurd. You made the statement that we do not have all the details, and, yet, you and several others start leaping to conclusions about America's youth.

[Phantom]

Yes, I did... But it also goes for those who want to put blame on the cops, the OP, the administration, the bartender, the journalist, the bouncer, or Hell, I even think Henny Penny was mentioned...Its the apologist that annoy me!

How often do we see this with athletes, Unfortunately, with this team it would be nice if that is all we had to contend with recently is just a fracas at a bar, and resisting authority.

Maybe I am jaded and getting old, but it seems like everyone else is always to blame.

[EddieBall]

In regards to the "apologists" remark, Phantom, you seem to enjoy sitting back and "sniping" at poster responses on occasion, it seems, so... do you have insight into this situation beyond the rest of us? My information on events at the "OP" are from pretty reliable sources--and not just this altercation, but several others, one horrible one involving a non-SBU student and his friends. I am NOT making excuses for boorish/violent student behavior. Rather, my intention was to point out the obvious problems in Allegany (specifically the "OP") and that in NO WAY was this or any of the other situations totally one-sided! By the way, do you have any college-aged kids yourself? (you know, "'til you walk in another man's shoes...") Snipe on, brother!

[FroMunga]

Here's a thought, if the OP is such a bad place, then why go there in the first place? If it's known for these type of events, wouldn't you tend to stay away? That is, unless you don't care about getting into trouble.

A little common sense can go a long way.

[Phantom]

Maybe it is that some of these kids who are awfully young and inmature getting drunk out of their minds and are away from their parents, should be held accountable and not the bar itself?!

I don't know about sniping as you say, just expressing my opinions on a message board about a subject, I take particular interest in!

If you are to believe the article, all the cop was asking was to "Walk Away"

Certainly not an expert, But, I know a little something about teenagers!

[ripreilly755]

Yes, there was an altercation between players from both teams that resulted in someone getting "cut" (perhaps 'stab' was too harsh a word to use - sorry).

No police report was filed, no charges were pressed, thus it was only known becuase news travels very fast in Olean-Allegany and very little escapes scrutiny, especially when it comes to the Bonnies.

In fact, the only thing related to the incident was the fact that a passerby discovered an abandoned JCC bookbag in the same area, left behind when people dispersed.

These are not little "angels" that we are talking about, they are "young thugs", and that's all they are.

Maybe it's time for Anthony to start listing places (bars) that are strictly off-limits for players, and also mandatory church attendance on Sunday wouldn't hurt either.

[Bubba]

This sort of thing certainly isn't unique to St. Bonaventure. Candily, it's mild stuff compared to the trouble a lot of program's athletes find themselves in - no assault was committed; no guns were found, et al- that's not to excuse it - but I wish certain posters would dispense with the talk of "character guys" and "black eyes" and "bad press". Come on - who hasn't done some "pushin' and shovin' during the early morning hours? The fact is that the Allegany police officers have chips plastered all over their collective shoulders. They're envious that SBU's athletes have been provided the opportunity to earn a college degree and have attained a level of "stardom" they'll never realize - that may sound harsh, but there's real truth to it.

The entire program has been under a microscope for so long - had this sort of thing happened during better times, it wouldn't be the issue so many have made it.

Solomon has things headed in the right direction - it takes a long time to rebuild something that's crashed and burned.

So many times, there's nothing to read on this board - thanks to you all for some interesting reading and "passionate" debate!

[Friar]

It never seizes to amaze me fans or jock sniffers who think when athletes get arrested it isn't newsworthy or the press should somehow cover up the incident by not reporting it. Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your view point) when an athlete, entertainer, politician, clergyman, etc. break the law it is newsworthy! It is a fact of life we must all face.

No one is picking on the Bona basketball players. Not the press or the OPD or APD. Give me a break! I don't want to generalize because most of the team are probably good kids who do good deeds. Like everything in society there are always a few bad apples-in sports, poliltics, religion, business, music, etc.

I would personally like to know if the OPD or APD has some kind of contest where they can rake up points by arresting Bona players. Please contact me personally if you know this to be a fact. There is no place for that at all.

With these kinds of alledged incidents people have to ask themselves this question, is it worth spending all that money on season tickets to watch players that are poor examples? At this rate I am ready to turn in my season tickets. Coach Solomon should get a better handle on his players. Curfews, team rules! It is very evident that he can't treat his players like adults.