NDSU Football: Prosecutors drop felony assault charge against Bison linebacker

Well, Travis Beck will be back on the team, everything will be alright. NDSU can move forward with their star linebacker on the team. Beck will still have to answer to the resisting arrest charges.

Forum Staff Reports, Inforum -- Prosecutors in Cass County have scheduled a news conference for 2:30 p.m. today to address the felony assault charge pending against a star linebacker for North Dakota State University’s football team.

Travis Beck, 21, is accused of punching a man in the head multiple times in what began as a verbal fight in a downtown Fargo bar on Saturday night and Sunday morning, allegedly leaving the man unconscious on the sidewalk.

Beck was arrested on Sunday morning and charged Monday in Cass County District Court with one count of Class C felony aggravated assault.

Defense attorney Bruce Quick said earlier this week that Beck is cooperating fully with the ongoing police investigation.

“There’s much more to this case that what’s gotten out there,” Quick said.

As a tax paying citizen of ND, I want these charges of resisting arrest to remain, I don't want them thrown out. The Average citizen cannot just walk away from the cops when they command you to stop and just because you’re an athlete doesn’t make your special. If you’re innocent you stop.

Does recruiting bad apples help football teams?

UND Women's head hockey coach Brian Idalski posted a link to this story on Twitter today. I think this article causes many things come to mind when I start thinking about all of the stories in the media as of late. Do you think that teams play better if they have a few players that get into trouble with the law.

Dick Harmon, Desert News --- Does a football coach need to recruit a few criminals to win?

Somebody thinks so.

At least one radio broadcaster said so and got suspended from work for three games. His name is Allen Pinkett, a former star running back for Notre Dame. He made those comments while Notre Dame played Navy in Dublin, Ireland, last week.

Does having a few bad apples on a team give a squad a certain attitude? Does it make it better?

Notre Dame is one of those storied football programs that will forever find a niche as legendary and is an enduring stereotype of the successful part of the college game.

But the Fighting Irish haven't exactly lived up to that reputation the past few years. Some say it's because Notre Dame's high academic standards have made great bookworms and poor runners and pass catchers.

So if you’re favorite college hockey, football or basketball team is winning, but they seem to have their share of players that are getting in trouble law - like, say the school to the south of us and what if the football in question cleaned up their program would they lose their winning edge?

Breaking it down further, the football player in question down in Fargo, ND was the Bison’s MVP of the FCS Championship game. What if players didn’t clean up his act – at what point does the coach decide that he become a hindrance to the program and they go their separate ways.

I am sure that most of us can think of time that happened to a player on our favorite sports team.

Let me be clear, I pick on the Bison Football team because they're an easy target right now and they have earned their reputation, however, that being said, I know it can happen to any of our favorite sports teams. Recently two players from UND hockey had their names surface on a media blog for Minor in Possession.

Fans of other programs will probably bring up incidents of elevators and or lawnmower tossing incidents as well. Of course we can bring up incidents at a particular bar in Minneapolis as well named Blarney’s.

More Frattin.

There has already been some speculation on who the Sioux will bring in to fill the roster spot void left by Matt Frattin being kicked off the Fighting Sioux hockey team for his DUI arrest earlier this morning.

On early Wednesday morning, he was stopped by a campus police officer on North Columbia Road for speeding, UND police captain Don Rasmuson said. The officer smelled alcohol and a subsequent test put Frattin’s blood-alcohol level at .12 percent, Rasmuson said. The legal limit is .08 percent.

UND Fighting Sioux hockey team beat writer Brad Schlossman seems to think it will be Corbin Knight, which would make sense after the eye popping numbers he put up in juniors. Corban Knight is one kid I am really excited about seeing in a UND Fighting Sioux uniform. Unfortunately this isn't the way I thought it would happen.

I'd expect that Corban Knight will get the call, though. Here are a few reasons:

*NHL draft status isn't much of a factor. But for what it's worth, Knight is the highest-drafted, committed forward in juniors. The Florida Panthers took him in the fifth round in June.

Knight played against a high level of competition last season in the Alberta Junior Hockey League and was outstanding. He was the leading rookie scorer in the league and the seventh overall scorer in the AJHL. All six guys who had more points than him -- including UND's Carter Rowney -- will be in college in 2009-10.

Knight is physically ready. His testing results at the NHL Combine prove that. He ranked second in pushups, third in endurance, fourth in upper-body power and ninth in pull strength among the top 100-plus draft-eligible players.

Being a human being in a way I can kind of feel some empathy for this kid, however, the other part of me says you’re an adult and when you make bad choices you pay the consequences for these horrible decisions. That life and human are imperfect and make bad decision, well all do, but how many chances does a person need?

The University of North Dakota did the right thing by kicking Frattin off of the team and will move on from this incident. I hope this sends a message to the other players that might be thinking about making bad life choices. Nothing good happens late at night. It’s also not a birth right to play for the Fighting Sioux it’s a privilege and the University doesn’t need anymore bad press. If you screw up you might lose that privilege.

Let’s face facts; UND is a high profile hockey program and playing for UND can open up many life opportunities for the hockey players that do what it takes to get to the next level, it takes hard work and dedication. If your screwing around late at night you might want to question your dedication.

I understand these are young college students but you’re twenty one years old is considered an adult age, in Canada and the USA you can vote and you can serve in your countries military, most of us would pay severe consequences if we had done the same thing Mr. Frattin did this summer. I know I would lose my job. Like coach Hakstol said after the first incident earlier this summer, ‘most of our guys are working hard for the upcoming season.’

Update on Nate Hagemo

Here is the latest on the Nate Hagemo story. Let's hope Hapemo can get his life together and beat this problem. This is a sad story.

Ex-U player Hagemo gets strict probation
To avoid the workhouse, the former hockey player must stick to a list of drug-related rules. He still faces other charges.
By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Nate Hagemo, the troubled former Gophers hockey prodigy whose numerous run-ins with the law followed an injury that derailed his NHL dreams, has been sentenced to probation and ordered to abide by a slew of conditions to avoid incarceration.

Meanwhile, the Minneapolis city attorney's office said Wednesday afternoon that it will investigate a traffic accident last fall involving Hagemo in which police say he ran a red light and struck and seriously injured a bicyclist. He has yet to be cited in that case.

Hagemo, 22, of Edina, pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court to three years' probation for failing to submit to chemical testing after a traffic accident in September in Minneapolis. Careless driving and disorderly conduct charges were dismissed.

To avoid a year in the workhouse, Hagemo must attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings three times a week, abstain from illicit drugs and alcohol, submit to random drug testing, complete alcohol assessment and have no traffic-related violations. He also was ordered to pay a fine and court fees totaling $525.

Also Tuesday, Hagemo pleaded guilty to careless driving stemming from another crash in December in Minneapolis. Police say he drove his pickup through a red light at E. 38th Street and Portland Avenue S. He was given a year's probation in that case and has 30 days in the workhouse hanging over him should he violate any terms of that probation. A driving after revocation charge was dropped.