NDSU Football again puts winning in front of doing the right thing

The NDSU Bison Football team proved once again that winning is more important than doing the right thing. Checking the newspapers today we find out that 10 Bison football players had their day in court today and once again the head football coach goes on record to say that none his players will miss any games. Marvelous!

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Ten North Dakota State University football players pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor election fraud and were sentenced to community service for faking signatures on proposed ballot measure petitions that they were hired to collect.

Among the players on the nation's top-ranked Football Championship Subdivision team who pleaded guilty Tuesday were starters Samuel Ojuri, Joshua Colville, Marcus Williams and Brendin Pierre. Players Lucas Albers, Aireal Boyd, Demitrius Gray Bryan Shepherd, Antonio Rogers, and Charles Smith III also pleaded guilty.

Each of the players was ordered to serve 360 days of unsupervised probation, complete 50 hours of community service and pay $325 in fees. All of the sentences were deferred, meaning the crime will be expunged from a player's record if he completes the conditions of his sentence.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to the sentences for eight of the 10 players. The state had recommended 1-year suspended sentences for Ojuri and Williams because of prior misdemeanors.

The players declined to comment after the hearing. Quick deferred questions to NDSU.

Bison head coach Craig Bohl has said the team might discipline the players but won't suspend them. The school said he planned to issue a statement later Tuesday.

I have talked to quite a few UND fans that think the way that NDSU is handling this situation is a joke – we have players at UND getting suspended for Minor in Consumption which is a class B misdemeanor and then at NDSU we have football players pleading guilty to class A misdemeanors and they aren’t getting suspended. I think this send a poor message to the fans and especially to the young kids that look up to them. In fact, the NDSU Athletic Director Gene Taylor and the head football coach Craig Bohl are running deflections for their players.

@mikemcfeelykfgo Extremely good.They have the #3 team in the country this week. There isn't a coach in the country that would suspend them
— SiouxFootballInsider (@SiouxFootball) October 2, 2012

#NDSU President Dean Bresciani, AD Gene Taylor and HC Craig Bohl will address the media at 7:30 tonight on petition fraud case
— Dom Izzo (@DomIzzoWDAY) October 2, 2012

So is NDSU setting a precedent?

First off, I am not real familiar with the Bison Fan blog - this is a blog about the NDSU sports teams and more specially the NDSU Football and Basketball teams – that being said, are they providing cover for the NDSU Bison’s head coach Craig Bohl?

From time-to- time I do peruse the Bison sports fan blog when something big happens -there have been a few incidents lately that shed an unfavorable light on their football program. Here’s the latest from the NDSU Bison Fan Blog…

4. My thought on the forging scandal is to have all suspended for the CSU game. I do not think Coach Bohl is handling this wrong, but if he is nervous about losing a bunch of players for that game, he has to remember, he has great depth. Marcus Williams and Sam Ojuri, are great players, but they like every player is replaceable. You have great players around those who screw up. That is what a team is. If you lose the CSU game, you were probably not the favorite going in anyway and it is one loss with or without those players. It would have sent a strong message as well and shut up all the experts.

Also, the athletic department has already provided cover for the 8 student athletes that are involved in this voter fraud scheme.

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) -- For the third time since the start of Fall Camp, Players on the NDSU Football team are caught up in the Cass County Legal system. But is the University worried about a possible negative reputation?

From traffic violations to indecent exposure, to voter fraud, the allegations against these student-athletes run the gamut. In the eyes of the law some of these charges are more serious than others. But the NDSU athletic department is taking a different course of action.

Gene Taylor/NDSU Athletic Director: "In terms of other things that kids get in trouble for, student athletes across the country, I do not think this rates where they should be suspended for a certain amount of time."

Is Gene Taylor, the NDSU Athletic Director sending a bad message to the fans and another student athlete at NDSU that considers doing something that is unethical, criminal or just wrong? Is Taylor providing cover for his beleaguered head football coach?

Let’s be clear, these are also the same people that will jump on the why didn't you discipline offending player(s) bandwagon the next time a UND student athlete from one of UND high profiles sports screws up. You can almost bet on it...

Also, these will be the same people that will second guess one of the UND head coaches if that said athlete isn’t punished up to their standards – but will provide cover when it’s one of their own.

So let’s post the question is; what is the standard? One of their players gets kicked off of the team, albeit that player had issues and another eight player’s screw up and these players get to keep playing so the Bison have a chance to play their FBS opponent this weekend. What kind of message is being sent – play at all cost because bottom line is more important.

Lastly, I am not going to say that my favorite school UND is squeaky clean because it’s not; I am sure that UND distractors will have a litany of issues that they could bring up. Yep, that’s true and there have been dust ups and moral/legal issues that have come out over the years too – every school has them it’s just a matter of how said schools handle the problems.

I am also sure that many could say that UND didn’t handle this or that particular situation in a very good manner and some have said, “what the ______?” I am not denying that one bit.

Some are going to ask me why it matter… I am going to say this, like it or not NDSU like UND are state funded schools that is owned by the tax payers of the great state of North Dakota and we are entitle to a little transparency and or at least some level of accountability. They owe it to us because we pay their salaries.

Lastly, are there going to be a second set of standards for NCAA Division I athletes then there are for regular students? It’s beginning to seem like we have set that precedent. If you can throw a football or make a tackle you're going to get more ley way than someone that can't.