Injury heaped upon insult
The question Should Duke allow its men's lacrosse program to continue? is an easy one to answer.
Most definitely.
The program has come under fire in light of the reported rape of an exotic dancer at a team party in March - to the point where the school suspended and then canceled its 2006 season and coach Mike Pressler resigned after 16 seasons at the school.
That all said, at most only two or three members of the team were involved in the incident that led to the unravelling of the '06 season. Others, to be sure, were likely engaged in illegal activities such as underage drinking and other misdemeanor-type offenses.
Still others may have been less than forthcoming in assisting in the police investigation of the rape allegations.
That last bit is troubling, to say the least.
But when you look at the big picture, it wasn't lacrosse in general or the lacrosse program at Duke in particular that led to what happened.
So to indict an entire sport or an entire team for the actions of a few - as unfortunate as those actions were - would be to heap insult to the injuries already done.
- Chris Graham