Terribly correct

Jarod Opperman/The Register-Guard
Oregon football head coach Chip Kelly and athletic director Mike Bellotti hold a press conference to announce the suspension of running back LeGarrette Blount for the rest of the season after the incident at Boise State in which Blount punched another player.

[He could've been considered one of the greatest Oregon running backs ever. He gave us many wonderful moments we won't soon forget. But all of that fades next to the events of Thursday night. This was not his first infraction. He had been suspended once before and kicked out of practice recently. He had used up his second chances.

What's the line in 'Bull Durham'? "A million dollar arm, but a 10 cent head." Blount has million dollar talent; but he has a head full of bad wiring. And guys like that will bring your team down.

We were all so looking forward to seeing him play. This complete suspension is terribly sad. But it's terribly correct. Blount left Oregon no choice.

Following is the Register Guard story.

Blount’s season ends The fateful punch thrown by the UO running back brings big consequences
By Adam Jude
The Register-Guard
Appeared in print: Saturday, Sep 5, 2009 ,

Senior running back LeGarrette Blount has been suspended for the season by University of Oregon coach Chip Kelly for punching a Boise State player after the Ducks’ nationally televised 19-8 loss in Boise on Thursday night.
The decision effectively ends Blount’s playing career for the Ducks and severely handicaps his professional aspirations.
Kelly held back tears at times as he made the announcement during a 20-minute press conference with athletic director Mike Bellotti at the Casanova Center on Friday afternoon.
Kelly said that Blount will remain part of the school’s football program and remain on scholarship throughout the remainder of the year. Blount will continue to have access to all of the university’s support services provided to all student athletes; will be allowed to take part in all team activities, including practice with the team; and will be held to all team rules and regulations, Kelly said.
He will not, however, be allowed to participate in any games.
Blount also will be asked to seek counseling, though Kelly declined to specify whether that included anger management.
“LeGarrette Blount needs this football team; he needs structure,” Kelly said.
“I think he’s taken this very hard, and he understands he made a mistake. He has to pay for that mistake, but we’re not going to throw LeGarrette Blount out on the street.”

[If they were to throw him out of school, his frustrations could lead him to do something dumb and jail worthy. He might be headed that direction anyway. But hopefully he can keep his head together to stay in college and graduate.]

Blount was at the Casanova Center with the team on Friday, but he did not speak with reporters and he did not return a call seeking comment.
The rest of the team was not made available to the media.
While Blount has been given the opportunity to stay with the team, Kelly was not certain whether he would accept that offer.
“I can’t force him to stay with us,” Kelly said.
Kelly said it was an emotional conversation when he informed Blount of the suspension Friday morning.
“LeGarrette’s hurt. … He cried, I cried,” Kelly said. “I told him he needs to stay with this football program and that we would do everything to support him.”
“LeGarrette Blount won’t just be a YouTube clip on this is what happened to him on Sept. 3 in Boise, Idaho. There’s a lot more to LeGarrette Blount. But he understands that his actions last night were unacceptable, and that we will not put up with that. That is not the University of Oregon football, that is not the University of Oregon.
Bellotti emphasized that the decision to suspended Blount was Kelly’s, and that it was “in concert” with the university and the Pac-10 Conference.
“I support it 100 percent,” said Bellotti, who became athletic director this summer after 14 seasons as the head coach. “I was more of a sounding board for (Kelly) and an adviser for what I perceived to be factors to be considered.”
Bellotti added that Blount was “dismayed” when informed of his suspension.
“He was not shocked,” Bellotti said. “But he didn’t agree.”
Kelly said that when he reviewed film of the incident for the first time Friday morning, “my reaction was that’s not what we’re all about. That’s not what we coach, that’s not what we stand for, and it’s unacceptable.”
The incident began moments after the final play of the game, when Boise State defensive end Byron Hout said something to Blount, smacked him on his shoulder pad and then partly turned away.
As Boise State coach Chris Petersen attempted to get Hout away, Blount hit Hout with a right-hand punch to the jaw that buckled the Boise State sophomore.
The punch was replayed repeatedly on the videoboard in Bronco Stadium, and boos quickly spread through the school-record crowd of 34,127.
Blount — who later had to be restrained from going after fans by assistant coaches Scott Frost and Gary Campbell, teammates and security personnel — apologized Thursday night for his actions, which included hitting a teammate, Garrett Embry.

[That's the thing. Had he only made the one punch and run to the locker room, he might be serving only a three game suspension. But the way he lunged after fans and fought with his teammates and the cops . . . . . . had he been a dog, somebody would have felt the need to shoot him on the spot before he spread his rabies. ]

The incident, replayed frequently on ESPN and the Internet, was the lead story on national sports talk shows on television and radio Friday, including ESPN’s “Outside the Lines,” “Pardon the Interruption” and “Around the Horn.” It was also one of the most trendy topics on Twitter and among the most Googled items of the day.
It sparked national criticism of Blount and the university, with columnists, commentators and football fans calling for his dismissal from the team.
On Friday, the UO released a statement from President Richard Lariviere, calling Blount’s conduct “reprehensible.”
“We do not and will not tolerate the actions that were taken by our player,” the statement said. “Oregon’s loyal fans expect and deserve better. … UO players, coaches and fans are known for their passion and enthusiasm for athletic competition. At the University of Oregon, we are committed to demonstrating that passion in positive ways.”
Pac-10 commissioner Larry Scott, who attended the game Thursday night and sat with Bellotti in a suite, said in a telephone interview Friday that he was “horrified” by Blount’s punch. But Scott added that he was comfortable with Kelly’s suspension.
“It makes the clearest possible statement about the values of the university, and the conference has a zero-tolerance policy to the type of conduct we saw (Thursday),” Scott said.
The Statesman newspaper in Boise reported that Hout probably will not lose any game time due to the incident.
After a review of the incident, Western Athletic Conference commissioner Karl Benson said in an interview with ESPN that Hout’s comments to Blount were “not offensive” in nature.
Petersen will discipline Hout internally, the Statesman reported.
“We’re not good with it,” Petersen told the Statesman. “It always takes two to tangle. Those are things we preach about every day around here. We just need to keep our mouths closed … and let our play speak for itself.
“I’m sure (Blount) would give his right arm to take that whole thing back, how it looks. Byron’s mistake wasn’t as extreme as LeGarrette’s, but he was still wrong.”

[When I watch that video of Byron Hout after he sinks to his knees, he later gets to his feet and is listening to his coach yelling at him while he watches Blount walk away. At that very moment I'm thinking, "Hey kid, with that one punch you just got a whole lot smarter and wiser, didn't you."
I hope it knocked some sense into him to think about potential repercussions of his stupid actions next time before he acts stupid.]

Hout physically is OK, Petersen said. The Broncos don’t have any intention of filing a criminal complaint, Petersen said — the action required for the Boise police to pursue the matter, according to spokeswoman Lynn Hightower.
Blount, 22, a native of Perry, Fla., spent two years at a Mississippi junior college before transferring to Oregon. He set a UO record with 17 touchdowns last season but had a tumultuous offseason that included a winter suspension by Bellotti for his “failure to fulfill team obligations.”
Blount later admitted he missed a team conditioning workout, which led to that first suspension.
Still, he entered this season with some mention as a Heisman Trophy candidate and some talk as potential first-round NFL draft pick next year. But NFL scouts told several Web sites that Blount was “undraftable” after his punch Thursday.

[That's a stupid comment. Undraftable, huh? Explain to me, then, what I was seeing when ESPN stopped showing Blount's punch again and again just long enough to show Michael Vick dancing in the endzone for Philadelphia, and then go back to showing that "disgusting" punch 20 more times.

Undraftable . . . . as in he won't be selected in the draft? Perhaps. But he will be in an NFL uniform the moment some team decides their lust for his talent outweighs their disgust for his tyranny.]

Blount has not used a redshirt season but Kelly said that was “a moot point” after Blount’s appearance in the UO opener Thursday.