NYT

[NrthFce]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/us/ra ... .html?_r=2&" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NrthFce]

Congrats to UM...

[AlphaGriz1]

The idiots over on eGriz still dont get it. They are defending against these comments when they should be accepting them because they are true.

Morans.............

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[Rich K]

The idiots over on eGriz still dont get it. They are defending against these comments when they should be accepting them because they are true.

Morans.............

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Well, one thing is certain - eGriz is NOT over with, as we know it....

[RickRund]

Looks as if there are quite a few IN DENIAL.....

[remember the SCOOP!]

Money quote:

“We’ve had sex assaults, vandalism, beatings by football players,” said Pat Williams, a former congressman and a member of the Montana Board of Regents. “The university has recruited thugs for its football team, and this thuggery has got to stop.”

[LTown Cat]

Money quote:

“We’ve had sex assaults, vandalism, beatings by football players,” said Pat Williams, a former congressman and a member of the Montana Board of Regents. “The university has recruited thugs for its football team, and this thuggery has got to stop.”

Yep, and based off of this quote Milt's quote at the end sure makes him sound stupid.

[SonomaCat]

There appears to be a whole lot of posters on egriz that don't have much exposure to corporations, either. There's a meme over there that a board member would be kicked off the board for being critical of the decisions of management (analogous to a member of the BOR being very critical of decisions made by UM athletics personnel in terms of recruiting) ... that's kinda the opposite of how that actually works. It's actually the job of a board member to be critical of management, if they feel it is justified.

No point in posting that over there, as the tribalism would prevent any thoughtful response, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to point that out here, were people are a little less emotionally biased.

[SonomaCat]

Money quote:

“We’ve had sex assaults, vandalism, beatings by football players,” said Pat Williams, a former congressman and a member of the Montana Board of Regents. “The university has recruited thugs for its football team, and this thuggery has got to stop.”

Yep, and based off of this quote Milt's quote at the end sure makes him sound stupid.

Yeah, that last quote from Milt should strike horror in the hearts of every Griz fan. When you have an NCAA investigation, along with several others, ongoing into the sexual assault problems with your campus, and then you have a leader of the booster club (and primary target in a likely impermissable benefit investigation) popping off that there "is no problem" and suggesting that one of the football players got railroaded by the legal system for his rape charge in the highest profile print media in the world ... that can only fan the flames.

If I was a Griz fan, my first action would be to email Milt and tell him to please, please, please shut up and provide NO MORE juicy quotes for the media that do harm to the UM football program. He can't seem to help himself.

[AlphaGriz1]

So basically you want Milt to lie?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[allcat]

Money quote:

“We’ve had sex assaults, vandalism, beatings by football players,” said Pat Williams, a former congressman and a member of the Montana Board of Regents. “The university has recruited thugs for its football team, and this thuggery has got to stop.”

Yep, and based off of this quote Milt's quote at the end sure makes him sound stupid.

Yeah, that last quote from Milt should strike horror in the hearts of every Griz fan. When you have an NCAA investigation, along with several others, ongoing into the sexual assault problems with your campus, and then you have a leader of the booster club (and primary target in a likely impermissable benefit investigation) popping off that there "is no problem" and suggesting that one of the football players got railroaded by the legal system for his rape charge in the highest profile print media in the world ... that can only fan the flames.

If I was a Griz fan, my first action would be to email Milt and tell him to please, please, please shut up and provide NO MORE juicy quotes for the media that do harm to the UM football program. He can't seem to help himself.

He's a lawyer, They always say nobody did nothin. The cops made it all up.

[grizzh8r]

Money quote:

“We’ve had sex assaults, vandalism, beatings by football players,” said Pat Williams, a former congressman and a member of the Montana Board of Regents. “The university has recruited thugs for its football team, and this thuggery has got to stop.”

Yep, and based off of this quote Milt's quote at the end sure makes him sound stupid.

Yeah, that last quote from Milt should strike horror in the hearts of every Griz fan. When you have an NCAA investigation, along with several others, ongoing into the sexual assault problems with your campus, and then you have a leader of the booster club (and primary target in a likely impermissable benefit investigation) popping off that there "is no problem" and suggesting that one of the football players got railroaded by the legal system for his rape charge in the highest profile print media in the world ... that can only fan the flames.

If I was a Griz fan, my first action would be to email Milt and tell him to please, please, please shut up and provide NO MORE juicy quotes for the media that do harm to the UM football program. He can't seem to help himself.

Well, as Forrest Gump said:

[Rich K]

Looks as if there are quite a few IN DENIAL.....

Not so fast, they still have ....

http://www.egriz.com/grizboard/viewtopi ... =1&t=61011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[CARDIAC_CATS]

Looks as if there are quite a few IN DENIAL.....

Not so fast, they still have ....

http://www.egriz.com/grizboard/viewtopi ... =1&t=61011" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NrthFce]

Tweet

Jim O'Day @JimODay57

Derogatory comments by Montana Board of Regent Pat Williams in today's New York Times about UM football program are totally unacceptable.
9:01 PM - 07 Feb 13

Well apparently O'Day didn't like the comments... so I guess the means they are...um... inaccurate?

[allcat]

Tweet

Jim O'Day @JimODay57

Derogatory comments by Montana Board of Regent Pat Williams in today's New York Times about UM football program are totally unacceptable.
9:01 PM - 07 Feb 13

Well apparently O'Day didn't like the comments... so I guess the means they are...um... inaccurate?

It will probably do them a lot of good to pick a fight with Williams, probably a good thing that O'Day is out.

[Cat_gld]

Of course O'Payday would find Pat Williams' comments "unacceptabe" because O'Day had to be instrumental in approving any thugs recruited to UM, and he seemingly involved himself in the cover up when indiscretions occurred (the Jimmy Wilson biting incident and "tasergate" come to mind here). I'd expect him to squeal the loudest, and, like Datsopolus, deny any problems ever existed in the first place.

[gocats77]

Additonal interesting comments regarding this situation from an article on ESPN.com.

The developments have produced a "toxic environment," said Milton Datsopoulos, a lifetime Missoula resident, a graduate of the university and one of the town's leading lawyers.

"The mess that has developed is an unfortunate thing," said Datsopoulos, who recently represented another former Montana football player accused of rape. "The accusation that the county attorney has not pursued cases against football players is totally not true. It is now hard to get a fair trial. The presumption of innocence has been flip-flopped, and football players are now presumed to be guilty."

Instead of preferential treatment for football players, Datsopoulos asserts, the prosecutors are "very aggressive in their cases in their cases against football players and in their demands for stiff sentences. The deputies in the office of the county attorney are female and activist, and they make every case a matter of women's rights and a gender issue."

Datsopoulos represented former Montana running back Beau Donaldson, who admitted his guilt to a charge identical to the charge against Johnson and was sentenced on Jan. 11 to 30 years (20 suspended) in the penitentiary. According to court documents, 260-pound Donaldson admitted to police that he assaulted a Montana student as she was sleeping in his apartment on New Year's Day in 2012. The woman testified she feared for her life as Donaldson chased her after the attack. The judge who sentenced Donaldson, Karen Townsend, is also presiding over the Johnson prosecution.

"It is certain," Datsopoulos said, "that the environment created in Missoula is responsible for the 10-year sentence. "[Donaldson] did the right thing; he is a quality guy; he told the police what he did; he wanted to clear it up, and it has cost him dearly."

Others in Missoula do not share Datsopoulos' skepticism about the investigations. Pat Williams -- who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1979 to 1997 and is now a member of the board of regents that governs higher education in the state, including the university in Missoula -- saw a serious problem in Missoula, welcomes the investigations and praises the university's actions in response to the crisis.

Describing the situation that prevailed before the investigations prompted changes, Williams said: "The football team was recruiting too many thugs. Rape was not the only problem. There was vandalism, there were personal assaults, and there was destruction of property. The players were pampered and adored. Too many of them had the feeling they were bulletproof and immune to the rules that all of us must follow. They acted like arrogant marauders."

In the face of numerous allegations involving football players, Williams said, the university's "procedures were not good" and the authorities "failed to follow up on accusations from women."

But he also praises the changes the university has made even as the investigations have continued. University president Engstrom, Williams says, "welcomes and is eager to have the help that is coming from the investigations" and has dealt with episodes of misconduct "quickly, harshly and appropriately."

[SonomaCat]

I think Williams laid it on a little extra thick, probably to make sure that he got maximum exposure nationally. Honestly, I have a bias against Williams -- my only letter to the editor in my life to date was written to call him out for his opportunistic partisan attacks on Bush in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 ... including a bunch of BS DC cocktail party hearsay he included in his column that was published statewide. He seems like a guy who will not hesitate to throw somebody else under the bus in order to get himself more attention.

All that said, the gist of what Williams said really can't be disputed -- there were problems there and they did need to be addressed. But he could definitely have worded it far more diplomatically had he desired ... which he didn't.

[wbtfg]

All that said, the gist of what Williams said really can't be disputed -- there were problems there and they did need to be addressed. But he could definitely have worded it far more diplomatically had he desired ... which he didn't.

and, IMHO, is compounded by his position as a member of the Board of Regents.