Chris Rainey should be suspended for four more games
by mlmintampa on Sep 28, 2010 1:00 PM EDT
in Florida Football
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PrintFlorida high school students must volunteer for 75 hours of community service to be eligible for Bright Futures Scholarships.
In comparison, Chris Rainey must volunteer 10 hours, go to counseling (which is provided at no charge) and donate $100 to a domestic violence network to have a misdemeanor charge dropped against him.
This does not make sense to me. I expected the State Attorney's office to drop the charges against Rainey, which is what they did in terms of deferred prosecution. The deal given to Rainey is also offered to other first time offenders, which means Rainey did not get special treatment. The State Attorney's office and the woman who Rainey is accused of threatening both said that Rainey did not pose a danger to anyone. But such a small response required of Rainey seems not to fit the crime.
Now that the legal process has dropped Rainey, Urban Meyer will get his say. Rainey has already missed three games, including Saturday at Alabama. While I would prefer a full season suspension, I would think an acceptable minimum suspension is seven games. That would be four more missed games for Rainey, amounting to half the season. At that point, Rainey could get back on the field, but only after counseling determines Rainey is of a sound mind.
I understand people think that Rainey made a mistake, but threatening someone is not a mistake. It is a huge error in judgment. By allowing Rainey back in the fold too quickly, the Gators would prevent his own rehabilitation, while demonstrating to impressionable 18-22 year olds that what Rainey did can be easily forgiven. I keep coming back to how I would react if this happened to my friend or sister. Most of us know of a case where a friend has been threatened by their boyfriend. Yet, it continues to happen because it is never taken seriously enough by legal authorities or those who are threatened.
Rainey will be lucky in that he will have people watching over him and maybe he can be rehabilitated. I hope that is the case. Meyer does not have to make a grand example out of Rainey or even respond to the calls that somehow he is running juvenile detention center. But he does have to understand that he needs to keep his team in order. Keeping Rainey out for seven games out of a maximum of 14 would be a decent step towards that.
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I agree
but I guess it doesn’t really seem to be consistent. I mean If Dunlap gets a 1 game suspension for DUI, how does Rainey get 7 for criminal text messaging? Maybe I’m way off here, and I think that Rainey’s actions certainly speak to a larger issue with him, but I think getting behind the wheel hammered, endangers far more people than sending a threatening text message.
Agree on the DUI punishment being too light. Especially considering average students face expulsion or a semester suspension for a DUI.
mlmintampa
UF C/O 06
http://www.alligatorarmy.com
Agreed.
I agree with you in that he should be suspended for the year and I won’t be happy with anything short of that (though I’m bracing for it).
MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!
Tough call
I’m not sure what the right answer is. Rainey didn’t have a past criminal record which is why he was treated lightly – just like any other student would be (also because it was reduced to a misdemeanor). Not sure you could fairly give that long of a suspension since his actions, while serious, were threatening and not actually violent.
It will be interesting to see what Urban does – especially due to the emergence of Burton. While, that shouldn’t matter, it surely allows him to make Rainey the example without harming the rest of the team. And us, the fan. What about us?!?!
I still disagree wholeheartedly
As I said before, Rainey is at an age (and lives in an age) where fleeting thoughts and impulses can become immortalized, for better or worse.
I’ve already said, and apparently the state attorney and Rainey’s girlfriend agree, that he meant no harm. Yes, it was a stupid thing to say. But I still think you’re failing to see that these days, there are facebook updates, tweets, and text messages which can be sent before you really have time to think about what was said.
I believe that the punishment fits the crime, and I’m glad that Rainey is required to get counseling. Believe me, when a person has anger problems, learning how to control that anger and regulate your actions goes a LONG way.
Chris Rainey made a mistake that anyone who was mad and had a phone could have made. He’s paying for it. I don’t think that there should be any problem with him returning for the homecoming game against Mississippi State, or if not then at least the Georgia game.
Gator Bait: The first, and still the best.
Besides this comment
All I see on here is self righteous commentors who don’t believe that a kid, or young man, with no criminal history except traffic violations merits a reprieve for a poorly handled interaction with a friend of his.
None of you know the kind of relationship Rainey and this woman share, it may be very playful/sarcastic. I have seen lots of relationships built on their sarcasm, some healthy, most not (mostly unhealthy due to emotional duress).
I don’t condone Rainey’s actions or his message to this woman, but I can not, with good conscience, condemn him for his naivity. Rainey does need to be made the example, all of those DUIs need to be made the example, that’s an active careless disregard for human life, be it woman, man, or child.
Get out of my House!
I don’t think anyone is being self righteous, but I get your point. I think it depends on different things. I know in my case that a kid getting caught with weed, underage drinking or getting in a fight at a bar are three things that would not bother me. The DUIs bother me because the punishment for a football player is significantly different from a student or a baseball player (pitcher Stephen Locke was kicked off the team after being accused of DUI, then allowed back when the charge was dropped).
The Rainey situation is different because it involves a woman. Most of us know, directly or indirectly, a situation where a female has been threatened by their boyfriend. And they usually don’t turn out well.
mlmintampa
UF C/O 06
http://www.alligatorarmy.com
DUI
DUI are no laughing matter, and neither is violence towards women or anyone for that matter. How can a 7 game supension be justified for a misdemeanor text threat? Especially when everyone involved obviously didn’t feel it had any weight behind it. I don’t Rainey personally so I can’t vouch for what kind of person he is, but I do know that what he did doesn’t compare to a DUI.
Making an example out of Rainey for a stupid text, just seems like overkill and pointless. He’s already missed two games, another two seems like the max he should miss. Which would make his suspension one of the longest under the Urban Meyer regime. Wasn’t it Carlos Dunlap who was charged with a DUI and only missed 1 game? His actions could’ve ended the life of someone’s family member. That seems a lot more serious than an empty threat text message.
Get out of my House!
Justice
I think we all want the right thing to be done. The hell of it is, what is the right thing? None of us know the circumstances, the tone, or timbre of the text exchange. We all tend to react according to our most recent nightmares about domestic abuse, etc. When the incident first came to light I wanted him strung up. The more I hear the more I realize how little I know about the man or the incident. I suppose I’ll have to defer to the sensibilities of a real judge and a fine head coach.
Nope. Can his ass. Forever.
None of you know the kind of relationship Rainey and this woman share, it may be very playful/sarcastic.
Yeah, you know, they kind where they’re so playful that they call the Police. Just for laughts, y’unnerstand. Just for giggles.
There but for the grace of God….
Yeah, anyone one of us could snap like THAT! at any moment and start texting “Time to Die, Bitch” to women. Sure.
As an alum who donates to the UAA and the University, I don’t really want to be associated with that kind of behavior.
The legal system has decided that Rainey deserves a light punishment… so be it. They have facts that I don’t, and they’ve decided to give him a slap on the wrist. Good. I’m happy for him (genuinely.)
I’m sorry if this seems “self-righteous,” but then, I suppose I’ve never threatened a woman into calling the Police, so who knows? I guess I want to see Meyer and the University establish a slightly higher standard of behavior for UF student-athletes than what will seem to be the case if he’s let on the team.
STR 11 DEX 14 CON 10 INT 16 WIS 14 CHA 16
by delicious.crab on Sep 29, 2010 11:06 AM EDT reply actions
Who cares about your alum status
it means nothing to me, that doesn’t give you the right to assign this guy as bad guy because he made a stupid decision. The girl didn’t call the police, her sister did. To which even the sister said she didn’t believe he was threat, they just wanted to calm/“diffuse” the situation. Get your facts straight. Obviously they didn’t feel endangered, but were worried he might do something stupid, which was obvious from his text message.
Obviously you’ve never been upset. I’ve never threatened a woman, or hit a woman, and I am not excusing his actions or texts. What I am doing is giving him a chance to change and improve. You and your “can his ass” just want to label him and abandon him. Thank God, God’s not like that.
Comparitively his actions did not result in impending danger to anyone, however many other players and student have done much worse. Why don’t you take care of them before you try to make an example out someone who didn’t and can still change.
Get out of my House!
Yeah, but if enough alumni like delicious.crab there get fed up with all of that and stop doing what they are doing…things can and will change. So it does kind of matter what alumni like that think.
The Once and Future King
that's very true
If enought alumni are as adhawk about a total reformation of the student body and athletic student body as delicious.crab.
I just don’t see how throwing out “As an alum who donates” should ever really be mentioned on here unless we were a serious governing body of UAA and the University.
It is a poor attempt to somehow validate his opinion as doctrine, and an attempt to somehow elevate himself.
None of us can verify if he is in deed, an alum of UF, so why throw that out anyways. It’s like me saying well I’m the son of bull gator, which I’m not, but no one could verify that could they? It just be me trying to make my opinion somehow more important than another’s.
Get out of my House!
by ECFIVESTER on Sep 30, 2010 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This is a discussion for another day, but there is a difference in how an alumni or parent of a student looks at a school versus a fan.
mlmintampa
UF C/O 06
http://www.alligatorarmy.com
Essentially, what mim said.
Reading the post, I can see how the phrasing seemed boastful or elevated. For the record, the amount I donate barely covers the postage, and I’m not entirely sure they even bother to cash my checks.
As to whether or not it’s relevant that I’m an alum or donor, I think it’s certainly relevant to my opinion – I don’t think I’d be NEARLY as pissed at Mr. Rainey if I didn’t have the school ties. I invested the four most important years of my entire life at that university, as well as the Checkers coupons and nail clippings I mail to the UAA, and 30 arrests in five years (yes, mostly for minor, kids-will-be-kids stuff) frankly infuriates me. It’s bad for the university, bad for the other athletics, and it needs to stop now.
That doesn’t make my opinion better than anyone else’s, by the way, it’s a way of explaining why I might think differently about the situation than certain other people. I don’t claim to speak for all alums, either. Just me.
Apparently I had some facts wrong. My bad. I still don’t think that what he did is acceptable. At all. As to whether or not “he can change,” whether he can “get the help he needs,” etc., I would point out that playing varsity football is not a precondition for these.
As to whether or not I’m really an alum, I’m not entirely sure why I can’t be taken at my word, but I suppose it will have to do for now.
STR 11 DEX 14 CON 10 INT 16 WIS 14 CHA 16
by delicious.crab on Sep 30, 2010 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions
It's not that I don't trust you per say
It’s just as of now, you are just another faceless internet commentor, as am I. I don’t expect anyone to take my opinions as fact. I respect your opinion, but I am still entitled to a rebuttle.
I took the sense that you were attempting to elevate your opinion, since you say you wer not, I can take your opinion and see your points more easily.
You are definitely correct about “playing varsity football is not a precondition.” And I’m not saying he shouldn’t be punished. I care about the University I’m still planning on getting a few degree from there myself. I definitely don’t want to become the “U”. I want it to be Gator Nation, respectable, integral, and winners. But even if they can’t be winners, at least be the first two.
Get out of my House!
I have to weigh in here
there is a difference in how an alumni or parent of a student looks at a school versus a fan.
Yes that is very true. As the reputation could some how affect your reputation for future oppurtunities. That is possible.
Although most alumni football fans do have a habbit of trying to elavate themself above non alumni. As my brother in law who graduated from Penn State clearly states " I am Penn State", as if my fandom for the Gators is trumped by his fandom of PSU because he earned a education there and mine is just family pride.
So I can understand how a school like Miami can get coinded “THUGU” may some how deminish the degree of someone who had nothing to do with those issues. Thats about as far an arguement I can see being true. But the way many alumni act above everyone else such as my brother in law for example is simply what ECFIVESTER percieved from the comment.
When in reality, popular NCAA sports would be nothing if it wasnt for the “Non Alumni”. So I dont understand why some of these Alumni get so snobbish about who can be a fan of thier school when the more fans your school can obtain actually benifits your school. And people become very invested in college sports programs for many different reasons. I have argued that before, so I wont go all out debate right now, but my family tradition has always been huge Gator fans and yes weve had a few family members attend UF, but I chose to join the USAF for my own reasons, I dont think that makes your 4 years (granted a important 4 years) trumps my entire family’s 60+ years of being Gator fans.
How UofF is percieved, how well they are respected, and whatever the schools does to a certain extent is very important to me. Certainly my family does not want to be known as avid fans of a school who is ok with 30 arrests.
"When you argue correctly, you're never wrong."-Nick Naylor
One thing to take into consideration is this
Under normal circumstances – being a program that hasn’t had the scrutiny and problems that UF players have had obeying the law, this would probably be a done deal. The suspension would be time served and Rainey would be allowed back on the team because the charges are essentially dropped.
The problem is that UF has had so many players slip up, that Meyer needed to tell his players that they needed to be more carfeul. That they needed to walk on egg shells and take the time to carefully avoid situations which could tempt them into trouble.
Rainey didn’t do that. So now he’ll pay a greater price, fair or unfair, for his actions. It’s like the first kid who acts up in class just gets a mean stare from the teacher, but the 5th kid to do it that day goes to the principal’s office.
I know
I always thought that sucked back then too. If they want to make an example with it, why not make it a team punishment then. That’s what my teachers did, if one person was acting up, he got the punishment, if a lot of us were, the whole group got the punishment.
Get out of my House!
That's not exactly fair either
Most of the guys are busting their tails and staying out of trouble – why should they be punished? It’s like the rest of platoon having to do pushups because Private Pyle stole the jelly dont from the mess hall…..
Don’t you love all these analogies today?
If everyone is receiving punishment because of a few people
Then there’s going to be much more in-group regulation going on.
Gator Bait: The first, and still the best.
that's the hope
but these guys aren’t the smartest…..you’d think they would be staying out of trouble already knowing the Meyer is going to eventually run out of patience!!
why not make it a team punishment then
And what then? Have the whole team suspended against Kentucky…etc?
The Once and Future King
lol
I was thinking more of suspended priveleges, stadium climbs, or stuff like that. What happened to good ole fashioned running until you puke …
Get out of my House!
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