America is getting a bigger laugh from Charlie Sheen and his solo antics than from his ensemble performance on “Two and a Half Men.” Here’s a bulletin: If you are just now learning that Charlie Sheen is crazy, you must have been living on BYU’s campus for the last 10 years. I think Sheen having a meltdown in 2011 is just one of the seven signs of the apocalypse coming to fruition. We have had a good laugh and had the shit scared out of us seeing his interviews and now the run I think has died down for the most part with the exception being his twitter account where he can regail us with more of his insane logic. The thing that got me going on all of this was when during the morning news on Fox 5 DC, one of the anchors reported on Sheen’s antics by starting off with “Your Charlie Sheen update.” I stopped mid stride in dressing and stared the TV down like I was going to kill it. “A Charlie Sheen update?” Bitch, are you nuts??? I need the “news” stations to leave this celebrity reporting to E!, Entertainment Tonight and TMZ. You don’t see them reporting on Libya so stay in your fucking lane! It’s bad enough that I can’t get real journalism from our so called news outlets (You remember real journalism: Who, What, Where, When and Why) now they want to pontificate and sensationalize every issue. At this point, just let him alone and continue this slow and steady descent into madness. The next time the news outlets should even mention Charlie Sheen is when the find him naked, on top of a Hennessey soaked pile of cocaine, dead. And please, when this happens, feel free to interrupt my TV programming like we found Bin Laden to notify me of this fact. Would be better if you interrupted the Wendy Williams show to make this report. (How that manimal stays on the air I have no clue!)
This past Tuesday as we were all still buzzing from Charlie Sheen, the third ranked BYU Cougars kicked their leading rebounder Brandon Davies off the team for breaking the University's Honor Code. I think we can all agree on the concept of honor as a stand alone idea. If we cannot, I think you would be that person that would ask me for a ride to the bank when I am actually driving your getaway car. Where the divergence from this idea appears is when the word code is put behind honor. In essence, with most colleges and universities an honor code is the expectation that the institution has of you as a student as you attend. Most are simple, a student will not lie, cheat or steal. Some will add that you will not tolerate those who do and you are required to report honor code violations. BYU's code had these elements and more as their code lays down an expectation to live in a way that reflects the Mormon tradition. I don't know about you, but if I was a big time sports recruit, three things would be on my list as to what I would want in my college experience: (In this order)
1. Get my degree
2. Play hard, be a legend. Maybe get a pro contract.
3. I'm a black athlete. Girls will be throwing the panties at me like batting practice and i'm trying to knock it ALL out the park...
With that said, BYU wouldn't fit with my educational goals. But, maybe there was something that Davies saw in the university at the time that he liked. He did break one tenet of the code as he upheld another (he admitted that he had sex). You would think that would count for something right?! As much as I would hate to see him leave the team, BYU did do the right thing as all schools who must dole out punishment under the auspices of honor codes must. To do so instills the idea that at school and in life, you are expected to act in a certain way. It must have been hard for fans as now BYU's chances of getting a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament have dissolved and after Davies' dismissal, they got their asses handed to them by New Mexico. Principle over athletic success is the bottom line here, something that unfortunately isn't seen all that much is collegiate sports these days. There is a bigger message though, if it had come to light that BYU let this slide then the issue of the importance of adherence to a code of behavior would have become a divisive issue. In order to teach life lessons, whether we agree with the lesson or not we have to stick to principle. BYU's honor code is unique in some ways from other college honor codes but it is principled in it's own way and to not enforce it would be a hollow victory for all instead of keeping a team together to achieve a place in the pantheon of champions. Class dismissed....
