More Bad News For Rucker: Probation Officer Recommends 21 Days in Jail
by LVS on Oct 13, 2010 4:49 PM CDT
in Michigan State Spartans Football
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Sorry we're late to the game on this one. Adam Rittenberg's story has most of the relevant information:
Rucker's probation officer, Matthew J. Brundage, recommended a 21-day jail sentence for violating the terms of his probation on an assault conviction last year, according to court documents, according to the report. [ . . . ]
Rucker was placed on probation after pleading guilty to assault and battery stemming from an on-campus brawl involving Rucker and several teammates. The terms of his probation prohibited him from purchasing, possessing or consuming alcohol or illegal drugs, according to the report.
Rexrode has a few more details:
Typically in a case like this, it will be four to six weeks before a sentence is delivered. So this may or may not interfere with Rucker's ability to finish the regular season (whenever he comes back, which appears very likely). It could be pushed back to the point where Rucker can't play in a bowl game. Or it could be continued into the new year.
Note that the judge isn't required to accept the probation officer's sentence recommendation, though judges do in the vast majority of situations. All of the situations Rexrode mentions are possible outcomes, thought if the sentencing is pushed back, it'd be awfully difficult to explain why a player awaiting sentencing is suiting up for MSU. IMO, Mark Hollis needs to start having discussions with both the football and basketball staff about these ongoing legal issues. The constant negative headlines are becoming a real black eye for the university.
Anyway, if Rucker is out for an extended period of time, it'll certainly have a negative effect on the rest of MSU's season. Rucker has been excellent this year, and there's nothing but inexperience behind him on the depth chart.
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I'll trust the coaches on this one
If they determine it’s better for Rucker to be on the team than off of it, then I’ll defer to their judgment since they’ll have more knowledge of the details and what’s in the program and Rucker’s interests.
Personally, I anticipate that he has not played his last game at MSU.
Es gibt keine Freude wie Schadenfreude
Agree with you on the prediction.
I’m just saying that it’s going to create a real public perception problem.
PP-TPW.
The Only Colors
eh...
every school has college aged kids on it and consequently deals with issues like this.
I agree with this general sentiment
It’s all about a balancing act for me. You can’t let the players run rampant and act untouchable, but you also have to accept that, with dozens of football and bball scholarship athletes at the university, some are going to get into trouble. It’s just a fact of life. Where each fan would like to balance is up to personal conscientious and preference. I’m not sure MSU is ahead of any curve, but it may feel that way to alumni who are sensitive to MSU’s public perception. As a teacher of college students myself (including D1 athletes), I find it hard to throw books at people.
We are way down the list for discipline issues
Sadly, but an OWI in the day and age when four to five arrests per team is the norm in the SEC means that no one but Michigan fans is going to give a crap about this.
Es gibt keine Freude wie Schadenfreude
Georgia has a dozen of these a year.
The Rather Hall incident was a public perception problem. The Glenn Winston assault on a hockey player was a public perception problem. This is par for the course – stupid, yes, dangerous, yes, but (sadly) not out of the ordinary on any campus.
He should be kicked off
I know many college athletes and many college students (myself included) do stupid things during that time of their life. My problem with Rucker is he already had his freebie. I’ll agree that he paid for his crime in regards to the Rather Hall incident and am happy he was allowed to rejoin the team. Now I think he’s had his second chance and I really don’t understand how he deserves another. All those guys from the Rather incident should have been on a zero-tolerance policy, as in: You do one more thing to bring attention to yourself and this team in a negative fashion in regards to law enforcement and you’re kicked off. I’d fully support Coach Dantonio if he decided to give Rucker the boot. Look, I’m all for forgiveness, but allowing him back in light of the offense he already committed at Rather takes it to a new level. He clearly did not learn his lesson, and how does it look if he comes back and screws up again? I don’t want to hear that from my Walvie buddies.
I have to agree
He’s had his chance. It’s a big loss for the secondary and therefore the whole team, but team success is nothing without program integrity, and program integrity circles the drain pretty darn quickly when it’s got this kind of press flying around constantly, especially with repeat-offenders.
Tonight's going to be a good night.
by Spartalytical on Oct 13, 2010 5:50 PM CDT up reply actions
+1
And I REALLY hate to +1 that… but it’s true, second time you’re gone. Precedent was set with Winston and Jenerrette
Winston's second was the same type of incident as the first
I see that as a big difference. I’m much less willing to forgive repeating the same mistakes than I am when the mistakes are of a completely different nature.
A suspension, certainly (and it’s likely he’ll be serving jail time anyway, so that much is out of Dantonio’s hands). Booting him entirely seems a little bit much.
The difference is intent.
Winston was violent. He was trying to hurt people.
As I understand it Rucker has made two poor choices. The first was to follow Winston to Rather Hall, the second to try to drive home.
I don’t get the sense that in either case his intention was to hurt anybody.
Obviously drunk driving can kill, so his actions shouldn’t go without punishment, and they won’t. Whether he should be kicked off the team or not is a decision that I’ll leave to the coach as I trust they’ll make the right decision. They know the details and they know the kid.
People suggesting that this is some sort of horrible black eye for the school though are overstating this stuff. Would I prefer that Korie Lucious and Chris L. Rucker have called cabs? Yes. Do I wish that Dion Sims didn’t take possesion of stolen computers? Of course. Was the Rather Hall story last year idiotic? Yep.
Does it have any impact on how the school is viewed by the rest of the country? Probably not much, in large part because most people aren’t paying attention. To be honest the Final Four riots that took place and the end of year party/excuse to throw shit at police did far more damage to MSU’s reputation than any of these events. And to my knowledge there weren’t any athletes arrested in those cases.
It’s college. Kids make mistakes. They do plenty of stupid things. Kid drink too much on their 21st birthday and die. Kids get too drunk and get killed on the train tracks. Kids get into drunken brawls and people get hurt. Kids get drunk and push their limits with girls and sexual assualts happen. At every school in the country, every single school year.
Does it make it right? No. Does it suck that MSU has had a pretty bad streak of these things lately? Yes. Are people that aren’t huge MSU fans even paying attention? Probably not.
Yes. Are people that aren’t huge MSU fans even paying attention? Probably not.
Amen to that. Honestly, we all care, because we are all huge State fans, but other than a few d-baggy M trollers, nobody else will really care. And it will blow over quickly, unless he does go to jail during the season. Then it will blow over as soon as he’s out.
Were I the judge
Here’s what I would do…sentence CLR to the recommended 21 days then stay the execution of the sentence until after his last final exam, on the ground that he’s a student, reporting the day after his last final at 8:00 AM. I would also make a statement during sentencing that whether he plays football or not is up to the coaching staff and his teammates, but that all must understand that he reports to the Ingham County Jail on the day after his last final. Since he would be subject to good time reduction and would get credit for the time he served the night he was busted, he might be out in 10-14 days, which might get him into the bowl game if it’s a New Year’s Day or after game. It isn’t as though there isn’t precedent for such a delay of sentence, it is the same type of deal that Scott Skiles had from the Indiana judge who sentenced him back in ’86.
Would you make that same deal if he weren't a football player, just a regular student?
He shouldn’t get any extra consideration that a normal student wouldn’t get. For an incident that occurred out of state and would impact his ability to get classwork, I can see a deal like that, but Rucker didn’t get arrested 200 miles from campus. If he’s in the county jail, coaches or teammates can bring class notes and homework for him to work on.
I think
being kept from being on campus is disruptive enough that it’s reasonable to stay the execution of the sentence for academic purposes. It could be possible to study while in jail, but it’s certainly not conducive.
Es gibt keine Freude wie Schadenfreude
Fair enough
If that’s a deal that any student would (potentially) get, I’m okay with it. But if it’s just because he’s a football player, no. Athletes are not above the law (or at least shouldn’t be).
Playing Devil's Advocate...
Does Rucker get charged with anything at Rather if he’s not a football player considering he reportedly didn’t actually do anything while he was there? While I agree he should not be above the law, at the same time, players should not be made examples of either because they are public figures.
Hopefully the people who really know (Coach D, Hollis, etc.) what Rucker’s invovlement was at Rather and who really know what happened the night after the UM game are able to make a decision that is best for Chris and for the Program. For anyone else to make a judgement as to Rucker’s punishment, who doesn’t know Chris and who doesn’t know what actually happened, is unfair. I’ll trust Coach D with whatever he decides.
Excellent Point
Is there a thread or post with a fair representation of the Rather incident?
If you go along with a buddy to stand in the circle and be back-up, but never fight, that’s not much of an offense, but I don’t know that this is what happened.
I hate the current OWI law, so it is tempting to say that thousands of people in Michigan drive home every weekend with a greater than .08 BAC with no negative outcomes, and from what I have read it’s usually the guys with the .20 or greater BAC that head down I-75 the wrong way and kill and entire family.
No accident + no injury + 3 beers = $15k in fines and lawers + 60 days in jail + no drivers license for at least a year + over-priced insurance.
I think if I went to Rather Hall this Saturday night and beat someone up I’d get less.
I know, this makes me a bad person, and MADD and SADD are on their way to my house right now for a protest.
Rather
I see your point about his involvement in the Rather incident, but unfortunately, regardless of what he actually did or didn’t do, he pleaded guilty to the charge of assault and battery and the judge agreed that he provided sufficient facts to support the guilty plea. It would be a much different issue if he was just there but never charged and/or never pleaded guilty. Now he’s got the offense on his record and the probation that he apparently violated by consuming alcohol. Changes things quite a bit, at least from a legal perspective.
by Ducking Delvon on Oct 14, 2010 11:20 AM CDT up reply actions
How do the players involved in the dorm incident have any leeway whatsoever?
He should be gone.
Most of you know I’m not an MSU fan. The only reasons I come here are for basketball or, uh, these interesting off-the-field issues. I’ve been here almost daily for the last few months.
Our PR machine has been unstoppable!
If only it was good PR.
Tonight's going to be a good night.
by Spartalytical on Oct 15, 2010 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions
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