3/1/2010: The football team apparently made it through the weekend arrest free. The cheerleading squad, on the other hand, reports a DUI.
2/22/2010: Rumor is that a Lane County Grand Jury is investigating the Masoli / Embry laptop assault and will make a decision this week.
2/22/2010: James apparently beat up his girlfriend – a UO student – and now the Athletic Department is falling all over itself, trying to persuade the court that he should be given a special exception and allowed back on campus. So that he can keep his eligibility to play football in the fall. That will teach the rest of the team a valuable lesson. The judge isn’t going for it.
2/21/2010: Coach Kelly draws a line in the sand – not at trying to strangle your girlfriend, but at using Facebook to criticize him. From the Oregonian:
The post read: “How you (expletive) kick kinko (sic) off the team on some weak (expletive). … he slipped up but ive been slippn up, and I’m still here, that (expletive) … could damage for the ducks, that (expletive) is weak, weak (expletive), quote me.”
Reached Sunday by phone, Kelly said Holland was dismissed for a “violation of team rules.” Asked if the violation had anything to with Holland’s Facebook status update, Kelly said: “I won’t get into the specifics, but you’re smart enough to figure it out.”
2/20/2010: Back in the day this would have been newsworthy, (Bellotti’s Nanny was cussing out the reporter too?) and worth a full blown coverup attempt by the athletic department. Bellotti suspended his son for 3 games, but told the press he wasn’t playing because he had the flu. But at point this getting through Friday night with just a 2AM underage DUI while uninsured, for one UO linebacker (not clear if the other two guys were on the team) is probably a relief:
Mere hours after Oregon coach Chip Kelly answered questions about his team’s slew of off-field troubles, Ducks linebacker Kiko Alonso was picked up for drunk driving. “If a player doesn’t live up to the standards we have for the football program, then they’re not going to be here,” Kelly said Friday. “But I’m also not going to follow our kids around every Friday or Saturday night so I can see what happened to them.” Kelly almost made it through Friday night, but at 2:19 a.m. on Saturday morning, Alonso was stopped at the 7-Eleven on East Broadway in Eugene and cited for DUII.
Less than 12 hours after Kelly reads them the riot act. They know Kelly won’t make his $2 million a year without them. And they realize UO is so far in the hole to Phil Knight that Lariviere can’t do anything either. Party on!
Lariviere decides to update his statement: 2/20/2010 PM Version. Given Bellotti’s role in hiding past discipline problems and the recent string of new events you have to wonder exactly what it will take for President Larviere to stop saying he has “every confidence” and “full confidence” etc. in these guys. Obviously they run their own shop and he has no more control over them than they do of their players.
The University of Oregon has clear expectations of how its student athletes are to behave both on and off the field of play. Lately, several of our athletes have fallen far short of these standards. This is simply unacceptable. The University of Oregon does not tolerate inappropriate conduct from any of its students. I know athletics director Mike Bellotti and head coach Chip Kelly share my concern about recent events involving UO players and are working hard to address these incidents. I have every confidence that they will restore the UO athletic program’s long and proud tradition of sportsmanship and integrity. Our loyal fans and alumni expect no less and neither do I.
2/20/10 AM version.
We do not have all the details regarding the alleged incident involving a University of Oregon football player. I have full confidence in Athletics Director Mike Bellotti and Head Coach Chip Kelly to address this situation appropriately, and to keep me fully informed. Our student athletes are students first, and our response will be the same as if it were any other student.
2/19/2010: The story from the Oregonian describes UO’s response – it’s a little different from what the average student would get:
EUGENE – James Harris, the self-proclaimed “fireman” for the Oregon athletic department, has come to the rescue of another Oregon running back: LaMichael James. Harris, the Ducks life skills director who helped guide LeGarrette Blount over his “academic and behavioral ladders” in the wake of punching an opponent on national television, will now provide James with a temporary residence in his Eugene home in the wake of domestic violence charges that landed the 20-year-old in jail earlier this week. “It’s my job to support the athletes within the boundaries of the NCAA and the law,” said Harris, who would not confirm that James is his new temporary housemate although Harris’ address appears on the release agreement The Oregonian obtained Friday.
2/17/2010: This is getting sad. From USAToday, and more details from KVAL. Strangulation?
Oregon running back LaMichael James has been arrested by Springfield police. The 20-year-old tailback was taken into custody Wednesday and lodged at the Lane County Jail on misdemeanor charges of menacing, strangulation and assault. Springfield police said they were not ready to discuss details of the incident.
2/16/2010: While nobody is talking about Masoli and the Macbook Pro, we do hear this from KVAL:
Police have made another arrest in an assault that put a University of Oregon football player in the hospital last month, citing the injured player himself on suspicion of misdemeanor assault.
2/1/2010: The Oregonian is reporting:
UO now claims they took Embry off the roster *before* the alleged heist – funny they forgot to mention that until now.
1/31/2010: The UO athletic department is trying to keep a lid on things until signing day, with mixed results. From the RG this weekend:
UO player cited after man beaten at party: … Eugene police who were called to East 16th Avenue and Mill Street at 12:34 a.m. Saturday cited Matthew Ryan Simms, 20, (207-pound junior defensive end from Salinas, Calif) on misdemeanor simple assault charges. Simms was released pending a future municipal court appearance, police spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said. She would give no further details.
Second LCC student arrested in beating: Eugene police arrested a second man Thursday in connection with the Sunday assault on University of Oregon football player Rob Beard. … Eugene police spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said police are not releasing any other details about how they came to arrest Hawkins and Peterson, citing the ongoing investigation.
Week-old frat theft still generating buzz, silence: No one — not the police, not the University of Oregon, not the complainants or the accused — is releasing any new information about a case that has kept online news sites, blogs and Twitter accounts humming for almost a week now with rumors after an alleged theft last weekend by two University of Oregon football players at a campus fraternity house. … There have been no developments in the case but it is still open and under investigation, police spokeswoman Melinda Kletzok said Friday.
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