Fitz, Pledger Cited

[topcat]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

It's time for Capel to start backing his guys 100%.

So your saying Coach doesn't back his players? Give me an instance where Jeff didn't have the back of his players. I can't think of one.

Are you insinuating that Coach Capel shouldn't hold these 2 accountable for illegal behavior?

Call their mommy and daddy to decide what the punishment should be?

Should Jeff call their folks and ask about what kind of plays we need to run so their kids can score enough points to be drafted?

 

[JEMoney]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

I'm excited to get to see fellow bad boy Ray Willis get some PT on Tuesday. I still dont understand why Willis isn't getting more PT. I guess we will see what he does with this chance...

 

[soonerbms]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Nolan Johnson and JR Raymond were the ones arrested at Wal-Mart, and Johnson didn't even know they were stealing because Raymond hid the DVD's in Nolan's kid's stroller. The charges against Nolan were eventually dropped.

Neither were kicked off the team for that incident.

Now I remember! You're absolutely right. J.R. Raymond was just a bad kid all around. He got kicked off the team the day before the team headed up to College Park to play Maryland in 2001.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

NM

 

[MNsooner]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

For those of you saying this is common, it is not. Not amongst D1 student athletes. Probably what, less than 1 or 2% of them do something this dumb? There is a BIG difference, IMO, between underaged drinking/fighting/etc and stealing from a department store. BIG difference.

Are you implying that getting drunk and fighting is better than shoplifting? Assualt is certainly worse than taking a shirt.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Are you implying that getting drunk and fighting is better than shoplifting? Assualt is certainly worse than taking a shirt.

Getting drunk is something that is only illegal at a certain age. So yes, "drinking before you are suppose to" is less of a crime, to me, then stealing, which is illegal at any age.

And fighting.....well, that is just something that happens when you have that many men around each other, and around that many women. Tempers flair, your friends are there, and there is a pressure to fight. I'd rather two college men fight with their fists then to have one of them bring a gun to school. So yes, fighting isn't as big a deal as stealing is, to me.

 

[ben]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

At least they weren't drinking bottles of Captain Morgans when they were stealing some Roundtree dress shirts.

 

[Chiefdaddy]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Everyone relax. They will be suspended for one game and face internal consequences. Maybe this is how they celebrate a big win on the East Coast. I"m kidding.

 

[Cheno]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Interesting comments here in this thread. Certainly some different takes than in the past.

I personally would suspend them a game or two and move on.
My bigger concern is that Capel is losing this team. I hope that not be the case but there has been a bunch of crap this year. Hopefully Fitz and Pledger keep their nose clean and this is their only hiccup. Then it will be forgotten. They are kids and kids make mistakes.

 

[SoonerDan74012]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Capel needs to send a strong message and suspend them for at least two games and not start the rest of the year. I would even invoke a harsher curfew on them just for good measure if they even have one.

I cannot believe that these two thought it would be such a great idea to break the law and steal from a department store shortly after an emotional win over your arch rival while celebrating the life and career of Wayman Tisdale. As other people have stated in this thread Pledger and Fitz needs to apologize to Capel, the team, and the fans for embarrassing the program. Wayman sure wouldn't celebrate like this that's for sure.

 

[Sam]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

 

[okcsooner83]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Suspend them the rest of the season, this team lacks discipline and will send a message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

 

[Sooner Quick]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

College athletes are held to a higher standard than normal students and teenagers. They are there on a free ride, getting a free education and they should be held to a higher standard, so something like this cannot be overlooked. Just because the crime has "petty" in the official term doesn't make it any less severe. Attempting to shoplift, whatever it may be, is still theft and they still should be punished for it.

With that said when handled internally you can't imagine what some of that punishment is and some would probably rather miss a game than go through that.

 

[robinT]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

From Pledger's profile at soonersports.com:

MISCELLANEOUS
Born in San Diego, Calif., and moved to Virginia at age 7 ... Parents are Eugenia and Steve Pledger ... Also recruited by Georgetown, VCU, Villanova and Wake Forest ... Plans to major in criminal justice or human relations.

Maybe he was just doing some research!

 

[sybarite]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Suspend them the rest of the season, this team lacks discipline and will send a message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

Coale suspended Plumley for the season.
Switzer suspended Rhymes for the season.

It would seem that there has been a previously established precedent for theft.

 

[stoops4pres]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

College athletes are held to a higher standard than normal students and teenagers. They are there on a free ride, getting a free education and they should be held to a higher standard, so something like this cannot be overlooked. Just because the crime has "petty" in the official term doesn't make it any less severe. Attempting to shoplift, whatever it may be, is still theft and they still should be punished for it.

With that said when handled internally you can't imagine what some of that punishment is and some would probably rather miss a game than go through that.

Good post. They are representing the university, so the label "petty" is not an accurate label at all.

Hopefully they will learn from this and are punished accordingly. Such a dumb move.

 

[SoonerNorm]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Coale suspended Plumley for the season.
Switzer suspended Rhymes for the season.

It would seem that there has been a previously established precedent for theft.

What isn't clear is how much trouble had those two been in prior to their suspension.

 

[seniorsooner]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

Exactly.

 

[SoonerDan74012]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

From Pledger's profile at soonersports.com:

MISCELLANEOUS
Born in San Diego, Calif., and moved to Virginia at age 7 ... Parents are Eugenia and Steve Pledger ... Also recruited by Georgetown, VCU, Villanova and Wake Forest ... Plans to major in criminal justice or human relations.

Maybe he was just doing some research!

That just makes it more puzzling

 

[Cheno]

Re: Fitz, Pledger Arrested

ESPN reporting they stole just 4 hours after the big win over Texas. That doesn't sound good. They need to stop running that on the ticker.