My Take on Wake - Small Potatoes

Small Potatoes

It can be a tough call on whether to run a story that portrays someone in a less-than-flattering light. We usually discuss why we should and why we shouldn’t and try to be honest with ourselves and as fair as possible to those who, in most cases, got caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing.

I hadn’t made it out of New Orleans before I got wind of the five freshmen picked up Saturday night for underage drinking. The editor who called wondered if we should even run the story. All five redshirted last fall, and thus have yet to take the field for Wake. I told him there were four reasons we shouldn’t and their names were Matt Muncy, John Gallagher, Zach Massey and Josh Strickland. If I had ever written about Muncy and Gallagher, it had been in passing, like when they committed and maybe when they signed. I know I’d never written of Massey and Strickland, who are walk-ons.

But there was one prevailing reason, I told him, why we should. And his name is Brendan Cross, who is a good bet to be the starting quarterback next fall, and as such is a player I have mentioned on repeated occasions. I took absolutely no joy in my position. I can promise you that at age 19, I did far worse than drink a beer or two. But let’s not get into that. The point I couldn’t ignore though was that the incident could affect who starts next season at the team’s most important position. So that makes it news.

For the record, none of the five were driving and from all the reports Jim Grobe has gathered none were being unruly or doing anything they shouldn’t have been doing other than drinking beer before their 21st birthday. And apparently when the officer from the Winston-Salem Police Department asked if any of them had been drinking, they told the truth. There have been some really serious issues Grobe has had to deal with in his nine years as Wake Forest’s head coach, but he didn’t see this as one of them.

I asked Jim if Cross and the others might be in a little better physical shape because of the incident than they would have been otherwise.

“Well, there’s a possibility,’’ he said, with a glint in his eye. “(Cross) is already in pretty good shape.

“There’s a little bit of a disconnect sometimes I think. I told our players `Just because everybody else does it, that’s not an excuse. When you get nabbed for making a mistake, you can’t tell the officers `Well everybody else is doing it.’—even though everybody else may be doing it. Of course when you’re a football player, obviously it’s going to be public. Our guys just have to live with it and their parents know what’s going on. Our deal is just to deal with it, but don’t go off the deep end unless it becomes a recurring problem. And then there’s going to be some real issues.

“But kids make mistakes. The definition of being a kid is you’re going to make mistakes.’‘

And as for my role in all this, here’s my promise. If nothing more comes of this incident of the five thirsty freshmen, nothing more will be written. I didn’t like writing about it in the first place, but we all have a job to do.

Back to the main page.

By Dan Collins on 03/24/2010 (11:22 am)

Comments

When I was at Wake you could drink at age 18 and I’m still not sure why you can’t do it now. Those 5 were more responsible than most of us were when we were 18. Yes they did break the letter of a law. If they had been drunk driving or violent or destroying property then they deserve some bad press… but they weren’t. How many underage tickets are issued in Winston-Salem each year? How many make the newspaper? Until Coach Grobe does something to invalidate my trust, the trust of the parents who send their kids to play for him or the trust of the entire Wake Forest family then I’ll continue to believe that this is a non-issue and that he will handle it internally just like the man he has always been.

Lee Jackson on 03/25/2010 (10:50 am)

Dan,

I know the school would love to keep these incidents under wraps, but I think it’s your obligation to give us the info since it’s “public info” and none of the 5 are juveniles. Besides, I’d rather hear the truth from you than see that the 5 have been suspended for “violating team rules”. Thanks for making what I think is the right decision to report it.

As Wake fans, we deserve to hear the bad as well as the good. Appreciate your work as always.

Just have fun tonight, ok?

Ken Green on 03/24/2010 (9:17 pm)

How would you like to have a job where you are totally accountable for every aspect of discipline, behavior, sleep, nutrition, grades, after class and after hours shenanigans, class attendance, medical ailments, physical and mental health, wins, losses, X’s and O’s, recruiting, NCAA regulations and compliance and who knows what else, for almost a hundred, immature eighteen, nineteen, and twenty year old male kids with backgrounds ranging from poverty to affluence? No thank you.

A Division 1 head football coach’s job must be, in many ways, a much tougher occupation than a similar position in the NFL.

Radio_smuggles on 03/24/2010 (8:25 pm)

From what I’ve been told, the kids pulled into a bar near campus and hadn’t even gotten out yet when 2 cops came up to the car. Seriously? Do they not have anything better to do than sit outside a bar and wait for shit like this?

BigDeac on 03/24/2010 (8:24 pm)

I like your logic on this one. You have a job, there is a “public” role attached to a NCAA D-1 athlete and there was an incident. The reasoning for the story being about the possible impact on the starting QB position is the only way to write that type story with integrity. Taking notes here Dan.

Thomas on 03/24/2010 (8:08 pm)

I respect the Winston-Salem police and I have a very close friend with the department in a high ranking position. In my humble opinion from the version of the story I heard I would have to say this was a case of a police officer following the letter of the law to the tenth degree. They had a driver , they were honest in their answers , they did not have Wild Turkey bottles flopping in the floor board. How bout a verbal warning and also a word of praise for having a non-drinking driver. I have been there before and just the sight of the blue lights and the fact your father is going to drag you down the street by your ear in this case should have been enough.

Respectful friend of local police on 03/24/2010 (6:45 pm)

You’re right Dan. This is a non-story unless they make it worse. How many college students out there don’t drink a beer or two? They made a mistake. Let’s give them a little slack.

blitzball on 03/24/2010 (5:23 pm)

Dan,

On this one I’ll trust you and Grobe completely.

BHG

bobby h griffin on 03/24/2010 (4:12 pm)

Dan - a curious story. Lots of kids drink before they turn 21. Why did these kids get caught? (You said they were not driving or being unruly.) Where were they at the time? Why did the officer question them in the first place? Did other students get caught with them? What legal consequences could they face?

Matt on 03/24/2010 (12:54 pm)