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November 2, 2012

Needless Distractions

Filed under: Football,Players,Police Blotter,Scandal — Chas @ 8:28 am

UPDATE: Pitt has issued a statement on the players situation, it is below the fold.

Really not much that can say about the assault charges that are filed against Devin Street, Ray Graham and Lafayette Pitts. I won’t outright call them a load of bull, but let’s just say there doesn’t seem to be much meat to the charges.

Pittsburgh police wrote in a criminal complaint that they were working an overtime detail early on Oct. 21 when they tried to disperse a crowd from the intersection of Oakland Avenue and Bates Street and three people remained in the roadway.

One those people, Karl Olsheski, told police he had just been assaulted. He refused medical treatment and said he did not want to file a report, he just wanted officers to stop the man who had punched him, according to the criminal complaint.

In an interview with police, Mr. Olsheski said he was walking in Oakland with two women when Mr. Graham stopped him, said, “What’s up?” and uttered a racial slur. Mr. Olsheski said that he replied “nothing” and tried to leave but Mr. Graham, Mr. Street and Mr. Pitts surrounded him and then Mr. Street slugged him on the left side of the head, according to the criminal complaint.

The players are being mailed their summons to appear. It is simple assault and conspiracy. The stories do not make clear how the three were identified or whether they were detained at the incident. They were not and will not be arrested in connection to the charges. They haven’t even received notice that they are being charged, since the summons are being mailed to them.

It doesn’t really add up. None of the players have been in trouble before. It seems that whatever happened that night, the police report did not involve detaining or interviewing Street, Pitts and Graham so it is only the version from the victim. So, it makes it appear that the three randomly targeted and surrounded a guy for abuse. Uh, what? And, I have to believe that if an athlete with the size and strength of Street actually “slugged” someone in the head, it would leave some sort of mark.

I don’t see how they get suspended for this, but who knows. This is Chryst’s first public incident involving team discipline. The previous incidents at the start of the season involved “violations of team rules” to keep everyone in the dark. He may feel that he has to do something.

Something the players, coaches and team didn’t need.

UPADATE: Pitt has issued a statement. Street, Graham and Pitts traveled with the team and will play on Saturday. There’s the boilerplate “we are still gathering facts”  and “no rush to judgment” stuff. The statement also confirms that the police have yet to interview the players, so this whole thing will very likely fade to nothingness.

“The University of Pittsburgh Athletic Department was recently made aware of a police report relating to an incident allegedly involving three of our football student-athletes on October 21. Those individuals have denied any involvement with the situation and have offered to speak with authorities, although to date they have not been questioned or received any court documents. We take matters of player discipline very seriously and will continue to cooperate with any investigation. However, we will not, and hope others will not, rush to judgment on these misdemeanor allegations. All three players will remain active members of our program while we gain more clarity on this situation.”

Also like the subtlety of pointing out that even the charges amount to misdemeanors. Not exactly hard crime stuff.





LMAO, I quit. For kicks, I thought, “Ivy League”!!!!

I googled, “Yale player assault”, knowing that nothing would come up for them.

First thing, smacks me in the face……….

“Yale quarterback faces sexual assault charges”!!

I quit. LOL

Comment by Dan 11.02.12 @ 3:53 pm

The difference is many teams with players in trouble actually win games, sell out 100k and play good football. Our kids, get in trouble, put out a bad product and still act like they walk on water.

Comment by Upittbaseball 11.02.12 @ 3:55 pm

To be fair politically, I did Harvard too!!!!!!!!

LMAO!!!!!!! We’re going under.

Smack in the face!!!!

“Academic cheating scandal involving over 279 students in a government class has now affected Harvard athletics. Two starting Harvard basketball players, including their leading scorer, have now withdrawn from the team and the school because of their involvement in the cheating scandal”.

Wow, it’s worse than I thought out there.!

It’s an ugly world!!! LOL

Comment by Dan 11.02.12 @ 3:59 pm

@upittbaseball, ya really, if you’re gonna get in trouble, give me somethin’ on the friggin field!!!

LOL

Comment by Dan 11.02.12 @ 4:00 pm

Getting in a drunken fight late at night in Oakland. Sounds about right. Glad it didn’t make espn every time for me. I guess it is harder to pick out the 5’9″, 175 white kid with a baseball hat. I’ll put this pretty low on the priority list. Do I want it to happen? No. Does it really bother me? No. At least our coach didn’t send a student up a lift in a windstorm. Which is worse? You can learn a lot from mistakes, lets hope these guys do.

Comment by PittDan 11.02.12 @ 4:04 pm

CMU offers a class on Tennis Shoes.
Northwestern offers a class on pornography.

Pretty much every major and minor college in the USA offers classes that students find ‘interesting’. The vampire class brought into discussion is more about the cultural derivation of vampires throughout the world and why the living dead is such a pervasive idea in human history.

I am slightly annoyed that all three are being handed a summons for assault when it seems clear that if ANY physical exchange actually occurred there was only one person involved. We are missing some information. Given how all of us know how south oakland gets late at night, one can’t rule out that the ‘assaulted’ individuals did not play a large part in this transgression.

These players should be smarter though, I mean, come on, if you see a situation like this just get the hell out of there. It isn’t worth your NFL career, or professional career even.

Comment by Benzene 11.02.12 @ 4:20 pm

“You have to have a couple of bad guys that sorta teeter on that edge to add to the flavor of the guys that are going to always do right. … You look at the teams that have won in the past. They always have a couple of criminals.” — Former Notre Dame Runningback Allen Pinkett

Well, tomorrow we’re going to put it to the test.

JK

Comment by PittofDreams 11.02.12 @ 4:31 pm

I’m just thanking God that Street didn’t bite the dude on the neck, what a spin ESPN would have put on that.

Comment by Dr. Tom 11.02.12 @ 4:41 pm

Some random thoughts…I am far more concerned that Pitt offers a class on vampires than I am that Pitt players were involved in a fight. That is just hard to believe. I don’t care what other schools do…Anybody check the crowd at the U vs VT game last night? Looked a lot like Heinz Field when YSU is in town…Don’t know why I feel this way, but I don’t see a victory over ND as being out of reach…Feeling good about the BB team this year and next…

Comment by HbgFrank 11.02.12 @ 4:46 pm

College is about learning how to think, not necessarily the topic. The prestigious St. Louis University has a class on Jay Z’s 99 Problems and it’s relationship with the 2nd Amendment:

link to slu.edu

All schools have courses of this nature … nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. It’s pretty damn funny actually.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 11.02.12 @ 4:47 pm

Nothing on the alleged victim being bitten.

But reportedly the woman rumored to be Street’s ex-girlfriend did have a HICKEY!

Comment by PittofDreams 11.02.12 @ 4:49 pm

Just in case you were wondering:

Duke University
AMSE Class 141S:

Vampire Chronicles: Fantasies of Vampirism in a Cross-cultural Perspective. ALP, CCI Literary and cinematic representations of vampirism, from Dracula to Buffy, Chinese jiangshi to the politics of blood-selling and blood donation. The figure of the vampire as embodiment of anxieties about sexuality, desire, gender identity, and ethnic alterity. Cross-cultural circulation of vampiric traditions, vampirism as a symbol of circulation in its own right. Instructor: Rojas. One course. C-L: Cultural Anthropology 142, Literature 151M, International Comparative Studies 122E, Women’s Studies 131S, Study of Sexualities 131S, International Comparative Studies

Comment by CNorwoodAZ 11.02.12 @ 4:49 pm

Oh, and apparently the charges have been dropped (per KDKA).

Comment by CNorwoodAZ 11.02.12 @ 4:56 pm

With these players, we don’t even know if the players were even there or if the incident even happened. None of the witnesses were able to identify all three players. Doesn’t that sound a bit odd? I’d imagine that the charges will get thrown out. The incident was so minor that the guy didn’t even want to press charges. I’d imagine if the guy didn’t say it was a Pitt player involved the issue goes no further.

The Vampire class was three credits. I think when I took it, it was a Tuesday-Thursday class and it was however long a typical Tuesday-Thursday class is, I think 1:15. Seriously, no reason to be embarrassed by the class. It wasn’t a blow off class in any sort of way. In fact, a portion of the grade was class participation so you had to show up to do well. In general, the class was pretty interesting, learned how ideas i.e., Vampires can start as local rumors and travel through cultures, time periods and different forms of mediums.

Comment by Wardapalooza 11.02.12 @ 5:01 pm

The conspiracy charge I found puzzling. Next thing will be a search warrant, when they find the Google results on Gramham’s computer enquiring for the appropriate racial slur to call a white guy walking with two chicks late at night, that will be pretty damning. Not to mention finding the story board the three put together the previous week detailing the Xs & Os of how they were going to surround the guy prior to slugging him upside the head,(and everyone thought they were studying their playbooks at the time). Definitely looks like a conspiracy to me. Tomorrow’s headlines, “PantherGate Exposed at the University of Pittsburgh, Federal Investigation Called For”. Yep, it’s a conspiracy.

Comment by Dr. Tom 11.02.12 @ 5:07 pm

I just talked to my buddy who works in South Bend. He said everyone has been talking about this since 7am. This is big news to ND fans. They are going for a BCS title game. NBC will not let this go tomorrow. It doesn’t matter Pitt is 4-4. We have 3 of our best players accused of assault. It doesn’t matter if it’s true or not to the national audience if Pitt pulls off the upset. They will pass judgment right or wrong on the players and the University. Even if the charges are dropped on Monday, no one will report it and no one will care. The damage is done. It’s not fair but it’s the way it is. Now this will be a non story if Pitt loses like everyone thinks they will. If Graham scores the winning TD, $h_t will hit the fan. Only way NBC stops reporting this story is when they are up by 28pts.

Comment by why me 11.02.12 @ 5:26 pm

I knew it was only a matter of time before Pitt football was commanding the national spotlight again. Now we gotta beat Notre Dame just so the media can stir up the pot some more. OOOOOHHHH the drama!!!!!

Comment by Dr. Tom 11.02.12 @ 5:32 pm

Criminals vs Catholics. I love the meme.

Comment by TX Panther 11.02.12 @ 5:42 pm

Well, if they’re gonna pass judgment……….

we might as well win!!!!!!!!!

They really shouldn’t be passing judgment on anyone. Guy dying on the boom. Several drunken players/police episode off season. QB Rees one of them I believe??

Questions of the football player alledged rape/girl committing suicide episode.

They should really just sit down, be quiet, and enjoy the game!!!

Comment by Dan 11.02.12 @ 5:58 pm

I only have one question;

Is Vampires 101 a 3 credit or 4 credit course ?

I’m betting 4 if football players were taking it.
Oy Vey !

Comment by Emel 11.02.12 @ 5:59 pm

@Dan

You’re posts are cracking me up! Highlight of my day so far.

Comment by J Bizz 11.02.12 @ 6:04 pm

OK – my two cents. This happened accross the street from the dorms. ….right?

Everyone, close your eyes! Now think! How many times each of us could have been arrested for being drunk on a Friday or Saturday night walking in front of the Towers? Or saying something completely stupid to people/girls/police. Hell, I had to be carried out of Quinues on occasion!
Hell #2..several of my friends threw a firecracker (M80 I think) out the dorm window (yes the windows did use to open and shut!) and the police wanted to arrest everyone in the dorm as it exploded right next to a pedestrian.

So…think ..of your worst night (s) and now read carefully the incredibly bogus charges against the 3 players. Comeon everyone…of course they should play!!! This should not even be mentioned by NBC.

PS – enjoy the memories.
PSS – Pitt 37 Notre Dame 35

Comment by Dan 72 11.02.12 @ 6:09 pm

Frankcan, what’s up with the Covington kid? C’mon buddy – I rely on you for recruiting updates.

Comment by marcus of schaumburg 11.02.12 @ 6:22 pm

I’m not making any point, I don’t know what any of it means, is it just this way in society?

Society mimics sports or is it the other way around.

Regardless it’s really a barometer of how truly screwed up this society has become.
Just like parents having to go out with their kids trick or treating.

While we all enjoy our latest little gadgets and electronic toys that suggest things are advancing, societal wise, we are regressing.

Comment by Emel 11.02.12 @ 6:32 pm

@Dan-o

That explains why Harvard was in the Top 25 in hoops several weeks last year.

Yes the infection has even reached the Ivies.

We are Doomed !

Comment by Emel 11.02.12 @ 6:34 pm

What next a course on Zombies ?

Comment by Emel 11.02.12 @ 6:40 pm

St Louis University is a Jesuit school. I can’t believe they have a course on Jay Z’s 99 problems.

Wait…….

that’s right Rick Majerus is trying to resurrect their basketball program. My bad 🙂

Comment by Emel 11.02.12 @ 6:42 pm

ESPN’s (that fine news organization of Sports & Entertainment) new top story is:

Mayor says NYC Marathon canceled

duh, well yah, half of NYC has no power and is underwater. I guess ESPN was mad since now they’ll have to figure out what to program for those hours. The choice being Celebrity Poker, women’s college field hockey or a rerun of the 1975 Ohio St-Michigan game.

Comment by Emel 11.02.12 @ 6:50 pm

Any sort of gathering to watch this game in NJ? I’m out of power and so is every town surrounding me.

Comment by Chris 11.02.12 @ 8:17 pm

marcus schaumburg i dont really know but i have a thought when the RB from NJ commited to wisconsin
he said some thing that might give us a clue
he said he thought wisconsin really wanted him there .
i think and this is just a thought that maybe
after we get a kid to commit we stop giveing him love may be we dont call as offton or go to his games any more.

i mean the RB decommits from pitt and commits to wisconsin and says wisnconsin really wants me does that meam pitt stoped showing it .

Comment by FRANKCAN 11.02.12 @ 8:39 pm

Any Pitt BB score with exhibition tonight?

Comment by Frank MD 11.02.12 @ 8:39 pm

Pitt 77 Hawaii 44 Wasn’t much of a game . Looked like Hawaii had jet lag. Foul shooting was 6-16 in the first half. Lost count in the second. At one point Adams was 1-6 from the line the last two games.

Comment by alcofan 11.02.12 @ 8:53 pm

Final. Pitt 77 – HI-Hilo 45. JJ Moore and Zanna led scoring with 13 each.

Comment by Cnorwoodaz 11.02.12 @ 8:59 pm

10 bounds for Adams 9 for Moore.

Comment by alcofan 11.02.12 @ 9:01 pm

What took place may have cost us OT dorian johnson it does not make a difference if they did it or not the damage is done.
johnsons mom was worryed abought her boy at pitt
with all the so called inter city chrime now what will she say.
my bet he goes to VT.

lets face it we know it is as safe as any were but if a mom does not want it and some thing like this is on the news we lose.

Comment by FRANKCAN 11.02.12 @ 9:08 pm

FRANKCAN – this wasn’t a “city” incident… this was a “being out at 12:30 AM incident”.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 11.02.12 @ 9:24 pm

but vt is safe, can u say say on campus shooting..

Comment by teezy 11.02.12 @ 9:26 pm

Apparently the racial epitaph used was the derogatory use of the word “Count”

link to youtube.com

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 11.02.12 @ 9:27 pm

another big issue I have is why cant pitt ever get stuff swept under the rug like the steelers. look t’amau(sp?) almost ran over 3 cops and they pulled their guns and said they would have shot him if he wasnt in a crowded place in southside. and u didnt hear much about very little talk with a two gm suspension this shouldve been big national news

Comment by teezy 11.02.12 @ 9:30 pm

Plenty of stuff gets swept under the rug. We never hear about that stuff.

Comment by alcofan 11.02.12 @ 9:35 pm

Graham didn’t say “cracker” if that’s what all of you are thinking. I write for The Pitt News and got copies of the complaints for Street, Pitts and Graham. Drunkenness, in my opinion.

Comment by PatMac 11.02.12 @ 9:37 pm

5 TD’s for Tyler Boyd tonight, Foster out with a suspension ,Shai McKenzie with over 200 yds for Wash high.

Comment by alcofan 11.02.12 @ 9:40 pm

If it wasn’t ND week, this would not have been picked up nationally – the freakin’ summons were mailed. I’m glad it was because I could go on forever with these vampire jokes. Word on the street is that Lord Voldemort is the Professor and that he was assembling a team of vampires to beat Pitt’s nationally ranked Quidditch team.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 11.02.12 @ 9:42 pm

TOSSING and TEEZY i know that and you know that
the point i was makeing was his mom will use it as a reason not to have him go to pitt.
which was part of the reason he went to penn state his mom thinks pitt is danger zone.
you and i remmber the on school; shooting in VT but outhers dont.

Comment by FRANKCAN 11.02.12 @ 9:42 pm

By the way, the nationally ranked Quiddich team is more embarrassing than the vampire class.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 11.02.12 @ 9:43 pm

I know – I’m just annoyed with his parents definition of “safe”.

Comment by Tossing Thabeets 11.02.12 @ 9:46 pm

Hell years ago in cal they used to have basket weaveing corse for football players.

Comment by FRANKCAN 11.02.12 @ 9:57 pm

Okay, so here’s the rub. University cameras catch more than most people think. I recently sat in a large campus bunker during a presidential visit and was shocked at how many cameras are on university properties all the time. If something happened on campus, I am quite certain it has been captured.

This is a non-story. Mason up and jar the irish.

Comment by dhuffdaddy 11.02.12 @ 10:17 pm

Alleged racial slur? If there was one given the one “victim’s” last name it could possibly have been one related to a person of Polish descent.

The topic of the course doesn’t matter nearly as much as the questions “Is it sufficiently rigorous?” and “Does it require critical thinking?” I can see a course like this being in any of a variety of departments at various universities: communications, film (don’t know that Pitt has such a department but schools with a connection to the entertainment industry usually do, e.g. USC), sociology, literature and even history. Let’s not get our knickers in a twist about Pitt’s academic quality and reputation over the name of one course which may offer a significant contribution to a student’s learning and growth. Likewise let’s not get too concerned about some players being involved in a likely minor incident and trust the legal authorities, coaching staff and administration to handle it appropriately. Pitt is a very fine academic and research university and under the current administration and BOT is getting continuously better and certainly better than the nits, hoopies and domers.

Now lets get back to the business of beating those domers! Win it for Mason! Go Pitt!

Comment by opfim 11.02.12 @ 11:05 pm

Man. Every school has courses that qualify more as fun that scholarship. I’ve watched alot of Vampire movies myself and worn some Vampire Teeth too.
Have the charges been dropped or not? The Post relevant Gazette does not say.
By the way. Ohio state no longer has am opening in 2013 the same day as us.
Maybe Pederson is holding out for a big Gardner Webb payday.

Comment by SFPitt 11.03.12 @ 7:52 am

Sidebar about the undead……Wasn’t the first Zombie movie filmed in Pittsburgh, The Night of the Living Dead. Perhaps there is something to the academic side of this stuff, cinema-graphic history! HTP!

Comment by barreman 11.03.12 @ 8:26 am

The best quote on espn.com about this story was “Vampire class? Was this at Pitt or at Hogwarts?”

Comment by OrlandoAlum 11.03.12 @ 2:24 pm

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