Lehigh WR goes racial on Twitter - gets SUSPENDED

[Lehigh1985]

Head Coach Andy’ Coen’s comment on inappropriate comments and misuse of social media by a member of the football team:



“Regrettably, one of our student-athletes received late last week a twitter message from a former high school teammate that used an inappropriate and repugnant racial reference to describe Towson team members and their intentions regarding the game with Lehigh. Our student-athlete initiated his response to this message by quoting the inappropriate reference. The use of this racially insensitive characterization is unacceptable and inconsistent with the values and expectations of our Lehigh community and football program. . While the inappropriate language did not originate with our student-athlete, when he reused the words, he made them his.



In responding, our student-athlete suggested essentially that such talk was a sign of weakness and our team planned to make it a long day for Towson on the field. Engaging in any kind of digital sparring via social media violates the Athletics Department social media policy and will result in sanctions for the student-athlete that include making educational presentations to other teams about appropriate use of social media, as well as arranging for and leading team discussions with each of our sports about the University’s Principles of an Equitable Community. I addressed the matter directly with the student-athlete on Saturday morning as soon as I learned about it. It is always our obligation to use our experiences as learning opportunities and accordingly, this episode was shared with the full team on Sunday.



The student-athlete posted an apology using the same social medium used in the original exchange and he shared with our team today that he used poor judgment and unacceptable insensitivity in the way he responded to the message. He also stood before his teammates and apologized to them and to the coaching staff and the University.



The education of our student-athletes in every way that we can have a constructive impact on their learning will continue to be a central goal of our football program and department.”

[lakesbison]

this asshole needs to be suspended.

dont worry, he better not come across the middle vs Evans, Jemison, Heagle, Eaves. he'll get flat out LIT UP

[The_Fan]

this ******* needs to be suspended.

dont worry, he better not come across the middle vs Evans, Jemison, Heagle, Eaves. he'll get flat out LIT UP

come back to us to apologize after the game in which Spadola will have over 10 receptions for 3 TD's and 180 yards receiving for the NDSU game

[FargoBison]

Like I said in another thread...Spadola has been suspended by the NCAA....

DomIzzoWDAY Dom Izzo
BREAKING: #Lehigh WR Ryan Spadola has been SUSPENDED for #FCS Quarterfinal vs #NDSU

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[bluehenbillk]

changed the title of the thread after the NCAA officially brought the hammer down on Spadola today.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/pub ... nt-athlete" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Kid is what 20 years old? That's plenty old enough to know that you can't put in print things like that. Chances are pretty high if he was a freshman in HS he'd have to pay the piper as well, much less 6-7 years older.

[Screamin_Eagle174]

this ******* needs to be suspended.

dont worry, he better not come across the middle vs Evans, Jemison, Heagle, Eaves. he'll get flat out LIT UP

come back to us to apologize after the game in which Spadola will have over 10 receptions for 3 TD's and 180 yards receiving for the NDSU game

Like I said in another thread...Spadola has been suspended by the NCAA....

DomIzzoWDAY Dom Izzo
BREAKING: #Lehigh WR Ryan Spadola has been SUSPENDED for #FCS Quarterfinal vs #NDSU

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Guess there won't be any apologies. Spadola won't be recording any stats on Saturday.

[bluehenbillk]

In light of all of the recent things that went on in the college football world roughly 3 hours to the west of Bethlehem, it's gotta be awful embarassing for the school that nobody - the coach, the AD, the President would step up to discipline their own but rather the NCAA had to step in & do it.

Makes you wonder A: if this was a regualr season game this week against Bucknell does the same thing happen & B: If you're one of the few African-Americans that attend Lehigh, how do you feel right about now?

Tough couple months for football playing schools in the state of PA.

[FargoBison]

Their coach should have punished him for the Towson game, that I do agree with. I'm not saying suspend him a whole game but at least a quarter or half to set an example that won't be tolerated.

[rkwittem]

In light of all of the recent things that went on in the college football world roughly 3 hours to the west of Bethlehem, it's gotta be awful embarassing for the school that nobody - the coach, the AD, the President would step up to discipline their own but rather the NCAA had to step in & do it.

Makes you wonder A: if this was a regualr season game this week against Bucknell does the same thing happen & B: If you're one of the few African-Americans that attend Lehigh, how do you feel right about now?

Tough couple months for football playing schools in the state of PA.

Dude who cares about the kids in school- what about his teammates, if any?

[catbob]

Question is, would the NCAA have suspended Cam Newton before the NC game if he did the exact same thing?

That is a big fat NO.

[bluehenbillk]

Question is, would the NCAA have suspended Cam Newton before the NC game if he did the exact same thing?

That is a big fat NO.

Last time I checked Cam Newton is black you fool.

[catbob]

Well then he could make a racial comment about white people or Mexicans, whatever.

How about Andrew Luck then? Tim Tebow? Colt McCoy?

[FargoBison]

Well then he could make a racial comment about white people or Mexicans, whatever.

How about Andrew Luck then?

If Luck said that about Ok State it would be all over ESPN...I doubt Stanford would let him go unpunished much less the NCAA. Lehigh is fortunate the FCS is the FCS otherwise this would have been a bigger story initially.

They could have benched the kid for a half and that probably would have been the end of it.

[Seahawks08]

If Luck said that about Ok State it would be all over ESPN...I doubt Stanford would let him go unpunished much less the NCAA. Lehigh is fortunate the FCS is the FCS otherwise this would have been a bigger story initially.

That's still a white guy saying something racist. What if Newton called some white player on the other team a cracker/honky? Would he have been suspended?

[Lehigh1985]

Let me start this by saying what Spandola did was wrong. But...

As I understand it, he reposted someone else's words and it was just those words that were found to be offensive. Not any direct actions on his part. So, using those words was the offense and should carry suspension for ANY FCS player who uses them regardless of race, correct? He simply posted them. Did not interpret, modify, enhance, etc. Therefore it is simply the posting of those words that got him the suspension. In that case...

There are five UNDS players that should also be suspended immediately in addition to another from NI. Their actions were even worse as they posted the exact same words of their own accord. To suspend Spadola and not the others there has been a double standard created. If you're going to single out a player for using the words based on his race, it makes you a racist. If you do not suspend ALL players that use the exact same offensive language, congrats NCAA, you're racists. And blatantly.

Do I think he should be suspended? Not really. Stupid thing to do. But to not suspend the others who used the exact same words? I'm sorry but that's just wrong. Brendon Jemison, Warren Holloway, Preston Evans, Deshawn Dinwiddle and Marcus Williams should not be playing this weekend. Period. They used the EXACT same word that got Spadola suspended. Why should they be given a pass?

[JBB]

dip shits.

No NDSU player should be or will be suspended. Dork.

[FargoBison]

You clearly have no clue and that is coming from somebody who didn't think Spadola should have been suspended. What Spadola said was wrong, quit trying to drag everyone else through the mud because of what your player did.

[Lehigh1985]

I'm only asking for equitable treatment. Five NDSU players use the EXACT same word and get nothing. How is that right? No one's dragging anyone through the mud. Why can one player say it and another can't? The five NDSU players MUST be suspended in order to be fair and equitable in the distribution of discipline. They were IDENTICAL offenses.

[Lehigh1985]

And just to add... I don't think any players should be suspended. But if you suspend one, you have to suspend them all. There is absolutely no argument otherwise other than one race is allowed to and one isn't. You ant to go there?

[FargoBison]

I'm only asking for equitable treatment. Five NDSU players use the EXACT same word and get nothing. How is that right? No one's dragging anyone through the mud. Why can one player say it and another can't? The five NDSU players MUST be suspended in order to be fair and equitable in the distribution of discipline. They were IDENTICAL offenses.

Using the word and using it to taunt and describe your opposition are two very different things. Spadola did't get suspended for just using the word he got suspended for...

for using an inappropriate and repugnant racial reference to describe Towson University student-athletes on his Twitter page in the days leading up to their FCS preliminary round match-up.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/pub ... 0.facebook" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You are a Lehigh fan and I assume an alumni who attended that great school, you should be able to differentiate between the contexts in which words are used and said.

[JohnStOnge]

I think people get way too upset over that word. And yes, I know I'm White and don't know what it is to be Black, etc., etc., etc. But geeze. It's just a word. It's like it's the WORST word ever to people. You could say just about any word anybody has ever thought of other than that one and not have people make such a big deal about it.

[Lehigh1985]

I'm only asking for equitable treatment. Five NDSU players use the EXACT same word and get nothing. How is that right? No one's dragging anyone through the mud. Why can one player say it and another can't? The five NDSU players MUST be suspended in order to be fair and equitable in the distribution of discipline. They were IDENTICAL offenses.

Using the word and using it to taunt and describe your opposition are two very different things. Spadola did't get suspended for just using the word he got suspended for...

for using an inappropriate and repugnant racial reference to describe Towson University student-athletes on his Twitter page in the days leading up to their FCS preliminary round match-up.

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/wcm/connect/pub ... 0.facebook" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You are a Lehigh fan and I assume an alumni who attended that great school, you should be able to differentiate between the contexts in which words are used and said.

The NCAA statement did not mention "Taunting". It simply said use of the word, whteher intentional or not was unsportsmanlike. The Five NDSU players used it intentionally and were not using someone else's quote. They therefore acted in an identical unsportsmanlike manner. By giving them a pass you're essentially creating an unacceptable racially based exception. That is wrong. and as others speculated, would CAm Newton be held out of a championship game for using the term cracker? Absolutely not and everyone knows it. What we have is a very clear double standard. The NCAA must back up their policy and consider any "use" of the word, intentional or not, subject to equal punishment.

[gail]

How does anyone learn the ideal of fairness when there is such blatant abuse of fair treatment as demonstrated in this case? THE WORDS WERE NOT HIS- simply repeated. He did not atain dean's list status, All American status and complete respect from his coaches, teammates and the press by being a racist. It is an absolute crime to devastate an intelligent young man at the height of his career. Nice work defeating a good person NCAA.

[kingranch]

ding ding ding ding

[FargoBison]

The NCAA statement did not mention "Taunting". It simply said use of the word, whteher intentional or not was unsportsmanlike. The Five NDSU players used it intentionally and were not using someone else's quote. They therefore acted in an identical unsportsmanlike manner. By giving them a pass you're essentially creating an unacceptable racially based exception. That is wrong. and as others speculated, would CAm Newton be held out of a championship game for using the term cracker? Absolutely not and everyone knows it. What we have is a very clear double standard. The NCAA must back up their policy and consider any "use" of the word, intentional or not, subject to equal punishment.

The five NDSU players were talking about random things with their teammates, which is completely different than talking about the team you are playing against before the game.

Using the word is not what got Spadola suspended, it was the way in which he used it.. directly describing the team he was playing against. Can you not understand that? It isn't a hard concept to grasp?

Again I don't think he should have been suspended but other people may think differently....different people react in different ways to that word.