UK's Jones and Poole unhurt in car crash

[wk2109]

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/7220378/terrence-jones-stacey-poole-jr-kentucky-wildcats-escape-accident-minor-injuries


Calipari said the players broke no rules, but because of their actions, he would impose a curfew on the Wildcats because "this team has showed me an inability to make proper judgment and decisions that they've been given the freedom to make."

"We hold our players to a higher standard at Kentucky," Calipari added. "They must learn that they've been placed in a leadership role and that every action defines this team, this state and its fans. As always, any additional punishment will be handled within the team."

[BD80]

2:30 AM during the week - no need for concern right?

Jones flees the scene of the accident "because he was afraid of an altercation with the other driver". Rrrrrright.

Lexington police are well trained to make sure that the players are covered.

[uh_no]

2:30 AM during the week - no need for concern right?

Jones flees the scene of the accident "because he was afraid of an altercation with the other driver". Rrrrrright.

Lexington police are well trained to make sure that the players are covered.

Wow, could you show a little less sensitivity to two kids who just got hit by a drunk driver?

If you can say you were never out that late in college, then I applaud you. But coming from someone who was in college more recently, being out at that hour (often times for a cookout run) is FAR from a rare occurrence.

How about we be happy for these kids that they didn't get seriously hurt (or worse get killed and be another drunk driving statistic) and reserve condemnation for those that have earned it.

Again, the condemning of others based on suspicions which occurs on DBR is sickening after what occurred at Duke 7 years ago.

[CDu]

2:30 AM during the week - no need for concern right?

Being out at 2:30am is not an uncommon thing for a college kid. And many students don't have classes on Friday, so Thursday night is essentially the weekend. So the "it's a weeknight" argument doesn't hold much water.


Jones flees the scene of the accident "because he was afraid of an altercation with the other driver". Rrrrrright.

I think you've made some selective wording changes here. It reads more like "left because he was too angry about the incident and didn't want to get in a fight." I'm guessing some heated words were had.

[uh_no]

I think you've made some selective wording changes here. It reads more like "left because he was too angry about the incident and didn't want to get in a fight." I'm guessing some heated words were had.

Great point. I was always taught to walk away when you think something could escalate, and when your'e dealing with not only a drunk guy, but a drunk guy who could have just ended your life, I can understand how you might want to go up and beat the living daylights out of him. All I see in this case is two kentucky basketball players who got caught at the wrong time and ended up in a situation that could have ended badly. Had they not walked away, today's headline might very well be "kentucky basketball player under arrest for brutally beating drunken man who had hit his car." In the end, I applaud his restraint and hope that I have similar restraint if I am ever unlucky enough to end up in a similar situation.

Again, glad these kids are okay and I think calipari made the right move to say, yeah its not wrong to be out at that time, but you can avoid situations like this if you aren't, so i'm not allowing you to be out that late anymore. I think if two duke players were ever to be involved in a similar accident (God forbid), that K would likely impose a similar restriction on the team, the justification being that not everything that is allowable by the law or by the rule book is a wise choice.

[BD80]

... If you can say you were never out that late in college, then I applaud you. But coming from someone who was in college more recently, being out at that hour (often times for a cookout run) is FAR from a rare occurrence. ...

Again, the condemning of others based on suspicions which occurs on DBR is sickening after what occurred at Duke 7 years ago.

These are varsity athletes out at 2:30AM during the season. I was never out at such times while I was such a high profile athlete :cool:

The Duke Lacrosse team deserved criticism for the type of partying they regularly engaged in, and in particular for bringing strippers to a team party. These kids deserve criticism for being out when bad things happen. It is fair to wonder what they were doing.


Being out at 2:30am is not an uncommon thing for a college kid. And many students don't have classes on Friday, so Thursday night is essentially the weekend. So the "it's a weeknight" argument doesn't hold much water.

I think you've made some selective wording changes here. It reads more like "left because he was too angry about the incident and didn't want to get in a fight." I'm guessing some heated words were had.

Since it is likely that they don't ever attend class, they should not be treated as students at all?

However it is worded, he LEFT THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT.


Great point. I was always taught to walk away when you think something could escalate, and when your'e dealing with not only a drunk guy, but a drunk guy who could have just ended your life, I can understand how you might want to go up and beat the living daylights out of him. All I see in this case is two kentucky basketball players who got caught at the wrong time and ended up in a situation that could have ended badly. Had they not walked away, today's headline might very well be "kentucky basketball player under arrest for brutally beating drunken man who had hit his car." In the end, I applaud his restraint and hope that I have similar restraint if I am ever unlucky enough to end up in a similar situation.

Again, glad these kids are okay and I think calipari made the right move to say, yeah its not wrong to be out at that time, but you can avoid situations like this if you aren't, so i'm not allowing you to be out that late anymore. I think if two duke players were ever to be involved in a similar accident (God forbid), that K would likely impose a similar restriction on the team, the justification being that not everything that is allowable by the law or by the rule book is a wise choice.

I hope you are not dumb enough to flee the scene of an accident. He didn't just walk away from a confrontation, he left the scene, and wasn't there to talk to the police. WHY?

If you are so concerned about his well-being, you should be particularly critical of his actions. He LATER went to the hospital! If his well-being was a concern, let the emergency responders do their job!

[CDu]

These are varsity athletes out at 2:30AM during the season. I was never out at such times while I was such a high profile athlete :cool:

The Duke Lacrosse team deserved criticism for the type of partying they regularly engaged in, and in particular for bringing strippers to a team party. These kids deserve criticism for being out when bad things happen. It is fair to wonder what they were doing.

No reason to assume the worst. People go out all the time until 2:30am and it's not questioned. I think you're trying to hard to find fault here. It's a real reach to compare this to the lacrosse situation, where they hired strippers. It just sounds like these guys went to a club. Hardly an earthshattering offense.


Since it is likely that they don't ever attend class, they should not be treated as students at all?

Inappropriate. We have no idea how often those players attend class.


However it is worded, he LEFT THE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT.



I hope you are not dumb enough to flee the scene of an accident. He didn't just walk away from a confrontation, he left the scene, and wasn't there to talk to the police. WHY?

Does everyone in a car have to remain at the scene? Neither driver left. I can't imagine that all passengers are required to stay. You keep saying "flee." That's a much more sinister interpretation than "left."


If you are so concerned about his well-being, you should be particularly critical of his actions. He LATER went to the hospital! If his well-being was a concern, let the emergency responders do their job!

I'm not all that concerned about his well-being. I was just taking the most plausible scenario. There was a heated argument and he wanted to avoid a fight. That's not necessarily concern for his own health. Just sounds like he was trying to avoid getting arrested for fighting.

You seem to be trying way too hard to bury these guys. Let it go.

[BD80]

No reason to assume the worst. People go out all the time until 2:30am and it's not questioned. I think you're trying to hard to find fault here. It's a real reach to compare this to the lacrosse situation, where they hired strippers. It just sounds like these guys went to a club. Hardly an earthshattering offense.



Inappropriate. We have no idea how often those players attend class.



Does everyone in a car have to remain at the scene? Neither driver left. I can't imagine that all passengers are required to stay. You keep saying "flee." That's a much more sinister interpretation than "left."



I'm not all that concerned about his well-being. I was just taking the most plausible scenario. There was a heated argument and he wanted to avoid a fight. That's not necessarily concern for his own health. Just sounds like he was trying to avoid getting arrested for fighting.

You seem to be trying way too hard to bury these guys. Let it go.

I was poking fun, seems like you and uh_no are going to great lengths to defend the players (sorry I confused you for being the one concerned for the players' welfare)

Let's look at the driver's own explanation of Jones' departure:


... there was no personal conflict with the other driver.

"It was more amongst us than the driver. It was just like us talking and me hollering and screaming, 'That's how quickly we could lose our lives.' I wouldn't call it arguing. Each of us had our own part in being frustrated."

Warren said he told Jones to leave the scene in order to avoid the accident "being blown out of proportion" by the media, and a friend in the area drove Jones away from the scene.

Leaving to avoid things being blown out of proportion by the media sounds like fleeing to me. If there is nothing to it what could the media blow out of proportion?

Well ...

They were leaving a club where alcohol was served.

They were out at 2:30 AM during the season - perhaps on a night before class.

The incident occured outside of the club (my inference from the phrase "leaving a club" rather than "returning from a club").

They were in a Cadallac Escalade of a roommate ...

The driver is a Ky student who was a high school teammate of Jones' IN OREGON!


Fortunately for the players, the local media (and police) have a deplorable lack of curiosity. I would probably ask about Jones' high school friend being a student a Ky and driving an Escalade. I might also inquire as to whether the incident was related to any events inside the club.

[uh_no]

Fortunately for the players, the local media (and police) have a deplorable lack of curiosity.


Fortunately, you don't run the country. The police are bound by this thing called "law" which requires them to have more than a mere curiosity to investigate citizens. It's known as probable cause. There are many more important things to worry about than a couple college students at a club.

I'm not sure why the fact that they were in an escalade, it was driven by one of their roommates, and the fact that he is from oregon have to do with anything.

In this country we assume innocence. Perhaps that's not good enough for your need to condemn some students simply because they play basketball for UK, but its good enough for me.

[BD80]

... I'm not sure why the fact that they were in an escalade, it was driven by one of their roommates, and the fact that he is from oregon have to do with anything. ...

Really? Jones commits to the in state school, then makes a sudden recantation after a phonecall with Calipari, then his buddy from Oregon winds up at Kentucky driving an Escalade? Nothing pops into your mind? How many students from Oregon attend Kentucky?

The Michigan bball program was sanctioned shortly after an incident with the players in an Escalade. Questions were asked, why/how are they driving such an expensive vehicle?

FWIW, I am not condemning the players, I am ridiculing them.

[OldPhiKap]

I spend many a night out at 2:30 a.m. in college. So i'm not judging.

I'm saying from personal experience -- nothing good is happening that late at night.

Glad they're okay, be home by midnight from now on.

[uh_no]

Really? Jones commits to the in state school, then makes a sudden recantation after a phonecall with Calipari, then his buddy from Oregon winds up at Kentucky driving an Escalade? Nothing pops into your mind? How many students from Oregon attend Kentucky?

The Michigan bball program was sanctioned shortly after an incident with the players in an Escalade. Questions were asked, why/how are they driving such an expensive vehicle?

FWIW, I am not condemning the players, I am ridiculing them.

But that is largely an orthogonal issue to the athletes out at that hour. If you want to say calipari is dirty and this should be looked into, then yes, I'll agree with you. But to suggest that the cops need to investigate these two kids is just silly. In this specific instance, the kids didn't do anything wrong. May they have other transgressions that this incident could reveal? perhaps.

[CDu]

I was poking fun, seems like you and uh_no are going to great lengths to defend the players (sorry I confused you for being the one concerned for the players' welfare)

No, you're making attempts to discredit these kids' character with very loose circumstantial evidence. I'm not going to great lengths to defend them. Just pointing out that you seem to be going to great lengths to suggest these guys did something really bad, when in fact the simple answer suggests the opposite.


Leaving to avoid things being blown out of proportion by the media sounds like fleeing to me. If there is nothing to it what could the media blow out of proportion?

Where did I say there was nothing to it? The argument is that he left the scene to AVOID GETTING IN A FIGHT. Getting in a fight would have been blown out of proportion. That's very different from fleeing. Leaving the accident to avoid a fight that would have been a violation of rules (and probably law) and would have been a media circus makes sense to me.

You're just trying to read more into it than necessary.


They were leaving a club where alcohol was served.

And reports say the weren't drinking and there was no evidence of drugs or alcohol on the players.


They were out at 2:30 AM during the season - perhaps on a night before class.

Going out during the season is not great judgment. It's also not terribly bad, as I'm sure they'd have been up anyway. As long as they weren't drinking, it's a case of "they could have made a better choice, but they could have done a lot worse."

I'd also bet it's a lot more common in a lot more places than you might think. I'll reference my namesake for a Duke example of this.

And as I mentioned before, I'm guessing they did not have a class on Friday.


The incident occured outside of the club (my inference from the phrase "leaving a club" rather than "returning from a club").

I'm not sure what difference this makes. There is no argument as to whether they were at a club. So whether they were just leaving or almost home when they got hit is kind of irrelevant.


They were in a Cadallac Escalade of a roommate ...

The driver is a Ky student who was a high school teammate of Jones' IN OREGON!.

Ahh, I see. So because there's a minute chance that Jones' friend was a recruiting tool in getting him not to commit to Washington, these kids were doing something wrong on Thursday night. Got it. Makes total sense. (sarcasm)

These kids went to a club. They got hit by a drunk driver after leaving the club. One of them left to avoid an argument leading to a fight (which would have been bad for him). Nothing in that is sinister (except on the drunk driver's part - that's bad).

You're reaching to try to find evidence of wrongdoing by these kids. I'd suggest stopping that. Keep making fun of Calipari - that seems fair. He's a well-paid grownup who has a track record of shadiness. But don't take it out on the players.