Dear Coach Hamilton

[calgirl]

Last night I sent this email to Coach Hamilton, with a cc to Brad Berndt, Associate Director of Athletics, at Duke.

Dear Coach Hamilton:

It is with equal measure of concern and disgust that I write to you.

Ryan Reid's lack of impulse control is alarming. From my point of view, his punching Greg Paulus in back of the head, during tonight's basketball game against Duke University, should be considered assault. Mr. Reid discredited himself, you, his team, his school, and basketball itself. And if all that were not enough, his behavior falls short of the role models that young fans need to see.

His physical talent aside, is Mr. Reid capable of playing on a basketball team? It is your unenviable responsibility to know the answer to that question and act accordingly.

Help him. And if you and your staff cannot, then get him counseling. Don't do him the disservice of writing off his behavior to the heat of a game. Down the road, life won't give him a pass.

I grind no axes here: I am not a Duke student; I am not a Duke alum.

Respectfully,
XXXXXXXXX

[Sir Stealth]

I really don't want to be mean, but you need to realize that this letter is completely over the top and will be hung up and laughed at by whoever ends up receiving it.

[Duke4Ever32]

I really don't want to be mean, but you need to realize that this letter is completely over the top and will be hung up and laughed at by whoever ends up receiving it.

I'm not saying I think anything will come from the letter, but I don't agree - at all - that it will be treated as you've stated here.

[sandinmyshoes]

They may not laugh at it, but they'll roll their eyes.


Reid might deserve a suspension for what he did, but he had got smacked around a couple times, although nothing intentional, so it wasn't like he was just inexplicably exploding into violence.

I'm sorry, but that letter is so prudish and over the top as to be difficult to take seriously.

[allenmurray]

This was Reid's first game back after suspension.

[Classof06]

I really don't want to be mean, but you need to realize that this letter is completely over the top and will be hung up and laughed at by whoever ends up receiving it.

I agree. Listen, I personally have nothing against this letter and not that you should care for what I'm about to say, but this is why people hate Duke fans.

We went into Tallahassee and got the win; I could care less about what else happens. Paulus definitely connected with Reid's head, sending him to the floor and that's why I believe Reid reacted the way he did. In fact, I'm surprised Paulus didn't get called for a foul. I'm not defending Reid, but he didn't go after Paulus because he just felt like hitting someone.

And I know this might enrage some people, but I don't even think it was a punch to be totally honest. I thought it was a punch watching it live, but after the replays, I don't think it was at all.

[CDu]

This was Reid's first game back after suspension.

Was he suspended for fighting? If it was for academics, then I'm not sure the suspension is all that relevant.

I agree with the previous poster. It was unacceptable behavior, but it was the culmination of a few bad calls and having just been hit in the mask by Paulus. He lost his cool. It happens, unfortunately. This letter is way over the top.

Hamilton berated the player when it happened. I'm sure he'll discipline Reid appropriately internally. Reid may get a suspension even. The letter is just silly.

[ugadevil]

Was he suspended for fighting? If it was for academics, then I'm not sure the suspension is all that relevant.

The announcers speculated that the suspension was academic and could have been a part of the investigation where all the football players were suspended. If so, good to see that Reid is so well rounded...bad decisions on and off the court.

[CDu]

The announcers speculated that the suspension was academic and could have been a part of the investigation where all the football players were suspended. If so, good to see that Reid is so well rounded...bad decisions on and off the court.

Yeah, he certainly sounds like a model citizen, doesn't he? But yeah, if it was a suspension for academic reasons then it's really not relevant at all to his on-court antics in last night's game (other than that he knows how to get himself into trouble).

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

The announcers speculated that the suspension was academic and could have been a part of the investigation where all the football players were suspended. If so, good to see that Reid is so well rounded...bad decisions on and off the court.

Bottom line is that we don't know what the suspension was for and the reason may fall under student privacy protection. It was poor judgment on the part of the announcers to mention the suspension in the context of the technical fouls.

[Channing]

As mentioned in another thread - if anyone took a look at the replay from the other end, it was not as clearly a punch as the announcers made it out to be.

[NovaScotian]

I really don't want to be mean, but you need to realize that this letter is completely over the top and will be hung up and laughed at by whoever ends up receiving it.

i second that

[JWilliamson]

My problem with Reid is, he went out of the way to go after Paulus. It wasn't like they ended up in the same place at the end of the play. Reid was several feet away. and split two of his own guys to get to Paulus. He should have been tossed, and suspended a game. He was out of control earlier and was close to a tech. I also didn't see Hamilton berate anyone but the refs...

[wumhenry]

Reid might deserve a suspension for what he did, but he had got smacked around a couple times, although nothing intentional, so it wasn't like he was just inexplicably exploding into violence.

As a description of anything that happened to Reid in that game, "smacked around" is an exaggeration. Launching a punch at someone who's lying on the floor in retaliation for obviously unintentional contact might not be inexplicable, but it's inexcusable.

"Not inexplicable" is an ethical limp noodle. Hell, the Holocaust wasn't inexplicable, either!

[CDu]

My problem with Reid is, he went out of the way to go after Paulus. It wasn't like they ended up in the same place at the end of the play. Reid was several feet away. and split two of his own guys to get to Paulus. He should have been tossed, and suspended a game. He was out of control earlier and was close to a tech. I also didn't see Hamilton berate anyone but the refs...

I agree with your description of what happened. But Hamilton definitely berated Reid. He also berated the refs for missing the foul Paulus committed to strip the ball from Reid on the play. But Hamilton definitely yelled at Reid.

[DevilWolf]

Keep in mind we had a player who was suspended for an entire season who is about to have her jersey retired. You just never know why ...

[captmojo]

Keep in mind, we had a player last year, who was suspended due to the force of a foul that was purely accidental.

[SilkyJ]

The announcers speculated that the suspension was academic and could have been a part of the investigation where all the football players were suspended. If so, good to see that Reid is so well rounded...bad decisions on and off the court.

well i mean FSU is practically as bad as miami when it comes to recruiting criminals.

[SeattleIrish]

Bottom line is that we don't know what the suspension was for and the reason may fall under student privacy protection. It was poor judgment on the part of the announcers to mention the suspension in the context of the technical fouls.

DitBD:

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post, but the announcers have no need to abide by "student privacy protection" (I'm assuming you are referencing the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act), as that only applies to university officials.

I don't believe it was poor judgment to mention the suspension; a player is suspended for 9 games for SOMETHING and, in his first game back, punches an opponent in the face (looked to me like he got Greg on the side of the mouth - the mouth was bleeding)? That's worthy of mention.

I do, however, agree that they IMPLIED it was related to academic misconduct, but they did acknowledge that was only a guess. It was a pretty good guess. F$U would be bound by FERPA not to disclose Reid's judicial records, which would include academic misconduct, whereas violations of legal codes are public record and not covered by FERPA.

s.i.

[CDu]

DitBD:

Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your post, but the announcers have no need to abide by "student privacy protection" (I'm assuming you are referencing the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act), as that only applies to university officials.

I don't believe it was poor judgment to mention the suspension; a player is suspended for 9 games for SOMETHING and, in his first game back, punches an opponent in the face (looked to me like he got Greg on the side of the mouth - the mouth was bleeding)? That's worthy of mention.

I do, however, agree that they IMPLIED it was related to academic misconduct, but they did acknowledge that was only a guess. It was a pretty good guess. F$U would be bound by FERPA not to disclose Reid's judicial records, which would include academic misconduct, whereas violations of legal codes are public record and not covered by FERPA.

s.i.

Actually, if you watch closely, it looks like the damage was done by an elbow to the mouth from another player (I believe it is Swann) before Reid reaches Paulus. Reid's swipe/swing looks as if it was a grazing blow (at best) to the neck/chin area).

And I didn't mean that bringing up the suspension wasn't relevant. I was just saying it wasn't necessarily evidence of previous violent behavior on the court.