Edmonds and Crawford Arrested for Rape

More troubles for the football team. Fullback Brian Edmonds and receiver James Crawford were arrested for rape and sodomy in connection with an incident that allegedly happened on Saturday, December 14th. A woman claims she was raped by the two football players, who were released on $45,000 bond. There is no word from the Tech athletic department concerning their status for the bowl game.

The TV reports didn't have a whole lot to say, other than what I just told you. I wasn't able to catch the beginning of the Tech coaches show on the radio, during which Dave Braine apparently addressed the issue. I did catch a little quote on TV from Joe Painter, the lawyer for the two players, and he said that the charge was totally unsubstantiated. He said, "Her story won't stand up. We're not talking about a screen door trying to hold water. We're talking about an OPEN door trying to hold water. This woman has no credibility whatsoever." Painter says that the woman filed the complaint in an attempt to extort money from Crawford and Edmonds, who insist that they didn't even have sex with the girl.

Only time will tell the truth, and in the meantime, we're getting convicted in the papers again. You know how this works. The story will be a huge headline all over the country, but if the charges are dropped or the players are cleared, you won't hear a whisper about that. Same with The Brawl. It made big news, but subsequent acquittals, if they occur, won't. Only the convictions, if they occur, will make big news.

I have already seen the front page of The USA Today's on-line sports section (not their college sports section, but their Sports section), and it's disheartening. I quote the headline: "Va Tech Players Arrested for Rape - Two more players have brush with the law in troubled football program."

As for me, I numb. I can't believe we've reached the status of "troubled football program." I don't really have anything more to say about stuff like this. I ran out of things to say somewhere in between The Brawl and the Ford shoplifting incident.

Kishbaugh - Has He Given up Football?

A post on the Big East Recruiting Message board claims that coach Terry Strock said at a luncheon that Jeremy Kishbaugh, my favorite recruit from Berwick High in PA, has given up football. He apparently became frustrated with his rehab efforts, or homesick, or both (although I thought he wasn't enrolled in school yet, so how can he get homesick?).

If anybody knows the details here, please email me. Kishbaugh is supposed to be awesome, and I would hate to think that he had given up before he even got started.

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