Those Awesome Reporters at Channel 7

Here's one from the "That's-the-dumbest-thing-I've-ever-heard" department:

Normally, I prefer to watch Channel 10 out of Roanoke for my sports news. Everybody at Channel 7, the other option, sounds like they're on qualuudes, but more importantly, they have an obvious pro-UVa slant that I try to avoid. They always do UVa sports news first, for instance. And that's fine - if that's the way they want to go, I'll just watch the other channel, which is what I do.

Well, last night, as I was cruising the TV news looking for updates on the Edmonds/Crawford rape story (details below), I started out with Channel 10, as usual. I got the lowdown from them, and on a lark, I switched over to Channel 7 to get their take on things.

Big mistake. I tuned in towards the end of the Channel 7 report. They had a little quote from Blacksburg Police Chief Brown, defending the way his department conducted the "investigation."

That's also fine. No problem there. But then they cut back to the studio, where a female reporter was seated, and she wrapped up the story. And she actually said this at the end of her story (I'm paraphrasing):

"Virginia Governor George Allen, the former quarterback, only coached one year himself, for a team of 5th-to-8th graders. Governor Allen said that when the players on his team acted up, he benched them."

Folks, I kid you not. She actually said that. At the end of an important, dramatic story with nationwide impact, this reporter actually carted out some irrelevant piece-of-fluff quote from a jerk UVa-grad politician who has no idea what's going on and equates major college football with coaching middle-schoolers. Unbelievable!

The very end of the quote about benching them may not be accurate, because by the time she got to that part, the blood was rushing so strong through my head that I could barely hear anything.

I encourage readers out there with some extra time to locate an email address for Channel 7, which is WDBJ-7 out of Roanoke (their web page address is http://www.wdbj7.com) and ask them one simple question: What the hell was that all about?

And now, on to the real news....

Crawford and Edmonds Suspended ... While the Plot Thickens

Virginia Tech announced Tuesday evening that James Crawford and Brian Edmonds have been suspended for the Orange Bowl, due to the rape charges filed against them. Once again, Dave Braine made the statement that the suspension is not an assumption of guilt, it's just what Tech feels is proper (that's not the exact wording, but it's the same sentiment as what was expressed by the Athletic Department after the Brawl suspensions). It appears at this point that neither player will be able to participate in the Orange Bowl, unless something drastic happens over the next few days.

Meanwhile, Crawford and Edmonds have filed a civil suit against the woman who accused them of rape, suing her for $32 million. The players' suit accuses the woman of trespassing, slander, attempted extortion, and assault and battery. The players also planned to ask police to file criminal charges against the woman, their lawyer said.

Late Monday, the law firm representing the players issued a four-page statement claiming it had witnesses who would support the players' assertions they did not have sex, consensual or otherwise, with the woman.

Matt Pethybridge, an attorney for the law firm, said the firm's own investigation yielded at least one person willing to say he saw the woman break into the apartment, and he said several others were willing to testify that they were with the players when the rape allegedly occurred.

The law firm's statement rebuked Blacksburg police, saying they had chosen not to interview witnesses that could corroborate the players' version of events. The statement cited a "Salem Witch Trial-like atmosphere in which players are arrested first and investigated later."

Interesting, eh? I'm not going to theorize on what may or may not have happened, but it will be fascinating to see how this all works itself out.

In today's USA Today, Tech was pretty much hung out to dry by the newspaper. The incident was reported in a fairly large article in the lower-right-hand corner of the front page of the sports section, and there was a box on page 15 of the sports section that detailed every one of the arrests that have occurred in the last year (it also gave the outcome of each case). It's not as if they said anything that was untrue, but they did go to great pains to detail our troubles. It's pretty embarrassing, and enough to test any Hokie fan's will to support his team.

Again, to rehash a subject I talked about yesterday, if it does turn out that the victim is a whacko who is trying to extort money from the players, then let me ask you a question: will that news make the front page of The USA Today's sports section?

I think you know the answer to that question. If they report it at all, it'll be buried deep in the back. Even though it would make for interesting reading, they would bury it. Mark my words.

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