(Comment #1: I'm thinking of changing the name of this web site to www.bashthemedia.com, because here we go again)

(Comment #2: please accept my apologies for the wishy-washy language in the following piece, and the over-use of such terms as "alleged," "may have," "looks like," "perhaps," etc., etc.  But I think you'll understand, given the subject matter.)

If you hang around the HokieCentral message board much, then you're well aware that in the moments immediately following Georgia Tech's 41-38 victory over Virginia a couple of weeks ago, there appears to have been some sort of "altercation" between a UVa player and a Georgia Tech fan who was rushing the field.

Specifically, as reported by Dave Johnson of The Newport News Daily Press a few days ago, a Georgia Tech student named Derrick Ellerman filed a report with the GT campus police charging that reserve UVa linebacker Yubrenal Isabelle punched him in the face in the frenzied moments just after the final gun sounded in Georgia Tech's victory.

The Daily Press moves archived articles around every day, so they're hard to link to, but try the following links (the day in parentheses indicates the day on which the link should work - if none of the links work, the article has probably been archived to their pay-only archives):

Link 1 (Thursday) Georgia Tech student charges UVa player - The Daily Press, 10/24/98
Link 2 (Friday) Georgia Tech student charges UVa player - The Daily Press, 10/24/98
Link 3 (Saturday) Georgia Tech student charges UVa player - The Daily Press, 10/24/98
Link 4 (Sunday) Georgia Tech student charges UVa player - The Daily Press, 10/24/98

According to the Daily Press article, Ellerman "alleges he was asking another Virginia player to stop hitting a student when Isabelle - misidentified on the report as Isabell Yubrenal - ‘came out of nowhere and struck him in the face' before an unidentified Cavalier coach pulled both players away."

This is a serious allegation, indeed. Listen to UVa athletic director Terry Holland's response, also quoted in the Daily Press article:

"At this time, it seems that all the Virginia player was doing was trying to get up off the ground after being pushed down," Holland said. "If there is any evidence of violent or inappropriate behavior by any member of the Virginia party, they will be dealt with as usual by the appropriate body."

Hmmm, that's not what it looks like to me, Terry, and I've got video to back me up. Take a look at the following AVI clip from the moments just after the game ended.

The clip is taken from a Media General broadcast which appears to have captured at least part of the alleged incident on tape.  From what I understand, Media General had a separate broadcast that was sent out to the Atlanta area only.  I could be wrong on that, but the point is, the following clip is not taken from the ABC broadcast of the game.  The ABC broadcast does not show the alleged incident:

Video of the Alleged Attack? - 651 kb AVI

What to look for in the clip: a banner that says "ACC Football" appears at the bottom of the clip. Keep your eyes on the UVa football player walking along the sideline, just above the T and the B in the word "Football." He appears to grab a Georgia Tech fan, throw him to the ground, and then dive on him.

At first, I thought the apparent attack was totally without provocation, but if you replay the video and look closely, it also appears that the Georgia Tech fan may have pushed a UVa player who is kneeling on the ground, just prior to the GT fan getting pushed to the ground himself.

As the player and the fan both get up, another UVa player, the one who was kneeling on the ground, approaches and stands near the player and the fan.

No punches appear to be thrown in this clip, which ends when it does because the broadcast from which it was lifted ended, as well. So I don't think that the clip shows the alleged punching incident, the one that Ellerman filed the report about.

But I do think that it possibly shows the events leading up to the alleged incident. Notice that at the end of the clip, two Georgia Tech fans are approaching the two UVa players, one from the left side, and one from the right side. One of them could be Ellerman, and one of the two UVa players could be Isabelle - it's hard to tell.

Regardless of Ellerman's allegations, the action that the clip shows is cause for concern. It certainly seems to show a fully-dressed UVa player attacking a Georgia Tech fan and throwing him to the turf.

My problem is not with the actions of the UVa player, although they certainly are outrageous. No, my "problem" stems from the fact that we have an incident from which a campus police report was filed, and an incident for which there is video documentation, and I have just one question:

Where's the media coverage?

If this was 1996, and a Tech football player had been accused of attacking a fan from an opposing team, the witch hunt would have been on, and the media would have been all over it.

But in this alleged incident, which includes video, there has not been one word from the print and TV media in the state of Virginia, with the exception of Dave Johnson's brief Daily Press article on the incident report that Ellerman filed.

And Terry Holland's statement about the Virginia football player "trying to get up off the ground after being pushed down" is laughable. I don't know who fed Terry that information, but it's flat wrong.

So again, I've got one question for The Roanoke Times, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Washington Post, The Virginian-Pilot, The Daily Progress, the national print media, and every TV station in the commonwealth of Virginia:

Where's the media coverage?

This incident has been widely discussed on the HokieCentral and Georgia Tech message boards, which we all know the media read, and yet, not a whisper has been uttered by those responsible for reporting the news.

Why aren't you reporting on the incident? Why aren't you asking Terry Holland and George Welsh about it? Why aren't you trying to find out who the player is in this video? Why isn't anyone asking the ACC commissioner if this incident is being investigated (I hear that it is, by the way)?

And to the TV stations, why haven't you obtained a copy of the Media General tape and aired it on your newscasts?

If this was an incident involving Virginia Tech, I don't doubt for a second that it would be plastered all over newspapers and TV.

I'm not out to "get" UVa, or the player involved. I just want equal treatment from the press. If there truly is something to these allegations (and the video seems to indicate that there is), then I want the parties involved to have their "fifteen minutes of fame," just like every Tech football player involved in the Blacksburg Brawl did back in 1996.

Where's the media coverage?

That's my beef.

(Note:  many thanks to DBHokie and Technically, who put together the video for me.)

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