Too cavalier
Should the Virginia lacrosse teams be playing in the NCAA tournament?
This past weekend, the University of Virginia Cavaliers women’s lacrosse team lost in the national quarterfinals, while the top-seeded men’s team advanced to the national semifinals. This would be unremarkable, if not for the tragic events of a few weeks ago, when women’s player Yeardley Love was found dead and men’s player George Huguely was charged with killing her.
Huguely has obviously been off the team since he was arrested on charges of murder in the first degree, but the two teams decided to soldier on in the aftermath of Yeardley’s death. Was the decision appropriate?
Although different in many significant ways, the case recalls the events that derailed the Duke men’s lacrosse team a few years ago, when several players were charged with – and ultimately acquitted of – rape.
In that case, the fact that several players had been associated with felonious conduct made it easier to put a hold on the Duke team’s season. Players under active investigation should probably not be allowed to take part in sporting events, and an environment suffused with legal handwringing is probably not conducive to successful athletic performances.
For Virginia, the conduct is even more grave, but its extent is limited. One player has horrifically seen her life cut short. Another is under investigation. The teams have the personnel to play, and there are no doubts (of the legal kind) about any of the players.
On the other hand, it’s far too easy to neglect the human element in sports and, in college sports, the obligation to take account of this variable is heightened. These players have just emerged from adolescence and in many ways remain inexperienced with life’s vicissitudes.
Of those, a colleague being brutally murdered surely ranks among the gravest. I count myself extremely lucky to have never had to deal with such a tragedy and cannot hope to imagine what these young men and women are going through.
The truth is that the Virginia players should stay off the field, but not because one of their own has allegedly committed a horrible crime. Instead, they should have an opportunity to cope with profound tragedy and focus on school during this trying time.
Student athletes should be students first. I couldn’t imagine going to work and carrying on a normal life under the circumstances now facing these teams. How can we expect them to succeed in school while focusing on winning games?
The Virginia men’s team showed that it could keep its cool. But at what cost to the young men?
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