More on Jarboe's Rap

A couple of commenters on a my last post (darn near a new record) indicate an alleged media coverup about Jarboe. I have to disagree. His initial arrest was well covered. The places I get my sports news (espn.com, wizardofodds, edsbs.com and other sports sites and blogs) gave it plenty of coverage. Later came the stuff about "he's misunderstood, everything's ok, etc.". I don't intend to do the due diligence on that, but I'm guessing that started at ouinsider.com, which is generally an unofficial mouthpiece for Stoops' and the Sooners. It helps them get "inside information". Or it's that OKC paper, whose publishing family has dumped some pretty serious coin into the OU School of Journalism and the football stadium.

Personally, I'm all for giving a kid a second chance on screwing up. We've all erred in some way, shape or form. Some of these kids have little to no positive influence in their life (read Silent Thunder, by former Sooner Eric Thunander, for example) before they get to campus. I believe we should be optimistic about a kid getting to a university, expanding his world and becoming a better person. They can take advantage of the collegiate experience and make a positive impact (Lee Roy Selmon, JC Watts, Lynn McGruder) or they can allow themselves to be abused like a rented mule and leave campus in the same shape - or worse - than when they started (Jamelle Holieway, Stanley Wilson, Buster Rhymes). Charles Thompson is a tweener, because he left campus for prison, but he's paid his dues and is now a positive influence in the OKC area.

Back to Jarboe. He's a kid. Now he's screwed up twice. First time a crime, second tremendous stupidity. I think that's enough. I don't need to wait to see if he was just being stupid about a rap, or if he really values human life so little. Primary reason for me involves a story...I am proud of my Sooner heritage, by birth and by education. I graduated OU in 1988 and moved to Dallas, TX. I worked hard to get a college degree, and my parents sacrificed a lot to support my desire to get a degree. I moved to Dallas after graduation, and within eighteen months we had rape, shooting, cocaine distribution by the starting QB and NCAA probation (for which the FB team was unrepentant at the time). Those events made me embarrassed for awhile to be a Sooner. Switzer often cited "I can't parent 100 kids" or something to that effect.


Gary Gibbs found a way. I don't recall the name of player, but shortly after Gibbs took over the Sooner program, a Dallas area Sooner FB player had a mild run in with the law. Gibbs dismissed the player from the team. It was a long time before another Sooner showed up on the police blotter. Though Gibbs didn't have as much won-loss success as a head coach as I'd have liked, he represented the university with class throughout his tenure, something we sorely needed at the time. More recently, our neighbor and rival to the south, Mack Brown, took a get tough policy with his Horns after a terrible stretch last summer, and we've not heard any more peeps from Austin or Travis County about his players. (Even thought it's great fodder for the blog.)

I think rapping about the glorification of shooting people is not to be taken lightly. I believe Jarboe has the right to rap about shooting people. I understand there's a culture out there where this is common. I believe OU has the right to expect him to conduct himself in a way as to not embarrass the school that honored his scholly after his arrest back in March.

Many a college student-athletes drink to excess and do stupid things as a result. They get suspended for a game or two, or get to run laps until they puke every day for a week, etc. If they continue down the undisciplined path, they discipline becomes more severe. This is not a case of a drunk 19 year old. Jarboe appears completely sober during his rap, and it's the second time he's made the national news in a less than positive scenario. Should this sort of behavior not be curtailed, I fear the Sooners will be showing up on the police blotter with more frequency.

Typically, Stoops handles these disciplinary matters internally. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Bob meted out some extreme strength and conditioning work. If Jarboe is to be suspended, it may be a moot point, as many frosh will redshirt anyway. Last year Ryan Broyles went from likely being on the field to redshirting as a result of some gasoline theft followed by a practice related injury.

Maybe Stoops will redshirt him and require him to take a poetry class so he could learn some better rhymes. For Jarboe's sake and the university's sake, whatever the punishment is, I hope it works.