ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090022
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
BALTIMORE Orioles baseball star Roberto Alomar spits on an umpire, but won't have to serve his five-game suspension until next season - long after the '96 league playoffs and (should the O's get so far) World Series are over.
Some Virginia Tech football players are alleged to have beaten up a Tech track athlete and left him with a broken collarbone during a brawl in late August. Will they, too, evade possible suspension from the team until after the regular season and, should the Hokies do so well, a bowl game?
That possibility was left open Tuesday when no indictments stemming from the incident emerged from a Montgomery County grand jury. But the comparison to Alomar shouldn't be taken too far. That the police investigation would take time is understandable, if for no other reason than the sheer number of potential witnesses. Commonwealth's Attorney Phil Keith has said that indictments are expected during the grand jury's current term.
The Alomar affair is different from the Tech incident in several other respects, too - differences that suggest the importance of finding the right balance between thoroughness and dispatch.
First, the Tech incident was in a way more serious. Alomar affronted the dignity of umpire John Hirschbeck and violated baseball's rules of conduct. Alomar acted like a bum and should be thrown out for the rest of the season. But Hirschbeck did not incur physical injury, nor did the incident involve an alleged off-the-field violation of criminal law.
Second, the details of the Tech incident are less evident, including such details as who and how many were involved and in what role. No imputation of guilt ought to be made, certainly at this stage. Thoroughness is needed to sort out the strands of the story. On the other hand, the longer those details remain a mystery, the greater the risk that the team as a whole will be unfairly tarred by the misdeeds of some.
Finally, the big leagues are in the business of marketing sports entertainment and related products to paying customers. That's why it was the American League, and not the Orioles for whom it would have made no business sense, that issued the Alomar suspension, mild as it is. But the primary business of a university is, or is supposed to be, education and research, and not the sale of athletic entertainment. Nobody needs a complete but timely resolution more than Tech itself.
LENGTH: Short : 47 linesby CNB