Oregon vs. Boise State "Sucker punch" video
Ridiculous is all I can say after seeing the footage of Oregon's LaGarrete Blount sucker punching a Boise State defensive lineman in the face. I have played a lot of football games in my life and I understand that most armchair quarterbacks don't understand what goes on throughout the course of a game, but this is RIDICULOUS! In my opinion, there is absolutely NO reason to ever act this way, football is a game of emotions and it is a game that can be violent at times, but this is not what real football is all about!! I hope that the NCAA punishes this "kid" for his actions and I hope it is severe!! He deserves it!!
Memories...how they linger!!
I will never forget my first collegiate practice! Here I was a fat faced/baby faced freshman and I had no clue what I was getting myself in to!! In high school, I was the biggest and in most cases one of the strongest (I hated lifting weights), but this was different! These guys were also the biggest and the strongest in high school. It was like most every August Arkansas day....100 degrees and 100% humidity. We "big boys" were known for losing 10-12 pounds per practice session, that's how miserable it was!! Back to the story.....
Greg Taylor was his name, he was a senior defensive end, and might I add he was All-Conference the previous year and would go on to be that again in his senior season. I was given to challenge my first day of practice of facing Greg in a one on one session. We were working on our pass blocking technique and they were working on their pass rush. The first snap was off and I will have to say I held my own...I guess it would have called a draw, I did not give up the sack, but he drove me back pretty far!! Then the second snap...I was known to have the habit of aiming for an opponents face mask with my first punch, so I landed one right where I had aimed! Immediately Greg's head snapped back and he was stunned and it literally stopped him in his tracks....he was ticked!! He demanded that we go again, and I learned something that day, when an All-Conference player wanted another shot, he got it!! Then came the third snap....I punched him (legally, and in the line of action) right in the same place I had the time before, but on this occasion he did not stop, so I kept aiming for his face mask. We later watched it on film and he head was snapping back so much it looked like a scene from Mike Tyson's Punch-out!! He was TICKED! I have NEVER to this day been in a fist fight, I have always tried to avoid this for many reasons, one being I am a big teddy bear. So, I turned to walk back to the huddle and I saw the look in my fellow "huddlers" eyes, someone was coming for me, as I turned around a couple of the coaches and graduate assistants had grabbed Greg preventing him from attacking me (he had some real anger issues needless to say, plus getting abused by a freshman was not sitting well with him) and as I turned away I could hear him telling me how bad he was going to hurt me and what he would do to my first born child!! LOL!! From that day forward I had Greg Taylor's number, I never lost a single battle against him, and slowly he began to come around and understand he was not going to beat me!! There were many occasions that he wanted to fight me and would take off his helmet (which made not sense to me) and hurl insults, but I just ignored them!!
I (like many offensive linemen) always took my job seriously, but I never had a fighting spirit. In most cases O-linemen get labeled as pacifists and big easy going men. I had a dad/coach tell me one time that he wanted his daughter to marry an O-lineman because he knew they were gentlemen, they got the job done and didn't care if they received any glory! Which is for the most part true. I never thought about acting like a complete idiot on the football field, I mean someone had to do the thinking and it was usually the O-linemen that could be counted on!
So, the event of last night makes my skin crawl. That someone would disgrace themselves, their school, their teammates, and the game by sucker punching a opposing player in the face. My advice would be for him to really check himself and for him to realize that he is no more important than the rest of the team. Now for the actions he committed the entire team will suffer!! RIDICULOUS!!!
Word- Nick
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