The Incident

I'm going a different direction with my blog. With Peter Tom Willis handling the weekly post-game columns, there isn't the same need for me to do a detailed post-game analysis after each game. That being said, there are still times I like to chip in a random thought or two on various issues surrounding the program. You probably won't get too many long drawn out breakdowns of a game or an issue, but instead the new blog will consist of a few thoughts on some hot topics. I've been posting some of this stuff recently on the message boards but noticed that a lot of people miss my comments or my post scrolls of the board too quickly (it seems like a waste of time to post the same thing over and over).

Entry: 11/13 - The "Incident"

Even though this is Homecoming week and there's a key conference matchup this Saturday against Boston College, another off the field incident has stolen the headlines and dominated the chatter on the Warchant.com message boards. I'll simply refer to the altercation that broke out at FSU's Student Union on Wednesday as the "incident".

We've all been down this path several times before and it follows a similar pattern. News of an off the field incident leaks out and fans begin to speculate and rumor-monger about exactly what happened. Next, some like to jump to conclusions and assume the worst while others will absolve anybody associated with Florida State. Finally, the blame game gets going and the finger pointing begins. It doesn't matter who as long as there is somebody to direct a pitchfork at.

What is amusing about this pattern is that it always seems to happen without anybody truly knowing what happened. The "incident" is no different.

Over the last 30 hours or so I've heard dozens of versions of exactly what went down at the Student Union on Wednesday. However, every version is either slightly different or in some cases very different.

For fans, situations like this can be extremely frustrating because everybody craves instant information. And at Warchant.com we generally feed this monster when it comes to Florida State football. But in the case it isn't as simple as just offering up the facts. Sure, what we've been hearing from the FSU camp paints a general picture of what happened. It would be easy for us to just report that version of the events, which some actually did, and let our readers take it from there. However, that would be irresponsible.

I spoke to a representative of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity on Thursday and he gave an account of what took place at the Union on Wednesday that drastically differed from what we've been hearing from the FSU camp. No surprise, but who's version is correct, or is the truth somewhere in the middle?

The reason I'm bringing this up is to hopefully explain to our readers how difficult it is for us to disseminate accurate information, and do so responsibly, when these types of incidents come up. We could give one side of the events from people that don't want to go on the record, which would be irresponsible, or just give the facts as we know them, which are usually pretty vague at the outset. As a result, we are left with what the police discover through their investigation, which is the only that that really matters in the end since that is what FSU will rely on when deciding on any punishments.

So as difficult as it is, my suggestion is to ignore the chatter from so-called insiders about what really happened and just try to be patient until the police report comes out.

While I'm not going to give out any inside scoop on what I've heard happened at the "incident" since I wasn't there and I haven't seen any video (everything else is hearsay), I do believe that one or more of the players involved won't escape unscathed. There will be some punishments handed down. Whether that will happen before this Saturday's game of next Saturday, and how severe the punishments will be, remains to be seen.

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