lacrosse semifinals

so, I am watching the syracue vs uva game....and I am disturbed by the commentary on the duke lacrosse situation.

1) The denial by lacrosse pundits that there is a problem with lacrosse...and this is purely a duke lacrosse problem. I will not deny that Duke had its problems, but....I have rarely met a men's college lacrosse player that didn't feel a certain sense of entitlement and this sort of feeling that they are above the law.

2) One point I think they did point out correctly, that a lot of the problems we are seeing across college athletics are caused by alcohol. Having spent a large portion of my adult life on college campuses, it is not just the athletes, it is a pandemic problem. I think partially caused by the rather puritanical view of most Americans to not let their children learn to drink responsibly before college. Europeans have us on this one. What these commentators have missed is that this problem is not just limited to athletes, it is across campuses. It is just that when athletes are involved, the university is involved and thus, heightened media attention.

3) The major thing these commentators are missing is group behavior. All of these people are asking for individuals to stand up in the face of wrong doing. Well....home many people do that....what have we learned from many years of social psychological research, people tend to conform to the group. Even a token group identity produces a great deal of pressure to conform due to the effects of social desirablity. Do we not learn lessons from the past....oh wait...we don't....and that is why we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

4) Do you want to know my view on the Duke Lacrosse situation.....at first, I wouldn't have been surprised. When I was at Duke, I was glad I was friends with them, they had my back. But I was always aware it was a situation where I knew something could go horribly wrong. Perhaps we can blame it on the CSI effect...and yes it is real, but the lack of a conclusive dna sample makes me a bit skeptical.