First, let me say that I typically leave the writing and reporting to my real writers, as I consider myself far from being a journalist. With that said, I can not stand by the sidelines anymore (as most of the Valley has) and ignore the PROBLEM at Steubenville.
This weekend, The New York Times released a detailed article that captured the incident from the beginning. They’ve been working on this article for several weeks, getting eyewitness reports, and local interviews. One of the writers of the article, Juliet Macur, contact me me several weeks ago about my knowledge/take on the incident – but I didn’t contribute anything to her investigation.
After reading her article, I am saddened, disappointed, and outright disgusted. I have spent the better part of the past 5 years promoting the Ohio Valley, and our local schools and athletes. I’ve spent hundreds of hours, and tens of thousands of dollars to promote an area that I believe in and love!
For the first time in my life, I am disappointed and embarrassed of the Ohio Valley.
I’m disappointed in the local media that has swept this under the rug. To all of the local news stations, newspapers, reporters, and journalists – you could (and should) have done better. Because the Ohio Valley is so small, everyone is afraid to touch this case and report it for what it really is. Everyone is afraid that they will upset or ruin a friendship or connection if they speak too loudly.
Bloomdaddy has been the only media figure to get close to this incident – and kudos to you Dave!
Let’s talk about what this incident is really about. It’s about a bunch of punks who RAPED a young girl who was drunk. Before I go any further, let me clear up what constitutes rape. Rape is when you have sex with somebody who does not consent to having sex. This girl was drunk, and by all accounts passed out. A person who is unconscious can not give consent.
Here is a caption from The New York times article;
At that third party, the girl could not walk on her own and vomited several times before toppling onto her side, several witnesses testified. Mays then tried to coerce the girl into giving him oral sex, but the girl was unresponsive, according to the player who videotaped Mays and the girl.
The player said he did not try to stop it because “at the time, no one really saw it as being forceful.”
At one point, the girl was on the ground, naked, unmoving and silent, according to two witnesses who testified. Mays, they said, had exposed himself while he was right next to her.
Richmond was behind her, with his hands between her legs, penetrating her with his fingers, a witness said.
“I tried to tell Trent to stop it,” another athlete, who was Mays’s best friend, testified. “You know, I told him, ‘Just wait — wait till she wakes up if you’re going to do any of this stuff. Don’t do anything you’re going to regret.’ ”
He said Mays answered: “It’s all right. Don’t worry.”
The case is about a community that shows more empathy for the accused than the victim. Here is a portion of the article that interviews a former Steubenville football player and current assistant coach.
“The rape was just an excuse, I think,” said the 27-year-old Hubbard, who is No. 2 on the Big Red’s career rushing list.
“What else are you going to tell your parents when you come home drunk like that and after a night like that?” said Hubbard, who is one of the team’s 19 coaches. “She had to make up something. Now people are trying to blow up our football program because of it.”
This case is about a football coach who thinks that he is bigger than life. Coach Saccoccia was mentioned in the NYT article;
Approached in November to be interviewed about the case, Saccoccia said he did not “do the Internet,” so he had not seen the comments and photographs posted online from that night. When asked again about the players involved and why he chose not to discipline them, he became agitated.
“You made me mad now,” he said, throwing in several expletives as he walked from the high school to his car.
Nearly nose to nose with a reporter, he growled: “You’re going to get yours. And if you don’t get yours, somebody close to you will.”
Of the entire article, I find this to be among the most concerning. Is this really the attitude, demeanor and mentality that we want around our young adults? While he was on school property, he threatened the well being of a reporter. Seriously? Is that the example we are setting for the kids in Steubenville and the Ohio Valley?
For all of the kids reading this, let me be the first to say that is NOT the proper way to handle yourself in public. Living a life of violence, where you use intimidation tactics on people will eventually lead you to one place – jail. Be a better person than the above example.
While the article was hard to read, I THANK The New York Times for reporting this case for what it is – a sickening display of small town ethics and moral standards.
The Ohio Valley is better than this. The Ohio Valley needs to stand up and separate the people (everyone involved) in this incident from the rest of us, otherwise we all run the risk of association. I for one want to make it clear, I am disgusted.
