OSG High: Sayreville High FB Season Cancelled Amid Bullying Scandal

((HT: NJ.com/Stanmyre))

The HQ is (at the same time) disgusted, not surprised, and pretty pissed at what seems to be going down at Sayreville High In New Jersey at present.

The football team has won three titles in the last four years- but they won't win one this season since the school superintendent suspended the rest of their schedule (and the schedules of the middle school and junior varsity squads as well) after an investigation found:

"there was enough evidence to substantiate there were incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying that took place on a pervasive level, on a wide-scale level, and at a level in which the players knew, tolerated and in general accepted."

Here's the latest from the high school


So we have alleged hazing that was out of control and, in a separate investigation, a coach resigned amid allegations of steroid possession.

Nice...

The investigation is ongoing and Sayreville's coaches and other school personnel are being told not to comment on a matter that is under review.

ICYMI: Latest on Dolphins Story: The Team Speaks and Other Updates

Admittedly, we are catching up on things here with the Miami Dolphins/Jonathan Martin/Richie Incognito story, but they are nonetheless very interesting.

Dolphins coach Joe Philbin spoke to the massed media Wednesday afternoon. Aside from mentioning NFL commissioner Roger Goodell tasking special counsel Ted Wells to look into the issue, he did not go into any detail on the issue.

Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill said that Incognito was great in the locker room and one of the team leaders, he saw nothing to indicate there were issues. He also added that if anything happened to Martin on the field, "Richie was the 1st one to have his back". He also told the assembled mass that "If you asked Jonathan Martin who his best friend is on this team two weeks ago, he'd say Richie Incognito".

For those who've missed it, here's where things stand. Tuesday night, Omar Kelly of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported from at least 2 Dolphins sources that team coaches had encouraged Incognito to help "toughen up" Martin during the preseason.

No details on what that meant or how it was supposed to be interpreted, but the implication would be that there was a reason Incognito was on Martin's back so hard. The request came after Martin missed an offseason OTA (Organized Team Activity)

The catch being it appears he went to far.

Philbin addressed that by telling reporters that coaching players is to do what is "In their best interest to make them better players". When asked if he thought Martin was tough enough he said Martin "Came in here and worked hard every single day".

Read Kelly's Sun-Sentinel story RIGHT HERE

Amidst the reports of racially tinged texts/voice mails between Incognito and Martin comes a report from Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.

Salguero says that most of the black players on the Dolphins team consider Incognito one of them. Or for lack of a better way to put it, an honorary black man. And many of those players did not say they disliked Martin, but rather, according to Salguero, they considered him soft. But does that justify going racial with Martin?

Read more on Salguero's Miami Herald story RIGHT HERE

And the latest is this: The league has appointed

The challenge here is to discern between hazing, teasing, and wanton aggressiveness. And the question is this: How do you prove any of those?

On the surface, yes, it appears multiple lines were crossed. And there should be repercussions for crossing them. But a Football Team is not a "Traditional Workplace".

It appears, based on multiple reports, Jonathan Martin had trouble adjusting to the NFL life. But that does not make him any less a victim. The NFL has a big issue on its hands here. How do you discipline for this?

How do you fire Incognito for doing what he was asked to do (though he may have gone too far)? Nobody seemed to be worried enough to stop it.

How do you make things better for an obviously talented kid (Martin), who appears more sensitive than the average NFL player? It should not mean there isn't a place for him, but how does he walk back into a locker room without being ostracized?

We've said before, an NFL locker room is not a perfect place. There are things done and said there that would not happen in other workplaces. Hazing happens in football, it has for decades. Not always to this extreme. Having rookie traditions is something that's happened for decades. And it happens in other sports.

How do you patrol this? That should be the job of the coaching staff. They are the managers. They are the bosses. Someone in this situation should have stepped up and said "Back Off." The problem is...nobody did.

Warren Sapp addressed going up against Incognito in a game... and didn't seem all that impressed...
((HT: Audience Network/Dan Patrick Show))


Next question:

Was there a vacuum in the discipline from the coaches on the Dolphins staff....???
Here's Rosh Lowe with the beginning of team coverage...???
((HT: WSVN-TV))
WSVN-TV - 7NEWS Miam Ft. Lauderdale News, Weather, Deco

So, to put the question in another context...

Who ordered the Code Red...???

Summary: The Ever Changing Dolphins Bullying Case: Should it Have Happened?

By now if you follow Sports...or News, you've read or seen at least a little something on the situation brewing internally with the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

Here's a brief recap: Dolphins 2nd year Tackle Jonathan Martin left the team last week after what he termed an abusive workplace situation. In that, he says teammates bullied him.

On Sunday, teammate Richie Incognito, also an offensive lineman was suspended from the team and accused of being the person responsible for the situation.

As the day unfolded on Monday, more revelations appeared. A trail of voice mails and text messages, that appear to threaten and intimidate Martin. There also is a racial component according to multiple reports by the Associated Press.

Here's where we are today: Incognito remains away from the team. He may never return. The consensus appears to be that he was way over the line and the Dolphins have proof. But the team is waiting on an investigation by NFL Security before fully acting.

Martin also remains away from the team and has sought counseling. His return has yet to be determined.

The Dolphins have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from Incongnito's apparent actions. The Miami Herald reported on Monday, he's likely to be cut. Don't expect him to be picked up by another team.

This folks, is a mess. And it's hard to describe to people who haven't been inside an NFL locker room.

In many ways, the NFL is like living in or with a college fraternity. The locker room has it's own hierarchy and most of the time, police's itself. But not always.

We've spent a large chunk of our career covering pro sports. All of them (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) have a similar set-up. Guys tend to, but not always are close. But there is an assumed level of respect.

Yes, there is rookie hazing, yes, there's a certain amount of grief, insults, jokes etc that go on. But it's generally all in good fun. And guys normally have lines that aren't crossed.

That doesn't seem to be the case here.

Should the Dolphins and coach Joe Philbin been more aware of what was happening? Yes. Should they have put some clamps on it? Yes. Should Martin's teammates have stepped in? Probably.

But it didn't happen.

Like it or not. Agree with it or not, an NFL team is a professional workplace and all workplaces have rules that have to be followed. Or there is punishment. And that's the case here. If this happened at your workplace, you'd be fired. On the spot.

We will continue following this story, we suspect it's not done and happens more frequently than this.

Your TV story from CBS Miami:

OSG High: Bullying Charge After Blowout Win

((HT: NBCDFW))

A football team wins 91-0 and a parent files a bullying charge from the losing squad...

Make sense to you...???
Thought so...

Here's what's going on in the Metroplex...


The Texas Education Agency defines bullying as:

"Bullying occurs when a person is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength."

So, faithful reader, is this bullying or is this a soft parent...???

What say you...???

OSG High: Entire Football Team Suspended, Spot Earned Back Through Service

((HT: KSL-TV))

Roosevelt-Union (UT) High has had an interesting week...

They are 3-2 heading into their homecoming game this Friday, but after the coaching staff thought the team was going in too many different directions mentally, all the players on the squad were suspended. They had to earn their spot on the roster back through service to their school, parents, and community.

Last Friday was a loss to Judge Memorial Catholic. And when coaches found out that their athletes were cruising in class and even encouraging bullying through an anonymous website, they had had enough. The student that was the point of the bullying was not a member of the Union High team.

Head coach Matt Labrum told the team to hand in their jerseys...
So, it's been an interesting week of not practicing...

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