- The D bottoms out at a new nadir of terminal inanity. Vending machines, for the sake of G-d.
- Phi Delt brothers find a novel way to be complete assholes. 10 guys—mostly, if not all, Phi Delts—have started a facebook group in support of the Duke Men's Lacrosse Team.
I realize that the rape investigation involving the Duke lacrosse team has not yet concluded and, therefore, we are to presume them innocent. But the evidence is indisputable that the lacrosse team was completely out of control. From ESPN:
According to police records, 15 of the 47 players on Duke's national championship runners-up lacrosse team had been charged with misdemeanor crimes ranging from public drunkenness and disturbance to public urination in the previous year. Since 1999, 41 Duke lacrosse players have been charged with misdemeanors in Durham and Orange counties. As reported by the The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.), according to campus records, about half the team has had on-campus alcohol violations and other conduct issues. Sports Illustrated reported that a former alum's e-mail exposed stories of lacrosse players "throwing kegs through windows" and purposely "breaking bones" in fight club activities. Collin Finnerty, one of the two lacrosse players indicted Monday, was charged with assault last November in Washington, D.C., after a man accused Finnerty and two others of punching him and calling him "gay and other derogatory names."Way to support one of the biggest collections of dickheads in the country, Phi Delt.
O, and since they voluntarily joined this facebook group, I'll just post the members list: Donald Bly, Andrew Eastman, Chris Chan, Russell Herman, Richard Denton, CJ Ryan, Patrick Jones, Brian Wang, Kendrick Li, Chris Crawford. Dartmouth's finest, I'm sure.
More: There's another Duke Lacrosse solidarity group:
Members: Peter DeMaria (founder), Aaron Levy, Jessica Meneses.
Duke Lax Groupies
To all the haters, we never stopped believing.
Let me ask you what is more likely:
Scenario 1) Intelligent undergraduates at Duke University decide to stick their you know whats into the poop shoot of a STDed out stripper, beat her, and expect nothing will come of it. Neither criminal charges nor the herp.
or
Scenario 2) A stripper claims she is raped, by rich, white men, so that she can receive compensation, above and beyond the single dollar bills people normally place betwixt her rump.
Our legal system says innocent until proven guilty. That doesn't mean WE, you and I, two dudes at another college, have to assume innocent until proven guilty. That assumption only applies to judges, lawyers, baliffs, jury members, and other court officers. No newspaper or citizen should be chastised for making up their own opinion based on the released evidence instead of relying upon 12 other people. That's a common mistake.
ReplyDelete1. Well I thought the vending machine thing was hilarious. Its clearly self-aware of how inane it is, which is a rare characterisitic in the D, since every op-ed in there is inane, except most are trying to pontificate on some matter of great consequence. Proof? "I'm not going to attempt to make this into some veiled message about the Interfraternity Council's blatant anti-Semitism or the misappropriation of student money to Guster or even the fact that soon there will be more pink eye per capita at Dartmouth than in Nicaragua or Fiji. Frankly, it's just about me wanting to know who ate my chips without getting in trouble with anyone."
ReplyDelete2. The facebook group was a joke. I mean, its in poor taste or whatever, but the Duke lax team has been the butt of all sorts of off-color jokes. Being unfunny doesn't make you an asshole, pledging phi delt makes you an asshole.
Mangum, in the context of, say, a postapocalyptic wasteland devoid of law, order, and propriety, maybe it's "somewhat" out of control. In the context of an institution of higher learning, yes, that's completely out of control.
ReplyDeleteNathan, I only held off from voicing my opinion about their guilt because I didn't want the reader's focus to get sidetracked from the point of my post—that supporting the Duke lacrosse team is an enormously shitty thing to do, regardless of the players' guilt.
The Duke Men's Lacrosse group was created in support of the accused. Let us not forget that we are all innocent untill proven guilty. The national, and regional media (not to mention the dartmouth blogsphere, which is equally resourceful) has forgotten this fact. Anyone can make an accusasion, and it is unfortunate that it is that easily to tarnish ones innocent reputation. Am I to say that the accused are innocent? No, and I will not the mistake that the media and this blog has made of trying to determine so. All I know is that no DNA evidence matched the accused, and they have not been found guilty. Those who chastise the accused while they are still innocent, and those who support them (the said facebook group) are a disgrace to this country's legal system, and even begin to tolerate false rape allegations to some extent. It is an insult to the innocent, and the victims of this horrible crime.
ReplyDeleteThis is your blog, and you have the freedom of speech to write whatever unreaserched, poorly thoughtout rant you want on it instead of writing for a repudible, legitament journal. No one should chastise you for doing so, as it is your right. As such, do not attack the public forums of others (such as the 10 students) for their opinions either (support of the innocent).
Oh, and Mr. Shah pledging phi delt doesn't make you an asshole. We were already assholes before we joined. Cheers!
"Those who chastise the accused while they are still innocent, and those who support them (the said facebook group) are a disgrace to this country's legal system, and even begin to tolerate false rape allegations to some extent."
ReplyDeleteThis was a bit confusing. What I meant to say was that those who chastise supporters of the innocent are the problem.
But more importantly I think I should apologize to those who were mistankenly offended. I can see in retrospect that the wording of the group, and its contents would probably be confusing to those outside of the 10 original members. The group was not supposed to be an open forum of support, merely a statement of disagreement with media portrayl. As such the the aim was to make sense to the members; I did not concentrate on supplementing the group info page as to make it more accessable to the general public. A more thoughtout approach was probably the more responsible thing to do, however I did not think that it would garner public interest. To those who were offended by the group I apologize that it was caused by this mistaken confusion.
I would like to preface this comment by admitting that I am indeed a huge asshole. That aside, the idea for the group was conceived upon news that none of the accused are guilty, and the event has made international news based upon questionable evidence, as well as the knowledge that the Duke Lacrosse season was cancelled, and in a moment of capricious spontenaity, it was concluded over a few drinks that the ten members of this group ought to transfer from Dartmouth and start for the men's team. It was a ridiculous thought and would have been immediately passed from memory had one of the members not created the group the morning after our conversation. For better or for worse, there are a lot of esoteric jokes that start this way, regardless of their taste of humor. I implore you to take more of them out of context, and continue to write your misinterpretations of the social lives of others whom you do not know, publish them, and then blitz them out so as to cause a sensation or scandal to amuse yourself. I just have one question for you Mr. Seal: do you drive a hybrid? Good for you. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteanonymous,
ReplyDeleteI have no idea how the brand of car I drive is at all germane to the discussion, and if that's your notion of a concluding point, well, I hope that you're not taking any tough courses this term that demand any writing whatsoever.
But I really don't give a damn whether this was just a private joke or whether it was intended for wide dissemination (no pun intended); a person who merits any shred of respect would not allow himself to be party to such a joke. Don't give me a bullshit line about, 'well, I know it's in poor taste, and I know I'm an asshole, etc.' You shouldn't be an asshole, and you shouldn't hide behind the paper curtain of "poor taste." End of story.
And Richard/Dichard/whatever, I really don't care what your intentions were in creating this group. It is on a semi-public network, and you are fully responsible for the activity you engage in on it. I'm glad you apologized to those who were offended, but that does not even begin to touch the simple fact that you willfully associated yourself with a group of total pricks who, regardless of their guilt or innocence in this matter, are inexcusable for the general comportment and behavior of their college career thus far. Being a dickhead really has no justification, and calling you out for standing up for such a group is absolutely legitimate. Were I to associate myself with a genuinely loathsome group, I would hope someone would call me out.
Bottom line—the guilt or innocence of the lax players has nothing to do with the reason I made this post. I made it because I am disgusted that Dartmouth students would ally themselves with a group of men who are nothing but thugs.
"I am disgusted that Dartmouth students would ally themselves with a group of men who are nothing but thugs."
ReplyDeletei have to say that i find it equally disappointing that a student at such an esteemed institution as Dartmouth would have such a closed mind. who are you to be so quick to judge these men who you have never met? your comments show an inherent disrespect for fellow students, a broad acceptance of media hype, and a general sense of self-righteousness that comes across as petty and smug. whether the media is accurate in its portrayal of the events at Duke is inconsequential, you ought to think twice before you so quickly judge those involved and those who support them. ought personal opinion be used as a judge of character? we should be glad that the Duke scandal is being so widely publicized, as it is merely a public recognition of a nation-wide problem; this is by no means an isolated incident. the Duke administration took the right steps in instigating an investigation and suspending the lacrosse program, but let us not crucify these men and their supporters based on public speculation and opinion. it is a heavy thing to accuse somebody of sexual assault; and it is for precisely this reason that the presumption of innocence exists. i hope, mr. seal, that in the future you will choose your words more carefully and present a critical argument based on fact and reason rather than resorting to personal attacks. slander and libel get us nowhere.
Save me your faux sanctimoniousness, anonymous. Being principled is not being close-minded—if you are so "open-minded" that you can't look at a group like the Duke lax team, with a collective rap sheet longer than their collective dick length, and call them thugs, then you simply have no mind. Presumption of innocence is fine, but there is actual legal evidence that a very large part of the team is, in fact, a band of hooligans. I'm not making this up--there are actual legal records that show a history of misconduct. So it's not slander, or libel, it's the truth. I have not called them rapists, I have not said definitively that I think they're guilty, and even if I did, it has no legal weight and is completely licit. I am saying that the records that many of the Duke laxers actually possess compare favorably with outright thugs, and that the support of these lax thugs by Dartmouth students is repellant to me. That's not being close-minded, that's having actual standards of right and wrong.
ReplyDelete"if you are so "open-minded" that you can't look at a group like the Duke lax team, with a collective rap sheet longer than their collective dick length, and call them thugs, then you simply have no mind."
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that this controversy had to be stirred up by a Dbag blogger such as yourself. The creation of a facebook group in no way implies that the members of the group, or even the creator himself, support Duke's Lacrosse Team. I almost feel bad for posting this because it gives you something else to whine about, most likely distracting you from a riveting game of Magic: The Gathering. Keep up the good work and eat a fat one.
Patrick Jones
I've never played magic: the gathering, but if you'd like to teach me a thing or two about d-baggery, I'm sure you'd be eminently qualified.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, "Magic: The Gathering"? Where do you dumbasses pull these insults from? Is there like a Phi Delt guide to how to make a lame and nonsensical put-down?
Dude You are a VGB and your arguements are inane, you should definitely take a 151 punch to the face you mogger. Mogger mogger mogger. Seal you Sideways vag, grow a pair and play a sport fool. A man's sport if you get what i'm saying, you tool.
ReplyDeleteYou ask, "Seriously, "Magic: The Gathering"? Where do you dumbasses pull these insults from?"
ReplyDeleteYou ascribe huge importance to insignificant things, like stupid facebook groups. You obsess fanatically about the marginal gains of your competitors. You devote almost 40% of your waking hours trying to win battles that will have no effect on anyone. You inflate the petty struggles of your life to literary status, claiming for example that you channel Jane Austen when talking to females.
I think you'd be a perfect candidate for Magic: The Gathering. Get involved.
More importantly, you're intellectually dishonest. You've insinuated, slandered, really, a College-recognized organization. In a cowardly, roundabout way, you hoped to imply that Phi Delt supports felons, rapists, scum--and is made up of these people. There is absolutely no connection between the facebook organization and the real organization. If, on a blog, you assert that an organization is in favor of rape or other illegal behavior, you paint a lot of people with a broad brush. It's also libelous. No matter how emotionally charged about a topic you are, no matter what prejudices you have, you can't play fast and easy with the facts. I think an apology from you is in order.
Amy I agree that the wordage used to describe the stripper is offensive. It should also be noted that this was posted in the second group, and not the one that I was apart of.
ReplyDeleteanonymous (the last),
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that I have asserted is that these groups support the team, a statement which is based on the actual text of the group's description: "We got this." I have not once stated that these groups are premised on supporting the action itself of rape. I have stated that because of the creation of these groups, the members thereof have associated themselves with the accused. This is also true: they have voluntarily formed a group for the support of the accused, or in defiance of the accusers. This is an act of association.
Similarly, multiple members of this group have also voluntarily associated themselves with Phi Delt, and I merely pointed out that a very large portion of the group belonged to Phi Delt. The following comment,
"Way to support one of the biggest collections of dickheads in the country, Phi Delt."
is the only thing that I've said that deviates from this standard in the slightest, and it should have been apparent that I was speaking only of the individuals whom I named immediately afterward, and not all of Phi Delt, but I now recognize that it may have not been clear that this was my intention.
But I see no reason why pointing out that a stunning proportion of the group is a part of Phi Delt is an any way intellectually dishonest. It is literally true.
A girl I know has a blog
ReplyDeletehttp://wonderlandornot.net
where she had started out posting about the Duke lacrosse fiasco under a post called, rape culture, way back. She continued to post on it periodically. After a few more than obscene, and some threatening, emails many of which hailed from duke and some gross comments she had to make her comments register only.
Duke supporters have their rights of course but those guys seriously have some issues going on. Maybe psychological counseling after this is all over will help.
1.5 years later this post still makes me laugh. People sure spend a lot of time caring about silly things.
ReplyDeletePeter D