Lagarrette Blount: New Symbol of Bad Sportsmanship?

In the first big college football game of the 2009 season, PAC-10 powerhouse Oregon played BCS wannabe Boise State before a national television audience on that irritating-to-the-eyes blue turf field in Boise. While the big story should have been BSU's trouncing of a contender for the PAC-10 title (for the second straight year, no less), the post-game incident between Oregon running back Lagarrette Blount and BSU linebacker Byron Hout was "the headline." If you have just emerged from a coma or a hangover and don't know what happened, listen to this:

As the teams mingled at the center of the field after the game, Hout slapped Blount on the shoulder pads and said something to him, smirking as he did. While it is not known what words were spoken by Hout, the video depicts a BSU assistant coach (who evidently heard the comment) trying to grab Hout and pull him away. However, before he could get Hout out of range, Blount caught Hout on the chin/cheek with a right cross, knocking Hout to his knees. The bedlam that erupted thereafter is unimportant for this blog. What is important to me is the lack of sportsmanship displayed by BOTH Hout and Blount, and how their respective coaches reacted.

Oregon suspended Blount for the rest of the season. Shocking -- at least to me --- is that Hout's coach said he would not take any action against his player, whose bad sportmanship was the catalyst for the punch. Although a BSU assistant heard what he said to Blount and immediately knew it was likely to provoke an undesireable response, BSU will keep him on the field.

It may have been a better message sent to middle schoolers and high schoolers to kick Blount off the team, and suspend Hout for the season.

Football is a game played with passion and emotion. As a player myself, and in watching practices and games my son participated in at Virginia Tech, I know that one of the keys to a successful performance on the field is to "let it all out" -- that is, psyche yourself into a very high emotional state to compete at your highest level. All football players do this, especially at the college level and up. 

However, one has to be able to turn off those emotions quickly. Once the play on the field is over, there must be a cooling off. "Good sportsmanship" means not only accepting defeat gracefully, but not gloating or "trash talking" a defeated opponent. Suspending Hout will get this message across.