OT: Duke Lacrosse 30 for 30 to Air in March

[Mark Gastineau]

This was the spring semester of my senior year at Duke. Going to be a strange trip down memory lane. Still remember getting an email right before my last final exam saying that the Black Panthers were protesting right off of campus. Crazy to think that it's been 10 years.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2016/01/espn-to-air-30-for-30-on-duke-lacrosse-case-march-13

 

[dbav]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be watching.

 

[HonkeyT]

I still get pissed off.

 

[dukiejay]

I saw this yesterday....looking forward to it.

This 'Where Are They Now' article was published last May, and I can't remember if I linked it here then or not....but I thought I would share today.

http://lostlettermen.com/duke-lacrosse-rape-case-where-are-they-now/

 

[skysdad]

I still get pissed off.

Me too. I hope hey include Mike Nifong. I hope they talk to that slime ball. It would be nice to hear what he says about the whole thing. He's responsible for the whole thing blowing up because of his ambition and greed. You guys know he's are Tar Heel fan don't you. He's may even be Gary-7 or Steat. OFC

 

[kwyjibos13]

I hope EVERYONE is taken to task. KC Johnson/Durham in Wonderland blog and one newspaper dared to poke holes in the narrative early. The sad part, Duke's student's civil rights have been even more taken away since this incident. There are still numerous idiots and Duke and the country learned NOTHING in all this crap.

 

[skysdad]

Sorry, I can't get off this Nifong thing. I hold him responsible for messing up many peoples lives including the falsely accused and the Duke coach. Also Duke employees such as professors who condemned the players , the A.D. who had some issues of his own and even the highest up of people at Duke University at the time. They all gave in before the facts came in. OFC

 

[Hofman19]

I am a Hofstra alum, so I was happy to see Coach Danowski be given the opportunity to show how great a coach he was.

That having been said, I still feel incredibly bad for Pressler. He was the fall guy despite being a real good human being and an excellent coach.

In the end, it worked out pretty well for the student-athletes. The NCAA granting the seniors an extra year paved the way for the first of the national titles.

 

[Laettner]

This story hit like a category 5 hurricane & I recall media members attempting to close Duke University down. K was called out as well before the fabrication of lies were discovered. Alleva handled this poorly, was glad he left for LSU.

 

[Mark Gastineau]

Alleva handled this poorly, was glad he left for LSU.

Alleva was and is such a dolt. Just look at how he handled the Les Miles situation this year. So happy we have Kevin White as our AD.

 

[pisgah101]

Kevin white is awesome. Last year I emailed the Athletic dept(his direct email so it said) and I heard back very quickly. Even if it was a staff member I thought it was cool that I got a response

 

[Divedoc]

This was the spring semester of my senior year at Duke. Going to be a strange trip down memory lane. Still remember getting an email right before my last final exam saying that the Black Panthers were protesting right off of campus. Crazy to think that it's been 10 years.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2016/01/espn-to-air-30-for-30-on-duke-lacrosse-case-march-13

I hope something is said about the Duke administration and faculty supporting this miscarriage of justice.

 

[crazyduke3]

I was pretty young at the time so there is A LOT about this don't know about. Hopeful this 30 for 30 will shed some truth.

Pretty telling that the stripper later on Murdered a man.

 

[timo0402]

I've never read a book as fast as I read "it's not about the truth" Still absolutely infuriates me to this day.

 

[Ioliva]

. They all gave in before the facts came in. OFC

It's a product of the society we live in today. Society has been trained to believe any woman who claims rape without any facts or proof. If you choose to stand by your players or friends before all the facts come up society tells you you are in favor of these types of crimes. I don't blame Duke university for making all the wrong decisions... in this day and age they're forced to act like that. I have a buddy who was accused in texas. In Texas they can prosecute you and YOU WILL LOSE a case based on a simple claim with no proof or evidence. It happened to a buddy of mine... his lawyer told him he had no chance to win so he fled the country.

 

[GAAP_rivals]

My biggest memory was watching Nancy Grace crucify the university and players night after night on TV. I tuned in to watch her first show after the truth was revealed. Unfortunately, she had that night off. Coincidence? I think not.

 

[timo0402]

Still waiting for the "group of 88" to come forward and apologize.

 

[dukiejay]

^ It's not happening.

 

[denniden]

I still get pissed off.

Ditto. Which is why I will not watch one second of this 30 for 30. The amount of people who came out against the lacrosse players and buried them any chance they could was ridiculous. Not too many of them, if any, backtracked at all. All of this was done for political gains. I give coach K all the credit in the world. When so many wanted him to come out against the players he stood his ground and did the correct thing, wait until the facts come out before making judgment.

 

[skysdad]

Mike Nifong was responsible for pushing that first domino by lying and covering up evidence that he knew would clear the team up but he had aspirations of rising in politics. He figured bring down these rich Duke boys and the steps would be easier. Re,]member too that about that time his UNC classmate John Edwards was Al Gore's running mate and if Gore/Edwards had when he may have figured he would have a place in the administration. We see what Edwards turned out to be and it doesn't have anything to do with his political views just his moral ones. Cheating on a dying wife with cancer is about as low as one can get. Congress is full of guys like Edwards in both parties but that's another story. Remember also of heavy hitters like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton coming in with their condemning of the team and once the facts came out they retreated but no apologies. I do realize and understand that if the stripper had never been hired this would have never happened but that's not the point. They were falsely accused and ended up getting railroded. I really would like to hear what Nifong has to say. Always look for him in the Whine and cheese crowd at UNC home games. The sad thing is if you ask an UNC fan who is Mike Nifong they have no idea or just deny that he is "Carolina Family" OFC

 

[dukiejay]

Ditto. Which is why I will not watch one second of this 30 for 30. The amount of people who came out against the lacrosse players and buried them any chance they could was ridiculous. Not too many of them, if any, backtracked at all. All of this was done for political gains. I give coach K all the credit in the world. When so many wanted him to come out against the players he stood his ground and did the correct thing, wait until the facts come out before making judgment.

And remember how bad K was vilified for doing just that? It was sad.

 

[timo0402]

And remember how bad K was vilified for doing just that? It was sad.

Among many other sad things. Was really disappointed in duke as a whole during that time- so many people jumped the gun to be PC it was sickening. The chance was there for them to stick up for their own students or stand by them until the truth had its day. But they panicked, got paranoid and everyone suffered. Really sad to say the least.

"It's not about the truth." That line will forever stick with me about the whole story.

 

[gottagonow]

Yep, I was ashamed of many people during this travesty that put such a black eye on the lacrosse team and the school. If I remember correctly Nifong denied any lying up until the very end. What a lowlife excuse of a human being he is. He and Al Sharpton.

 

[Dad2ze]

My biggest memory was watching Nancy Grace crucify the university and players night after night on TV. I tuned in to watch her first show after the truth was revealed. Unfortunately, she had that night off. Coincidence? I think not.

We were watching the same thing. She is a disgusting human being and will pay one day for her treatment of everyone she interviews

 

[dbav]

I actually use the lacrosse case as a lesson to people. I don't practice criminal law, but my partner does. Most of the time we hear "I would never do that job, defending guilty people". I remind everyone of "innocent until proven guilty" and of these kids that got their lives ruined.

What's always been most amazing to me is that, in my experience, the most adamant supporters of due process are prosecutors. The system has to work, or there is no point having it.

 

[DevilDJ]

Mike Nifong used that case for political gain AND to grind an axe vs the school ( Duke ) that rejected him. Awhile back , I saw 'im in an interview. That disbarred and disgraced scumbag was sittin' around , bearded an' strummin' a guitar STILL claiming "something happened in that bathroom." Can't recall if he gave his opinions on CGM's murder conviction or not. So much of that still angers me. Watchin' that jackazz accepting hugs from kids at NCCU as if he was the great white hope or something....as if he gave 2 sheets about African Americans. The guy was a prosecutor. Lord knows how many men and women of color he sent to jail on some trumped-up bs because they couldn't afford the same quality of legal advice the Duke kids could. Disgusting. Infuriating too was the fact that once it became painfully obvious those kids were innocent , no one wanted to talk about it anymore. I followed that case closely. Heard all manner of anti-Duke commentary on-line , on tv , on the radio , in day-to-day life....wherever. By the time those parents went on 60 Minutes , I couldn't find , see or hear any of the same people who used to go on an' on about it. And Nancy Grace?! To my knowledge she's never stepped up and taken responsibility for the lies she told and the egregiously biased "reporting" she did on the story. And , yeah , the day Roy Cooper handed down the verdict of "innocent?" Nancy took the night off. Gutless turd. Eff her forever. Jon Stewart eviscerated her over it...

 

[denniden]

DevilDJ,

That Jon Stewart video was perfect! What an absolute dope she is.

 

[Dattier]

I have a sliding scale of blame-casting. Nifong is at the top. The media is next. I have a soft spot for some among the 88, I'm afraid. (More on that in a sec.) Mangum herself inspires more disgust and pity than anger for me. She's an idiot and a walking tragedy who would be an anonymous convicted murderer none of us has ever heard of or thought twice about if it wasn't for the people with power and influence who should have known better.

What was forgotten in all the railroading of the players, coach, and program is that the players had a history of pretty awful behavior. They were no choirboys. (Neither are choirboys, for that matter.) It's important to keep that in mind just like it's important to remember that Reuben "the Hurricane" Carter was a career d-bag b/c even d-bags are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If we lose sight of that, we're contributing to the next time someone gets tried in the court of public opinion for their past offenses. Freddy Gray, anyone? These weren't a bunch of Ned Flanderseses accused arbitrarily by some comic book supervillain-turned-stripper. They hired strippers -- specifically requesting Black strippers -- and hurled racial slurs at the mentally ill stripper who showed up loaded and couldn't do her job. None of that is illegal, but those are the very things Nancy Grace and others used to slander them, and if we want to stop it next time, we can't whitewash who they were at the time. In order to avoid being distracted by the sparkly dirt on someone, we have to get used to acknowledging it on others.

And the 88? I know a few. We're not close or anything, but I know them professionally and they're good people. They were wrong. They haven't acknowledged that to the best of my knowledge and that is the bigger wrong. We all want to be sensitive and supportive to crime victims, rape victims perhaps most of all, and they glossed right over the alleged part in much the same way every one of us has leapt to a faulty conclusion on far smaller stages. I'm not pretending to be objective or anything.

 

[DevilDJ]

I have a sliding scale of blame-casting. Nifong is at the top. The media is next.

I'll add Cash Michaels , Wahneema Lubiano , Karla Holloway , Victoria Peterson and Al Sharpton. Al Sharpton?! Yes. He was often unfairly ( and incorrectly ) cited as someone who participated in the persecution of the Duke Lax players. True , he never did. However , he "sat it out" and he did so because he ( correctly ) believed the case vs the players was flimsy at best. For someone who often fights (very publicly! ) for social justice and the wrongly-accused , this case was seemingly tailor-made for the reverend. He passed on the opportunity because why? That's rhetorical , btw. That said , he goes on my list.

Mangum herself inspires more disgust and pity than anger for me. She's an idiot and a walking tragedy who would be an anonymous convicted murderer none of us has ever heard of or thought twice about if it wasn't for the people with power and influence who should have known better.

I agree with this. She was the instrument Nifong used to further his career and attack Duke with.

They hired strippers -- specifically requesting Black strippers --

Not sure about that one....


They requested that the women have specific traits, notably asking for white or Hispanic women...


http://www.bustle.com/articles/2605...-was-8-years-ago-so-where-are-the-accused-now

...and hurled racial slurs at the mentally ill stripper who showed up loaded and couldn't do her job. None of that is illegal, but those are the very things Nancy Grace and others used to slander them, and if we want to stop it next time, we can't whitewash who they were at the time. In order to avoid being distracted by the sparkly dirt on someone, we have to get used to acknowledging it on others.

Unfortunately , this was probably the case ( or close enough ) and reflects extremely poorly on the players. However , being an ******* isn't a jailable offense. Reasonable people can agree or disagree on whether that's unfortunate or not.

 

[Dattier]

Huh. I stand corrected on the specification of race. I could've sworn... Oh, well.

However , being an ******* isn't a jailable offense. Reasonable people can agree or disagree on whether that's unfortunate or not.

If I wasn't clear, I agree 1000% that being a jerk isn't jailable. We forget that, though, if we omit boorish behavior from our narratives about people who aren't guilty of a crime. Speaking from my heart instead of my head, I would say it's unfortunate we can't throw people in jail for that... except speaking from my heart, jail is usually too good for them. Intellectually, I know it's not unfortunate. People should be held accountable for what they do, not what they are.

This is going to be a difficult connection to make with that underlined sentence, so bear with me... about Sharpton. He is for equality and all that, but he's also focused on the people who are most likely to have that denied, and despite a lot of progress, that's still people of color. And just like whitewashing Collin Finnerty's violence and douchiness means we're likely to jump to conclusions about the next guy who is violent and douchy. In reverse, wrt Sharpton, he's fighting for people of color to gain full equality, so chiming in to denounce Mangum is potentially fueling the prejudices that have prevented that, so it would be counterproductive.

 

[Dattier]

I saw this yesterday....looking forward to it.

This 'Where Are They Now' article was published last May, and I can't remember if I linked it here then or not....but I thought I would share today.

http://lostlettermen.com/duke-lacrosse-rape-case-where-are-they-now/

From the article, regarding Reade Seligmann: "He also became involved in the Innocent Project, a nonprofit which seeks to reform the criminal justice system and exonerate the wrongly accused "
I'm glad to hear he followed through on this. He was the one I admired the most through the whole process. I got kind of an entitlement vibe from some others, a how-dare-anyone-do-that-to-ME type thing, but Seligmann was very gracious. I remember him acknowledging that had he not come from an affluent family, the railroading may have worked, and that people w/o such financial means probably did get screwed. That's a great way to use a personal travesty to create something beneficial beyond himself.

 

[DevilDJ]

If I wasn't clear, I agree 1000% that being a jerk isn't jailable. We forget that, though, if we omit boorish behavior from our narratives about people who aren't guilty of a crime. Speaking from my heart instead of my head, I would say it's unfortunate we can't throw people in jail for that... except speaking from my heart, jail is usually too good for them. Intellectually, I know it's not unfortunate. People should be held accountable for what they do, not what they are.

I think we're in agreement here. Any racist , boorish or otherwise offensive comments from those guys was/is reprehensible. Indefensible too. If I implied that I was doing so , it wasn't my intent. At all.

 

[df64]

This in one of the very few times that I was a little disappointed in K. I thought at the time that he could have come out a little stronger against the witch hunt. Not in support of the players, but the innocent until proven process. The actions of many in the administration, faculty, and prosecutor's office were so out of bounds, that someone needed to step up for the coach and LAX players. K was in the unique position to do so. He has so much power/prestige within Duke and is so recognizable in the public that his words would have been powerful. I know it is asking a lot, but he should have called out the Duke faculty, administration, and authorities. Not to say the players were innocent, but that they deserved due process. That since it was already being investigated, the Duke faculty and administration had no business doing what they were doing.

 

[DevilDJ]

This in one of the very few times that I was a little disappointed in K. I thought at the time that he could have come out a little stronger against the witch hunt.

This is EXACTLY what Duke-haters wanted him to do. I see what you're sayin' but he was damned if he did damned if he didn't. He woulda been roundly blasted regardless of what he said.

 

[Divedoc]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll be watching.

Any idea how much money Duke paid out in settlements and attorney fees concerning the law suits that were filed against it ?

 

[dbav]

None whatsoever.

 

[Dad2ze]

Any idea how much money Duke paid out in settlements and attorney fees concerning the law suits that were filed against it ?

Probably less than what Carolina has paid out to cover up the scandal

 

[skysdad]

To this day Nifong still claims something happened in the bathroom. That's BC. He's knows nothing happened in that bathroom other than what usually happens in a bathroom. OFC

 

[DevilDJ]

To this day Nifong still claims something happened in the bathroom. That's BC. He's knows nothing happened in that bathroom other than what usually happens in a bathroom. OFC

Disbarred and disgraced. Persona non grata even to the other tarhole ( Mike Easley ) who appointed him to the position. He might as well double-down on his lie.

 

[Dad2ze]

To this day Nifong still claims something happened in the bathroom. That's BC. He's knows nothing happened in that bathroom other than what usually happens in a bathroom. OFC

Some **** went down but not the kind he is thinking of...