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Posted by: fscpd907

Race Should Not Be An Issue In Wiggins Incident



By: Our Opinion

Posted: 2/6/08

It is one thing for a basketball player to bring attention to himself and the team by receiving an infraction for possessing alcohol while underage. It is another to be issued a court summons for driving with a suspended license. It is unacceptable for this same person to claim he felt racially discriminated against by police officers while in a clear violation of the law.

After serving a two-game suspension and passing a school-administered drug test, Doug Wiggins returned to the court Saturday, where he told the Hartford Courant he believed he was treated unfairly by four white UConn police officers and said his status on the basketball team was used as a form of intimidation.

Wiggins, who, according to the Courant, had failed two drug tests in his UConn career, told the newspaper he did not think it was fair that he was forced to take a drug test, despite the fact that police found marijuana at the scene, and that it is university policy to administer drug tests to student athletes when there is probable cause.

The university is completely justified in wanting to know what influences athletes are subjecting themselves to - especially considering the university is providing them with support and a free education. The only jobs they have in return are to represent the university in a positive light on and off the playing field.

Wiggins told the Courant that he has had several encounters with UConn police. In the report he said,"officers have since grown increasingly confrontational with him." Maybe the officers would be less confrontational if they did not have several encounters with him.

Police found Wiggins and Jerome Dyson in possession of a bottle of cognac and a bottle of vodka in a parked car off King Hill Road in Storrs. While Wiggins thinks this is racially motivated, logic says that this might be because the police officers are tired of having to deal with the same people doing foolish things.

To see student athletes continue to have their names printed in the Police Blotter and receive citations from police is disappointing for members of the student body and surrounding community, who come to games to cheer them on.

Racial discrimination is a reality in America. But when a public figure with multiple run-ins with law enforcement and multiple failed drug tests to claim such, it becomes an impossible sell. This is a gross exploitation of the race card, which is unacceptable. Wiggins should stop calling attention to himself off the court and strive to become the center of attention while on it.

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Posted by: Strideright

Well put!

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Posted by: WaterPistola

+1, I lost rep!

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Posted by: Kilvinsky

The author of this piece is a refreshing breath of air in an overly stuffy media world. The last paragraph is the best part of the whole column.

fscpd, was that from the Courant or the UConn paper?

and what is rep power anyway? I'm so confuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuused.

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Posted by: fscpd907

The UConn paper

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Posted by: Hb13

That was a refreshing read right there. The reason they actually took the side of the police is because they aren't like T&G for example who have anti-police f*ck sticks in there.
That kid should be kicked off the basketball team and expelled make an example out of him.

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Posted by: SPINMASS

When I was at UCONN, i found the PD to be tough, but fair and professional. This was an excellent piece.

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