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Press Box Dave Reardon |
Local recruit sees
good side of ColoradoThere are two Colorado football programs. One is a gang that has taken over the college campus through intimidation and fear, raping and pillaging at will. The other is a mild-mannered group of perfect young men.
When Jordon Dizon visited Boulder, Colo., he saw the perfect version. He says he didn't encounter any strippers, wild drinking parties or shootings. That's why he has a hard time figuring out why the football program to which he has pledged his allegiance is under siege.
Dizon still looks forward to leaving for Boulder after graduation this spring from Waimea High School. And his mother, Darla Abbatiello -- who accompanied Dizon on his recruiting trip -- still has no reservations about sending him there.
"If there was anything wrong, I would have known," said Abbatiello, adding that in addition to the instincts of a mother, she owns those of the veteran police officer that she is.
It doesn't add up. It is either the greatest cleanup job since Harvey Keitel in "Pulp Fiction," or a whole bunch of people making false accusations.
"Every school has some punks, and it takes just one to give it a bad name. I know it's got a reputation as a party school. But I'm going there to get an education and play football," Dizon said. "This is the biggest overblown thing I can think of. The coaches there are church people. If you swear you get in trouble."
Of course, we're talking about a lot more than a case of potty mouth here. The problems include cries of rape and a suspended head coach pleading ignorance of any misdoing by his players -- except for the on-field ineptitude of a female kicker who happens to be one of the alleged victims.
When all is said and done, there might not be a Colorado football team for Dizon and Campbell's David Veikune.
Dizon is correct in the sense that any time there is a group of 100 young men who play a violent sport, the odds dictate a troublemaker or two.
The best you can hope for is to identify them, and if you can't reform them, get rid of them. Coaches get paid for that as much as they do for winning games -- or they should.
So far interim head coach Brian Cabral, the Saint Louis School grad, has said and done all the right things. This week he is interviewing every Colorado player. He said it is to address the players' concerns, but you can bet Cabral is taking mental notes on possible bad eggs.
It should also be noted that Cabral does not own a perfect record. He was punished by the NCAA for minor recruiting violations in the 1990s.
Now he has his dream job, but with the hope of returning it in two months and still having his former position to return to. He knows a total house-cleaning -- the kind where you throw everything out without even looking -- is possible.
But Cabral said he doesn't have time to worry about his own future. And the former Buffalo linebacker is a believer in the good Colorado.
"Right now I have no recourse other than to control what I can control and don't worry about what I can't. I am totally focused on our players and coaches and what we can do between now and April 30," Cabral said in a phone interview this week. "I have to let Coach Barnett and the university fight the other issues. I know what Gary Barnett is about, and I'm confident I'll be handing this team back to him."
There will be a team to hand back, but the NCAA might have something to say about its future.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Dave Reardon, who covered sports in Hawaii from 1977 to 1998,
moved to the the Gainesville Sun, then returned to
the Star-Bulletin in Jan. 2000.
E-mail him at dreardon@starbulletin.com
