West Point Rugby Team Disbanded

[Luigi59]

West Point does the honorable thing and disbands the team for inappropriate conduct by team members.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9337051/west-point-disbands-rugby-team-emails

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The U.S. Military Academy men's rugby team is temporarily disbanded after cadets forwarded emails that were derogatory to women, a West Point spokesman said Monday.

The 60 cadets on the club-level team violated the academy's conduct codes through an email chain that included content that was immature, unprofessional, disrespectful and unacceptable, Lt. Col. Webster Wright said.

"It was locker room trash," said Wright, who would not detail the contents of the emails.

The cadets were required to complete a supervised rehabilitation program. The roughly 15 seniors faced the most severe punishment as leaders on the team, but they were allowed to graduate with the rest of their class last month. Wright said the seniors were busted in rank to cadet private, restricted to post, had privileges taken away and were either marching or going through respect training right up until graduation.

Wright said there were different levels of culpability among the cadets. Under West Point's strict conduct codes, cadets may be disciplined for receiving an improper email and failing to take action.

Wright said the team will be reinstated only after returning cadets show enough progress in their behavior. He said there was no guarantee it will be this year.

The team was not able to compete in the Collegiate Rugby Championship in Philadelphia this past weekend "due to unforeseen circumstances," according to its Facebook page.

The rugby investigation was completed in May just as an Army sergeant at West Point was charged with secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen women at the prestigious military academy, including in a bathroom. That case came amid an embarrassing series of arrests and incidents of sexual misconduct across the military.

The academy says its rugby investigation didn't find any evidence of sexual assault or inappropriate pictures of female cadets.

"As soon as the leadership was made aware of it, they worked very quickly the team was immediately suspended," Wright said.

 

[goaliedad]

West Point does the honorable thing and disbands the team for inappropriate conduct by team members.

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/9337051/west-point-disbands-rugby-team-emails

You wonder though if this is a reaction to the Navy situation and whether they would have the guts to do the same for a varsity team...

That being said, marching all the hours that others party for an entire season would have been a suitable punishment for those Navy cadets who had a presence at the "football house" that all knew was outside the rules, regardless of whether they had anything to do with the situation that occurred.

I haven't been on that other food fight thread, but thought this would be a better launch point to discuss disciplinary issues beyond the alleged crime that took place. Pardon my stretching the topic.

 

[Dixieland]

Wright said the seniors were busted in rank to cadet private,.....

I had wondered why I kept seeing pictures of Firsties at graduation with no rank on their uniforms.

 

[BBallMom]

Seems like a pattern of crackdowns...

Army baseball coach fired after sexual harassment probe
Times Herald-Record
Published: 2:00 AM - 09/25/13
Army baseball coach Joe Sottolano, the Academy's all-time winningest coach, was fired on Tuesday for alleged inappropriate behavior toward a staff member.
Sottolano, a 1986 graduate of Minisink Valley, was terminated following a lengthy and intense in-house investigation. He had been on administrative leave for about a month after a staffer filed a sexual harassment complaint against him.
Associate head coach Matt Reid was named interim coach through the 2014 season. A national search for Sottolano's replacement will begin this spring.
"Due to behavior that does not meet the standards of what we demand of our senior leaders and role models at West Point, we have relieved Joe Sottolano of his duties as head baseball coach," Army athletic director Boo Corrigan said in a release.
Sottolano, 391-286-5 as Army coach, didn't return a phone call seeking comment. He often talked glowingly about the Academy's principles and its standing as an institution larger than any one player or one team. By phone Tuesday, Corrigan offered a similar analogy in reference to Sottolano's dismissal.
"I think that there was a loss of faith in his ability to lead and in what we are looking for out of our senior leaders,'' Corrigan said, stressing that no cadets were involved in any wrongdoing. "We have certain expectations of our senior leadership, and it's something bigger than one individual. It's about West Point and it's about our cadets.''
Corrigan was asked about the effect of Sottolano's dismissal on the program, as well as the negative publicity on the Academy.
"Every program is about the athletes and the cadets,'' Corrigan said. "Specifically, it's about the cadets. They are the ones who are going to leave their marks on the program.''
As for concerns over the negative publicity on the Academy, Corrigan said, "The Academy has been around for 212 years and produced unbelievable leaders for this country. I believe in the Academy and I believe in the leadership at the Academy.''

A fiery player, coach

An intense, fiery player, Sottolano had a stellar scholastic career capped by being named the Varsity845 Player of the Year in 1986. He went on to record a brilliant career as a left-handed pitcher at Ithaca College. Sottolano was named the most outstanding player of the Division III World Series as a sophomore in leading the Bombers to the national title.
Sottolano brought some of that same fire to West Point. He was named Army assistant in 1992 and promoted to head coach in 2000 after then head coach Dan Roberts was arrested for operating a vehicle under the influence on post. Roberts was fired in March 2000.
Sottolano proceeded to build Army's top high-profile program. This spring he led the Black Knights to their seventh NCAA tournament berth. Army also went to the tourney in 1997, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2012.
Yet Sottolano resisted the urge to leave for a higher-profile, better-paying job. In fact, he said last year that he had never even formally interviewed for another job. Sottolano figured he would never find a better fit, a disciplinarian with an intense, almost maniacal, passion for the game, his foundation based around mutual respect and following direction at an institution that preaches character.
And he got to do it an hour from his hometown.
Sottolano did a masterful job turning Army into a perennial Patriot League contender. He might have done his best work this past season after the Black Knights got off to a slow start. Army won 18 of 23 games, including eight straight, to win the Patriot tournament title and qualify for the NCAA tourney. The Black Knights (29-23), seeded last in the tourney, swept Navy and Holy Cross in best-of-three semifinal and final series.
Corrigan characterized Sottolano as "passionate about coaching. You know, fiery. He had great passion for what he did, for what he does.
"He's a remarkable coach,'' Corrigan said. "I think it's a tough day for everyone involved. But we have to do what we think is right for the Academy.''
Sottolano was put on administrative leave about a month ago after the complaint. Army opened fall practice on Sept. 3 without Sottolano.
kgleason@th-record.com;

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130925/SPORTS36/309250327/-1/SPORTS

I have been a big fan of Sottolano's, even though he is an old-fashioned kind of "guy's guy" and could use pretty salty language. It does make me wonder if we are getting too PC about personal conduct. It's despicable to be filming naked cadets, but foul language is a different thing. That being said I have no knowledge of any details on this case. Only thing I would observe is that the USA Today and ESPN are stating that no criminal charges were involved. Such a sad end to such a stunning run at Army and even sadder for his family.