Originally posted by Jetstorm
TE, you cannot compare Jaime Lloreda to Tim Pope, and here's why.
Lloreda has had one major incident his whole time at LSU, the fight in practice where he broke Wolfert's jaw. He apologized for it, him and Wolfert made up, and nothing more has been heard out of him since. He was told point blank that his behavior had to improve or he would not be wearing the uniform. And since that incident, he has done nothing to make LSU or Coach Brady ashamed of him. Yes, Jaime has a temper. He does not take crap off anybody. But he is not a thug or the complete screw-up Tim Pope is. Pope was given repeated opportunities by Coach Saban to get his act together and become a real man and a real contributor to the team, and he repeatedly blew it. Finally, he blew one second chance too many and Coach Saban told him to take a hike. Sometimes you've gotta realize you've done your absolute best to help a young man but that he has no interest in helping himself. This was one of those times.
I'm all for being a strict disciplinarian and expecting our Tigers to be A students in the classroom and model citizens in public, as well as excellent athletes on the court. But I do not favor a policy of immediately disposing of an athlete the minute he gets into a jam of some kind. If a player like Lloreda has the potential to be a great player and person but gets involved in something that represents a problem, you work to try to correct that problem and help the young man through that difficult time, hoping he comes out the other end a little older, a little wiser, and a lot better person. You don't coddle him. You don't cover for him. But you DON'T toss him over a single incident. That's just stupid.
If the fight with Wolfert was part of a larger pattern of misbehavior and inability to be a team player, if it was just the latest chapter in a history of violent outbursts, yeah, I'd have put Lloreda on the first plane back to Panama. But it wasn't. It was one thing. It's over, it's done. Everybody has moved on except you.
Discipline, yes. Zero tolerance discipline. Not wise, not fair, not kind, and not realistic. Give the guy a chance, he just might show you something that makes you think he's not so bad.
As for Brady, I'm sticking to what I said earlier, and I am witholding my final judgement on him till the end of the season. But I like where we are right now as a team.
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