There are a couple of things that set this incident apart from the normal "in trouble with the law" matters. First, these two people were living together, and have a child together. They are having problems, and apparently Oliver was returning his child to her mother as they had arranged, which tells you that not only that he has a child, but he is attached to her sufficiently to want to have her with him. He had already put his child in her mother's car, so he was not trying to hold the mother up with the child etc. Why didnt she leave? What was going on here? If someone has plans to give the other party hell in that situation usually they will hold the child back to piss off/taunt/provoke the other party, basicly like they are holding possession of the child over the other persons head. She could just as easily scrapped her elbow from her holding onto him so she could tongue lash him some more and he jerked away from her and she fell down as from him hitting her. The information on the police report says she had a bleeding elbow. If Oliver hit her in the face so hard she flew backwards and fell flat on her back she should have substantial bruising at the least. There should have been some witnesses in such a public place. But regardless, these two are obviously in a very emotional situation because they have a child, and obviously Oliver is attached to his child. Then the mother wants to bring up everything she can to make Oliver look as bad as possible, ie, he left the child in the car (well he had given the child to her and put her in HER car), he pushed me in the tub last week, a coach gave me advice I didnt like, stuff that has nothing to do with whether he hit her that day or not. There should have been witnesses in such a public place. There is no excuse for a man hitting a woman, and if he did he is WRONG, PERIOD. NO EXCUSES. But there is a context to this incident, and some of this does not ring real right. Probably about half true like most of this type of stuff. If this is the first time Oliver has had this kind of trouble, and he did hit her, perhaps he should be dismissed. But this is not some gratuitous event, it involves his child, and I am not ready to make a blanket Judgment. The fact that this occurred AFTER he had returned the child and put her in her car seat troubles me. That does not sound like someone spoiling for a fight.
Maybe so, but what do think about the rest of my comments relative to how you think Saban will most likely handle the Oliver situation. From what I have read and know of Saban, I believe I am right.
I sure hope you are wrong! If the charges against Oliver are TRUE, he should be kicked off the team immediately. I'd be extremely shocked and dissappointed if Saban kept him around...
There are certain offenses that require dismissal ... IMO, beating the hell out of a woman qualifies as one of them. Again, if these allegations are TRUE, he should be gone. And I'd be willing to bet your opinion would be different if it was your sister that was beaten.
Just remember 1. We have only heard her side of the story 2. He was not arrested hence no crime was committed. 3. Restraining orders are issued by what one persons said which my not necessarily be true.
If you kick Oliver off the team does that make him a better person or less likely to hit another woman? Everyone complains that if you condone this behavior your program becomes "Thug U". I think your program only sinks to these levels when you let players get away with these actions unchecked by the coach and the judicial system. Saban has an opportunity here to make Oliver a better person to make him understand that this type of behavior is unacceptable. Suspend him for a couple games and make his life in practice hell. Make him do community service at the battered woman’s center or the rape crisis center downtown, but use this opportunity to make Oliver a better person. That way when a recruit’s parents ask about what happened you can say that you used the opportunity to make the young man a better person and you'd do the same for their son. As opposed to saying the behavior was unacceptable so you turned your back on him.
You can make that same argument about any crime committed ... kicking them off the team doesn't stop them from doing it again, but you have to send a message and draw the line somewhere! What types of crime do you consider worthy of dismissal? If someone beat up your sister or mother or wife, would you want such a simple punishment for the offender? Unfortunately, all too many people have your attitude about violence against women...
