(HANDS UP, DON’T SHOOT)
A pair of Oregon Ducks players, F Dwayne Benjamin and F Jordan Bell, held their hands at chest level during the playing of “The Star Spangled Banner” prior to last Saturday’s home tilt with Ole Miss, then proceeded to frisk each other during player introductions. While the school’s press & information office failed to make either player available for questions after the game, their head coach, Dana Altman (above), tells the Oregonian’s Tyson Alger he’s not cool with the gesture :
Altman said he didn’t know the two players had planned the demonstration, though said he talked to them about it after.
“I think every player has a right to express their opinion, however I didn’t think that was the time and place for it,” Altman said. “On their own as individuals, they have that right. As part of our basketball team, when you put the Oregon jersey on, it’s a little different. So, I think there’s a time and place for everything. I don’t think that was the appropriate time.”
I’d be fascinated to learn when Altman considers the right time or place to take a public stand against civil rights violations, racial profiling or the indiscriminate use of deadly force. These are the sort of issues far more likely to impact the friends, peers and family members of Benjamin and Bell than say, a white, 56 year old D1 college basketball coach.
Dana Altman is 100 percent right. The players are 100 percent wrong. The players have the right as American citizens to protest. They do not have the right to play basketball for the University of Oregon. Therefore,if they wish to receive the PRIVILEGE of playing basketball for the University of Oregon, they must adhere to the rules prescribed by the coaching staff and athletic department when they are participating in basketball activities. And they must especially adhere to all of those rules and regulations when they are wearing the uniform during an intercollegiate basketball game representing the University of Oregon.
Whomever GC is, you are a DOUCHE.
i realize this may possibly blow the tiny mind of someone who signs their name “WHITE AMERICAN”, but there’s more important things in this world than playing basketball for the fucking University of Oregon. If Altman chooses to toss this duo from his team, he may well possess the power to do so, but it’s something future recruits won’t forget.