Duke Lacrosse Team Rape Scandal

Aside from being an absolute shame, this case was one of the biggest wastes of time and money ever. I don't remember whether or not the accuser was charged with perjury?

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that both the prosecutor and the media didn't give these guys a fair shake.

It's funny how many of the right-wing opinions incline toward dismissing the story as irrelevant. The fact remains that despite the team's proven innocence and prosecutor Nifong's irresponsible behavior, this was a HUGE story for college sports, and one of the very few that made an impact outside the world of sports. It shook up the Duke professoriat and has, whether deserved or not, left a stain on the school that will take decades to repair. It told us much more about college athletics than all of Tom Wolfe's massive I Am Charlotte Simmons did: that athletes even in marginal sports regard themselves as kings on campus, and like to use their privilege on things like hiring strippers who have to actually, um, work to pay for their education. This isn't actually new information, but the melodrama involved made the story natural fodder for the media.

The DA needs to be held accountable for his irresponsible handling of this case. He seems to have forgotten the term "innocent until proven guilty". He also seems to have forgotten the creed that most college-educated folks know "consider the source of your information".

Big news for all the wrong reasons. Was as much National news as sports news. This is a sad case of what transpires in so-called college towns, where silver-spooned collegians interact with the lower-middle class populace of the city that supports the college. I don't see how any court can devine the truth in this case. Of course ESPN is more than happy to be judge, jury, executioner, and stenographer.

This should be a non-story but because the present gaggle of "jounalists" "working" today are so witless and have chthonic views of the world, this is what we get.

Huge sports story because the story crosses so many social lines. . .for the record, I have my money on 'not guilty' in our office pool. . .

Not just irrelevant . . . TOTALLY irrelevant. In order to be a "sports story" wouldn't it be helpful if there was something associated with sports at the core? A story with no subject, no object, no evidence that ANYTHING happened except that a bunch of arrogant and affluent lacrosse players (gifted athletes all) made some really, really stupid decisions and wound up on national TV, only to realize that they were accused, tried and convicted in an irresponsible national press with so many participants, and NOBODY (not even the DA) checking anything resembling facts. Please, do yourself, and the country, and the media a favor and turn the channel when some nimrod "covers" the latest on this story . . . and make it go away.

Just plain ugly. The guys may or may not have been guilty but they put themselves in a tough spot by hosting/showing up to a party of the sorts. You don't think the worst will happen but when athletes/frat guys get wasted, they sometimes do. The whole thing sucks but hopefully it will make some other college guys across the country smarten up.

This certainly isn't a great story, but it is quickly becoming very significant. The suspension of an NCAA team's season by its own school is a pretty uniqe experience. However, this story is going farther than just sports. The tactic of taking DNA from all 46 white athletes on the team is sure to spark serious legal debate, and the seriousness of the allegations might cause a lot of turmoil at one of America's most prestigious private Universities.