Ricky,
Feeling uncomfortable and being murdered/shot/stabbed are two different things. If there were a string of violent crimes and murders at University Mall, I would certainly hope the community, USF included, would speak out on the issue and the need to improve things. I would also hope that USF would have the safety and best interests of its student body in mind and would issue a safety notice/warning/advisory.
If you are taking issue with "banning" players from Ybor, I can understand that to a certain degree. Taggart was speaking emotionally and was put on the spot during a telephone interview. The perfect answer would have been that he was going to use this as a painful and powerful teaching moment for his players and advise them on making smart decisions as to where they go, who they associate with, and how they react to certain situations. However, I completely understand the emotion and passion that came into play.
The perfect answer for Harlan would have been much different than how it appears he handled the situation. Likewise, Gonzmart could have approached it in a better manner than tweeting his displeasure on social media. He is too connected to USF athletics and has too much power to stoop to that level. If you have a problem in your family you solve it within your family, not publicly.
Ultimately, I hope this is something that serves as a learning moment for ALL parties involved; players, staff, coaches, ADs, and donors. I also hope it blows over and doesn't remain a story or distraction any longer than today. We have a pretty **** big football game coming up on Saturday that I want us to win!
University Mall is a dump but we aren't talking about Ybor on a Sunday afternoon. We are talking about Ybor on a Thurs, Fri, Sat night at 1am-4am. If Taggart would have just been specific about the time of night with this then it wouldn't be an issue. But it was a press conference, spur of the moment with an emotional topic just hours after he learned one of his former players (who he saw that day) was killed.