Ereck Plancher discussions

[TyBull]

orlandosentinel.com/sports/orl-whitley0308nov03,0,812892.column

OrlandoSentinel.com

COMMENTARY East Carolina 13, UCF 10, OT

Long day for Knights ends with clash vs. East Carolina

David Whitley

SPORTS COMMENTARY

November 3, 2008

Outside the lines, UCF took a beating Sunday morning. Inside the lines, things didn't go much better Sunday night.

By the time ESPN's trucks finally pulled away, you almost felt sorry for the school. If only it hadn't brought such a double-whammy on itself.

It lost to East Carolina 13-10 in overtime thanks largely to self-inflicted wounds. It was blown out by Outside the Lines thanks largely to the same thing.

Schools usually crave such attention by the Worldwide Leader. All UCF can do is hope millions of Americans didn't pay their cable bills last month and no longer get ESPN.

If they do, Sunday left them with more questions than answers. Like who will be UCF's quarterback next week? Is a five-win season out of reach? And why isn't this Whitley guy from East Carolina a Heisman favorite?

Those pale in comparison to the issues re-raised about Ereck Plancher's death on Outside the Lines. The main one being: Did school negligence contribute to his death?

The show didn't have a lot we didn't already know other than an on-camera interview with former player James Jamison. But no matter how many times you may have read their words, it's different when you actually see sobbing parents talk about their dead son.

"They never tell us really how he died," said Enock Plancher, Ereck's father. "They only tell us he collapsed and died. That's all they tell us."

It was not the stuff recruiting videos are made of. Millions of potential viewers who don't know where UCF is can now identify it as the school that "ran a player to death."

Those were Jamison's words. Judge them for what they're worth, and many at UCF will judge them worthless. They want to move on, even if it means focusing on a season that has completely derailed.

Sunday was typical. Lead 10-0 at half, do nothing afterward. Give up 135 yards to Norman Whitley (He has the dreadlocks; I don't). Throw an interception to start OT. Hello 2-6.

The only real surprise was Michael Greco was back at quarterback instead of Rob Calabrese. George O'Leary had indicated Calabrese was his man, but we long ago stopped expecting straight answers at UCF. It's never a good sign when the pre-game press releases include a statement like this:

"In the past, coaches and staff have spoken repeatedly and openly about the workout," Athletic Director Keith Tribble said. "Anyone else with information has been encouraged to do the same."

The workout in question was the final one for Plancher, whose family moved from Haiti. You could count the open discussions coaches have had on one hand. And UCF didn't even start interviewing players until more than a month after Plancher's death.

Then there's the mystery over why UCF, knowing Plancher had sickle-cell trait, ignored precautions recommended by a national trainers association.

The Outside the Lines correspondent was Mark Fainaru-Wada. He co-wrote Game of Shadows, the book that definitively exposed Barry Bonds as a steroid freak. UCF apologists can say he's just a sensationalist out to harm their school.

Welcome to the club, Mark.

"Haitians are animals, not human . . . These animals think of the U.S. not as the land of opportunity but as the land of the lawsuit."

So went a posting on the Sentinel's Web site. I trust the vast majority of UCF fans don't reflect that idiot's views.

I don't know whether the school did anything wrong that day. I do know every Nixonian move since makes it appear it has something to hide.

If fans were looking for football relief, they got it. Unfortunately, it was mostly comic.

Inside or outside the lines, it doesn't get much worse than this. And UCF has no one to blame but itself.

David Whitley can be reached at dwhitley@orlandosentinel.com.

The second photo did not appear in all final copies.

Copyright © 2008, Orlando Sentinel

[crambone]

wow.  More nails in O'Liar's coffin.

[tbbulls]

wow this story just keeps getting worse by the day

[Economics_Nerd82]

Wow, KL.  I hope it makes you feel better that UCF will only have to pay $200,000.

Yeah, UCF did a lot wrong : It is a very, very sad situation, but UCF followed protocol in every sense of the word.  At most UCF mishandled the response after the incident.  We all want what is best for EP, so should you Bulls. That is all.*

Perhaps the training staff and GOL should have thought that before he died.

[Who'sYourData?]

Egads.  That line about Haitians makes me sick.

[SANJAY]

I just saw the OTL segment.  Wow.  Leaving aside Jamison and any credibility issues he may have, the sickle-cell test and the apparent failure of the training staff to step in is pretty damning.  If the training staff did step in, and if they did follow the proper protocol ucf has done a poor job of conveying that to the public and especially ereck's family.

If in fact a lawsuit is filed this will get very ugly.

[Who'sYourData?]

No doubt the lawsuit will be filed.  I think they are still in the required waiting period.

[Who'sYourData?]

http://thebullspen.com/index.php?topic=50185.0

[USFMikeB]

Once the case is filed, ucIF will settle out of court before anything evidentiary becomes a matter of public record.  The last thing they want is anything that shows their negligence to be available publicly...

[UCFChad]

Once the case is filed, ucIF will settle out of court before anything evidentiary becomes a matter of public record.  The last thing they want is anything that shows their negligence to be available publicly...

Do you boys also think O.J. was innocent back in '94?