A Story about Stories

As a follow-up to previous commentary, I thought to remark on an incident, the story of Mark Sanchez, the USC quarterback recently arrested due to allegations of sexual assault. He has not yet been subjected to the scrutiny of other professional athletes involved in sex scandals. Contrast this to the Duke lacrosse scandal and query why these incidents are so different.

One reason, I suspect, is that the sports seasons are simply different. The college football season does not begin for several months; it is in that sense irrelevant whether the story is pertient to “sport.” If this occurred during the season, I suspect the reactions would be very different.

Would it be worse for a college quarterback to rape or sexually assault a woman during the football season?

If so, what does that suggest of our regard for college athletics and the crime of rape or sexual assault?

I feel this suggests, as others, a reluctance to view these incidents as an offense against the victim, or even the accused, but rather an offense against ourselves. It is as if our lacrosse season has been jeopardized, as if our football dynasty has been called into question.

Isn’t this, invariably, the wrong response to an alleged crime committed by an athlete? There are no college football games being played right now. In that sense, at least, the story is our own. It is the story of how an individual, of our team, has been socially contrasted. Is it really a question of how they or their accusers fare, or is it simply a question of how we are impacted from the incident? Even if a man is falsely accused of sexual assault—which I do not pre-suppose Mark Sanchez is—isn’t the lens we use to view these debacles indicting? Are not we asking how we were wronged--by asking why our quarterback or lacrosse team was impacted by these accusations?

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