Stop and think before you condemn Fields

Don’t judge Levance Fields.

Don’t jump on that bandwagon. Don’t leave your classmate out to… Don’t judge Levance Fields.

Don’t jump on that bandwagon. Don’t leave your classmate out to dry.

On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ron Cook asserted that Pitt basketball coach Jamie Dixon had to act swiftly and decisively. In his column, Cook wrote that Dixon is taking the right approach in waiting for all the facts to come out in Fields’ case, but once everything clears up, Dixon should send Fields on his way.

Well, Cook doesn’t go to Pitt. And it sounds like he isn’t taking his own advice. Maybe he and others should wait, too.

I’ll admit it looks bad. I read the police affidavit. I read the stories in the Post-Gazette and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I watched the ESPN report.

I saw it all. It’s hard not to ride the tidal wave crashing over Dixon, Fields and the entire Pitt men’s basketball program and say Fields should wash away.

But wait a minute.

Breathe.

Remember that Fields is 20. He is a 20-year-old kid. He hasn’t done anything wrong in his two-plus years at Pitt, so why jump to conclusions now?

Athletes are public figures at Pitt and every other major college and university in this country. In many cases, they are the faces of the schools they attend.

They are expected to maintain academic standards while competing at the highest national levels or angry alumni call for their heads.

They are expected to act like adults while the knuckleheads around them get drunk and do stupid things.

They are expected to act like the professionals who we pay so much to see play each year.

Wait a minute.

Breathe.

That’s a lot for a kid. I can’t even make meals without threatening to blow up my apartment. Putting that kind of pressure on a 20-year-old kid is unfair and extremely difficult for those kids to deal with.

Imagine having each answer on your engineering exam worth thousands of dollars. Imagine having an alumnus sitting 10 feet away from you while you take a mid-term. Imagine having people like Cook writing columns about your last homework assignment, shredding your name to bits.

Imagine that. It’s scary, isn’t it?

In the midst of all of this, one thing remains true. Fields is a college student. Fields is a kid, just like you, your roommate and the kid sitting next to you in psychology.

And until every little detail comes out and Fields gets a chance to defend himself, you shouldn’t judge him.

If you see him on the street, tell him his classmates are with him through and through.

After all, loyalty starts on the court, and if Fields has never let you down in the past, why let him down now?

Let’s get to the rapid fire:

A headline on ESPN.com asks, “Is OJ Simpson now a victim of his past?” Uh, ya think?

Senioritis is real.

Gene Upshaw’s plea to Congress to help enhance and improve disability claims for former NFL players is the right thing to do. Too many former players are dying young or are damaged for life. In the world’s most damaging game, there has to be some kind of help for those guys after their career.

To this day, Josh Gibson is the greatest catcher in baseball history.

TRIVIA: I’ll give you a hearty pat on the back, Roc, if you can tell me what former Pitt goalkeeper starts for the English national team in the Women’s World Cup?

Monday night, the Patriots proved that tape or no tape they are hands down the team to beat in the NFL.

No, Derek Anderson will not put up similar numbers ever again. One game does not erase the fact that he is terrible.

TRIVIA ANSWER: Rachel Brown, who minded the nets for Pitt from 2000 to 2001, got the nod for the Brits against Germany last Friday and against Argentina on Monday.

Greg Oden might be down, but he isn’t out. Don’t forget the stellar freshman season at Ohio State that he put together despite injuries.

I still wish LeSean McCoy could be on my fantasy team.

I’d play McCoy at quarterback.

I love September and October baseball, don’t you?

Contact Jeff Greer at jag59@pitt.edu.