Issue brings questions, not answers

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© St. Petersburg Times
published May 21, 2002

Action.

It's easy to admire people of action, fist-slamming, bud-nipping, bull's-horns grabbing sort of people. These are people who do not put off problems until tomorrow. They are quick. They are decisive. They are strong.

The administrators at Northside Christian are not, however, people of action.

Patience.

It's easy to admire people with patience, calm-voiced, even-tempered, think-this-thing-out sort of people. These are people who do not act rashly. They are rational. They are cautious. They are wise.

The administrators at Northside Christian are not, however, people of patience.

This is the confusing element to the dismissal of a great athlete from a local high school. It has left the school looking neither strong nor wise. It has left the school looking too slow and too quick, indecisive and unjust, confused and confusing.

Why was Lastings Milledge kicked out of Northside Christian?

And why now?

At this point, neither answer seems clear. According to Tony Milledge, Lastings' father, his son has been under investigation for inappropriate behavior with a minor girl since October, a charge the Milledges deny. It is a terrible accusation, but keep this in mind. Milledge has not been found guilty. He has not, in fact, been charged.

What he has been is expelled.

Now that the baseball season is over with, of course.

The timing stinks. That's the big mystery to the Milledge case.

Why now, with only a few days remaining in the school year? Why now, when the competition is over and there are no more trophies to be won? There is much to be suspicious of, and that goes for the administrators as well as the school.

If you run a high school, or an athletic program, there are two ways to act when you learn one of your students has been accused of wrongdoing. One is to act quickly, firmly and let lawyers sort it out. Suspend the student immediately. The other is to plead patience, withstand the protests and wait for due process.

Neither decision feels great to everyone. But you have to make one. You cannot have it both ways.

To suspend Milledge in May was too late for decisive and too fast for patience. It was seven months after the accusation, and yet it was still before the investigation was concluded.

Can someone -- other than principal Larry Webster, who didn't return two calls on Monday -- please explain why May 18 was the magic date on the calendar? Why the school had to wait that long, and why it could not possibly wait any longer?

Could it be because, by waiting until May 18, Northside Christian got every possible at-bat out of Milledge?

Could it be because, by not waiting until summer, the school acted as if it was stern and by-the-book all along?

From this angle, it's hard to tell. But suddenly, everyone involved looks a little shady. And that's the shame. Northside should be basking in the glow of a state runner-up finish. Instead, as soon as the dirt has been knocked from the cleats, Milledge was gone.

Kind of a coincidence, don't you think?

Around the county, people are asking this: Why wouldn't Northside want a player of Milledge's ability to return? The answer reflects harshly on Milledge. If Northside is pulling its support of the kid, what should the rest of us think? Frankly, the school could have done better. It could have at least been neutral.

By nature, I'm a quick-justice kind of guy. I don't think sports are a right for students, and the very moment one -- high school or college -- is charged with a felony, I think he or she should be suspended from the team. I think it should be a rule of the FHSAA and the NCAA, and everyone should just have to deal with it.

To repeat, however, the kid hasn't been charged with anything. So you're going to punish him anyway? Does that make sense? What if it were your kid?

Here's an idea. Given that the school waited seven months, and an entire baseball season, why not wait a little longer? Why not see if the state attorney's office filed charges? If so, why not wait until the end of the school year and inform Tony Milledge it would probably be in his son's best interest to transfer, quickly and quietly?

My suspicion is Northside wanted everything Milledge could give on the field. So it waited.

My suspicion is that Northside then wanted to look strong and disciplined. So it didn't wait.

Again, the timing was the real mystery here. Northside was slow when it could have been fast, fast when it should have been slow, weak when it should have been strong and decisive when it should have been patient.

As for Lastings Milledge?

He either deserved harsher punishment or none at all.

The rest of us will wait for the courts before we decide.

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