Boise St.’s Byron Hout

According to ESPN.com, Byron Hout, the player that taunted Oregon’s LaGarrett Blount following Boise St.’s 19-8 victory, will not be suspended by Boise St. or the Western Athletic Conference.

Coach Chris Petersen of Boise St. said that Hout’s actions didn’t warrant a suspension. Instead, Petersen has opted for “handling it internally”. Likewise, WAC commissioner Karl Benson said he could not verify what Hout had said to Blount, and therefore further disciplinary action by the WAC was not justified.

This may come as a shock to some college football fans, including those from Oregon. Regardless of what Hout said to Blount, the action of speaking and taunting Blount is absolutely unacceptable (and after a win, no less).

Blount had no justification for punching Hout, no matter what Hout’s actions were. Here’s what I have a problem with: I’ve seen Blount publicly apologize, call Chris Petersen to apologize and call Hout himself to apologize. Where is Hout’s public apology for inciting Blount? Although Hout’s responsibility for the incident is certainly less than Blount’s, I have yet to see him own up to it.

The University of Oregon and the Pac-10 acted quickly in doling out punishment for Blount (although admittedly, the decision to not revoke his scholarship doesn’t seem to match his full year suspension in athletics). In doing so, they’ve shown their no-tolerance policy for such actions on the field.

Since the public hasn’t been told what Hout’s punishment will be, it leaves fans wondering whether or not the discipline will be adequate. Only by taking public disciplinary action, like suspension, in regards to Hout’s actions will the WAC and Boise St. be able to save face.

For now, their “internal discipline” leaves something to be desired.

This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 14:05 by D and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.