Categories
All Other Sports

The Devils of Durham

Last season, Duke reached the national finals of men’s lacrosse before losing 9-8 to Johns Hopkins.

But the Blue Devils, ascending the national ranks on the strength of six consecutive wins to open the year, won’t be playing for a championship in 2006.   Instead, they face a legal battle that will shape the face and direction of the rest of their lives.

And this game of life is an unmeasurable mark in the scorer’s column.

It’s dominated by:

Race.  

A sporting culture dominated by highfalutin white societal values versus the allegations of a 27-year-old, African-American exotic dancer.

Poverty versus privilege.

$40,000-a-year students versus a welfare-ridden community.

The responsibility of freedom.  

Athletes at the pinnacle of the social totem poll, where the perception of walking a drastically different, higher path influences their affinity for risk-taking behavior.  

Institutional control: cancelling the season’s remainder, accepting the “resignation” of 16-year head coach Mike Pressler and suspending the arrested players, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann until the case is resolved.  

A lack thereof: permitting, in the words of University President Richard Brodhead, a “history of boorish behavior and underage drinking.”

Perception versus reality.  

The Carl Lewis-sized triple jump from a citation for drinking before law permits to rape.

Bishops have called for healing prayers.  Boosters and families of the accused hired Bill Clinton’s former lawyer.  

Duke’s Progressive Alliance went grassroots, posting and handing out leaflets in conjunction with the school’s observance of National Sexual Assault Awareness Week.  

Students and communal citizens have spanned the reactionary spectrum, a pinwheel of demonstrative protests and candle-lit vigils.

And these athletes, more than 40 strong, accused of crimes including sexual assault, rape and kidnapping may soon be proved to have done none of those things.

The first apparent victory for the defense occurred when DNA testing of all the white players (the lone black member of the team was not tested; the accuser specified her attackers were white) returned negative.

Prosecutors quickly hammered home this point: there is no DNA evidence in more than two-thirds (with statistical analysis ranging from 70 to 85 percent) of rape cases.

And with a medical exam that showed signs consistent with sexual assault, they pressed on.

The woman then identified Finnerty and Seligmann with “100 percent clarity” and a third (unnamed) member of the team at “90 percent.”

But recent revelations have given the defense reason for optimism.

Phone records from a taxi cab company, an interview with the driver and bank records may place Seligmann on a time line to his dorm at the time of the alleged attacks.  Verification of the dorm’s identification card reader showed that he checked in at 12:41 a.m.

They believe similar circumstances, including a time line and witnesses will show that Finnerty was at a restaurant at the time of the alleged rape.

And though prosecutors had hoped for a third arrest on Tuesday, District Attorney Mike Nifong said “evidence available at this moment” didn’t permit that.  CNN’s report claimed to have obtained that player’s name from sources closely related to the case but did not release it.

That pause from the top gives rise to the worry that the DA is wary of the possibility they’ve arrested the wrong men.

Swirling reports of the woman being “passed out drunk” when police first encountered her on the night of the party teamed with time-stamped photos from inside the house on that very night that show the dancer was “already injured and obviously impaired” when she arrived give many reason to believe the whole thing may never have happened.

And though no score is being kept in this game, one side stands to lose everything they stand for.

In the commotion of emotion, race, class and communal well-being lies the potential for a tie where both teams are telling the truth and lose together.  

One and the same.  

One reply on “The Devils of Durham”

bravo Very unbiased writing. Great points but I think you could go a bit farther with it. A good piece of writing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *