Referee says he would have tossed Vick had he seen stomp

[guiseppewv]

Referee says he would have tossed Vick had he seen stomp

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — The referee whose crew didn't see Marcus Vick stomp on the left calf of an opponent in the Gator Bowl said Wednesday that he would have thrown the Virginia Tech quarterback out of the game had he seen the infraction happen.
"We missed that, and I'm sorry we did," Steve Usecheck told the Daily Press of Newport News from his home in Colorado. "You bet I would have thrown his ass out."

Vick did not draw a flag for stomping on the left leg of Louisville All-American Elvis Dumervil late in the second quarter, but the Hokies were still whistled for four personal fouls in the opening half. Another was offset by a call against Louisville.

One of the personal fouls led to the ejection of Hokies cornerback Jimmy Williams, a consensus All-American, after he was caught swinging an arm at linesman Al Green.

The Hokies calmed down after the break, Usecheck said, and rallied to win 35-24.

Usecheck, a regular official in the Big 12 for 22 seasons who has worked 14 bowl games, described Virginia Tech's behavior during a foul-plagued first half as "brutal."

"I was really disappointed. We don't see football like that," he said, adding the Hokies were guilty of late hits and taunting in the half. "Those kids were just completely out of control. ... Louisville wasn't as bad. Virginia Tech was brutal."

Virginia Tech Athletics Director Jim Weaver said Tuesday that Vick's actions during the game were an embarrassment to the university and would be reviewed and assessed.

Coach Frank Beamer did not return a message left at his office Wednesday, and university spokesman Larry Hincker said it wasn't clear when a decision would be made by Beamer, athletics administrators and school president Charles M. Steger.

The incident is the latest in a line of trouble for Vick since he elected to follow his brother, Michael Vick, to Virginia Tech. The elder Vick led the Hokies to the 1999 national championship game and was the No. 1 pick in the 2001 NFL draft by Atlanta.

But his act has proven difficult to follow for Marcus Vick, who played in 11 games as a backup as a freshman, then was suspended from school for all of last season.

First, Vick was arrested, along with teammates Mike Imoh and Brenden Hill, for giving alcohol to 14- and 15-year-old girls. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor.

Vick also later pleaded guilty to reckless driving and no contest to marijuana possession after police stopped him on Interstate 64 near Richmond in July 2004.

The suspension was announced the same day as Vick appeared in a New Kent County courthouse, and Steger at the time made it seem his patience was running short.

"Vick won't play this year and loses that year of eligibility," Steger said that day. "If there is any more trouble, his Virginia Tech career is effectively ended."

Steger was unavailable for comment Wednesday, his office said.

In Vick's absence, the Hokies won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in their first year in the league, then lost 16-13 to No. 3 Auburn in the Sugar Bowl.

Upon his return this season, Vick was jeered by fans at road games, and drew additional negative attention by making an obscene gesture to fans at West Virginia, where he was called names related to his prior transgressions throughout the game.


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/acc/2006-01-04-referee-vick_x.htm

I wonder if their AD will hold true to his word....doubt it. What a classless punk. He elbowed our head coach in the head during WVU's game with vt.

[speedracer120]

I wonder what would happen if the market just dropped for punkass classless athletes like him, Kobe, and what not. I'm sick of having the media even praise bastards like this despite their piss poor attitudes.

[guiseppewv]

For those of you who want to see some of this classless punk's exploits:

http://media.putfile.com/Marcus-Vick-Highlight-2005
http://media.putfile.com/VT-THUG-1

[CornMonkey]

"accident" my butt. college kids like him should be rendered ineligible for the draft...just to make an example out of him. i sure hope he gets caught next time he tries to pull something like this. such b.s.

[RIVERWIDOW]

I wonder what would happen if the market just dropped for punkass classless athletes like him, Kobe, and what not. I'm sick of having the media even praise bastards like this despite their piss poor attitudes.

I still believe that is what happened to Ryan Leaf after the Chargers dropped him. He says he was permanently hurt but I believe no one wanted him after his less than sterling actions in San Diego. Which is exactly what he deserved. If I'm not mistaken even his wife dumped him. :thumbdown

[VTGreg]

Give me a break. Obviously I'm a partial observer, but he should be suspended 2 games to start the season. He had off the field troubles, which is where the comment from the AD came from. I would not be disappointed if he were kicked off the team, but this pails in comparison to his off the field troubles. I don't remember his name, but a Virginia O-lineman took a cheapshot 10 times worse on Kiwanuka's (BC) injured knee during their game this year and got a game suspension and no one even batted an eye.

He should have been thrown out of the game, but the blame should go to the referees. They let the game get out of hand and were an absolute joke.

As far as WVU is concerned, pot, kettle, black. Any team that allows their fans to throw batteries at the opposing team has no argument when there is some retaliation.

[guiseppewv]

As far as WVU is concerned, pot, kettle, black. Any team that allows their fans to throw batteries at the opposing team has no argument when there is some retaliation.

Whatever. :rolleyes: WVU does not allow their fans to do this. I have seen people thrown out for less.

It is pretty apparent to me that you think the referees not the actual punks that were causing the problems are to blame which is a joke.

[VTGreg]

It is pretty apparent to me that you think the referees not the actual punks that were causing the problems are to blame which is a joke.

Would that be because I explicitly stated that? Vick is a loose canon. I agree with that, but the officials allowed that game to get out of hand in the first half. Not sure if you watched the game, but there was all sorts of after the whistle antics and Vick was actually retaliating to Dumervil when he stepped on his leg. Vick's behavior was inexcusable and he should have been kicked out of the game (he should also be suspended at the beginning of next season), but there was a lot of extracurriculars going on.

[molecularfire]

Why would what happens off the field have anything to do with what happens on the field? I have a bad day and I treat my co-workers like cr@p, I'm a bastid, plain and simple. That is his job and he let other stuff get in the way of him doing his job. I mean come on... they are called student atheletes... yeah most of them don't really do a good job with the term student... they should at least try to do a good job with the term athletes.

As for the referees letting the game get out of control... everybody playing the game knows what the rules are. Whether or not other people break the rules and act like a$$clowns doesn't excuse any one person in doing so. The referees job is to see who is breaking the rules and punish them accordingly and yes they missed that one no doubt about it. They are NOT responsible for the actions of the players... they don't control that, they just pick up violators and punish accordingly.

[VTGreg]

The off the field problems were what was at issue with Vick before, that is the source of the AD's comments. His off the field issues have nothing to do with his demeanor or performance on the field.

The officials do have to take some of the blame. They allowed punches and cheap shots and only flagged some of them. That leads to retalitory acts and that is why both teams were a bit out of control in the first half. The second half was a different story because the coaches were able to get their teams back in check at halftime. As I said before, the players are responsible for their actions. However, the officials were responsible for letting the game get to a point where both teams were out of control.

Here is an article written by the head guy at techsideline.com. It attempts to put things in perspective. Interesting read, take it as you will. http://subscr.techsideline.com/news_archive/showArticle-1795.php

[DarkFury]

I would not be disappointed if he were kicked off the team, but this pails in comparison to his off the field troubles.
Heh... I guess he's a "bucket head" then... :eek:

That would pale in comparision to what you were saying above. :heh:



TYPOS (correction: Using the wrong word entirely...) SUCK! :D :heh:

Sorry mang... I'm just pickin' at cha... couldn't help myself on that one :heh:

[VTGreg]

Heh... I guess he's a "bucket head" then... :eek:

That would pale in comparision to what you were saying above. :heh:



TYPOS (correction: Using the wrong word entirely...) SUCK! :D :heh:

Sorry mang... I'm just pickin' at cha... couldn't help myself on that one :heh:

Doh! Guess that VT education didn't do we so much good after all. Between my typo and the Vick incident the university is a disgrace!

[DarkFury]

Doh! Guess that VT education didn't do we so much good after all. Between my typo and the Vick incident the university is a disgrace!
Bwaaaa haa haa haa haa.... :heh:


/me falls over, knocks over the desk lamp... and takes a nap for the rest of the day. :heh:

[guiseppewv]

The second half was a different story because the coaches were able to get their teams back in check at halftime.

Here is an article written by the head guy at techsideline.com. It attempts to put things in perspective. Interesting read, take it as you will. http://subscr.techsideline.com/news_archive/showArticle-1795.php


It was pretty weak that the vt article linked to in your post had to dig back to 1977

Kermit Washington punching Rudy Tomjanovich in a 1977 NBA game (admittedly a basketball example, and one of the most infamous of all time).
to try and justify Ron New Mexico's actions on the field during the Gator Bowl. The article also tries to say that the media is painting all of VT's football program as a bunch of thugs. The article also tried to explain to all of the readers how football is a violent sport, blah, blah, blah.

Later in the article the author calls out 2 incidents that Vick committed on the field that were bad: 1) The "stomp" and 2) the finger that was given to WVU's fans. Worse than those two was the elbow that he threw to one of the WVU coaches as Vick (LINK (http://media.putfile.com/Marcus-Vick-Highlight-2005)) was walking back inbounds well after the play was over. FYI: He hit the coach in the back of the head.

I also thought this paragraph was out of line:
Meanwhile, head Gator Bowl referee Steve Usecheck inexplicably decided to shoot his mouth off about Virginia Tech, Marcus Vick, and the conduct of Hokie players in the game. Usecheck's comments were incredibly unprofessional, to the point of being bizarre and making me wonder if he's got a chemical imbalance or a brain tumor (neither of which is a laughing matter, and I'm not kidding; Usecheck did a shoddy, inconsistent job of officiating the game, and then he went off in the press, making me wonder if there's something medically wrong with him).
I personally do not think what he said was out of line. He was probably upset that he did not see "the stomp" and he probably thought that the players we so far out of line that something needed to be said publically to address the issue. The author goes on to say that the officiating was shoddy and inconsistant but never backs it up with any examples. :shrug:

If, what Vick did (i.e. the stomp) was an isolated incident then fine it wouldn't be that big of a deal but it is not. He has committed other flagrant fouls in the past, both on and off the field.

I do applaud the author for calling out Beamer for not disciplining his athletes b/c he has grown too close to them. Acting sorta like a grandfather towards them. This started to happen to WVU toward the end of Don Nehlen's (WVU's previous head coach) head coaching tenure but it never reached the degree that it has currently at VT.

[molecularfire]

Here is an article written by the head guy at techsideline.com. It attempts to put things in perspective. Interesting read, take it as you will. http://subscr.techsideline.com/news_archive/showArticle-1795.php
Interesting read. Thanks for the link. Overall, I agreed with most of what he said although one thing that didn't make sense to me was his criticizing the administration at VT (which I agree with) for not being strict enough in metting out punishments to reel in players and then at the end sayings that punishing Vick wouldn't change anything? I thought what he had been saying in the article was that the administration (and professional/college sports in general) should be punishing people more to prevent it from getting to this stage. If you punish someone for their transgressions then others will see that the administration is willing to punish people who get too far out of line and will be less likely to get out of line (or in the very least you would've gotten rid of the worst and/or most careless of the transgressors).

I also disagree with the amount of blame put on the referees. The players have a difficult line to toe with how agressive/emotional they should be but so do the referees. If they call every single infarction then very few plays would get by without a flag. They have to see how agressive both teams are and determine which calls need to be called and which ones need to be ignored in order for the game to have any flow whatsoever. That said, yes they made a mistake and I for one applaude a referee who is willing to admit that he screwed up and missed an intentional malicious act of violence from one player onto another. He basically said that he screwed up and that the screw-up might have affected the outcome of the game.

[VTGreg]

I also disagree with the amount of blame put on the referees. The players have a difficult line to toe with how agressive/emotional they should be but so do the referees. If they call every single infarction then very few plays would get by without a flag. They have to see how agressive both teams are and determine which calls need to be called and which ones need to be ignored in order for the game to have any flow whatsoever. That said, yes they made a mistake and I for one applaude a referee who is willing to admit that he screwed up and missed an intentional malicious act of violence from one player onto another. He basically said that he screwed up and that the screw-up might have affected the outcome of the game.

I don't have a problem with him saying that he missed a call. I do have a problem with his seemingly very emotional response. His officiating crew did a poor job and the result was a loss of control of the game, which the two headcoaches were able to regain at halftime.

[KIISQueen]

Marcus Vick was dismissed from the team Friday, the result of numerous legal transgressions and his unsportsmanlike conduct in the Gator Bowl.

University president Charles Steger announced the dismissal on the same day that coach Frank Beamer met with Vick and his mother in their Hampton Roads home, the school said. Beamer informed them of the decision during the meeting.

Vick, the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, was suspended from school in 2004 for several legal problems. The junior came under new and intense scrutiny this week after replays showed he stomped on the left calf of Louisville All-American defensive end Elvis Dumervil during the Jan. 2 bowl.

No penalty was called on the play and Vick claimed its was accidental. He further hurt his cause by claiming to have apologized to Dumervil, but the Louisville player said no such apology was ever offered.

On Friday, it was revealed that Vick had been stopped for speeding and driving with a revoked or suspended license in Hampton on Dec. 17. Vick's license had been taken away last year when he was cited for reckless driving and marijuana possession in New Kent County.

Steger suspended Vick from school at that time, and warned that any additional problems would effectively end his time as a member of the Hokies' football team.

"The university provided one last opportunity for Vick to become a citizen of the university and readmitted him in January 2005, with the proviso that any future problems would result in automatic dismissal from the team," Steger said Friday.

Beamer said in a statement that he was disappointed with the outcome.

"I'm very disappointed that this didn't have a better ending," Beamer said in a statement. "We wanted what's best for this football team and Marcus. I certainly wish him the best."

School officials said in a statement that there would be no further comment until a news conference on Saturday. Beamer, Steger and athletic director Jim Weaver, who said the stomping embarrassed the university, were all expected to attend.


hE GOT WHAT HE DESERVED

[guiseppewv]

Thread on Vick being booted from VT:
http://forums.gotapex.com/showthread.php?p=965082

[brainsmile]

I still believe that is what happened to Ryan Leaf after the Chargers dropped him. He says he was permanently hurt but I believe no one wanted him after his less than sterling actions in San Diego. Which is exactly what he deserved. If I'm not mistaken even his wife dumped him. :thumbdown

Yeah she did. She lives a couple blocks from me in my community. Nikki is a great person and her dad is loaded. She dropped Ryan soon after the troubles started becoming regular occurrances.