Two Bulls basketball players accused of not paying $29 Village Inn bill

[TikiBull]

This is going to be more than just a mere flap, jack.  There's no room to waffle here - the program has egg on it's face.  Somone had better come in a save the bacon for these guys, or their respective futures with USF are toast.  These athletes need to wake up and smell the coffee - and its going to take grit and determination to solve this feeling of entitlement that many athletes display every day.  Hopefully, these guys can put this behind them, and turn on the juice at practice.  Let's just hope they are not cereal offenders.

[IncrediBULL]

The best punishment for these guys would be for Heath to make them stay behind as the team heads to Brazil.

I wouldn't go that far, but if I were Coach Heath, I would call the manager of the Village Inn and have both Fitzpatrick and Burwell work two or three nights in the dish pit.  Pays off their meal, punishes them for their actions, and teaches them what they could be doing the rest of their life if they throw it away by doing something stupid.

how about heath pays and these guys dont get punished anymore

they have been punished enough

Sorry Smazza, but they have not.  As a business owner who is trying to keep the lights on during these tough times, I cannot disagree more with you.  What they did was steal.  It was only $29 you feel, but that $29 was to pay for the food, the prep, the waitress, the lights, mortgage, and maintenance.  These two should lose their free ride, which to me now is another theft, since they do not appreciate my hard earned money that is supporting their asses for 4+ years. 

The fact is they were unlucky in their eyes that two cops were sitting there and witnessed it.  My thoughts further on this is they probably gave the cops some lip when they were stopped and that is why they got the free ride and souvenir pictures.  They get meals paid by us on campus, if they do not have $30 in their pocket go eat at the commissary.

sure they should lose scholarship worth over 70k for a 29 dollar tab

hahahahahaha

you sir have no sense of fairness

They won't lose the scholly so don't worry about it.

But tehy should be punished.

People have choices in life.  They make decisions.  These guys committed a crime.  That was stupid adn they need to pay for it. 

I never dine and dash, and never have.  I know the difference between right and wrong.

[bulldad10]

The best punishment for these guys would be for Heath to make them stay behind as the team heads to Brazil.

I wouldn't go that far, but if I were Coach Heath, I would call the manager of the Village Inn and have both Fitzpatrick and Burwell work two or three nights in the dish pit.  Pays off their meal, punishes them for their actions, and teaches them what they could be doing the rest of their life if they throw it away by doing something stupid.

how about heath pays and these guys dont get punished anymore

they have been punished enough

Sorry Smazza, but they have not.  As a business owner who is trying to keep the lights on during these tough times, I cannot disagree more with you.  What they did was steal.  It was only $29 you feel, but that $29 was to pay for the food, the prep, the waitress, the lights, mortgage, and maintenance.  These two should lose their free ride, which to me now is another theft, since they do not appreciate my hard earned money that is supporting their asses for 4+ years. 

The fact is they were unlucky in their eyes that two cops were sitting there and witnessed it.  My thoughts further on this is they probably gave the cops some lip when they were stopped and that is why they got the free ride and souvenir pictures.  They get meals paid by us on campus, if they do not have $30 in their pocket go eat at the commissary.

If Heath paid, I believe that would be an NCAA violation.  Who do you think would be the first to scream for Heath's head?

[TikiBull]

The administration has scrambled to come up with a solution, and they are fried at this point.  One thing is for sure, this won't be over easy - these guys had better be walking on egg shells from here on out.  Coach Heath is a hard boiled type of guy, who won't just be looking at the sunny side of things.  One more misstep, and they are poached!

[AndytheBull]

The administration has scrambled to come up with a solution, and they are fried at this point.  One thing is for sure, this won't be over easy - these guys had better be walking on egg shells from here on out.  Coach Heath is a hard boiled type of guy, who won't just be looking at the sunny side of things.  One more misstep, and they are poached!

;D

[CousinRicky]

The administration has scrambled to come up with a solution, and they are fried at this point.  One thing is for sure, this won't be over easy - these guys had better be walking on egg shells from here on out.  Coach Heath is a hard boiled type of guy, who won't just be looking at the sunny side of things.  One more misstep, and they are poached!

Eggsactly.

[Bull Dozer]

The administration has scrambled to come up with a solution, and they are fried at this point.  One thing is for sure, this won't be over easy - these guys had better be walking on egg shells from here on out.  Coach Heath is a hard boiled type of guy, who won't just be looking at the sunny side of things.  One more misstep, and they are poached!

Gritty analysis

[Boomer]

This one's tough for me.  After graduating high school, me and some friends decided to dine and dash.  It wasn't because we were strapped for money, it was just a stupid decision made on a moment where the excitement outweighed the wrong in what we were doing.  Had I got caught and arrested, it may have ruined my chance of getting into the military program I had applied to, which allowed me to later afford to go to USF, get my degree, meet my wife, and become what I would classify myself as a very law-abiding citizen, community volunteer, and a general all-around good guy.

So can we just give everyone a free pass to dash out of a dinner bill or shoplift a small item or two?  No.  But I just hate to think the punishment may be something that ruins someone's future over just a dumb decision that wasn't a huge deal.

I'm not a judge but maybe they pay the restaurant $100, or $1,000.  When people park without paying a meter in hopes they don't get caught - they're fined an amount well over what it would have cost to have done it legally.  Maybe something like this is the punishment for these kids.

This one is definately not as easy as pie (Okay, I had to keep the play on words going since I love their french silk pie).

[Guest nybullsfan]

Scholarship players are role models. Little kids look up to them, and want to BE them.

They should be living proof that 'proper' behavior (athletic, academic, AND societal) is preferable to delinquent/gangsta/hood behavior. Sweeping an incident like this under the carpet simply reinforces copycat negative behavior/attitudes in observers (Off topic, but it's the same reason I support penalties for excessive celebrations, players need to act like they're team members, not selfish children).

IMO, regardless of what the courts decide, the school needs to make a public example of them. Very strong public apologies followed by repeated and very visible 'sentence' of community service / restitution. I agree with the parking meter analogy, the 'time' needs to be 10 times the 'crime', in order to deter others.

[BDYZR]

Hey Smazza, if someone pays you $100,000.00 to prosecute these two, what would your answer be?

If someone walks into your house and steals something, it's ok?