Dorial Green-Beckham and a preponderance of peculiarities
A mystery inside a riddle. (Image courtesy: BleacherReport.com)
In reading some of the analysis of Dorial Green-Beckham as a woman-beating thug and Oklahoma as a win-at-all-costs refuge for scumbags, I keep coming back to the same question. Why is Missouri enabling his waiver request when, based on what has been reported, it has absolutely no reason to do so?
Given that he had a couple previous scrapes with the police for marijuana-related issues, I can’t imagine anyone would fault Mizzou for booting DGB after reading the police report that precipitated his dismissal. Yet, in facilitating his waiver request under the “run-off rule,” the school is supporting his efforts to play this year. How are we supposed to reconcile that?
For all the keystrokes spilled on this, I haven’t seen many entertain the possibility that the events didn’t go down as they were portrayed in media reports. The police narrative of what happened that night and the following day is filled with troubling details, including the assertion by the alleged victim that she didn’t want to press charges for fear of media scrutiny and the community's response. But it’s also missing the voice of the crimes’ alleged perpetrator.
The absence of criminal charges related to the incident means that we probably won’t get any more insight into the case from the police in Columbia, and I can’t imagine anyone at Mizzou would want to talk about its investigation. It absolutely merits a rolling of the eyes from any objective party if you’re blinded enough by fan loyalty to argue that means DGB was blameless in this case.
However, in light of the issues plaguing the Mizzou athletic department at the time and subsequent decisions made by the school, we should at least acknowledge the possibility that the school’s administration dismissed first and asked questions later. And maybe this is Gary Pinkel’s way of trying to make things right with a former player.
That doesn't necessarily mean OU is doing the right thing or that DGB deserves to play right away. But all the inconsistencies seem to indicate that there's more at the center of the story than we know. It might be worth reserving judgment just a little bit longer.