What Do We Know, What Do We Think?

A Run-Down of the Details of the Saponari Dismissal and the Trivino Suspension

 

After the surprising announcement that the 2010 Terriers would be three players lighter than we expected due to some sketchy, unspecified indiscretions, the logical thing to do is to wonder what in the hell you would have to do to get kicked off of a team that was already desperate for help offensively.

 

Let's go through the things that we know, because we have been told them by the people involved.

 

WE KNOW: Vinny Saponari broke a "drinking rule" earlier this season, as he told the FreeP.  That could mean pretty much anything, since the team rules are so strict on the issue.  The rule states that players cannot consume alcohol on any day of the week except for Saturday nights.  Even then, they are not supposed to be out drinking past a certain time.  We have seen Johnny Curry, Kevin Schaeffer and Sean Sullivan run into trouble when they were jumped by some idiots after a party.  More along the discipline line, Brian McGuirk, Brandon Yip, Boomer Ewing and Dan McGoff were all suspended for a stretch in 2007 for boozing while watching football on a Sunday afternoon.  It's a well known fact that Parker takes drinking very seriously, so it's not surprising that he would punish players for breaking this rule.

 

WE THINK: Vinny Saponari, Vinny Saponari, Corey Trivino and Adam Kraus were all drinking on St. Patty's day.  Well, no shit sherlock.  The only person in this entire city who wasn't drinking was me, because I was at work.  Otherwise, I would have been loaded too.  That's what happens in Boston on St. Patty's day.  People get drunk.  I'm talking men, women and children.  It is pure chaos.  It just may be the best part about living in Boston, and more importantly, about going to college in Boston.  So it would make sense that these guys were doing what everyone else within a 10 mile radius was doing.  The problem with that is that the team was bounced from the playoffs less than 48 hours later.  And they looked pretty bad doing it.  So yeah, Parker would be pissed if his drunken idiot players got drunk, and as a result blew their shot at the NCAA's.

 

WE KNOW: Vinny and Corey made a really dumb parody of an already bad song.  "Party Like a Puckstar" really made it big when Barstool pumped it up earlier this week. 

 

Yeah, the song is stupid, and Parker surely saw it.  He probably said, "What a bunch of idiots I have for a hockey team. "  He probably also said, "That song is a piece of shit."  But we don't know whether he said, "That song is so bad that it makes me want to take this crappy shell of a team I have and make it even worse."

WE THINK: It couldn't have helped their case with Parker.  Everyone knows that Jackie hates stupid behavior, and he presumably hates rap music.  I picture him as more of a classic rock and blues guy.  But I highly, highly doubt that this would be enough to make Parker say, "That's it! That does it!  These guys are toast!"

WE KNOW: Vinny was "late to a bike ride," as he told the Freep.  Being on time to team workouts is a pretty essential part of playing for a team.  And when your team's heart and desire is already being called into question, it doesn't send a good message to your coach when you can't show up to workouts on time.

WE THINK: Parker wants to make a serious example of anybody not dedicated to the team concept.  He publicly called his team out several times over the course of the season, and he repeatedly said his guys simply didn't have the hunger necessary to win.  Had you been late to workouts when the team was rolling to a championship, that would be one thing.  But when the team is struggling, everything is amplified.  And it makes sense that Jackie would want to show his team that he is not messing around. 

WE KNOW: “Over a period of time, there have been cumulative instances in which Victor and Vinny Saponari have displayed conduct unbecoming of a Boston University hockey player,” according to Jack Parker.

WE THINK: These guys did something really, really stupid that Parker would rather the whole world not know about.  Luckily for him, these guys have careers and repuatations to worry about as well, so if something did happen, it's unlikely any of them would come out and reveal it publicly.  The school and team wouldn't want a nasty incident on their record, and neither would the players. 

Let's review.

WE KNOW

1. Vinny got in trouble for breaking a drinking rule
2. Vinny and Corey Trivino made a really shitty rap video that went viral
3. Vinny was late to a bike ride
4. Parker thinks these guys don't represent BU well enough 

WE THINK

1. Vinny, Victor, Corey and some goalie who never plays got drunk on St. Patty's Day
2. Parker doesn't like his players making really shitty rap videos
3. Being late to a bike ride = being made an example of
4. Vinny and the boys did something much worse than we're hearing about right now