So let me get this straight: The ball players approach the soldier and his wife and start making derogatory racial comments about a white guy being with a black chick.
The soldier let's it slide, so the now disinterested, underage ball players start to leave.
As they are walking outside a friend of the soldier's wife starts "ratcheting" it up (I assume talking smack but it's not clear in reference to whom or what), causing the soldier to run outside where he is knocked-out cold by the ball player who didn't make racial commments.
Oh, and somewhere in this whole thing the football player said that the soldier called him a name white folks aren't supposed to say, causing the uncontrolled action of the ball player's hand up against the soldier's head.
Sure. Makes sense to me.
I take it you live there? Get a copy of the arrest report and post it online.
Let me get it to you straighter (or you could just read what I've already posted without reaching a conclusion before reading it):
4 underage ballplayers go into a bar (they were all suspended for this part). A guy, his wife and several of their friends (at least 3 male, 3 female friends) go into a bar. It is unclear who was in the bar first. One of the ballplayers used to have a relationship with the wife. Words are exchanged - one of the players (not Rudulph) makes racial comments about a white man and a black woman being together. More words are exchanged back and forth. Things get heated. Things subside. The four ballplayers leave the bar. The four ballplayers are getting into their car. The three female friends are incensed that the husband is letting the four ball players "get away with that", egging on the husband and leaving the bar to go out and scream at the four players. (What was screamed is in dispute). The husband comes out of the bar and is spotted by Rudulph (whether Rudulph thought the guy was in pursuit or not is not known - whether the guy said anything at this point is unknown). Rudulph pops the husband (some witnesses say he cold-cocked him, some say not). Husband falls down from the blow and hits his head on the pavement, knocking him cold. In the physical melee the wife is knocked down (it is unclear if she was hit by Rudulph intentionally, accidentally or knocked over by her husband as he falls). Husband is a soldier, but is not in uniform - it is unclear if any of the ballplayers know he is serving in Iraq. The player who made racial comments did not throw a punch. Rudulph threw a punch but said nothing racial. Rudulph is charged with assault, but is not charged with a hate-crime (because he didn't make any racial comments). The player who made racial comments did not punch anybody, so he cannot be charged with assault or a hate-crime. Coach suspends all four players for the biggest game of the year. The brother of one of the suspended players is one of the most highly recruited WRs on the West Coast and has committed to OSU. After the incident and the suspension, brother recinds his commitment.
Now - exactly who is it you want to hang first? And for what?
Some corrections to some of your assumptions:
Using the term soldier - slanted. If he is out of uniform, this information is irrelevant and designed to create an emotional, not a rational response. Like saying the guy's mother was at home fighting cancer and he is paying for her treatment.
Soldier did not let it slide, he exchanged heated words with the players; like any man would.
The players were getting into their car, not merely "walking outside".
It is unknown if the soldier's wife followed the players outside, yelling at them, or if it was only her friends who did this.
The arrest record has not been made public yet - hence, fertile ground for much speculation. I repeat: The arresting officer is said to have confided that the media are blowing it all out of proportion and making the ball players look worse than they deserve.
My point has always been that it's not as cut and dried as everyone is trying to make it appear. You all are eager to jump at the say-so of the MSM (and we all KNOW how truthful they are) and make the assumptions they have lead you to make.....and you all are so easily led to make them.
This is not so much a "racial" incident as it is a man-woman-man incident. It is unlikely that anything would have happened absent the previous relationship between the wife and the player.
The coach has acted honorably, more concerned with doing the right thing than his W-L record. He has acted on information that he is sure of, and withheld further action until police and university investigations are completed.
Exactly what is it you would like done that has not been done? Do you want the coach to act beyond the information at his disposal (act on the reports of the MSM)? Do you want the four players punished without a trial? Do you want the mockery of law called "hate-crime" to be pursued, creating more stupid injustice based on the supposed knowledge of racial motivation? (of course, this would be OK because it would be directed at a black person instead of a white person - right?)