Tom Penders: Officially loony

I'm getting pretty annoyed with some of the comments I've heard in various places about this incident.

My attitude can be summed up as follows:

1) Guy is face up on floor, foot is in air over face, foot comes down without causing any injury, much less a serious one. If there was intent to injure someone, Buddinger would at least have a broken nose, and maybe he would need to have his jaw wired.

2) High fiving at the bench area was beyond disgusting.

3) Penders is an ***, was an *** with his actions upon being removed from his job in Austin, was an *** while coaching at UT, and is just generally a mediocre coach and an ***.

4) Penders is right about the tape being doctored to show some field of vision extending to Buddinger on the floor.

5) Penders was defending his player from exaggerations of the act, which was OK, but he should have the sense to know that all he really did by making a public statement was give the controversy a little more duration.

6) This thing, like so many other incidents in sports, gets more discussion than it deserves because it's so much easier to have an opinion about what someone must be thinking than to have an educated analysis of actual game activities and strategies.

Worst thing I've heard about the incident was on radio in Corpus Christi. Morning sports talk show host was going on a rant about what a disgusting and intentional act it was for the Houston player to "stomp" on Buddinger's face. When he was told by a caller that there seemed to be less evidence of an intent to injure in than was shown by Gerald Henderson breaking Hansbrough's nose, he responded by saying it was perfectly fine to break Hansbrough's nose, because that was Tyler Hansbrough, and anyone who breaks Tyler Hansbrough's nose was all right by him.

That guy lost a listener.
 
2) High fiving at the bench area was beyond disgusting.

This is terribly misrepresented in the ESPN video. If you only see this video, the impression is that Aubrey was immediately tossed and he and his teamates are celebrating/congratulating on the bench. This is not what happened.

Initially, the call on the floor was charge on Coleman, then technical on Budinger for getting up and going after AC, because the refs didn't see AC step on Budinger.

The refs stop the game to review the play on the monitor. This takes about five minutes during which both teams are off the floor and at their benches. Coleman and his teamates are just standing there talking to the coaches, as if in a regular timeout. Then they call the coaches together and inform them that there is still a T on Budinger, but there is also a flagrant foul on Coleman and he is kicked out. This is where the ESPN video cuts to, showing reserve Nic Mosely and Coleman (smiling) slapping hands. But they weren't celebrating, Mosely was just telling AC don't worry, we got your back, we'll hold on and win (which they did not obviously). It was just support for a teammate who had been ejected on a controversial incident, one that he has steadfastly maintained was unintentional.

If you knew Aubrey, and what kind of quality kid he is (quiet, polite, humble), you would be compelled to give him the benefit of the doubt and take him at his word, just like Tom Penders has.
 
He intentionally stepped on Buddinger. That much is obvious. Whether or not he meant to step on his head is up for debate. I think he let him emotions get the better of him, did something stupid, and then acted like he didn't know he was there. Buddinger drew the charge and fell to the ground at his feet, how do you not know someone is under you in that situation? And where was the remorse after the incident? There was none.
 
What kind of remorse could he show? The second it happened Budinger was up on him trying to take a swing (understandable when you think you were intentionally stomped, even though you weren't).

They were separated (Coleman made no aggressive move and looked bewildered that Budinger was trying to get at him). Then the teams were sent to the bench until it was sorted out. Coleman had zero opportunity to make a "remorseful" gesture.
 
Sorry, but there's no way it wasn't intentional.

Aubrey Coleman is too good of an athlete to accidentally step directly onto something in his path that he knows is there. That takes an uncoordinated klutz.

Furthermore, Coleman's right foot, if Buddinger's face wasn't there, would have come down maybe 4 inches in front of his left foot. This isn't his natural stride. Have you ever seen anyone try to step over anything by putting their foot right next to their other foot after lifting their leg to get over the object? No. Coleman's actions were clearly designed to step on something, not over it.
 
The argument of him never looking down just proves my assertion. If you stumble like he did over the guy's head, you would naturally look down. He intentionally keeps his gaze ahead with this totally affected innocent look of "la-di-da, just going for a stroll, nothing to see here" look.

I might even be willing to grant that he was just trying to step right next to his head and not actually step on him. That makes it no less of a classless move.
 
Intentional without a doubt.

he takes 2-3 normal steps....then lifts his foot to step down on his head. His other foot actually hits his shoulder.

If he didn't know he was there he wouldn't have raised his foot to "step on or over" Budinger

Coleman=dirtbag.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Weekly Prediction Contest

* Predict HORNS-AGGIES *
Sat, Nov 30 • 6:30 PM on ABC

Recent Threads

Prediction Results Threads

2024 Schedules

Back
Top