UMBC suspends five women’s lacrosse players accused of threatening to kill their freshmen teammates
University of Maryland Baltimore County suspended five women from the lacrosse team after they were accused of threatening to maim and “kill” their freshmen teammates, and “take down the coaches,” according to a series of texts obtained by The Baltimore Post-Examiner.
The text messages appeared in a “GroupMe Chat” under “Sophmores rule.” The texts were not sent to the freshmen and were sent only to those who had openly expressed their hate for their freshmen teammates. The Post-Examiner obtained 16 pages of text screenshots. The dates of all the texts are not known, but appear to be recent because some refer to upcoming games that have yet to be played.
In one text, a player asked if she can just threaten the freshmen. That triggered the response from another player, “Can we just kill them?”
To which another replied, “I’ll pitch in.”
Other texts are simply more blunt on how and where they will maim their freshman teammates: “What a bitch. Next time I won’t try and fucking help her out with her ankles you just wait that bitch will have 50 more bruises on her arm than she already has and they will all be from me. I’m so pissed.”
A player discovered the text messages on March 6 and immediately turned it over to the coaches, who gave it to the school authorities. The UMBC administration waited five more days – allowing the players to continue to practice with each other before taking any disciplinary action, according to parents and sources familiar with the athletic program.
Sources identified the girls suspended as sophomores Amber Kovalick, 19, Meghan Milani, 19, and Mackenzie Reese, 19. Brittany Marquess, 20, a junior and Alyssa Semones, 21, a senior also were suspended.
The players were suspended nearly an hour before their Wednesday game against Drexel, but were allowed to sit in the bleachers where parents said they applauded as their freshmen teammates were knocked to the ground. The freshmen led UMBC to victory, beating Drexel, 17 -10, improving the Retrievers’ record to 4-3.
One of the co-head coaches, Tony Giro, refused to attend the Drexel game unless the administration removed the players accused of threatening the freshmen from the team, parents said. Co-head coach Amy Appelt coached the players.
Giro declined comment.
Parents said while they waited for the administration to act, Giro had held non-contact practices and separated the groups to avoid contact. Parents speaking under the condition their name not be used, praised Giro for his efforts, but are frustrated Athletics Director Tim Hall has since decided to separate Giro from the team for an undisclosed amount of time when Giro appeared to be the only one doing anything about the situation. Hall did not return calls for comment.
The parents say the texts appear to be a deliberate effort to try to get Giro fired for playing his first recruiting class over sophomores and upperclassmen.
For Giro’s efforts to protect the team, two of the suspended players refer to Giro as “Hitler Tony,” according to the texts.
The incident comes in the aftermath of other allegations alleged by parents who said at the beginning of the school year, upperclassmen on the team allegedly forced their freshmen colleagues to donate $20 to fund an alcohol party and last year a senior on the team had provided alcohol to her teammates on a bus trip en route to an out of state game. Parents said UMBC let the student off with an apology letter.
It’s unknown why only five were suspended when others took part in the group text chat, including one player who said she wants to “strangle that (freshman) .” The school also could not explain why students who have threatened to kill or maim another student are not expelled per the school’s student conduct policy or even why insubordinate players remain on the team.
UMBC spokesperson Dinah Winnick first said she would look into the situation. But then called back to say the university could not comment because the school is on spring break recess. However, the team continues to practice for its upcoming game. Winnick did say she would look into the allegations and get back to the Post-Examiner at a later date.
(Several hours after this story broke in the Baltimore Post-Examiner, UMBC released the following statement:)
UMBC Statement Update: “Five women’s lacrosse players have been suspended from the team for violation of team rules. The Athletics Director and other University leaders are following all applicable policies and practices as we work to fully understand the situation and support our student athletes,” said Lisa Akchin, Associate VP, Marketing & Public Relations for UMBC.
UMBC Statement Update from Athletics Director Tim Hall issued Monday: “This type of behavior and language from any student is concerning and it doesn’t reflect the community standards at UMBC as an institution,” Hall said. “What we have done for anybody who has reached out is to assure and reassure that we have put the appropriate safety measures in place, because the welfare of our student-athletes is our highest priority.”
Hall also explained the suspension of the five women.
“We wanted to be open-ended to say indefinitely, until we have a better and more comprehensive understanding of the situation,” Hall said. “Situations of this nature need to be looked at very thoroughly and sometimes they can take some time. We won’t sacrifice thoroughness for expediency.”
Hall also said it was his decision to remove Giro from coaching in the Drexel game, sharply contradicting sources that said Giro told Hall to suspend the players or he wouldn’t coach the game.
The Fallston Group, announced late Monday that it had been retained by four of the players “to assist with navigating a very difficult public issue.” It attributed the apology below to Kovalick, Milani, Reese and Semones.
Four of the Five Suspended Players’ Group Statement issued late Monday: “First and foremost, our hurtful, destructive words and tone are absolutely inexcusable on many levels. Our stance was utterly inappropriate and we are deeply sorry to the many we negatively impacted, particularly our hard-working teammates who deserve much better. Words cannot express our sense of regret and disappointment in ourselves. We know that everyone deserves to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect—we let our emotions get the best of us over time and we failed. While repeatedly asked to lend our perspective about the many elements which caused the UMBC women’s lacrosse situation to escalate, we have been, and continue to be, focused on working privately with university leadership to move forward. Our goal is to humbly work through this difficult situation with hopes of achieving an outcome that makes the best long-term sense for all involved. Thank you for respecting our decision to handle this matter internally at this time.”
UMBC Update: Statement issued on Wednesday: Athletics Director Tim Hall has appointed Amy Slade as head coach of the UMBC women’s lacrosse program as of March 17. Tony Giro, who had shared co-head coaching responsibilities with Slade, is now on leave from the university to allow the Retrievers to focus on their upcoming conference season. Slade (formerly Amy Appelt) is in the midst of her third season at the helm of the Retrievers, after spending three campaigns as an assistant coach. She started at UMBC in August of 2009 after an illustrious playing career at the University of Virginia. A four-time All-American with the Cavaliers, Slade won the prestigious Tewaaraton Trophy and led the UVA team to a national championship in 2004. Slade, a native of Garden City, N.Y., was inducted into the Long Island Metropolitan Lacrosse Foundation Hall of Fame last month. The Retrievers (5-3) are preparing for their America East Conference opening game versus Binghamton on Saturday, March 21 with a noon start time at UMBC Stadium.
UMBC Update: Statement issued Thursday : The Post-Examiner requested several interviews with UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski , but he declined. Hrabowski and Provost Philip Rous released the following statement about the women’s lacrosse program:“We want to provide the campus with information about the recent matter involving our women’s lacrosse team. (Our Student Affairs colleagues and others have been managing this matter throughout spring break.)
On March 6, women’s lacrosse coaching staff learned of a troubling situation within the team. Leaders in Athletics and Student Affairs moved quickly to examine the matter, support the students affected, and ensure the safety and well-being of all involved. On March 11, five players were suspended indefinitely from the team for a violation of team rules. Efforts to resolve this complex situation continue.
On March 17, Athletics Director Tim Hall appointed Amy Slade as head coach of our women’s lacrosse program. Tony Giro, who had shared co-head coaching responsibilities with Slade, is on leave from the University. Coach Slade, a four-time all-American and national champion, is now in her third season with the Retrievers, and we are confident in her ability to move the team forward.
In matters of student well-being, our primary focus is always on attending to the needs and rights of students and upholding our community standards of safety, health, respect, and integrity. Support for students, fairness, and applicable laws often limit the details that are appropriate to share with the campus community and the public.
We want to thank everyone who has been supporting our students as we work through this challenging situation. We also want to thank our colleagues, our students and their families, alumni, and friends for all they contribute to the caring, civil, respectful environment we work to build every day at UMBC.”
Update March 18: Brittany Marquess’ suspension has been lifted. The university has allowed her to rejoin the team. She is the player who did not hire a public relations firm, which helped the four others craft an apology letter.
Several of the texts are extremely graphic, violent and sexual in nature. Those texting identify themselves as the same player whose names are listed on the roster. The Post-Examiner decided not to publish images of the texts that identify the victim’s names and the targets of those players whom the others wanted to injure.
Here’s a sampling of some of the texts with the victim’s names redacted.
Amber Kovalick: “Today ****** was about to shoot an 8 meter and I was playing defense on her and I said some shit like oh fuck yeah and I didn’t even remotely try to check her stick, I tried to fucking swipe that bitch’s head off.”
Mackenzie Reese: “I’m only aiming for her fucking shins and then I’ll aim for her ***** fucking hair and head and we all know that head of hers is worthless anyway.”
Alyssa Semones: “And, if and when, we need to kill her.”
Meghan Milani: “Take down the coaches. Kill the freshman.”
Parents of the freshmen and others have been outraged after reading the texts. Supporters of the freshmen sent the Post-Examiner a letter Friday evening demanding justice. The letter is signed, “Seeking Justice.” The following is the unedited letter sent to the Post-Examiner.
“To Whom it May Concern,
We wanted to make sure you were aware of the extreme situation at UMBC concerning the women’s lacrosse team. It is an appalling situation of a jealous older group threatening and carrying out threats of harm against the freshmen class. There are many details and layers to this horrific situation but this all stems from players that were recruited and promised playing time by the former head coach taking out their lack of success on the current coach and “his first recruiting class” the current freshmen.
The only thing as upsetting as the actions of the older players is the actions (rather failed actions) of the UMBC athletic and school admin to protect our girls. They have become so concerned with how the information (chats) got out that they have totally lost focus on the victims. The older players temporarily suspended were even
allowed to come to the game this past Wed against Drexel and cheer when a freshmen was knocked to the ground. They are still at the school and the school has said they CAN’T protect or daughters. Well, yes they could. A dismissal, which is what should have happened, would allow for arresting them if they continue to trespass on UMBC property.
The head coach is the only one showing any concern for these girls safety. He has kept them out of contact at practices which is the only thing he can control. The school officials have not expressed any real concern for the safety of the freshman players.
Attached are messages received between the members of the team who are not freshman. They show the harsh words and violence threatened against the freshman class. They also show their “at all costs” mentality to get the current coach fired.
Please help us and do what you do best, expose this story to the masses so we can get some justice.”
Sincerely,
Seeking Justice
Bryan is an award-winning political journalist who has extensive experience covering Congress and Maryland state government.
His work includes coverage of the election of Donald Trump, the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and attorneys general William Barr and Jeff Sessions-as well as that of the Maryland General Assembly, Gov. Larry Hogan, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan has broken stories involving athletic and sexual assault scandals with the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
His original UMBC investigation gained international attention, was featured in People Magazine and he was interviewed by ABC’s “Good Morning America” and local radio stations. Bryan broke subsequent stories documenting UMBC’s omission of a sexual assault on their daily crime log and a federal investigation related to the university’s handling of an alleged sexual assault.
I love this soul-less boilerplate text pulled directly from the corporate apology manual. Nobody involved had ANY input on this one-size-fits-all apology.
Four of the Five Suspended Players’ Group Statement issued late Monday: “First
and foremost, our hurtful, destructive words and tone are absolutely
inexcusable on many levels. Our stance was utterly inappropriate and we
are deeply sorry to the many we negatively impacted, particularly our
hard-working teammates who deserve much better. Words cannot express our
sense of regret and disappointment in ourselves. We know that everyone
deserves to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect—we let our
emotions get the best of us over time and we failed. While repeatedly
asked to lend our perspective about the many elements which caused the
UMBC women’s lacrosse situation to escalate, we have been, and continue
to be, focused on working privately with university leadership to move
forward. Our goal is to humbly work through this difficult situation
with hopes of achieving an outcome that makes the best long-term sense
for all involved. Thank you for respecting our decision to handle this
matter internally at this time.”
As with any collegiate team scandal, the real individuals who suffer are those that are left in the program after all the dust settles. I get that the situation is a strong debate topic, but instead of pointing fingers and critiquing commenter’s grammar, those that are invested enough to get this deep into the comments should make the effort to support the girls still on the lacrosse team at UMBC. I was an athlete at UMBC and I know that most of these lacrosse girls work ridiculously hard on the field and in the classroom. There are some fantastic young women still on this team that deserve to have a senior season. While I have not met the freshmen of the team, I know that playing at the Division I level requires a great amount of hard work and a first season at the college level is something that most young women who play sports dream of from a very young age. A few teammates made terrible decisions and have now threatened the season of the remaining team members that have worked extremely hard to prepare for this spring. If any girls still on the team read this comment, just know you have people that do want to see you guys succeed through all of this adversity!
I know how very cruel this coaching staff could be. That said, I believe this whole situation could have been avoided if they had heeded the warnings that were given about the back stabbing mean girl mentality of ALOT of these players. Prey on the weaker. Kick the ones that are down. And god forbid someone comes in that has talent!!!! I witnessed it all
Not saying that the removal of a coach is wrong, but what happened to co-coaches? How does one coach take the fall for other coach and these vicious players? Justice hasn’t been served yet. We will see.
The narcissism, lack of intelligence (as clearly shown by their posts here) and infantile behavior of the Soph, Jr and Senior girls on this team does not bode well for future generations. More proof to me this country is in a moral spiral down the toilet. Sad.
Bottom Line: It’s a Womans sports team. Nobody gives a crap.
To Seeking Justice: So how did writing and sending that letter to this rag work out for you and Coach Tony?!
“who here is afraid of 21 year college girls?” You mean 21 year old girls with lacrosse sticks? How about the 18 year old freshmen being targeted?
A bunch of catty chicks picking on Freshman because they’re jealous the Freshman are better than them. They hired a PR firm? Sounds like they’re a bunch of over-privileged wenches at school on Mommy and Daddy’s dime.
Check your stats, leading points 3 upper class players, leading GB is a senior. PR firm to level the playing field of a biased journalist.
Awe….someone’s feelings got hurt by my post. Guess who’s going to have more points than these Sophomores? THE FRESHMAN! The screen shots of the discussions is all that is needed. The media doesn’t even have to write anything.
http://www.umbcretrievers.com/sports/wlax/2014-15/releases/20150318ymkvsx
Great first step, UMBC.
Character counts. The coaches need to recruit and retain student-athletes of character and when they fail to do so, they need to go.
Similarly, the members of the team need to behave with integrity. These 5 women clearly care much more about themselves than the team and have no place on it. They need to walk out the door along with the coaching staff.
Where did you get this info about tony giro being fired???
GOOD BYE TONY GIRO. OFFICIALLY FIRED AS OF TODAY. Best news in awhile
Quite frankly, if they had had any color to them at all, Asian, Native American, Black, Hispanic, they all would have been expelled from school and had criminal charges against them. Now before someone gets angry about the veracity of this statement, think about how much angrier people would have been, and always seem to be if/when the victims were the same but the perpetrators were of different ethnicity…or the victim was your child under these circumstances…..there would be no slap on the wrist so to speak or anything to erase this from their records…because everyone would want justice to be served immediately, no second chances, period. There would be comments about how their upbringing was deteriorating UMBC, and how the school should be more selective in their athletic choices, how these types should just be kept some where, any where but within the confines of an educational facility, because “their kind” are only a detriment to society. If I am wrong, read the news, watch TV and media, as they show half stories and always when there is someone of color, look at the commentary!
Chicks with sticks tryin’ to use them as dicks
so…its gotten awful quiet now that Tony has been fired. Tony got what was coming to him for years!! Karma!! As for the freshmen parents…hope you can live with what you have created…Tony received his karma…yours will come too
Since when did tony giro get fired?
The five girls will get their karma… expelled and will struggle to find a school/team that will take horse-looking hazers. Tony will have no problem finding another job, he is too well respected by the lacrosse community. You and your bandwagon of fuck-ups are not the lacrosse community, you’re has-beens.
HA! I just figured out your email ip address and location in which this was sent. Great info to have.
Said one of the suspended “remorseful”lacrosse players.
This is sad to see. This is just a case of immaturity and a mistake. Has anyone else not ever in their lives sent a mean text about someone else? It’s sad that this is so blown out of proportion. I completely agree that these messages are cruel and wrong, but they should of been addressed between these girls and their parents and the team. Not the media, etc. I bet a lot of parents/society would be horrified at some of the things that are said now a days by their children/young adults with the use of technology, and this is a classic example of that. A text sent in a moment of anger and immaturity shouldn’t ruin young girls lives.
Comments like these only serve to divide the team, not unite it. I thought when a group of people put on the SAME uniform, they’re called a TEAM regardless of what class or year they enrolled in at UMBC at the time. Seems the 5 suspended players should be re-educated of what TEAM is; not freshmen, sophomore, junior or senior but RETREIVERS.
These bitches all got crazy in their eyes. It’s not ok to threaten people, especially team members.
Story picked up by Associated Press. AD Hall acknowledges texts as reason for suspensions and offers more detailed statement. statement. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_LACROSSE_PLAYERS_SUSPENDED?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Bottom line: they threatened these other students. Per UMBC’s code of conduct, they should be expelled. Per the laws in this state, they should be arrested for reckless endangerment at a minimum. Situations like these are not going to stop unless there are real consequences.
I have been following this story since it became public, and the more I read the funnier it gets! I relate these vicious texts to the Oklahoma University frat racists only in that those fools, like these girls who posted the hate, are STUPID. Might I also to tip my hat to the parents who taught their “ladies” not to post anything on the internet they do not want repeated. Job well done.
Cut the bullies…they can play for some community college
There is no place for bullies on ANY team.
truest words
Buzzard umbclax • 20 hours ago
What are these girls 12? They are playing LAX in college. Life is not fair anywhere, a lesson their parents seemed to have failed to teach. Might be that they were raised in a Blue State. They are lucky to playing LAX at that level. The coach’s word and decisions are the law. You don’t like it, you can always leave and give your scholarship to someone that understand how it works. This the Coach is mean, the coach is favoring, the coach is unfair only tells me these older girls are not ready for college LAX or more importantly for the real world after graduation. Are these same parents going to jump in and call their kids boss if the get a bad performance evaluation? Or if a co-worker is promoted instead of their kid? Are the upperclassmen going to threaten the college graduate that performs better than them or their boss is just favoring the college grad because he hired the new kid, but inherited the worker with more experience? Time to WAKE UP kiddies… LIFE IS NOT FAIR!!! Never has been never will be… Just because the current occupant in the WH believes it should be, does not mean it ever will be. Its what you make it. If there is no opportunity for you to star at this school, find a school where there is. Just like if a job does not work out after college, you will have to find one that does. Grow up ladies and act your age before you do even more damage to the most important thing you own, your name and reputation. Before it is too late, if thats not the case already.
Pretty lame reason to “prosecute”…free speech is just that. I’m NOT condoning the comments in any way, but unless those “targeted” players were directly threatened, or those threats were acted upon, it’s nothing but rude comments in a PRIVATE conversation, that was illegally eavesdropped upon. Political Correctness is an Oxymoron.
These upperclassmen should be expelled from the school completely. They are clearly bad seeds. Let them enter the workforce and disappear into mediocrity. This sort of behavior should have consequences.
Clearly these girls were joking. We are in some serious trouble if people can’t make jokes and take out their frustrations. These girls are not vicious, they are not making any serious threats and the world is too damn sensitive if they honestly believe that they were going to carry any of this out. I fear for our future if every single thing is taken this seriously. Obviously, some parents were just upset that a crazy coach, why were clearly playing favorites to the freshman, was going to be suspended and decided to ruin the lives of 19 year olds. Where is the maturity? Could this not have been handled internally? If an article is written every time girls got angry, we will have a lot less people in universities. SHAME on the people who published this.
Talking about “cutting that fucking bitches head off” with a lacrosse stick is not a joke. You are sick for defending them
Thier comedy routine is as bad as their ability to build rapport
“Clearly these girls were joking”. Maybe you can help all of us to understand how you “clearly” know this? “they are not making any serious threats”. I would suggest that talking about killing, maiming, wounding or injuring someone IS serious. The problem here is, you are defending and making excuses for adult women making horrific and frightening threats against their alleged teammates and coach(es). I say alleged because I most certainly would not want any one of the 5 “upperclassmen” on any team that I was part of. If they were “joking” they would not have done it where they thought that no one else would see it. It would have been made in a much more public setting. The point is not whether they meant or intended to carry out these vial threats, it is the fact that they said what they said. This, as you try to downplay, is not some girls that got angry. There is a far deeper issue here and it is deplorable that you are defending these 5 women and negating the feelings that the freshman women are entitled to feel. Obviously the parents of the girls being threatened did not think this was a joke. SHAME on you for attempting to vindicate violent comments in a school setting. Have you not read, seen or heard what has been happening at schools in America?
This is not shocking at all. As a UMBC student who is not an athlete, these girls are bullies to the non-athlete student body. From my interactions with them they (I’m grouping them as a team, but they do have some nice girls) have often been condescending and rude to me because I’m a “NARP.” Not sure why they’re so proud, as they haven’t had success in years. Maybe it you interacted with your student body the way the soccer program does you’d have success and would make the news for things that make the school proud. I’m sure non-athlete students wouldn’t mind if they left and our tuition decreased. SEE YA.
All but a small few are mean. Your comment is mean. You are mean. Obviously you haven’t met any of us. Maybe the mean ones condescending for a reason.
Point proven….wake up lax head
sorry what i meant to say only a few are mean. the majority are super.
This is a prime example of
how the upcoming generation has been hiding behind smart phones and text
messages their entire life – cyberbullying behind their phones without any real
consequences or repercussions because they can be mean without having to see the
other person’s reaction. While a 19 year old girl saying she is going to kill
somebody might be an exaggeration for the “likes” and
“approval” it’s been long overdue that these mean girls be held
accountable for their actions. They should be
immediately kicked off the team for their actions because there is no way to
tell if when they practice if their “bad checks” were malicious or
not. A zero tolerance policy is just that – and how will they ever learn?
Victim blaming in this country is out of control!!! The girl who took the
photos needed justice – a way to prove that she felt fear living her normal
life! Good for her… don’t tell me that if a woman was being raped and sexually abused
by a male and he was texting his buddies about it then she was wrong to steal his phone for her only source
of proof? Was the phone stolen or not? Doesn’t matter!
One of the girls seems to have a violent and troublesome social media history
http://imgur.com/a/RIUJC
Wow, these tweets are disgusting. This girl is seriously disturbed.
That’s amazingly disturbing.
These are strong female role models. They need counseling, not punishment.
It’s not like they are a white male lacrosse team, or some other violent group.
Just finished reading the full comments thread. I have a few random thoughts.
– the five suspended girls lives aren’t “ruined” as some declare. Their collegiate experience and their athletic careers are perhaps ruined, but they can certainly rebound and lead normal lives.
-the poster who pointed out that the whole team was essentially recruited by Tony is on to something, but Berger did have final say on her classes.
-if Tony has a personality that is prone to aggressive behavior, sort of crass, manipulative, etc. then he probably recruits girls that he sees as his type of players…..similar temperament.
-the freshman on this team better be really good because no one is going to want to enter this environment…..good luck recruiting going forward.
–
Wrong. Meet the freshman. Kind, top notch, bright, disciplined and talented. UMBC women’s lax will be blessed to have these freshman as role models. Finally.
Obviously you have not met these girls, they came to the program as entitled, they are mean, vindictive and manipulative!!
haha ok. Let’s get a vote. They came in better, kinder and ready to work hard. Shhhh that’s their secret. Try it you might like it. Looks like it’s paying off for them.
State true words please. They come to the program kinder, better and appreciative. There is not one freshman girl that is even close to what u described. Ask any of the other teams on campus. These girls are loved. Your daughter is looked down on. Upperclassmen can’t handle it. Just be kind!! Is that too much to ask for? It’s as simple as that!
Look at all the basic bitches!
A threat to kill should not be taken lightly, or as a sports euphemism. Ask the police for a protective order. UMBC will have to make the order work. Whoever was in the group exchanging the threatening texts, whether they participated or not, should be expelled.
Finally, no drama & friends really need to learn grammar and spelling skills.
the sophomores and more senior players can’t handle the freshman competition.
sounds like the older players were clearly overrated as high school recruits.
umbc needs to clean house and get rid of these girls.
take away their scholarships and send them home.
can’t handle the competition girls — get your fat butts off the field and make room for those that can.
there is no room for bad sportsmanship on a team.
you made your school, your families look bad and yourselves look worse.
First reaction… these texts were sarcastic I dont feel like they really intended to hurt any of their teammates. But I don’t know any previous instances pertaining to these circumstances.. you just can’t text this kind of threats without the fear of repercussion. Hope everything works out for the best. I have no vested interest in this team or the players.
BTW…
UMBC = University of Bejing China
Shaking my head.. An anonymous email, really? If the anonymous parent was that concerned about their daughter’s well being then why not take it to the school. Why bring your daughter’s team down and put them in a negative spot light? There’s got to be much more to this story.
Gee maybe so the girl wouldn’t be singled out and bullied more? It only took the administration 5 days to act.
I have to be analytical for my profession, so follow this logic. The girls were already suspended, so what was the point of taking this story to a newspaper? The only reason would be to destroy the girl’s reputation and to get them dismissed from the team permanently. Also the article was very biased especially making the coach, Tony Giro look like the hero. So who benefits from this? Obviously one of the freshman. Who would want to protect the reputation of the coach? Someone who has a strong, long term relationship with him. Who would have the screen shots that Sarah Turco took off of someone’s phone?? Of course, one of the freshman. Well the only member of the team that fits all of this criteria is one family. Their oldest daughter, Aja Wallpher, posted the screen shots on FB the other night before it was quickly taken down. The father of this family has been friends with Tony for years. It appears very likely that we have found out the identity of “Seeking Justice”
I guess you’re been clutching at straws trying to find a scapegoat. If it isn’t Turco, it’s Wallpher, right?
This kind of trolling to “out” someone as the leaker is a greater crime than the actual texts.
I call on Disqus to divulge the identity of the poster “losslax” because s/he could be an accessory to a future assault.
I am an alumni of the UMBC lacrosse team. I have a few comments that I would like to share. From my stance I am embarrassed. I find that both parties here have acted in ways that will hinder program growth and keep the lacrosse team stagnant. We have gone from double appearances in the conference championship to a horrid environment where the team cannot even make the conference tournament. It goes to show that team chemistry goes a long way in terms of success.
First, to the girls who wrote those horrendous things about their teammates. If you want to play on the field BE THE BEST PLAYERS ON THE TEAM. As a coach myself, whether you think your coach “likes” you or not doesn’t affect playing time. Coaches want to win and will put the best people on the field. Look outside of yourselves and into the bigger picture of what athletics has to offer. Whether you are sorry or not, you took the weak and easy way out by emotionally and phyisically attacking your teammates. This will affect the rest of your lives. Lose your sense of entitlement and replace it with hard work in the face of adversity.
To the parent that sent an anonymous letter to the paper. The justice you have sought could possibly DESTROY the lacrosse program at UMBC forever. There are other means of seeking justice that DO NOT give the program negative publicity. From a recruiting standpoint I would not be looking at UMBC. My heart goes out to your daughters because it is tough to come in as a younger player, beat out upperclassman for a spot on the field, and get disdain from those they are beating out.
For those who are saying Tony is a saint. You are sadly mistaken. tony has actually been the common denominator in all the problems that have taken place since I have been at UMBC. He began as volunteer assistant coach under Courtney Conner. She was let go. He rallied support for Kelly Berger to become head coach. she did, he became her assistant. I know he was too faced to her because he had said negative things about her to players including me while she was our coach. He again got his foot in the door to boot her out and take the reins himself. My entire 4 years he played teammates off of one another and played players off of the head coach. Saying things like “run like your asshole is on fire” while spitting out dip the entire practice. That being one of the more laid back derogatory comments. He almost got fired last year for having fits of rage. Is it his fault these girls said terrible things ? No. But having a leader who is only out for himself with such an aggressive coaching style hardly fosters a healthy team dynamic.
For the rest of the team who wants to fold the season. Hold your heads high and rally together as one. Look beyond this awful situation. It is now is all of your hands to restore pride back into the program. Show the world that you are fighters of this adversity. Come out on top, restore the team dynamic. Whether the players who are kicked off the team are your friends or not, whether they are sorry or not. Fact is we are in the situation we are in. They were indeed a cancer your team chemistry by handling their disdain for other in the way they did. Move on. Restore faith in UMBC lax.
For those involved. Heal. Learn. Grow. Let this teach you about life.
Tony is not a saint, and has clearly made many mistakes but he is not the common denominator in this problem. The team was dysfunctional years before he was a part of it. If you look at the roster, it is easy to see the common denominator is that almost all of the girls are from Maryland (mostly from Baltimore suburbs). The hostile environment that led to this situation began years before these girls started college, on their club teams and their high school teams. There are a high percentage of girls that get recruited and receive scholarships from this very small area creating an atmosphere of jealousy and hatred from a very early age.
Even though the sport is growing, collegiate players are not a collection of the best athletes in the country by any means. As a whole, they are a collection of disproportionately wealthy girls from Long Island, Philly, and the Mid-Atlantic. Many players, but certainly not all of the players, that choose to attend UMBC are entitled, lazy, and are only interested in being the “star” of the team. Many of the players (as well as their parents) resent the fact that their former high school or club teammates were recruited to play on better teams than they were. Instead of working hard to make their team better, they work to cut their teammates down, on the field or off, so that they can get more playing time and more attention.
I think with out recognizing this atmosphere, that has been present for at least a decade, if not more, it is impossible for anybody to coach this team successfully, despite the level of raw talent they may have on the team. UMBC did well when a few players who were far more intelligent and mature than any of the “adults” involved in the situation stepped up and brought the team together.
Both the men’s and women’s lacrosse organization at UMBC deserve to be shut down unless the school is willing to get rid of everybody involved, hire a sports psychologist (who also has regular meetings with parents), spend more money to hire coaches, and spend more money on the programs in general. Without these changes history will continue to repeat itself and the lacrosse programs will continue to embarrass the school.
From what I have seen myself and heard, the behavior on both teams (parents, coaches, and players) has been absolutely unacceptable for many years. It would be sad to see the program go, but not as sad as it would be to allow these kids to be this out of control without consequences year after year. People have and will continue to get hurt. Unless they can find coaches and an administration that can control the situation, the teams need to be terminated. Or maybe the whole school should just become a satellite campus for Maryland.
Why don’t you hear about girls at Towson sending death threats to freshmen on the news? Look at there roster, they are not all from Maryland. The problem has to start there. If given a second chance, the players and the parents need to learn to leave high school in the past.
While I do agree that sportsmanship is taught an early age, it is unfair to generalize that it is common for Maryland athletes to brought up under a “mean girl” team mentality. My 12yr old niece has played for CYLA program since the first grade. She has been fortunate to stay with the same coaching staff and many of the same players for most of the duration. The girls on team are family to each other. They support and encourage each other and maintain an incredible sense of work ethic and sportsmanship. They look out for the new players and they have each others’ backs! Yes, leadership in coaching makes a huge difference and their wonderful coach deserves all the praise in the world. In the past two years, many of the girls also signed onto play for Maryland United Club team, where again, they have formed new friendships and benefited from what they can learn from more experienced, skilled players. They also experience the life lesson of working with some difficult personalities on their new teams and having to work hard to prove themselves to these new players and coaches.
I acknowledge that my niece has been fortunate. My son has played on teams and sadly experienced the opposite. It happens. Most recreational leagues exist with the support of volunteer coaches. Some coaches are more experienced and knowledgable than others. Some coaches are better leaders and mentors than others. Some coaches excel in bringing individuals together to play as one. The same goes for any volunteer led youth program across the nation. Many criticize, few step up to contribute and make a difference. This is all part of the team learning experience. Team players choose to ignore the drama, focus on what’s important, take care of each other and put in work to overcome adversity.
We Marylanders are proud of our long history in this sport with many of our families having multiple generations of lacrosse players. As these players move up through the generations, many give back to the sport, and the community, by volunteering their time to coach youth programs or work in private clubs and schools. In the early 80’s, only a handful of high schools across the state had enough players to field both a JV and Varsity women’s teams. Today’s youth programs start with 5-6 year olds and include recreational, select, travel and private clubs. Lacrosse has become one of the most competitive and popular sports on the east coast. Maryland Pride!
Well said ~
Alumna & alumnae are the singular/plural of female graduates. (UMBC Ancient Studies major, ’80).
You are an alumnus…alumni is plural and I assume you are only one person.
I don’t think people understand the severity of this situation. These girls lives have been ruined over what? Of course the messages are very explicit and shouldn’t have been said but the fact of the matter is lives and college athletic careers are ruined over this. Not only does this put a target on the UMBC women’s lacrosse program and the university but on college athletics as a whole, nationwide. From personal experience, women collegiate athletes are just as competitive as male athletes if not more. Tensions run high on and off the field whether it be your teammate or your competition. Things were said that should not have been but due to built up anger from many different factors. These girls wouldn’t have just said that one day because they were bored. There is more to the situation then people with bias views know, so I think if you don’t have all the facts then why say anything at all? Yes freshmen shouldn’t be hazed or treated like trash by their teammates BUT they must know where they stand. Everyone has been a freshmen once, whether it be in school or on a team. As for the publishing of this article, it is completely repulsive. This source is not credible and immature, and it has done nothing but ruined the lives of these five girls and have ruined an entire season for the rest of the team.
Seeking Justice, I mean Mr. Wallpher, in the letter you wrote to the examiner, where do you get the idea that this is the coaches “first recruiting class”? Tony and Amy’s only job over the past six years was recruiting players. First with Courtney and then with Berger. Berger left three years ago and the coaches were left with the players they recruited. Of the five girls suspended and the two who quit this year who do you think recruited them, Santa Claus, Tony Giro and Amy did….
Where is the President of the University in all this. Wasn’t he the gentleman on 60 minutes talking about the character of this University? The previous AD and current Athletic Director, Mr. Tim Hall, have a file cabinet full of complaints ranging from abusive physical and verbal behavior from these coaches to personal interviews from parents, administrators, players, and students, begging for morality and leadership on this team. These two administrators should also be held accountable for not having the moral turpitude and strength of character to save these young women from the wrath of immature and unqualified coaches.
When did young ladies turn into such thugs with gang-like mentalities? As a parent of a D1 lacrosse player I have never witnessed any of this type of foul behavior. Must be the culture at UMBC. This whole program should be dismantled. I feel so sorry for these Freshmen girls, not fair to have their college career start out with such awful treatment. Feel very lucky that my daughter as a Freshman had amazing upperclassmen to mentor her and in turn teach her and her classmates how to be good teammates. Good Luck to these five girls. Can’t imagine an employer wanting to hire someone with such low character, nor a nice young man wanting to marry a girl with such a dark evil heart. They have disgraced their family and friends and it’s very sad for them as I don’t know how you bounce back from that. Isn’t it just easier to treat people with kindness?
There seems to be a lot of resentment for the coach who may, or may not, be responsible for the tension amongst team members. This does not excuse how these girls CHOSE to cope with that conflict and foster animosity instead of working together to overcome adversity (like a TEAM). There’s always going to be an unfair, repressive and/or tyrannical boss out there but we are responsible for our own choices and actions and should be held accountable for them. We learn more from our mistakes than from our accomplishments. I feel for all involved and hope this experience will serve as a life lesson to strengthen character and heal the community.
On a side note, any argument regarding how the information became public is moot in today’s society. This generation was raised during the creation of social media, information sharing and cyber-bullying. They know very well how easily private conversations can become public knowledge, available for public scrutiny. Many celebrities, government officials, professional team owners, and corporate executives have served as living examples of the consequences.
I went to high school with one of the girls on the team. It’s a private high school where they really value character, morals, goals, self-worth, treating others the way you would want to be treated, etc. The fact that all of those things means nothing to her is disappointing and makes the school look bad. I can’t even imagine myself participating in this kind of thing. It’s a shame the girls took it to that extreme level of hatred. I feel so bad for the freshmen on this team.
This is atrocious! It is also sad that Lacrosse Magazine & Inside Lacrosse have investigated and reported this incident as well.
cc
The basic penalty range for a terroristic threat conviction is from sixty days to twenty years in prison depending on the severity of the threat. Basic threats are considered misdemeanor More serious threats, like those to kill or cause substantial damage, are punished as felonies which can include up to twenty years in prison. How the threat is communicated or the nature of the victim can also result in the enhancement of a charge to a felony level. Not only are you being kicked out of school, I hope you like blue jumpsuits and talking to mommy and daddy through a glass window. Any judge will adhere to terroristic threats over you saying Sarah Turco stole messages of some girls phone when she was just reporting messages SHE WAS GIVEN TO HER, after all we are in the 21st century terrorism is a serious matter. And to all you parents of the delinquents maybe if you had raised your children right they would know better then to threaten someone’s life.
God I hope ur kid makes a huge mistake like this and then see what you say afterwards. I WILL BE PRAYING
LOL the upper class men are a bunch of losers who can’t hang with the freshman on field.
First off, Just to make things clear Sarah Turco did not steal anyone’s phone, the messages were shown to her by a teammate who was in the group message, so all you pathetic low life girls and parents who keep saying she stole the phone, you are wrong. Your daughters actions are a reflection of their parents. No morals.
UMBC is a member of the NCAA, an organization in which there is no hazing permitted; it is actually worded as a “zero tolerance policy”. It seems as though every sports season, there is a team at some level that faces player dismissals, school expulsions and even season terminations as a result of violating this set of rules. While there are certainly other factors to consider, it appears clear-cut that the situation at UMBC has violated all 3 subtypes of hazing. For those of you unfamiliar with the terminology, hazing is not synonymous wit playful “team initiation”. Per the NCAA rulebook on hazing:
“Subtle Hazing: Behaviors that emphasize a power imbalance between new members and veterans of the group or team. Too often they are mistakenly accepted as “harmless.” Most often they involve ridicule, embarrassment and humiliation, and could even be considered as harassment! Some new members seem to expect such treatment (e.g., name calling, etc.) and endure it for the sake of acceptance!
Harassment Hazing: Behaviors that cause emotional anguish or physical discomfort that puts unnecessary stress upon the victims (e.g., verbal abuse and threats, etc.).
Violent Hazing: Behaviors that have the potential to cause physical and/or emotional harm (e.g., beating, branding, excessive exercise, forced alcohol consumption, etc.)”
My son did not play a sport at a Division 1 program; however, his school was still a member of the NCAA and he watched as his junior season came to an end because of something far less serious than this UMBC situation in terms of hazing. But my son was fearful of his teammates and his coaching staff and athletic department took the appropriate actions in the end in order to protect all athletes. This texting incident is completely independent of the problems players/parents may have with the coach; separate investigations would need to be carried out if the school finds reason to do so.
I know from experience that it is not a fun position to be in, for all parents and players involved. The five players mentioned in this article may be otherwise great young women and for them, it unfortunately may end with them learning the hard way that adults’ actions have repercussions, especially on a college team where players are under a constant watchful eye. I sympathize for all involved and hope for the best outcome possible in a grim-looking situation.
This team has been out of control for years. Payers live in illegal off campus housing and party non-stop. Police have to called regularly to break up fights and handle noise complaints. They are not scholar athletes. They are drunken thugs, threatening to hurt and kill each other. Shut the team down and expel them all. They have been making UMBC look bad in the community for years. It’s too bad it came to this before someone noticed and did something.
AMEN!!!!! Get rid of both lacrosse teams. I have never in my life come across such a dysfunctional group of people.
Brian, what I need to ask you is, how are you okay publishing this story when it is obvious how biased you are. Do you realize that with this article you are potentially ruining 5 girls life’s over a matter you are not involved in. And you are okay with that? An article that only shows one side of the story and for what? Maybe a raise for your $25,000 salary? How can you be okay with that. Secondly, how can a freshmen parent be okay with releasing this to a news station and ruining more then one person’s life? Whoever sent it in, people that know the team more then likely can guess who it is, how do you fall asleep at night? If this was your daughter and she was the one who was being victimized would you be okay with that? I don’t think you would be. If you are going to write an article that has the potential to ruin someone’s life why don’t you get all the facts and both sides of the story? No. You Brian are looking for a story to try and make your career better, with no caring or knowledge of the actual story.
Lastly, this was never an issue that needed to be brought this far. I have a question for the freshmen parent that brought this to attention. What were you trying to accomplish? Did you think writing this letter was going to solve anything? If anything it is making issues worse then they already are. The matter at hand was already being taken care of and now you are adding more fuel to a fire that was almost burned out. So to the freshmen parent that sent this in, I hope you are happy and can live with yourself knowing you potentially ruined 5 girls life’s.
It’s like this, Annoyed Fan. Brian reported a story.
He’s a reporter.
He found information and published it.
It’s what reporters do.
Oh, do you know who John Peter Zenger is?
If you don’t, you’re a sorry example for the American education system.
Famous case from back in the day,don’t hate on the American education system.
The 5 “women” that decided to make threatening comments in a social media setting ruined their own lives. To blame anyone for bringing this information forward is baffling. If you were one of the players being threatened, or one of the player’s parents, would you sit calmly by and believe that “the matter at hand was already being taken care of?”. To blame the reporter for doing his job and educating everyone outside of this debacle is childish. Have there not been enough violent acts at our educational institutions? To insinuate that any of the 5 girls who made demoralizing, threatening and criminal statements against teammates and coaches are being victimized is unjust and simply disgusting. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. These 5 women are about to realize that when you say things that cause others to fear for their safety, there is going to be consequences. By consequences I don’t mean just being suspended and sitting out for a few games.
Interesting you brought up his salary.Typical better than thou attitude -that’s why your kid bullies.
I commend the young player who stepped forward and had the guts to stand up and show what these girls are actually like. I was once part of this lacrosse team and was also victimized. I know first hand how toxic these girls and the entire UMBC Women’s lacrosse environment can be. I agree that it was probably more than just the 5 who received the suspension because thats exactly how MAJORITY of the girls on that team are. This is not a case of “its just how girls are” this is malicious, violent and unacceptable. These girls are jealous and have a hard time accepting that players (younger, same age or even older) have more lacrosse talent. The way they deal with that is childish and I am glad their eyes have been opened and that you can’t just say things as serious as this and not have a consequence. As for Tony Giro, he is only trying to save his job, not keep the girls safe.
I agree with the Tony Giro is only trying to save his job.
Are the parents of these kids that wrote such vitriolic nonsense? Do they think it is ok for their kids to write, discuss, post such hate? After all, they ARE their teammates!
Hating a teammate that happens to be a better player than you and going viral about it???
Wow……who was responsible for that kid’s upbringing? That’s the question we should all be asking….
I want you to step away from the thesaurus and check yourself because this has nothing to do with “hating a teammate that happens to be a better player”. It has to do with a group of frustrated girls who apparently thought the GroupMe was a safe environment to speak openly and release any pent up frustration. They’re in the wrong, they accepted their suspension, they apologized. Thankfully, because they’re smart girls with unfortunately loose lips, no one was physically injured. No threats were carried out.
When are we going to back off and let them get back to playing lacrosse? Whoever sent this to the media, that’s who is to blame for this going viral. We’re the reason it’s spreading like wild fire. When it comes down to it, these girls will forever be scarred by the choices that they made. Can’t we leave it at that? They know the whole story, and as someone who is not involved with the team but is a close friend with more information than Bryan, “the Wonder Journalist”, I think it’s something to let the school carry out. The proper authorities are aware. Similar to Wu-Tang Clan, UMBC W Lax ain’t nothin’ to f*** with.
What a douchebag – you and your WuTang clan.
Stop with your nonsense. To say the freshmen are better is the biggest lie that has been told today. Look at the box score from todays game. Upper classmen account for 9 out of the 12 goals. Stop acting like you know the story and writing for your freshmen daughter because she isnt playing. And no, I am not affliated with the team. I come to games and know what is happening.
I don’t think I referred to “freshman” anywhere in my two paragraphs if you had read it thoroughly. That was a comment as a “whole,” regarding the team. Actually, ANY team.
I’m not picking sides here Loyal “Fan”….I’m merely commenting on why the parents of the kids making the comments think it’s justifiable. There’s a myriad of problems here starting with the coaching, the players, the administration……but most alarmingly, the parents who think it’s ok their kids publish such thoughts. No lesson learned there.
Please refrain from using “stats” in these threads. Do you really think your point would actually be stronger if it were “11 out of 12 goals” or weaker if “6 out of 12 goals”?
The fact is, no one but the Lord “knows the whole story”. Not the freshmen, upperclassman, coaches, parents, writers, administration….no one. However, everyone involved in any way knows if they did anything wrong. Parents should continue to define “class” to their children (and themselves) as “doing the right thing when no one is looking”. Sounds like there is a lack of class throughout this unfortunate story.
It is great if anyone in this story is remorseful and better if they apologized individually to anyone else. I have read that there were apologies “but why keep bringing it up”, or something similar. This has now spread like wildfire but that isn’t such a bad thing for those not involved. With this, kids are reminded that what they say and write can not only be hurtful, but it can destroy a lot of good and hard work some kids have done. Unfortunately, this is one of the sad truths that is playing out here. Maybe, just maybe, because of this, some kid when exposed to something similar, may say, “hey, guys, we are taking this way too far. Let’s get together and try to sort this out but we can not show hate for anyone”.
sorry in advance for typos or mispellings for all those keeping score with this too
Please refrain from using “stats” in these threads. Do you really think your point would actually be stronger if it were “11 out of 12 goals” or weaker if “6 out of 12 goals”?
The fact is, no one but the Lord “knows the whole story”. Not the freshmen, upperclassman, coaches, parents, writers, administration….no one. However, everyone involved in any way knows if they did anything wrong. Parents should continue to define “class” to their children (and themselves) as “doing the right thing when no one is looking”. Sounds like there is a lack of class throughout this unfortunate story.
It is great if anyone in this story is remorseful and better if they apologized individually to anyone else. I have read that there were apologies “but why keep bringing it up”, or something similar. This has now spread like wildfire but that isn’t such a bad thing for those not involved. With this, kids are reminded that what they say and write can not only be hurtful, but it can destroy a lot of good and hard work some kids have done. Unfortunately, this is one of the sad truths that is playing out here. Maybe, just maybe, because of this, some kid when exposed to something similar, may say, “hey, guys, we are taking this way too far. Let’s get together and try to sort this out but we can not show hate for anyone”.
sorry in advance for typos or mispellings for all those keeping score with this too
a team is more than who scores the goal.
First off, Just to make things clear Sarah Turco did not steal anyone’s phone, the messages were shown to her by a teammate who was in the group message, so all you pathetic low life girls and parents who keep saying she stole the phone, you are wrong. Your daughters actions are a reflection of their parents. No morals.
Except she did steal the phone from the teammate’s locker. If that teammate was willingly showing off the messages, she would have taken actual screen shots and sent them to Sarah Turco. Also, that teammate would have been getting herself in trouble by showing the messages willingly, without blackmail or coercion, thus she did steal the messages and the fact that she sent them to someone who posted them is still an invasion of privacy. She would have needed all of the girls permission to post those pictures because they were all in the message. According to Maryland law, regardless of if that one teammate gave permission all of the girls in the message would have had to given permission for the message to be posted on Facebook, like it was by Aja Wallpher, and in this article by Bryan Renbaum. Not one of the girls in that message gave them permission. Reference http://www.blr.com/HR-Employment/HR-Administration/Privacy-in-Maryland#
for the nitty gritty of the laws, sir.
Uh, no. What are you linking to, employment law?
Last I heard, student-athletes are not employees of universities. That indeed is why universities have been fighting tooth-and-nail to not pay football and men’s basketball players. If they are employees, they have to kick in for health care and workman’s compensation.
Whats hilarious is that these girls are trying to make a case out of “how did she get her hand on the messages” and not what the messages say.
These are some sick folks. Expel these losers – there is no excuse for this sort of behavior.
Daddy is frustrated his princess can’t play lacrosse. Waaaa. It doesn’t matter how the messages were found (UMBC is not a court of law). These nasty, ill-mannered, filthy-mouthed women should be thrown off the team. Let them feel entitled to that.
All of these girls threatening to hurt and kill their teammates are lucky that they are not being prosecuted as criminals and Tony put to an end to it before any serious injuries occurred. They are also lucky they are pretty, probably rich, little white girls, or else there may have been very different consequences.
You girls will be thanking Tony and this Turco girl in a few years when you have to get a real job in the real world and don’t have a criminal record!
You had better hope that your conjecture about the alleged “theft” is correct. If not you will be the defendant in a defamation lawsuit and paying for that young lady’s college education and then some. I suggest that you learn to think before you post … Oh, right, that’s how this all started…
“for the nitty gritty of the laws,”
This is one of the worst systemic failures that I have ever personally witnessed. The Coaches, Players and UMBC AD all have a major part in the disintegration of the UMBC Women’s Lacrosse Program. Tony Giro is a man out of control that has exemplified horrific behavior, and has never been fully held to task for his actions. When Kelly Berger was fired (I know, I know, she officially “resigned”), Tony and Amy Slade (Appelt) should have gone out with the bath water. Tony Giro thinks and actually believes that he is a suave, silver tongued devil that can befriend anyone. He does a great job at baiting his hooked mouth, then reeling unsuspecting recruits and parents in. Once inside his domain, he reverts to his ignorant, tyrannical and ego centric ways.
The girls that made these comments, are wrong and need to be disciplined harshly for their words. I have read here that it was “just words” and that they were just venting. I am sorry, but making comments about killing people and bashing their heads in with lacrosse sticks reeks of criminality. If I were the players and parents of the players, I would be marching to the police and demanding that charges be laid. Period. When are we in America going to wake up and stop violence in our educational institutions? Why do we allow such comments to be made, then try to justify them? Is it only after a horrific act that we look at such things and say, “Oh, I guess they meant what they said!”?
Where is the UMBC Athletic Department in all of this unravelling? Why has the team’s season not been ended and a full investigation begun into the antics of Giro AND the suspended players? This cannot be “swept under the carpet!”. Does anyone else not see that there is a much bigger problem here than Giro or the threatening comments made by a few disgruntled and obviously immature women?
There will continue to be parents, family members, and friends trying to justify the actions of the women and blame it all on Giro. There are two equally important partners in these crimes and ALL need to be held accountable. Time will tell…
This is one of the worst systemic failures that I have ever personally witnessed. The Coaches, Players and UMBC AD all have a major part in the disintegration of the UMBC Women’s Lacrosse Program. Tony Giro is a man out of control that has exemplified horrific behavior, and has never been fully held to task for his actions. When Kelly Berger was fired (I know, I know, she officially “resigned”), Tony and Amy Slade (Appelt) should have gone out with the bath water. Tony Giro thinks and actually believes that he is a suave, silver tongued devil that can befriend anyone. He does a great job at baiting his hooked mouth, then reeling unsuspecting recruits and parents in. Once inside his domain, he reverts to his ignorant, tyrannical and ego centric ways.
The girls that made these comments, are wrong and need to be disciplined harshly for their words. I have read here that it was “just words” and that they were just venting. I am sorry, but making comments about killing people and bashing their heads in with lacrosse sticks reeks of criminality. If I were the players and parents of the players, I would be marching to the police and demanding that charges be laid. Period. When are we in America going to wake up and stop violence in our educational institutions? Why do we allow such comments to be made, then try to justify them? Is it only after a horrific act that we look at such things and say, “Oh, I guess they meant what they said!”?
Where is the UMBC Athletic Department in all of this unravelling? Why has the team’s season not been ended and a full investigation begun into the antics of Giro AND the suspended players? This cannot be “swept under the carpet!”. Does anyone else not see that there is a much bigger problem here than Giro or the threatening comments made by a few disgruntled and obviously immature women?
There will continue to be parents, family members, and friends trying to justify the actions of the women and blame it all on Giro. There are two equally important partners in these crimes and ALL need to be held accountable. Time will tell…
This absoultely sickens me. What horrific teammates, friends, and girls. This is embarrassing for the whole campus. These girls have made an absolute fool out of themselves. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE TEAMMATES!
“He has a bachelors in political science”
Hey, Alex.
I have a BA in political science, too. And I write about lacrosse. Have done so for a quarter-century.
Question is, what about the FACTS? Bryan hasn’t done anything which reporters don’t do on a daily basis: they report what other people have said.
If you, by your trolling, are trying to engineer what happens on a women’s lacrosse field, my friend, you are out of your core competency.
the responses on this article are disgusting. the ncaa has a zero tolerance policy for coaches AND players. UMBC lacrosse as a whole should lose their eligibility until further notice.
This article is childish
Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by Alyssa Semones
Oh, I forgot that society has regressed and we are all going through puberty and high school once more. This isn’t a replay of Mean Girls, though. It saddens me that adults have stooped to the level of adolescents and have created an atmosphere of immaturity and distaste. Any individual–adult, or child in your case–who would take the time to get to know these girls would know that they are good people. Do good people make mistakes? Yes. But good people also acknowledge their mistakes and make proper amends. These girls have both admitted to their wrongdoings and made genuine apologies to the underclassmen. To those pinning themselves in a war against college kids making mistakes and paying outrageous consequences, I implore you to not only get your facts straight, but to get to know these girls, as well, before commenting on and making assumptions about this situation and ultimately sabotaging the futures of promising young women.
Seriously? These are adults! Not children!
When will “smart people” learn that bad behavior has consequences!
There comes a time that “adults” need to own their actions and take
The punishment that comes their way! This goes for all the players and
The coaching staff!
It may be easiest to shut this thing ” W lax” down completely and clean house
Thoroughly. Hope NCAA has heard enough about this ugly, toxic environment that they step in! Cuz I think we have seen what kind of ethics the athletic dept at this school has
PS. When will people figure out that social media is not always your friend!!
The posters on here that are blaming the freshmen and their parents need to look in the damn mirror. It was not their fault these women chose to be vicious and very bad teammates!! Cheers
You are right they aren’t children but you know what else? Nothing physically happened to the freshman girls. If you honestly think that there was a real plot to kill the coaches and the freshman than you have a major problem with your head. Yeah everyone already agrees that the comments made were over the line but talking about expulsion and removal from the team? You keep saying face the consequences but it’s everyone else’s responsibility to make it a fair punishment to fit the crime which I believe is being done by the multi game suspension and umbc is handling it. This article ruins that because it is the most one sided piece of trash there is.
And one last thing… It wasn’t on social media the chat occurred in a private group chat that the freshman didn’t have access to and the comments had occurred a good amount of time before the freshman even knew about them. And hey fun fact… No harm came to the freshman and guess what! They are still alive!
True, except for the fact that a freshman just recently got a concussion from one of the girls on the group chat. Same girl or probably mom writing words like sucks, f***, get your head out of your ass, etc all over this page! That caliber of person would scare me let alone the girls that have to be on the field next to the likes of her holding a stick and lax ball. Was the concussion an accident? if she were your daughter how would you feel about this whole situation. I feel badly for her and her parents. if I were her I’d feel very desperate about getting a hold of the text messages too.
i do have to say. i am REALLY upset about this article being out there. Not necessary. I agree that everyone makes mistakes and should get a second chance. My concern is who will learn from their second chance?
As someone not on the team but who knows a major amount of the story this whole article is an absolute joke. Regardless of blame yes the individual comments were stupid and a pure lapse of judgement on the part of the girls but at what point do people understand that? I am good friends with every one of the 5 girls and to think that they would actually do physical harm to any of the freshman is flat out stupid. These same girls were there for the freshman through the entire fall and I know a few of them played a major part in some of the freshman staying at umbc when there was talk of Tony being fired. Again the comments made in the chat were way out of line but who in their right mind would actually take this seriously? Every sports team has a chat of their team where things are said in frustration and do cross a line but it stays there and ends there that’s college sports but how are you going to actually think anything is going to happen?
To the parents of the freshman yeah you are upset the conversation and comments were made but let’s be a little reasonable here. Comments were said and the girls already feel terrible enough they are being punished and they know they made a mistake but give them a break nothing happend to your daughters and fun fact… Nothing ever was going to! Now you think it’s okay to release this to a writer who makes an absolute trash article and bring more public shame on the girls that already feel terrible enough as is? Congratulations I hope you are all proud of humiliating a bunch of 18-21 year old girls for a mistake that they made.
And about this article… This is absolute sh**. This is a smear article and none of it is based off actual fact except for the quotes which I agree were wrong to say. Take a quote and put it out of context of corse it sounds worse than it is. Knowing every girl personally anyone who actually thinks that they would actually go out of their way to hurt a teammate needs their head checked. They love this team and no matter what they would be there for each other.
The last question I leave you with… How many people have said “I’m gonna kill you” or some sort of joking threat like that to their friends. I am willing to bet almost all of you but did you actually do it? NO so understand that this was all a huge mistake on the girls part but to publicly shame them like this and to push for expulsion from school? Time to grow up and make the punishment match the crime
I realize that being an English major does not automatically make you aware of the CRIME that has been committed here! These girls are all over the legal age. Threats are threats! You can not pick and choose whether or not you want to be an adult. Must learn where the line is and what happens when you cross it! Just for curiosity sake…what happens if (God forbid) someone acted on one of these threats, and no one had been brave enough to bring it to light? I guess we would just call it another school massacre in the USofA. Punishment is definitely warranted in the situation? Has anyone contacted police?
So under your premis if I were to say an empty threat in a comment right now I should be punished by the full weight of the legal system even though I have no clue who you are? Because I am over the legal age as well.
But did you actually read what I wrote? I already agreed the comments crossed a line but when are you going to understand that nothing happened?
Since you want to bring in hypothetical situations just for curiosity sake… What happens if (God forbid) nobody acted on these threats and nobody had brought them to light? O wait that’s not hypothetical that’s what actually happened until the freshman saw it after time had passed since the comments were made sorry
The main reason I think you are an absolute joke and a troll is you just compared these 5 girls to school shootings/massacres that are actual tragedies. You clearly know none of them and are just writing something to write. the fact you even remotely think there is a chance of a “school massacre” shows how ill informed you are in the whole story.
So you mean one of the freshman girls getting a concussion in practice by getting hit in the head had nothing to do with it?
so you know for a fact the freshman received the concussion from a girl who wrote the message and you know for a fact that it was malicious and the other girl hit her in the head?
If that is the case than THAT girl alone should face the consiquences of her actions but stop grouping all of them together in one group like they all were doing it
I agree! That girl alone should be thoroughly evaluated. Her and her mom. Her parents created such an angry spoiled girl. Not Tony. I don’t think any of the other girls are to blame. She shows absolutely no remorse. Can u imagine taking a swing at someone with a stick or throw a lacrosse ball to hurt someone. That is a sick girl that has real issues. She needs to be rehabbed. Evil.
Terroristic threats. Physical harm. Bullying. Hazing.
All crimes.
Go away AJ you suck
Hey, Kiko. Perhaps you need to figure out how to make the situation better rather than sitting in your mother’s basement trolling posters on the Internet.
Terroristic threats… Yeah things were said that shouldn’t have been said in the group chat they didn’t think it through but empty threats among friends happens all the time. And before you say it wasn’t among friends the group chat was the team and notice how the rest of the team was liking the comments because they thought it was funny and a joke. I’m not condoning the comments they are bad some worse than others but really? Terroristic? That’s a bit of a stretch
Physical harm… What physical harm occured? Please point out any actual injury that happened the the freshman class due to their teammates. I will help you with that there are none
Bullying/Hazing… Who and how was anyone bullied? I can tell you for a fact nobody was hazed. If you are referring to the drinking I can tell you with 100% certainty none of the freshman were forced to drink they all did it willingly. I know this because I was there.
And since everyone is so concerned with threats and bullying… How about how Tony was under investigation last spring and through the summer and part of fall for verbal abuse and physical abuse of the girls on the team? Open threats were made to the girls faces and verbal abuse occured to the point were a high ranking school official had to go with the team everywhere to protect the girls. Want to know something else… He kept his job so how are you going to expel these girls when there was clear as day evidence against Tony for the same charges?
Two things come to mind when reading this stupid response. First, you are all supposed adults and will be held accountable for your actions or words whether or not you think they are frivolous. Secondly, when will this generation ever come to the realization that anything sent electronically IS NOT PRIVATE. The absolute stupidity on both sides is appalling. This is women’s college lacrosse at UMBC for God’s sake. Does anyone outside of the player’s, coaches and whacked parents who are too wrapped up in this stupid game and their kids really care? I have had kid’s in the women’s lacrosse arena and seen these parents in action and it is sick. Look in the stands at games. Only spectators are parents and a few friends and boyfriends of the players. Only time anyone cares is when something like this happen and you bring discredit to yourselves and your school. Both sides look like complete a’holes so why don’t you all do yourselves a favor and STFU-you really think you are going to convince
the other side of your position. My take? The freshman girls are brats, the upperclassmen are stupid mean girls, the coach thinks his job and women’s lacrosse is important which they’re not and ALL the parents are way too involved in the women’s lacrosse cultire and they’re precious kid’s lives. Now come attack me instead of each other.
You obviously have never met all of the freshmen girls and parents. 99% are appalled by this letter too. Too extreme!! AND you obviously haven’t been too any of this years games because all freshmen parents, like they’re daughters are respectful and love(d) each and every girl out there. FACT Shocked and saddened because my daughter thought these girls were my her buddies. Naive, as she never ever had to deal with such a thing. I am pray and am hopeful these poor girls can work everything out.
How many people have said “I tried to take her head off” at practice…thats admitting to physically trying to assault someone at practice. Thats not idle talk.
Like I said… Some of the comments crossed the line by a lot but the whole point is did her head really get taken off?
So any pitcher who says “I’m going to hit this dude in the back” is a terrorist and should be expelled from the school? And soccer player who says “I’m going to slide tackle and go for his ankles” should be expelled? it goes for every sport within teams but no injuries actually happened.
Like I said I agree with the suspension for a few games the comments were wrong but expulsion and calling these 5 girls terrorists and horrible people for doing something that occures on every sports team? Lets be a little realistic here
Bryan, Is this meant to be a news article or an op/ed piece… I’ll go with the op/ed since it’s a work of fiction- the details are very sketchy. “Seeking justice” is obviously a freshman parent who has does not know all of the facts. So let me clear some of them up. And Bryan, you call yourself a reporter?? I thought reporters were supposed to gather all of the facts and report what they find, not take one side of the story and run a slanderous article! As you said, the dates of the chat were not known. Did anyone bother to see if time had gone by to see if any of this “trash talk” was acted upon? Did any freshmen go to the coaches or the admin before these private conversations were stolen, to say they were being bullied or felt unsafe- NO. You said that the GroupMe chat was “discovered”. This is totally false. A freshman, Sarah Turco, as pictured in the screen shot, stole these messages from someone’s phone. Since nothing had been acted upon, if the messages had not been stolen, we would not be having this conversation. You paint Tony Giro as the only one with a level head. This could not be further from the truth. This whole situation exists because of him. He was suspended at the end of last season for both his demeaning and degrading treatment of the girls, and for assaulting one of the players by throwing a stool across the locker room and hitting her. He was monitored in the fall and things were better, but once he was no longer monitored, the bad boy behavior started again. He drove the wedge between his precious “first recruited” class and the rest of the team. I think he is the one who made promises to the freshman about playing time, not the other way around. The freshman class came in acting entitled and obviously had expectations. He did nothing to create a team, but rather a we vs they atmosphere. This entire situation rests on his shoulders. He is a man without character or integrity. At the Drexel game- you have other facts incorrect. Tony did not refuse to come to the game, he was banned from the game. And parents sitting around the suspended girls did not witness them cheering when the freshmen got knocked down. In fact, it was the freshmen parents who were acting like middle school kids, turning from the fence and pointing at the girls in the stands. I also have to wander… if the poor freshmen were so scared, why were they at a house party with the older girls? Especially because Tony declared it a dry season after one of the freshmen drank too much, decided to cut her wrists and ended up in the hospital. Guess who Tony held responsible… you got it, the older girls! The disparity of treatment of the girls has been horrendous to watch. These freshmen are not victims here, they have orchestrated this entire situation. And if that is not the case, why did Tiana Wallphers sister, Aja post the screen shots on FB last night? They were not up long because she was told to take them down by coach Amy. You wouldn’t call that manipulative, I would. So while I do not condone what was said and wish that the team could be a team, that is not the case here. The facts remain that other than bad choices of words venting on a private chat group, nothing actionable happened, and now 5 girls have been slandered by a reporter that did not get all of the facts and simply printed a one sided article. Bryan… you should be ashamed!!
I want to date this comment. Take it out to dinner. Straight up wine and dine it.
Well if you can’t get a real job cause of this maybe I’ll hire you later on as a comedian?
Brokenlax, you seem to have developed a particular talent for sock puppetry. How many times have you posted under different aliases?
Anyway, it’s not fiction. The university seems to have doled out multigame suspensions.
Are you going to remain an apologist for bullying, assault, and misogyny?
1 no bullying occurred 2 no assault occurred 3 misogyny really? like the girls just hate other girls right?
get your facts straight. yes umbc gave suspensions which I believe are appropriate due to the messages but to talk about expulsion for something said in a team group chat venting and nothing actually happened to the freshman? you have to be kidding me…
also if you notice the little heart on the side of each message…. notice there are more than 5 likes on each of the comments. that means it wasn’t just these 5 and you know what else? they liked it because they were venting and joking and the rest of the team knew it!
but since you clearly know every fact about this situation I guess you knew that already
I don’t know who you are, but “just joking” has gotten people jailed for three decades for child pornography.
you really just compared group messages between friend to child pornography… they are in no way similar or even closely related
Seriously: seriously??
“Group messages between friends” rise to the level of crimes when they contain terroristic threats. What in the heck is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant doing with their personal messages over the Internet, making a walk in the park??
Keep digging that hole.
I like what you’re putting out,they can’t handle the truth.
Well the truth is the freshman are probably better and deserve to be playing….and therefore they beat Drexel WITHOUT you. Please carry on because regardless of what happens, your names are now on the internet with proof of your words (meaningful or not). Good luck trying to even find an employer that doesn’t come across the proof of your slander and negative attitude by means of a quick google search
0909, it’s not “slander.” It’s “libel” because it appears in print.
Bingo
Agreed. These girls are toast now – and nobody cares…
This is my fourth year as a part of the UMBC softball team, and this is absolutely embarrassing for the UMBC community, especially its student-athletes. What these girls did, and continue to do, is unacceptable and intolerable. As a UMBC student-athlete, I would like to see these girls kicked off of the lacrosse team and expelled by the school. And to ensure they don’t embarrass the UMBC name again, all of the gear they ever received, that has UMBC on it, should be returned to the school. Also, I have the upmost respect for the younger girls that stood up to these bullies.
you need to get you facts straight before making a comment like that !!
“Your.”
As in “Your facts.”
Damn, I need to ping your ISP code to find out who you are. I know people like Freeman Hrabowski who can get it done.
Okay, remove yourself please and do not lie about your identity. Knowing the seniors of the softball team none of them would say this. Nor do they know about this article. Its pathetic and sad that you’re a freshmen parent.
tell me more how the softball team is a perfect team and doesn’t have stuff like this said in a group chat
This article is so far from the truth it is comical. The freshman parents have no idea what’s going on and trying to make themselves fell better as long with the coaches. Where you got your facts from is a joke and you should reconsider what you do with your life. Everything about this a joke.
I don’t think so, Anyomous 1. If there were no facts involved, why did the university decide on multi-game suspensions?
Seriously. I don’t see where these five players (or perhaps even more) will retain their places on the team or at the university.
Why, after all these years fighting against the suppression of
women’s rights, are we still allowing men to coach women’s sports teams —
especially such a vulgar and immature man as Giro who obviously has no
clue about a young woman’s psyche. I also ask myself why the assistant
coach, a woman, put up with his outrageous behavior.
Well she isn’t an assistant coach, Amy Appelt is the co-head coach. And if she isn’t standing up and is putting up with outrageous behavior from her co-coach or players then shame on her!
Well there you have it. Amy doesn’t approve of the spoiled, entited, mean behaviors either!!! Guaranteed if you come to practice with a respectful good attitude you would like Tony and Amy a lot.
Really??? Now it’s men are the problem coaching women’s sports. Last time I checked Roanoke’s women’s lacrosse team was suspended for hazing this year and they are coached by a women. Quit making excuses for the bad behavior of the players.
Some of these comments are absolutely appalling. These instances were reported to the coaches and they immediately reported them to the administration. Do any of you have jobs where you have a manager or you manage a team? What do you do when something goes wrong? You report it to your superiors.
The fact that no one is focusing on are the actual text messages and the
vicious things that were written is a travesty. This is not some type of
freshman playful hazing that goes on when you first join a team. These are
ridiculous threats. How can the parents of these girls be ok with what they
wrote? How are all of you turning this around to make it about the coach and
the girls that created this whole mess, the upperclassmen, are now being
portayed as victims through these comments?
You people disgust me if you think any of this is just or OK. When they went to that game after they were suspended and continued to cheer when the freshman were hit or fell down that shows NO REMORSE for what they did and enforces them for the scum that they are. How is that ok and how can their parents let them do that
after those remarks?
A SIMPLE VENTING OF FRUSTRATIONS? You really need to check yourself. Do you have kids? I am writing all of this as someone without kids who CAN put themselves in another person’s shoes. Apparently, you cannot. How would you
feel if your child was one of the girls that said this: “I’m only aiming for
her fucking shins and then I’ll aim for her ***** fucking hair and head and we
all know that head of hers is worthless anyway. You would be ok with that as a
parent?
Let me also remind you all of how much can be put into a group text. I am sure this
only a very, very small portion of the texts that we are seeing and there could
be much worse things out there that I am sure have now been deleted. We are all
on the heels of some racist remarks at Oklahoma State University and those boys
were dismissed from school and the fraternity was shut down for remarks. These
were actual threats on these girls well-being and they are going to be allowed
to go to school and eventually return to the team? That is ridiculous. Once
again, these girls made their own bed and they should lay in it. Don’t make
this out to be something it is not.
It does not matter what was said in the messages because they were said in a private group message. A freshman, shown in the picture of the text messages, Sarah Turco(Her pink storm jacket and blue IPhone5C) stole these messages in haste in the UMBC Women’s locker room off of another teammates phone. If that teammate wanted to share those messages willingly, then that teammate would have actually taken “screen shots” of those messages and sent them directly to Sarah Turco’s phone. Sarah Turco illegally obtained these messages and could most definitely be sued for invasion of privacy. I do not believe that what was said in these messages was appropriate, but if Sarah Turco had not stolen a teammate’s phone and taken pictures illegally, she never would have had to been “scared” at practice.
It makes no difference how the texts became public, the point is, they were said. Any idiot who writes about trying to take off another girl’s head w/a lacrosse stick and that they want to kill someone deserves to be at a minimum kicked off of the team.
If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around at any distance to hear it, does it still make a sound? If Sarah Turco did not snoop and steal those messages and invade the older girls privacy, would any of the “beloved freshmen” knew they existed? No.
I’m sure there was nothing ever said to them to their faces…given the level of hostility in these messages, there is no question this has been going on for some time The girl said “I tried to fucking swipe that bitch’s head off.” THey dont deserve to be on that team. If your problem was w/the coach, they should have taken it to the athletic director.
The players did take it to Tim Hall, Jessica Hammond, and the whole student affairs office, and they turned their backs on the players. Now, Nancy Young, the VP of the entire university has scheduled and cancelled multiple meetings with the upperclassman, refusing to help them. Also, the messages happened much before Sarah Turco snooped through the upperclassman’s phone. Thus if anyone was actually going to get hurt, it would have happened when those messages happened, not three weeks later after the freshman, Sarah Turco, snooped.The freshmen were weeks late in their snooping. The freshman started the bullying, the coaches merely condoned the bullying of the upperclassmen, while contributing to it themselves. With that being said, the upperclassmen could not go to the coaches because they treated the players like shit. They could not go to the athletic administration because they turned a blind eye last time, and they could not go to the university’s administration because they refused to meet with the players. So, you should shut your unintelligible mouth because you have NO IDEA what is going on.
Nancy Young has done them a favor by not dismissing them. Nancy Young has abandoned the victims and there is only one set of victims here. If everyone revealed themselves it would be the suspended players and their friends and family defending these texts. Everyone else is absolutely astounded by the viciousness of those messages. So it’s about 30 people vs billions.
Also, there are like 10 players that have a problem with Tony Giro and about 15 years worth of lacrosse and basketball players that don’t. Next time try to twist the story a little more to make the upperclassmen not look like the scum they actually are. Read those texts again.
Its not 30 people. Its the same person all over this page. Using the rude curse words, words like unintelligible, get your facts straight, Sara Turco’s fault, Tony’s is to blame. etc over and over and over again. Tony is a good man coming from a place of good. Wanting to change UMBCWLax for the better. Weeding out the brats and bringing in Ladies. Interview all the girls and you will see.
If Tony is trying to change UMBCWLax why was he under investigation this summer for verbal abuse? Why is he currently suspended by the university and under investigation once again?
Probably because there are a lot of crazy parents living vicariously through their adult children that are constantly complaining to the administration.
“under investigation for verbal abuse” What a crock of $$$$. He appears to be the only person that had the guts and integrity to do the right thing. Cowardly parents have raised these bullying girls ,enabled by chicken### administrators.
I heard Sarah Turco actually received a concussion by a teammate in practice a few weeks ago. I hope that’s a coincidence.
It was probably her last resort to prove the abuse!
Sorry, no justifying these actions. If all of this were true, you should have gone to the media.
Even so, Death threats are NOT acceptable. Threats of violence are NOT acceptable. Turco did you a favor…if any of those girls had been seriously injured…the authorities could have gotten a warrant to read those messages and those girls would likely be in jail right now. Why do you think hockey players do not use their sticks when they fight? Also, don’t hate on Jessica Hammond!
If a tree falls in the woods and smacks some girl in the head trying to take a free position shot, it actually DOES makes a sound!
The beloved freshmen would know about the messages if one of them were to be intentionally injured and there was an investigation. The upperclassmen on the other hand would in prison, paying the medical bills. She did you a favor.
and if she never found the texts and exposed them, she might be dead
They weren’t “said”. They were “written”.
Did she steal the passcode to this persons phone too? Obviously not an invasion of privacy. Also.. Ever think that maybe a girl in your group chat shared these messages with one of her freshman friends. You all just want someone to blame for your own mistakes. You all are supposed to be leaders and role models for your younger players and girls who want to play lacrosse at UMBC. Get over yourselves, own up to your mistakes and just move on. You are all lucky enough to be part of a team and go to a great school. Be good teammates. Support and care for one another. You still have more than half of a season in front of you.
Sir, you are very unintelligent. Have you not read the comments? The freshman, Sarah Turco, TOOK the upperclassman’s phone without her permission. If those messages were shared willingly, the upperclassman would have taken actual “screen shots” and sent them to a friend. Who purposefully takes those bad resolution pictures in order to f*** someone over? Get with the times, sir. You need to get your head out of your ass and get your facts straight before you spread your slander the way Bryan did. The freshman were treated like princesses the entire year until they started pointing and laughing at upperclassmen in the hallways, texting them demeaning messages, and openly bashing them to other student athletes. And I am NOT on the UMBC women’s lacrosse team, so don’t make those ASSumptions because in this case you’re just making an ass out of yourself.
If this isn’t a UMBC laxer then its her classy mom. Apples don’t ball far from a tree. Who talks like this??? Well, that would be her classy daughter.
Droids can’t take screen shots you re re
Yeah they can, have a Droid and take screen shots all the time.
I heard Amber Kovalick made out with a hot dog..
Pictures? Video? Please?
This isn’t the droid you’re looking at.
So, seriously sucks, what would have happened if Sara did not TAKE the phone and one of the freshman suffered a spinal cord injury, or traumatic brain injury? Those girls would likely be in prison for a very long time. The authorities would TAKE the phone and look at those message. And please do not try to give me a lesson in physics and tell me this could not happen, because it could. This type of violence and threat of violence is unacceptable.
What are the times? You were getting replaced by younger better players so you tried to hurt them? Very classy.
It’s actually completely opposite. It only matters what is said – not how the message were obtained. There is no such thing as a PRIVATE group message …over the internet… when will people learn that what is on the internet is there forever!!
If the dummy who owned the phone had a passcode, they wouldn’t have been “stolen”.
I would like to start off by saying your an idiot. But that would be mean and I don’t want to make you cry. Plus I don’t even know you. Saying that you don’t know these girls or the story. So why do you think it is ok to past judgment on them? This is a very very poor example of journalism. I know 5 years old that can gather facts better than this person claiming to be a writer
Here are some facts for you to ponder since you have no kids and obviously plenty of time on your hand. The girls were at the game that day but they were cheering their team mates on when they scored! not when they got hurt. All this happen a few weeks ago. it had been done and over, apologies were made from both sides upper class to and from freshman. the team was good. as someone who seems to have a lot of passion maybe you should check your facts before typing cause right now you can be in the same boat as these girls. …..just sayn
First, I know 5 year olds that can spell, punctuate and write better sentences than you.
Second, the fact that you say the girls were at that game cheering for the freshmen is ludicrous. It is obviously not done and over and I know for a fact these girls have shown NO REMORSE or have apologized so that would also be incorrect. Maybe you should be the one checking your facts first before trying to cast any judgement.
Apologies have happened, douchecanoe.
Are you serious, are you kidding me? I was at the game and they were cheering for their teammates. There is PLENTY OF REMORSE. And APOLOGIZES have been made! I don’t understand how you can be so involved in this. Since you have no kids. Why are you concerning yourself with this matter.
Here’s a fact for you. No where in my comment did I past judgment on you. Nor did I insult you. I said I wanted to but didn’t because I didn’t know you. Just asking you to do the same for these girls. BTW you are clearly no grammar teacher either. 😉
You shouldn’t be passing judgement on bad grammar. The scary part is, if you are a college student, is that you were able to pass an English class. Reflects extremely poorly on the quality of UMBC students.
UMBC= U Made a Bad Choice
That was some of the best advice anyone has ever given me.
ok if the texts are any indication, the girls are not remorseful. You don’t just say you want to kill someone and then say your sorry. They are just faking apologies so they can stay in college. Those upperclassmen are frickin crazy if they want to kill people just because they can’t get laying time.
UMBC = Understand Math Before Chicks
‘No where in my comment did I past judgment on you’
‘I would like to start off by saying your an idiot’…no judgement there.
And it is ‘pass’ judgement.
“No where in my comment did I past judgment on you.”
I hope you don’t go to UMBC. But if you did I wouldn’t be surprised if you are one of the entitled idiots who have been suspended.
No drama should be renamed No english. If you actually went to UMBC, what an indictment on the quality of that institution. I don’t know about a 5 year old, by my 6 year old could certainly give you a run for your money. Word of advice – don’t write on message boards because the level of your grammar, generally taught and learned in grade school, negates any actual substance to what you write. In essence, you sound too dumb to be taken seriously.
Learn to spell.
And there are five-year olds that can write better than you as well. And it’s “Pass” judgement, not “past” judgement.
And I think you meant “Just sayin’ ” Or maybe you meant “just sane.”
You should take remedial English language courses.
I have kids and was a kid myself once upon a time. I and my friends have said much worse than this, yet we are all responsible adults and family men and women now. The hysteria over some texts says more negative about the complainers and about society in general than it does about the girls.
A very important side note–these girls are not “kids”. That’s the entire reason their names are released. They are ADULTS. I agree that these texts do not define who they are but it does expose the dark side that some of them have within.
The girl who posted those text messages and slipped it to her coach should be ashamed of herself. She clearly knew the repercussions this could have on these girls and she knows full well these text would be taken way out of context. It was wrong for the girls to say that about her fellow teammates but they were obviously saying it out of frustration.
She was bullied into showing the freshmen the text messages and they took that to the coach. Thats a fact
The Freshman bullied her?
Well which was it she ‘was bullied into showing the messages’ or someone ‘stole the phone’?
How can you say that she should be ashamed for herself? She did the right thing. Those are vicious threats. How dare you say she was wrong for doing that. You would not want your kid to do that right thing? What those girls did was completely wrong and YOU should be ashamed of yourself for even saying that.
You are probably Sarah Turco’s roommate, best friend, or a fellow freshman trying to save Sarah Turco’s butt. She is pictured in the reflection of the phone above. I would lawyer up if I were you, Sarah Turco.
How am I liar for expressing my opinion? I do not go to UMBC, I am a student of a different university voicing my opinion.
If you don’t even go to UMBC, which I am doubting, you have NO room to speak because you only have 1/4 of the story. Also, your university must promote and instruct invasion of privacy because that is how Sarah Turco retrieved those messages.
LOL, no way this could be prosecuted.
So, if were steal your phone, go through it, read your text messages and post them all over Facebook and The Baltimore Post Examiner, you wouldn’t press charges? Because that’s EXACTLY what Sarah Turco essentially did.
What prosecutor would care to pursue charges of “invasion of privacy”? Good luck w/that.
Taken directly from http://www.blr.com/HR-Employment/HR-Administration/Privacy-in-Maryland#
“Maryland recognizes all four common law invasion of privacy claims:
• Intrusion on solitude or seclusion;
• Public disclosure of private facts (e.g., unreasonable publicity given to one’s private life);
• False light privacy (e.g., publicity that places the other in a false light before the public); and
• Appropriation of one’s name or likeness (Klipa v. Board of Education of Anne Arundel County, 460 A.2d 601 (Md. App. 1983)).”
I would like to highlight that she intruded on secluded text messages that were not meant for her eyes. She then sent them to the coaches, who sent them to the administration, who in turn sent them to this joke of a reporter. Thus, she publicly disclosed private facts. You need to do your research, sir/ma’am.
No one stole a phone. That is the truth
I can tell you for a fact the upperclassman did not give up her phone because she would have been admitting to guilt herself. Also, what person in their right mind takes low resolution pictures of someone else’s phone when they could easily be sent the messages through real screen shots. Sarah Turco obviously did it in haste because she should have been smarter and not incriminated herself by putting her reflection in the picture. You need to use your brain, J.
Get back to me when the indictment comes down!
Are you joking? If 5 girls are possibly expelled from school because somebody stole a phone and posted PRIVATE messages all over the internet and Baltimore post… This most definitely will be prosecuted. The girl who stole the phone should hope this all dies down or else she will be in some trouble.
Sarah has more sweg than you ever will
Hahahahah. Except she just set herself up for a potential fine of $10,000 or five years in jail if a prosecutor finds her guilty of invasion of privacy. See http://www.blr.com/HR-Employment/HR-Administration/Privacy-in-Maryland#
since you’re obviously not intelligent enough to keep your ignorant comments off of a post you know nothing about.
I hope you are not a lawyer! Cuz you know not what you speak! In reality, if this went to the authorities the people that would seriously SERIOUSLY be in jeopardy are the authors of all the threats! With the level of terrorism in this country, threats of death/bodily harm are taken extremely SERIOUSLY!
So next time I get frustrated with someone I should threaten to take their head off?
No you shouldn’t but you’re telling me you have never said anything like “I’m going to rip that persons head off?” You and I both know there is no truth behind those text messages, those girls were mad and just venting there frustration. Don’t be so melodramatic.
she didn’t threaten to…she TRIED to!
No, the person who posted the messages should be marked for sainthood. She told the truth.
You should be ashamed of your comment.
Freshman parent?
Basketball coach ,no daughters.
Wow, that’s even more surprising. You’re a coach and I’m guessing an athlete and you’re telling me you have never had kids get mad at each other and metaphorically say things like “I’m going to rip her/his head off,” Or “I’m going to strangle her/him?” You and I both know the girls who wrote those mean text didn’t have any real malicious intent, they weren’t actually going to strangle the girls or take there heads off. The girls who they were so called “threatened” knew that as well or else they wouldn’t have showed up to practice the 5 days in a row before the girls got suspended from the team. Anyway, the only reason tony even turned those messages in was because he was just trying to save his own ass, he knew he is on the verge of getting fired and wanted to divert the attention to him onto the girls, (shows what kind of leader he really is) Thank god they fired him.
There is so justification for this. I won’t accept those excuses.
What excuses are you referring too?
There’s no justification for what’s come from this situation? True. You’re right. But, if you’re referring to the GroupMe… you’re out of your mind. We’ve all said things out of anger, we’ve all made comments colored as threats that had absolutely no backing. Don’t call facts excuses just because it sounds better for your argument.
The FACT is, they made the threats. Threats ARE made out of anger everyday. Thats why they have to be taken seriously.
SJones, I would like to go through your phone/computer and see the empty threats you have made in your lifetime and prosecute you on every single one.
That would be invasion of privacy. For people like her, its ok to invade the privacy of her peers but if this happened to her she would be singing a completely different tune.
Go ahead. How about if I make an empty threat on you, whoever you are? SJones is right in that the UMBC players made terroristic threats against the very people who are supposed to be their teammates.
Are you denying this?
well, I’ve never really felt the need to make ‘threats’ against anyone. It sort of disturbs me that you think this is common.
Sorry, CronkiteOut. In an era in which colleges are very cognizant of assaults, bullying, and hazing, this is the stupidest thing that the UMBC students could have done. They were SO arrogant that they didn’t even try to mask their identities within the GroupMe application. They posted UNDER THEIR OWN NAMES. With their pictures!
I am not condoning the actions of these girls. I agree with their temporary suspension. But this entire article is slander and the facts are not there. Yes, awful comments were said. Things were said that in NO way are okay. However, the new generation does not value words the same way we do. To them, words like “bitch”, “whore”, “i hate you” are meaningless and just roll off the tongue. This is sad, but true (I in no way agree with this).This is a problem that lies in parenting and the way we are raising our children. However, this is not the point of my letter.
The frustration of this team has been around since Tony violently threw a chair at one of the players last year. Since then his job has been in jeopardy. The freshmen are his first true recruiting class. I have been to the games and their talent is amazing. Every player on that team is talented. However, Tony has created an environment where the older girls feel stifled and mistreated. Whether or not Tony has actually showed favoritism, the upperclassmen clearly feel it. The girls and parents have already addressed the issue numerous occasions. At a post game tailgate, a parent raised the issue directly towards Tony that criticism needed to be the same for all. If a freshmen is not ripped from the game for a dropped pass, neither should an upperclassmen. However, Tony has made no work towards creating a fair and even environment for the girls. In this same year, multiple girls have quit or transferred solely due to the treatment from Tony. When one particular senior quit, rather then wish her well on her academic endeavors (Because lets face it, academics are more important), he told he did not care what she did because he didn’t care about her or the team. He knows he will be lucky to make it through the season. Another senior attempted to quit and was told she could not quit. He made her feel guilty for wanting to “give up on her teammates” to get her to stay. Tony has used countless derogatory name calling to EVERY player on the team. My point in all this is that Tony has created an environment that makes players feel trapped and scared. The only way to get through it was to vent their frustrations. That is all this group chat was, a simple venting of frustrations. I have seen the group me, every single player that is not a freshmen is included. This is not because they were bias towards freshmen, but because the freshmen like the environment and Tony. What sense would it be for them to be in the conversation. Every single player vented at one point or another. Every single one. Everyone is upset and obviously angry. The group me conversations should NOT have take their anger out on the freshmen. Like I said, I agree with the suspension. But the screenshots do not do justice. They are out of context and for you to publicly humiliate this team and program is wrong when you do not have all the facts. No one felt scared. It was girls being stupid girls. We’ve all done it. We have all said things we know we shouldn’t have. These remarks were just overdramatic venting, as is the “fear of their safety” by the freshmen. I am sorry, but if they were so scared what were they all doing out together just last week at a house party? A little weird, right?
Regarding this particular article. You have random snapshots, none of which depict an actual story. They are merely lines. Each line is awful in itself, but none have context. Also, you are clearly using the “he said, she said” bullshit which is clearly why you are not writing for the New York Times. Oh they cheered when freshmen were knocked down? Have you been to a game. They cheered because she got back up. These seniors knew they were on probation. Even if they had wanted to cheer for the failure of the freshmen, to do this at a public place in front of the administration would have been foolish. I attended this game to watch my daughter. They were in no way cheering for the freshmen to get hurt. However, this is only an opinion, just as most of the statements you made in this article were. Opinions are NOT facts and cannot be used to slander the appearance of others. By using opinions without facts, you have ruined the core of journalism. You clearly wanted to write the article in a certain fashion and the story you heard aligned a little bit better. Sounds like slander to me, but what do I know. You also speak of practices. Were you there? Were you even an athlete. Grade level does not matter on the field. When I am competing for a starting spot I am going to give it my all. Guess what, it is a contact sport. You can bet I won’t get beat on defense by a freshmen or anyone else on the team. If you manage to beat me, guess what I refuse to let you do it again. I am going to go ten times hard and probably play a little bit dirtier. Its called aggression and every athlete at the division I level has it. If you don’t have that grit, then you probably aren’t playing division I. You speak of the $20 alcohol charge. It was not forced upon them. It was a $20 charge to cover costs for a lacrosse formal thrown every year. This money is for the lacrosse player and their date and is tradition. I am not naive here, whether it went to alcohol or not isn’t the point. These freshmen are drinking by choice so lets not slander the names of others. I played college lacrosse. I felt the pressure to drink, but I had a choice. So do these girls. For you to use that as leverage is laughable. You are condemning these seniors by writing such an article without the facts. Like the real world, they are subject to a trial. Compliance and UMBC will comb through the facts. All you have done is taint and tarnish these girls reputations publicly. You should not be able to write such things until the case is closed by UMBC. The only thing you have done by writing such an article is ruin the changes of a fair hearing for these girls. Shame on you.
This was so well said!!
Is Daddy mad that his kid isn’t playing?
UMBClax, it’s evident that your screed above is a complete fabrication which is repeated, in drips and drabs, through your sock-puppet posts below.
It’s also evident that you don’t know a thing about the game of women’s lacrosse. “Guess what, it is a contact sport.” Uh, no. Checking a person in women’s lacrosse is a major foul, if not a card. The non-contact nature of the sport gives it a grace and flow that has kept me writing about it for a quarter of a century.
Also, ANY DRINKING BY ANY UNDERAGE STUDENT-ATHLETE IS AGAINST THE LAW. It contravenes antihazing laws as well.
Also, what Bryan has done isn’t “slander.” It’s reporting. He is simply saying what other people said.
UMBC seems to have found enough to hand out multigame suspensions, so I guess you’re wrong on the face of it.
*drops microphone*
tell any girls lax player it’s not a contact sport they will laugh you out of the building. the fact you would say that after covering women’s lax after a quarter century means you are either full of it or don’t understand the contact in the game. if it’s not a contact sport explain the bruises they get on their arms and all the actual contact that occures.
I don’t even know what you are trying to prove by saying underage drinking is illegal… but i can tell you for a 100% fact that no freshman was forced to drink anything they didn’t want to. I was there and witnessed almost every time first hand where they wanted to drink so yeah that hazing thing is a joke
this is making me laugh out loud. “Checking a person in women’s lacrosse is a major foul, if not a card.” What are you talking about? checking is perfectly legal in women’s lacrosse and so is stick to arm contact on defense. So it is “also evident” you don’t know the game of women’s lacrosse.
Stick checking of the crosse ONLY.
I’ve been around the game a quarter-century and I know that the safety of the players is paramount. Do you?
Very well said sir or ma’am. This article was clearly written with bias and all the facts were not presented. Giro is not as “noble” as this article makes him seem.
What are these girls 12? They are playing LAX in college. Life is not fair anywhere, a lesson their parents seemed to have failed to teach. Might be that they were raised in a Blue State. They are lucky to playing LAX at that level. The coach’s word and decisions are the law. You don’t like it, you can always leave and give your scholarship to someone that understand how it works. This the Coach is mean, the coach is favoring, the coach is unfair only tells me these older girls are not ready for college LAX or more importantly for the real world after graduation. Are these same parents going to jump in and call their kids boss if the get a bad performance evaluation? Or if a co-worker is promoted instead of their kid? Are the upperclassmen going to threaten the college graduate that performs better than them or their boss is just favoring the college grad because he hired the new kid, but inherited the worker with more experience? Time to WAKE UP kiddies… LIFE IS NOT FAIR!!! Never has been never will be… Just because the current occupant in the WH believes it should be, does not mean it ever will be. Its what you make it. If there is no opportunity for you to star at this school, find a school where there is. Just like if a job does not work out after college, you will have to find one that does. Grow up ladies and act your age before you do even more damage to the most important thing you own, your name and reputation. Before it is too late, if thats not the case already.
best thing written on this entire page.
Way to turn it into a political rant,IQ is 10 points higher in the blue states.
Common denominator in all these problems comes to tony giro
1. Last year tony throws chair at girl in locker room and gets suspended
2. Tony Giro must have an assistant AD (athletic Director) at every game and practice so he doesn’t not verbally abuse the girls
3. Assistant AD must be on every bus trip to monitor Giro
4. At least 5 team members and numerous parents demanded a meeting with tim hall because of abusive threats of the coach
5. Numerous players have quit from the team because of verbal abuse
6.Abbey Wilson suspended for 10 minutes in the second game of this season for getting a yellow card in the first game, Tony Giro has gotten thrown out of numerous games and has gotten numerous yellow cards with no repercussions. Great example…
7.etc etc etc
Again, common denominator is Mr. Giro and his abusive antics
Common denominator is parents making excuses for their spoiled kids.
Agreed, those spoiled little freshman do nothing but complain and run to mommy and daddy every time something happens.
There’s a fine line between saying cruel things, via an intended-to-be-private medium, and ruining the futures of 5 otherwise successful young women. The upperclassmen were wrong for what they said, they were out of line, but the malicious response from what should be sound-minded adults is far worse. Say goodbye to the rest of this season, and the love of the game. Bryan, here’s to you: thanks for giving journalism professors everywhere an exquisite example of “bias”.
CronkieOut, there’s no such thing as privacy on social media. Just ask Donald Sterling.
Aj, I totally agree with you there. Unfortunately, if you were to go to the apps’ website you’d see the following:
“It’s like a private chat room for your small group.” (GroupMe.com)
While the company relinquishes responsibility later on in its Privacy section, “privacy” is something these girls intended. The fact of the matter is no one’s eyes but the upperclassmen’s were intended to see the texts. If they did this on Facebook, Twitter, etc. things would be different. Again, not condoning the threatening language, just channeling the other side of this.
Was trying to take a girl’s head off in practice “out of line”?
Anyone who wishes to voice a grievance and be taken seriously must identify themselves with their full name and contact information. Anonymous complaints will be ignored. BPE is interested in hearing opposing viewpoints pertaining to this story and will take those admissions into consideration. Feel free to email me if you wish!
Who put you in charge?
Hey, “Guest.” You are trying to attack the journalist in this case.
Well, you just unleashed your worst nightmare.
I have been covering lacrosse for a quarter of a century.
This situation is an outright embarrassment to the families of the players, the University of Maryland system, and to the game of lacrosse.
Freeman Hrabowski is a friend of mine. He is not amused by this situation. Nor by people trying to justify their lives by trolling a reporter.
Try and troll me. I can take it.
No one wants to feed your misinformation-over-sensative-sensationalist-media-machine, Bryan.
I do not trust you, Bryan. I would never disclose that information for you to slander me, or any of the other individuals posting honest facts on this awful, awful article.
I sent you a message
who in their right mind would email you.. you have already proven to be a lousy journalist who is into hatchet jobs!! I don’t want you to slander my good name with half a story!!
Isn’t it funny, guess who used to be the head sports writer for the examiner, tony giro…. You think there is any bias in this article??
Wow…preach
The Baltimore Post-Examiner LLC is not related to the Examiner chain or the Washington Post. It is not owned by The Examiner. It is a separate entity.
So how long have you and Tony been friends for??
Yellow journalism at its best. Don’t get the entire story from both sides, just tell the side from complaining parents. These “threats”, while wrong in every way, were just ridiculous statements made out of frustration. This all should have been handled by the coaching staff. The fact is Tony Giro has been suspended numerous times during his tenure. Strong leadership could have properly addressed this unfortunate situation a month ago when it occurred. Now it’s being blown out if proportion by a group of parents with an agenda. UMBC needs to change the leadership of the program immediately.
Sent from my iPhone
Sent from my iPhone
Bryan – did you do more than 5 minutes of research on this? As a journalist did you ever ask yourself if this was the whole story? How could it be? What kind of leadership fosters such a confrontational environment? What kind of administration does not heed the warnings that there is trouble in the program? If you had even asked yourself a couple of questions, you could have broken a great story instead of ruining peoples lives. What you have printed here is a symptom of the problem, not the actual problem. “jealous upperclassmen” – did you even look at the stats for these girls. Most of these five are active contributors to the team. Shame on you for not seeking out the whole story.
“The freshmen led UMBC to victory, beating Drexel, 17 -10, improving the Retrievers’ record to 4-3 record.” Once again another lie. Sam Nolan had 5 goals and Abby Wilson had 2 goals. One a senior and one a sophomore. The favoritsm you have even in this letter is unreal.
Note also that UMBC — without the five suspended players — beat Manhattan on 3/14.
yeah a team who was 2-3 before the game and lost to in conference foe albany 25-7. Yeah that says a lot mate.
i just want to go ahead and say this article is completely bullshit. I can tell you now that a freshmen parent sent this in because they have no clue what is happening at umbc. The part where it says “tony didnt go to the game because reason stated” above is bullshit. He didnt go to the game because he wasnt allowed to because of the way he has treated the girls and segregated them. He is the reason behind this. The fact someone has the audacity to do this and ruin 5 girls lives is what is sickening. If you want to talk about tony how about you talk about the part where he told the girls one time ” i shitted while fucking a girl once” or how about how he illegal took only the freshment out to breakfast and paid for it. This article is a meer attempt to save Tony Giro’s shit career and put the blame on the upper classmen. The amount of information and lies you have in this letter is an incrediblle amount. The problem has never been the upper classmen, the problem has been Tony Giro. You seem to leave out the fact he was under investigation in the summer, how he was suspended for 3 weeks, how he told one girl “to fix your fucking face or ill fucking fix it for you”.
…
Comical this gets released and you’re still pointing the finger at
somebody else. Did Tony make you create that GroupMe? NO. Did Tony force
you to say those cruel remarks and threats about the girls? NO. Tony Giro is not the reason behind this.
If you are a freshmen parent remove yourself because you know nothing.
I’m not a parent nor a player on the team but let me ask you this. If this was your daughter being accussed of these allegations would you find this letter right? You would be completely okay with it? Knowing that their our lies throughout this paper? I would strongly think you would not be okay with it. This letter is an attempt to make it seem like tony did the right thing always, thats not the case. Heres stuff you dont know abour tony. He talks constantly about his private parts to the girls. He has verbally abused them. He has constantly told them they are worthless pieces of ****. He has ridiculed them and spoke poorly to their families. He has broken numerous NCAA Rules. When they try to quit, he doesnt let them leave his office. You onviously do not know the whole stroy.
yes he is! because he created the atmosphere
“I can tell you now that a freshmen parent sent this in because they have no clue what is happening at umbc.” ….or because they’re afraid for their child’s safety.
Hands down ^^ one of the upperclassmen
Not an upperclassman. I’m not even part of the team. Don’t make assumptions.
If an upperclassmen I feel sorry for how far writing standards have fallen.
Desperate to pass blame? Far fetched quotes. Throwing a chair? Kicking a chair is more like it. I was there. My few teammates have such disrespect for him. It’s a disgrace. Feeling badly for him. Yes Tony does show favoritism to the girls that respect him and his teammates. He has always been kind to me. Tony’s motto “be kind, work hard” Some refuse to buy into it ruining it for all.