Alabama football player arrested for DV for 2nd time

[Steak Snabler]

He was dismissed from Georgia after similar charges less than a year ago:

Alabama defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor arrested on domestic violence charges | AL.com

Nothing will happen to Saban over this of course, but will be interesting to say if he issues a mea culpa this time after saying in February that the guy deserved a second chance.

As an Alabama graduate and state taxpayer, this is sickening and embarrassing to me. The guy should have never been on the team or in school in the first place, but we all know what this school and this state's priorities are.

 

[User 4332]

"arrested for ..."

sigh

 

[Steak Snabler]

Whatever. If he didn't do it, I'll go back and change the subject line.

And there are only so many characters available on theses headers.

 

[User 4332]

It's just a fundamental rule of crime reporting that you don't use that construction and this is still nominally a journalism board.

 

[Riptide]

Whatever. If he didn't do it, I'll go back and change the subject line.

And there are only so many characters available on theses headers.

"charged with"

Same character count.
Doesn't convict, etc., etc.

 

[LongTimeListener]

FWIW ESPN.com phrased it the way Steak did. Doesn't make it right, of course, but that distinction has definitely gotten lost along the way.

 

[Steak Snabler]

Gone:

Alabama dismisses defensive tackle Jonathan Taylor | AL.com

 

[Shropshire Slasher]

First time I've seen DV used as an acronym for domestic violence. (Certainly won't be the last.)

 

[User 4332]

FWIW ESPN.com phrased it the way Steak did. Doesn't make it right, of course, but that distinction has definitely gotten lost along the way.

ESPN regularly gets it wrong in headlines. Drives me nuts. The distinction hasn't changed one bit, it's just in the modern era where people are posting things online with little or no double-checking by someone else, sloppiness gets through. That so many are careless with it does not make it any less dangerous.

Steak said he'd change it if the guy doesn't get convicted. Well guess what? A low percentage of these kinds of cases result in conviction. News outlets - and others - that are sloppy with their word choice on something like this run the risk of dealing with a libel lawsuit.

 

[goalmouth]

As usual, respondents miss the point. College 'educator' and state employee recruits thug, endangers others, bears no responsibility. Yay for grammar!

 

[User 4332]

As usual, respondents miss the point. College 'educator' and state employee recruits thug, endangers others, bears no responsibility. Yay for grammar!

I didn't miss the point, I just didn't care to address it. Sorry for expecting people on a journalism board to have a basic understanding of journalistic writing.

 

[Riptide]

As usual, respondents miss the point. College 'educator' and state employee recruits thug, endangers others, bears no responsibility. Yay for grammar!

Double quotes there, not single quotes. Thanks.

 

[SportsHack1818]

Not trying to pile on Steak here ... but "charged with" should not be used either, because cops don't make charges. District attorneys do. This guy probably hasn't been charged yet just because cops arrested him.

 

[User 4332]

Not trying to pile on Steak here ... but "charged with" should not be used either, because cops don't make charges. District attorneys do. This guy probably hasn't been charged yet just because cops arrested him.

That's actually a jurisdiction specific distinction. In some states the cops do the charging. In most places, though, you are correct.

 

[SportsHack1818]

I stand corrected. I should have specified that where I am at, officers don't do the charging.

 

[TyWebb]

I stand corrected. I should have specified that where I am at, officers don't do the charging.

Are we going to beat up Steak for misusing a preposition but let "where I am at" slide? Nitpicking posts like that is a slippery slope. Most of us are or have been professional writers/editors, so we could all waste a lot of time taking the red pen to each post. But doesn't that take away from the general purpose of discussion on this site?

Now that I'm off my soapbox, I think Saban thoroughly blew it in the press conference yesterday when asked about this. He even went as far as to call Taylor "still a good guy." How can anybody call someone who has been arrested for/on/with/whatever domestic violence twice (not to mention he was also charged with theft at UGA) a "good guy"? You don't have to say he is a bad guy, but you certainly don't say he is a good one.

 

[Steak Snabler]

I can take the lumps. And yeah, Saban blew it. There won't be any large consequences, but as an Alabama graduate and taxpayer let's hope he thinks twice about signing another player with pending felony charges.

Someone (I think it was Pat Forde or maybe Mark Schlabach) suggested that Mike Slive should make it his last act before retiring to enact an SEC rule that no conference school can enroll a student-athlete on scholarship who is facing felony charges based on their actions at another school. I'd be in favor of that.

 

[SportsHack1818]

Ty,

I understand your point. I wasn't trying to nitpick at Steak, I assure you. Just trying to add to the conversation. Charging someone with a crime in print can get a publication in major trouble if that information is actually incorrect. That's a little bit different than a clunky sentence construction. Just my two cents.

 

[TyWebb]

Ty,

I understand your point. I wasn't trying to nitpick at Steak, I assure you. Just trying to add to the conversation. Charging someone with a crime in print can get a publication in major trouble if that information is actually incorrect. That's a little bit different than a clunky sentence construction. Just my two cents.

That's fair, and I wasn't really going after you (even though it was your post I quoted) as I was the whole practice of arguing about grammar on a message board, even one filled with writers and editors. I recognize this is different than a you're vs. your discussion as there are actual legal consequences, but it was still taking from the discussion on the actual topic.

And as a UGA fanboy, it is nice to see a former Bulldog not go to an SEC West team and lead it to the National Championship game. The circumstances, on the other hand, are unfortunate.

 

[Batman]

Taylor's accuser recants, and is arrested on charges of false reporting:

Jonathan Taylor accuser recants story, charges to be reviewed | AL.com

Jonathan Taylor's lawyer hopes client is reinstated to Alabama football team after accuser recants | AL.com

Taylor's case in Georgia is still pending, and he might very well be a scumbag, but this is the danger of dropping a nuke at the first hint of a domestic violence charge. It's become a situation where the accusation matters more than the facts.