Pirate Galaxy » could be the spell-breaker we need in order to see

MINNEAPOLIS -- The University of Minnesota football team is threatening to boycott one of the nations top second-tier bowl games over the suspension of 10 players accused of participating in a sexual assault.Prosecutors decided there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges, and the players thought the matter was behind them. But a separate school investigation concluded Wednesday that the athletes violated a policy adopted last year that defines sexual assault as anything without a clear and unambiguous expression of consent.Now, less than two weeks before the Golden Gophers scheduled Dec. 27 Holiday Bowl appearance against Washington State, the walkout threatens to upend the San Diego game.On Thursday, the entire team gathered to tell reporters they will not practice or play unless the suspensions are revoked. Several players also are facing possible expulsion.All these kids reputations are destroyed, senior quarterback Mitch Leidner said. Their names are destroyed. Its extremely difficult to get back, and its very unfair for them, and thats why were sticking together through this thing.In a joint statement issued Friday, university President Eric Kaler and athletic director Mark Coyle called the suspensions a values-based decision, not a legal judgment.But we can tell you that certain behavior is simply unacceptable and antithetical to our institutional values. We support Gopher Athletics decision because this is much bigger than football, the statement said.Kaler and Coyle met with a group of football players Friday night, the university said, as they tried to find common ground. But there were no decisions immediately announced when the meeting concluded.Sexual misconduct already has been a sensitive subject for the university and for its athletics department. Former athletic director Norwood Teague resigned in August 2015 amid allegations of sexual harassment. His replacement, Coyle, was brought in with orders not to tolerate such behavior and played a key role in the decision to suspend the players.University officials have declined to say why the players were suspended or provide any details of the internal investigation, citing student privacy rules. But an attorney for several of the suspended players and the father of one of them confirmed the action was taken in connection with an alleged sexual assault in an apartment near campus in the early hours of Sept. 2, after the Gophers won their season-opener.According to police reports, the woman who made the complaint attended a few parties before ending up in the off-campus apartment of players Carlton Djam and Tamarion Johnson. The reports said she accompanied Djam and a male whose name was redacted to Djams room, where she had sex with both of them at the same time.After the unnamed male left, she said Tamarion Johnson entered the room and that she had sex with him, too. She said she remembered seeing several people watching.She described it as a line of people, like they were waiting for their turn ... She recalls yelling for them to stop sending people in the room because she couldnt handle it, one of the reports said.The woman said she recalled at least three other men forcing themselves on her, including players Dior Johnson and Ray Buford Jr. She told police the sexual contact between her and Djam and the unnamed man may have been consensual, but that it was not consensual with the others.She was not sure if she had had sex with player KiAnte Hardin, though he told police they did and that she agreed to it.The men all told police their sexual contacts with her were consensual.The schools policy says consent may be initially given, but can be withdrawn at any time and that sexual activity must stop at that point or even if there is confusion over consent.Djam recorded video of part of his encounter with the woman and turned it over to police. According to one investigators description of it:She appears lucid, alert, somewhat playful, and fully conscious; she does not appear to be objecting to anything at this time. ... (She) sounds as though she is somewhat intoxicated, but is not slurring her words and is certainly conscious and aware of what is going on. She does not appear to be upset by the sexual activity and does not indicate that she wants it to stop ... and the sexual contact appears entirely consensual.The woman acknowledged to police that she drank five to six shots of vodka that night and that there were gaps in her memory, the reports said.The roles of most of the other suspended players were not clear in 22 pages of redacted police reports released Tuesday.The Hennepin County Attorneys Office said it had insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that either force was used or that the victim was physically helpless as defined by law. That statement cited the high standard of proof needed to secure a conviction in criminal cases.But the university uses a lower bar in student discipline cases -- the preponderance of the evidence. That standard, used by courts in most civil cases, requires proof only that its more likely than not that the student code of conduct was violated.A redacted copy of the universitys 82-page investigation report obtained by Minneapolis television station KSTP goes into greater detail than the police report, with the woman saying she believed 10 to 20 men had sex with her, though she was not certain because of her limited memory.University investigators wrote that they generally found her account more credible than those of the accused students. The investigators concluded that several students had failed to provide full and truthful information.The schools Office for Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action investigates allegations of sexual misconduct against students, according to university websites. The office then prepares a report and shares its findings with the Office for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity, which determines the sanctions and informs the accuser and accused.Either side can request a formal hearing before a special committee, and either party can appeal that panels decision. Its not clear if that has happened. Neither attorney Lee Hutton, who represents several of the players, nor the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office returned calls seeking comment from The Associated Press.Yeezy Boost 350 China .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. Adidas Gazelle China Wholesale . Following a lopsided 5-2 loss against the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night, Paul MacLean told reporters that "theres a lack of focus, theres a lack of leadership and theres a lack of preparation" with his struggling team. That came on the heels of Bryan Murray taking the unusual step of going into the locker room at the Prudential Center and addressing the players himself. http://www.fakeyeezyscheap.com/wholesale-nmd/nmd-r1-clearance.html . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge. Yeezy Boost 350 v2 Replica China . To the surprise of many, it isnt the Wolverines but their in-state rivals the Michigan State Spartans. Wholesale Under Armour Shoes China . Olli Jokinen, Mark Scheifele, and Bryan Little each had a goal and an assist as Winnipeg won 5-2, handing Calgary its record-setting seventh consecutive loss on home ice.Cubs fans know well the space between hope and disappointment. After all, they have been waiting for this day for 71 years -- a lifetime.What happened in the space of those seven decades? Baseball unionized. Baseball became racially integrated. Ballplayers broke records. And the Cubs never made it past the playoffs.Something else happened in that space. Gargantuan legends grew from one goat, and each year proved, for the Cubs at least, that a curse was real.By making it to the World Series, the Chicago Cubs have shown us how quickly things can change and let us believe that perhaps nothing is doomed after all.Baseball can be a slow game to watch, but it offers us something that other sports do not. In its slowness, it offers us space.The space of baseball is what makes superstition possible; there is room for story. There is time for each player to settle into their body before the pitch: the batter adjusts his gloves, the pitcher collects his thoughts, the outfielder inhales.Then, action -- the bat hits, the glove catches, the ball falls. Hope and reality collide in the moment between the pitchers throw and the batters swing. For the fans, those seconds before the ball lands can feel like tension, and spectators become almost still as they wait.Of course, we never experience true silence, especially not at a major league baseball stadium, where every pause is a moment for commercialism to offer us something, for a T-shirt gun to explode into the stands, for an organ to resound.Yes, there is more noise these days than ever.dddddddddddd Yet underneath the roar of a crowd is something like silence. My brother attended Saturdays pennant game, and he said he was so caught up in the electricity of the crowd that he forgot to open his peanuts until the third inning, and everyone stood for the entire game.This essay is not about silence; it is about pause. Between the pitches are pauses that help all restless bodies to be still, even for a moment.It is in the stillness that we learn to pay attention. Cubs fans have taught us to be unwavering in their dedication. For 71 years, they have watched as their team struggled. Then, suddenly, the spell is lifted; maybe there are no spells, after all.This lifted curse could be the spell-breaker we need in order to see that the world has enough magic, that anything is possible. Its exhilarating; it has the underdog feeling of March Madness, the triumph of ancient mythology. What will happen if we pay attention to it?We will learn that nothing is permanent, and that things are always possible, and changing. We will become so captivated by the energy of a game that we will be present for it. We will forget to open our peanuts.When we watch the World Series this week, we can remember that no matter how bleak it looks, there is always chance for the spell to be broken.Carrie Ann Welsh is a writer based in Wisconsin.? ' ' '