Go Beavs!!! Crush some Vandy.

Well said. I am just sick that this happened for this little girl, and sad for the fact that Luke was involved. While I believe in the statement, "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", and that everyone deserves an opportunity to turn his/her life around, some offenses are definitely more charged and cause a more visceral response. As someone who has spent 35 years working with kids, advocating for them and trying to insure their safety and security, there is no way to put a neat bow on this.

However, Luke has done everything asked him and, I believe, deserves a chance to move ahead. None of us can - or has a right to - judge whether or not he's rehabilitated and able to keep moving forward in an appropriate, healthy way but him. I truly hope he does. I'm thinking that the fact that he's become such a great pitcher and done so much for our baseball program has given me a little more empathy for him, which shouldn't play into this for me, but I guess that my main focus is that he has a chance to do some good things, and providing he doesn't relapse, I'm pulling for him. There's a reason that the courts generally seal juvenile records. It is criminal, IMO, to make someone pay for the mistakes they made as a child for the rest of their lives if they have done all they could to make things right. I.

I feel terrible for this young woman. As a parent, I can imagine how her mother would have trouble wanting Luke to be able to move ahead and even receive praise and honor for his exploits on the diamond. It must be so painful for the whole family to contend with the fact that the perpetrator was also a part of the family. Just really tough stuff.

While sports shouldn't trump life issues such is this one, I also feel bad for the entire Beaver baseball team. It's sad that, on the cusp of one of the all-time historic college baseball seasons, this information has been introduced, with the potential to tarnish an amazing accomplishment by an amazing group of athletes and coaches. For those who would argue that if Luke were not allowed to ever pitch here, the record wouldn't be so special, I would argue that even if any of a number of other kids had pitched in his place and managed a .500 record, we would still have single-digit losses. Nobody else is close to that.

I'm confident that this team will go out in a blaze, be it in the Super Regional, or at some point in Omaha, maybe even hoisting the hardware. I love their resolve and overall talent and approach. With or without Luke, don't sell this team short. One thing that I would hate to see is for fans around here to forget this special ride because of all of the play that this story is getting in the media.