Sexiled

Everyone has that one night in their lives that they'll regret forever. Right?

Maybe you had a few too many slippery nipple shots at the bar the night before and woke up in a blurry haze the next morning lying butt-naked in a public garden next to Lolita, the 4'5" Spanish midget from the local Foxy Lady. It happens to everybody. We make mistakes. We're only human.

But for Brandon Davies, being human may have just cost him his basketball scholarship.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Davies, the BYU sophomore forward out of Provo, UT, had been dismissed from the team indefinitely for his conduct off the court. At first, all the university would not go any specific details about the transgressions that led to the dismissal. Then on Wednesday, word finally got out that the sophomore had been released from the team and suspended from the school for breaking an "honor code" upheld at the institution. When I first heard this, my initial thought was that Colonel Jessup was in the building. Honor code? Did he give away Coca Cola's secret recipe or something?

As it turned out, Davies was dismissed from the team as a consequence to one of those nights he'll always regret. But in this case, there was no alcohol or public indecency or Spanish midgets. Brandon Davies was suspended and kicked off the basketball team for having sex...with his girlfriend.

Now I know BYU is supposed to be all uber-religious and strict and straight-edge when it comes to all this stuff but...really? The man has intercourse with his girlfriend and that's enough behavior to warrant a permanent dismissal from the team and possible dismissal from the school? The dude wasn't drinking, wasn't smoking, and really wasn't doing anything illegal. And yet, he gets one of the stiffest punishments I have seen given to a college athlete in a long, long time. It just doesn't make sense.

Yeah yeah, BYU is full of Mormons and Mormons don't believe in drugs, alcohol or premarital sex. But let's be honest here, this kid was probably going to marry this girl next week anyway. More than half of the kids walking around that school are married already and many of them have children too. And wait another year, I bet some of them will be married again. And again. I just don't get it.

Without trying to go into the logistics of the actual religion and its actual rules and beliefs, I'm just going to say that I think the thing that gets to me the most is the inconsistency this action

sets against the rest of the league. I mean, think about it. In the past year alone, how many times have we seen college athletes getting suspended just a couple games for recruiting violations and taking gifts from boosters and getting into barfights, etc? You'd be stupid to think that all college athletes are alcohol and drug-free. And you'd be really stupid to think that college athletes don't have premarital sex. Much of the time, their "destructive" behavior goes under the radar. And when they do get caught, it's usually only a brief suspension. Is it fair that BYU is 100 times stricter? No. But is it the risk you take when you choose to go to a college like that. I guess so.

And let's get to the real issue at hand. Because it's not like this happened to any little division III program in Chaunceyville USA. BYU was ranked #3 in the nation and coming off a huge victory over conference rival and #6 ranked San Diego State when this happened. They were almost a shoe-in for a #1 seed in the NCAA tourney in a few weeks. Now, they have to play without their 3rd leading scorer and best option inside the paint. Now all opposing teams have to do is focus on defending wonderboy Jimmer Fredette and they'll have a chance to win.

Exhibit A: tonight's game. New Mexico 82, BYU 64. (in Provo)

The only "honor code" being broken here is BYU giving away their own secret recipe.