Remember when two Boston College football players and a State Trooper got involved in a bar brawl that sent a software programmer to the hospital? According to Dave Wedge, a judge has thrown out felony assault charges against Trooper Joseph Boike, who also co-owns The Greatest Bar, where the fight took place in August.
Boike was accused of using a bottle in the fight, but the judge didn't find evidence that Boike did that. However, that decision doesn't address any other weapons Boike allegedly used, such as his fists. Sean Maney, the victim in the alleged fight, went to the hospital with a broken neck and other injuries.
This story fascinated us because of the imbalance in the brawl. The BC players, offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus and defensive back DeJuan Tribble, are big guys. Along with Boike, the players were up against Sean Maney of Watertown, who is a computer worker. No matter what caused the fight--and regular, non-felony assault charges are still pending--the fight didn’t seem particularly fair.
All charges alleged until proven under law. The BC Eagle is coming at you!
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Boike had a history of violence. Ironically, the players didn't. Not the first time jocks didn't avoid the "occasion of sin" but these guys were drinking legally. A working cop who owns a place with a liquor license is trouble looking for a place to happen. Conflicts of interest are inevitable. That said, the players should have done a better job of extricating themselves when Maney's mouth apparently wrote a check his body couldn't cash. Absent impending NFL riches,this would have gone away, from what I understand. Let's hope this was a teachable moment for all involved.
Well, as BC just escaped Orlando with a ho-hum 24-21 win over Michigan St. at the Champs Sports Bowl, we might get to see them apply their knowledge this weekend.
We all hope that Cherilus and Tribble can now party and stay classy all at once. I'm defining ''classy'' as not breaking anyone's neck.
I'll say this, though. The BC kids got off easier than a nobody would have. Their limited notoriety and significant earning potential help their case. A pair of debate team members would be in more trouble.
Debaters would have been at Doyle's instead of TGB and would have talked their way out of any conflict. BC is actually better at debate than football, perhaps because debate at BC predates football by 25 years.(In a preview of things to come, BC choked in their first intercollegiate game, a 6-0 loss to MIT in 1893).