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» Marshawn Lynch threatened by the NFL for his media silence

Eric Wilkins

Sports Editor
sports
_ @theotherpress.ca

 

iy |
[° a league so often ravaged by
unwelcome outbursts from
its players, it should come with
some amusement that one of its
stars is currently in hot water
for doing precisely the opposite.
Seattle Seahawks running back
Marshawn Lynch was recently

Two down, one to go

: slapped by the NFL witha

: $50,000 fine for not speaking to

: the media all season. Though he’s
: since appealed the ruling and

: won, further indiscretion to the

: NFL's policy will incur a $100,000
: penalty.
: While it’s easy to rush to
: Lynch’s defence—a fine for

: keeping out of the spotlight?—

: the talented back is technically

: in the wrong. It’s easy to say that
: Lynch is only getting paid to

: carry the rock and not to talk,

: but this isn’t actually true. NFL

» Douglas faces Quest

Courtnie Martin
Sports Reporter

 

n January 10, the men’s

basketball team hosted the :

first game back after the break

: against the Quest Kermodes.

: After the last game resulted in
: a 98-85 loss, the Royals were

: playing for redemption. The

: first quarter was a bit chaotic

: for the Royals; the tempo was
: upbeat on both ends of the

: floor, but Douglas was still

: struggling—finishing behind

: media policy states that players

: are required to be available to

: the media “following every game,
: and regularly during the practice
: week as required under league

: rules and their contracts” It

: doesn’t matter how politely an

: NFL player declines an interview
: request—it’s still his duty. There
: are unpleasant or unwanted

: aspects to every job; saying “no”

: isn’t a suitable excuse for why

: they can’t be carried out.

Inasmuch as I understand,

: and personally don’t mind in the

the Kermodes after the first 10
minutes.

In the second quarter,
Quest started to pull away,
causing coach Denis Beausoleil
to call a quick timeout fora
new strategy; they began to
pressure and double team
every possession. While the

: game became a back-and-forth
: contest to the rim, the halftime
: score failed to reflect this with

: Douglas heading into the half,

: down 44-35.

strong efforts from Kristian
: Hildebrandt, Bradyn Norris, :
: and Grant Campbell, the Royals :

 

theotherpress.ca

Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch // By Otto Greule Jr

: least, Lynch’s blackout of sorts,

: the life of a professional athlete
: isn’t a private one. Whether

: they appreciate the attention

: or not, it’s the expectation and

: responsibility of players to be

: there for the fans and give their
: two cents. It’s not their right to

: decide when they want to get in
: front of the cameras.

On the flip-side though,

: the NEL is being a little nitpicky
: here. It took them the entire

: regular season—17 weeks—before :
: someone noticed. A whole season :

In the second half, despite

: went by without anyone raising

: a fuss about one of the league’s

: top backs doing his best mute

: impression. Even the big, bad

: media—infamous for making

: mountains out of molehills—

: didn’t have an issue with it.

: There are so many more pressing
: matters that the NFL could be

: using its time on. It seems to be
: a poor publicity move to attack

: a likeable character on sucha

: trivial issue—which may be why

the league decided to withhold
the fine for the moment.

: couldn’ close the deficit,

: with the final score 97-72 for
: Quest. Douglas will have one
: more opportunity to best the
: Kermodes before provincials
: later this year.