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Setting a standard

Noriana Radwan made a really poor decision.

No, she didn’t hit someone like Joe Mixon.

She didn’t punch a pregnant lady like Tyreek Hill.

Radwan was a freshman in the UConn women’s soccer team and the Huskies had just defeated the University of South Florida to win the American Athletic Conference championship on penalty kicks.

She flipped the bird to a TV camera — an ESPN camera, no less.

You can’t hide those things.

Head coach Len Tsantiris said in a statement released by the school that she had been “indefinitely suspended from all team activities, including participation in UConn’s upcoming NCAA tournament games.”

Solid punishment.

But, it didn’t stop there.

According to the story in Deadspin, “In the weeks that followed, she delivered letters to her three coaches apologizing for her behavior that were never acknowledged and made plans for the spring soccer season. On Dec. 14, she received a call from Tsantiris revoking her full-ride scholarship.”

Radwan is now a junior on the Hofstra women’s soccer program and has sued the school.

According to the story in Deadspin, “The suit levies violations of Radwan’s right to due process, civil rights, violation of scholarship contract, and violation of Title IX against UConn, coach Tsantiris, UConn’s former athletic director Warde Manuel, and a financial aid officer.”

I understand punishment for showing who’s No. 1.

But, UConn is in trouble here.

Radwan’s side is going to probably point to numerous other poor decisions by former UConn athletes who were not forced to leave the school over their actions.

Her side will probably say that Radwan is now the poster child for a coach who wanted to take a stand — a coach who has now been there 36 years.

I once did the same thing to an official during my senior high school basketball season. I was kicked off the team by the principal and the coach and was told to me a really good boy or I would not be allowed to run track.

Thank you to my track coach Dick Wilkins for making sure I ran track that season.

My guess is that if Radwan was a football player averaging 11 tackles a game, 125 yard rushing a game or more than 300 yards passing a game, she would still be at UConn.

Ask Mixon.

Oklahoma and head coach Bob Stoops have apparently set a precedent for their athletes regarding punching a female.

And, UConn has now done the same for every member of their athletic program.

Radwan should have been and was punished for her terrible decision.

But, to basically kick her out of school sets a precedent that is going to be really hard for the school to maintain.

What happens if a football player lets go of an F-bomb during a televised game?

Same thing, in reality.

Does that football player have his full scholarship revoked? Yes, rhetorical question.

Finally, from Deadspin, “The school claims Radwan lost her scholarship because the middle finger qualified as “serious misconduct,” a classification the suit notes is usually reserved for violent crimes.

“It’s clear from the information I’ve gathered that there have been many other incidents of much more serious misconduct and nobody lost a scholarship over it,” Radwan’s lawyer Greg Tarone said at a press conference on Monday.

Good luck UConn.

It’s time for the institution to be punished.

How about that Oklahoma?

¯ Former Weir High Principal Dan Enich and current head football coach Tony Filberto need your help.

The school is putting together a wall of fame that is to include anyone associated with the school in the capacity of a coach, player or administrator.

The qualification is they would have already been inducted into a hall of fame — collegiate, state or OVAC (the Irish Pub Hall of Fame doesn’t count.)

There are currently 35 on the wall — Leonard Bloom, Robert Bloom, Tom Bloom, Jimmy Carey, Jason Colson, Harold Daugherty, Enich, Carl Fodor Sr., Carl Fodor Jr., Bob Gain, Chester Grossi, John Grossi, Carl Hamill, Jim Hanna, Leon Jenkins, Bob Jeter, Tony Jeter, Amanda Karnes, Bob Kelley, George Kohelis, George Kovalik, Mike Kovalik, Jack Kostur, Dan McGrew, Vince Monseau, Bill Paolisso, John Sorrenti, Bill Thompson, Mike Tomasovich, Ted Tomasovich, Mac Williams, Fritz Williams, Quincy Williams, Bill Tucker and Willie Tucker.

For information, contact Enich at (304) 919-3719 or Filberto at (304) 670-0021.

(Mathison, a Weirton resident, is sports editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times. He can be contacted at mmathison@heraldstaronline.com and followed on Twitter @HSDTsports)

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