DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Mentor's Pike didn't get fair shake

http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2008/11/13/sports/nh108861.txt

Ben Pike made two commitments to Eastern Michigan.

A verbal commitment to play college football and an emotional commitment to the program and the university before ever taking a class or a snap in practice.

Both of those were shattered by a decision that could be considered unethical at the worst, and cold and ruthless at the very least.

For an institution of higher education, the words loyalty and trustworthy certainly seem to be foreign terms.

Despite the fact Pike, a senior at Mentor who took himself off the recruiting trail, was set to pick out a roommate for the fall of 2009 sometime in the near future, and had everything within him set to wear the Eagles' colors, EMU informed Pike that his scholarship offer was withdrawn.

Thanks, but no thanks. We need to win immediately was the tail-between-the-legs explanation, and Pike was scheduled to red-shirt next year to get bigger, stronger and faster to help the Eagles at some point in the upcoming four years. So his scholarship was instead offered to a player who could come in right away and make an impact.

Well, here's the impact it made on me.

That stinks. I had a long-winded analogy here that included 2-month-old salmon, cat litter and sweat socks, but you get the idea.

That is the worst of the big business side of not only college football, but the worst of the adult world making non-believers out of teenage student-athletes.

"It was like a kick in the gut," Pike said of the phone call he received last week.

That kick in the gut is one that had to hurt more than any chop block or brutal collision the Lake Erie League player of the year ever experienced on the field this fall.

And the ironic thing is while football is a hard-hitting game, sticking to your word and trusting what people tell you should be easy or second nature.

Pike, who has learned from his family to be true to his word in sports and in life, found out the hard way that is not always the case.

"I have always been around people that I can trust, who always have my best interest in mind and whose word is a binding agreement," Pike said. "This was so hard for me. So frustrating. I can't lie. But I guess it wasn't meant to be. I think all of this is for a reason, and wherever I wind up will work out for the best."

Pike is probably going to wind up in the Mid-American Conference anyway — with schools such as Kent State, Bowling Green and Northern Illinois expressing interest in the 6-foot-3, 225-pound standout, it is almost a forgone conclusion.

And taking football out of the equation entirely, Pike is the kind of student-athlete you know things will work out for in every aspect of life. Eastern Michigan can take away its scholarship offer, but they are powerless to take that away from the shoo-in All-Ohio defensive end.

Pike is a good student, a good teammate and a good young man way before he needs to be described as a better-than-just-good high school football player. Here's a situation where he did absolutely nothing wrong, except maybe putting his heart and soul and trust into a program that obviously had no intention of returning the favor.

If there is any justice in the world of collegiate sports, here's what's going to happen.

Sometime in the fall of 2010, a redshirt freshman at Kent State or Bowling Green or somewhere else in the MAC named Ben Pike will have the game of his young career against Eastern Michigan. Sacks, pressures, caused turnovers. Whatever makes the Eagles' coaches — who may or may not be there in 2010 — wince internally and externally.

Forget about Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny or the idea Pike is the only young man or woman this kind of behavior has ever affected, karma is something I do believe in deeply.

What Eastern Michigan did to Pike shouldn't happen to any high school athlete. Not here in The News-Herald coverage area, not anywhere.

Not to a football player at a big-name program or a lacrosse player at a small country school nobody has heard of.

Pike was offered a scholarship, he verbally committed and then emotionally committed by listening to the EMU games on the Internet each weekend. He was ready to be an Eagle.

And since his verbal commitment, nothing changed on his end. No problems in school, no disciplinary or grade issues and no injuries on the field.

Nothing changed for Pike, but EMU changed its mind.

"I've never heard of anything like it in my entire life," Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno said. "You recruit a kid and have a verbal binding agreement with him and then you tell him never mind? It's ridiculous. It should be embarrassing to (EMU).

"Ben will be fine, but I told (EMU) not to bother recruiting any more players from Mentor while I am here. Don't even bother trying."

Try this on for size: Think about the recruiting 8-ball Pike has been put behind now.

Pike is still on a lot of programs' radars, including MAC schools not named Eastern Michigan, but as Trivisonno said, the recruiting process stopped for him. So while time was lost and scholarships filled, Pike must make up ground. Pike must trust in himself, trust in his faith and move on. He must quickly detach himself of any feelings or allegiance. He must turn a cold shoulder.

In essence, although it's not his style or upbringing, Pike must act like the Eagles did toward him.

If there is any justice or karma in college athletics, the scenario detailed with Pike getting the best of the Eagles on the field after seeing the worst of the program off the field will come to be.

Pike and all high school student-athletes deserve better, and their parents should expect more than low-brow actions from these institutions of higher learning.

College programs should commit to decency and treating people right at the bare minimum.

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EMU should be embrassed. That is wrong, what they did to that kid is terrible.

They should be embassesed and what they did was wrong, a tuff lesson to learn for this kid, but life is full of them.


I do hope the best for him and I sure hope he goes to a Mac team where he can make them regret thier decision every time he plays against them.