Princeton Lax Coach Throws An Elbow At Opposing Player And Should He Not Have Done That?
Inside Lacrosse – Princeton coach Chris Bates has been placed on administrative leave following an incident with an opposing player Saturday. The incident occurred after the first face-off in the third quarter, with the Brown up 7-6. Princeton released the following statement to Inside Lacrosse on Monday morning:
“Chris Bates, the head men’s lacrosse coach at Princeton University, has been placed on administrative leave pending a review of an incident in this past Saturday’s game against Brown. The University is taking this matter seriously and will be conducting a prompt and thorough review. Offensive coordinator Matt Madalon will lead the team during this process.”
Brown player John Yozzo-Scaperrotta brought the ball into the box and collided with a Princeton player, drawing a flag from the referee while falling to the ground. He got back up and began running to the substitution box, when Bates — who was already in the field of play and trying to talk with the ref trailing behind — appeared to put his right shoulder and elbow toward Yozzo-Scaperrotta, colliding with his right shoulder
Live look at Chris Bates pleading his case…
It’s been a shitty year for the Princeton Tigers who are 2-6 on the season and 0-3 in Ivy League play so far. Their latest loss came at the hands of #2 Brown 19-8 and they lost their head coach Chris Bates in the process. Now before we get started here, the timing of this couldn’t have been any better for the higher ups at Princeton. Bates was on his way out of the door anyway after this season and this only gave them the chance to expedite the process. Bates took over for Bill Tierney in 2010. Before then, Tierney had created a dynasty out of the Princeton lacrosse program. They won the NCAA Championship in ’92, 94, 96, 97, 98 and ’01. Then a guy named Mikey Powell came along but Princeton still made it to the tournament every year besides ’05 and ’08 after that. But Tierney moved on to turn Denver into the next power house and in comes Chris Bates from Drexel. Since taking over in 2010, Princeton has only made it to the NCAA tournament twice. Sooooo yeah, safe to say he should have been touching up his resume anyway before this incident, but even more so now.
My only problem with this incident? It wasn’t that bad. Like not bad at all. If anything, at least it shows a little bit of heart and enthusiasm from the coach. His team sucks nuts this year. The Tigers are dead. They have nothing left to play for this season but they still have 5 more games to go. They could either just pack it in and give up all together. Or they could go into every game ready to fight and try to take at least a little something away from the season. So I guess the only thing Bates really has to be sorry for is still showing up to work with a little passion. Maybe if they let him suit up for a game, they wouldn’t get shelled for 19 goals against Brown. I guess that shit just doesn’t fly with the fancy shmancy Ivy League crowd. Probably why Bates was better suited in Philly coaching with Drexel. Dude would be a hero here for pulling a stunt like that.