High standards

Randy Moss recently admitted on HBO's Real Sports that he occasionally uses marijuana. Ricky Williams retired from football prematurely after testing positive for marijuana multiple times. These athletes, like many other public figures, make the argument that smoking weed is not any different than drinking alcohol, thus making it okay to break the law.

This controversy has recently come close to home for me. Last week it was brought to my attention that some athletes at this school had posted pictures on the Internet of themselves smoking marijuana. These pictures are no longer available online and because I can't produce them, I will not reveal the names of the players. However, that doesn't change the fact that they were out there, and easily accessible through Facebook.

I'm not so na??ve as to think that some athletes at UB, and probably most universities, have not smoked marijuana. And some people may even make the argument that it is no big deal. After all, they are students just like everyone else, and we all know that there is a perception that college and weed go hand in hand.

Although many of so-called "average students" get away with smoking weed, athletes have to be held to a higher standard. They gave up their right to be "average Joe Pothead" when they accepted their scholarship money, and every other privilege that comes with being a Division-I athlete. Playing sports is a commitment that they made and they should consider themselves lucky to have the opportunity to wear a blue and white uniform.

The advantages they receive from being an athlete are essentially payment to represent the school. Using any drug, yes, even weed, is not only breaking the law, but also violates school and NCAA policies. Every player knows this and to partake in these activities anyway disrespects their team, the university and the NCAA.

In addition to the fact that these athletes were smoking weed, they had the audacity, or just stupidity, to post their pictures on a Yahoo picture page. The pictures were put on the net by one of the players smoking up and, in order to avoid any confusion about who they are or what they're doing, this clever Web-jock spelled it out with cute little captions.

Violating a drug policy is one thing, but to put it online for everyone to see is giving a big "F-U" to the school, their team, the athletic department and every other UB athlete. Not only is this a sign that the athletic department should be keeping a closer eye on what these players are doing with their free time, it also soils the reputations of every other responsible, hard-working UB athlete.

Although many people might say "it's just weed," this shouldn't be treated any differently than if these players were snorting cocaine or committing other misdemeanor crimes. Anyone that represents UB, whether it's an athlete, coach or professor, should have the common sense to realize that they are required to exhibit model behavior out of respect for the university. When they make poor decisions it doesn't just make them look bad, it puts the entire school in a negative light.

The fact that these athletes: A) failed to recognize they would be insulting the integrity of the school or B) just didn't care, absolutely baffles me. Whether they posted these pictures as a form of rebellion, as something funny, or just because they are too dumb to see what a monumental mistake it could have been, I will probably never know.

What I do know is that the drug users in question are lucky and probably don't realize how close they came to being caught.

Fortunately for them, they evaded punishment and will continue to reap all the benefits that UB athletics have to offer. Maybe a narrow escape will be a wake-up call to these two, and will help them focus more on passing the ball and less on passing the blunt.