Problem solved? Not exactly.
In interviews after Nicastro’s arrest, Parker said he doesn’t believe the incidents are symptomatic of a larger problem. “I hope it’s a horrible coincidence,’’ he said. “I don’t want this to be the culture of our team and if it is, we’ll change it.’’
How much circumstantial evidence does this coach need?
Listen to the rap video produced by Trivino and another BU hockey player who was also kicked off the team. Called “Party Like A Puck Star,’’ the lyrics refer to women as “broads’’ and “bitches’’ and boast about being “on a bitch bangin’ mission.’’
Read the campus newspaper, The Daily Free Press, and the recent allegations of sexual assault sound like extreme examples of an obnoxious jock culture that is dangerous to women.
After Trivino’s arrest, the Free Press reported that hockey team players who lived in his building consistently exhibited what fellow residents described as unwanted and inappropriate behavior.
“Some of the players were often disruptive, made lewd comments, and knocked on girls’ doors to ask for condoms or see if the girls would let the barely dressed players into their rooms,’’ the newspaper reported. In October, the resident assistant sent an e-mail stating that the floor was not a zoo and begged them to “stop behaving like animals.’’ In news reports on the most recent arrest, assorted BU students said hockey players lived in a pampered world that tolerated their bad behavior.
Jock idolatry is not unique to BU and certainly not to college hockey. A recent New York Times magazine piece entitled, “How Big-Time Sports Ate College Life,’’ speaks to the larger, troubling issue. “Has big-time sports hijacked the American campus?’’ asks writer Laura Pappano. At plenty of universities, they have.
