Divided Windows

The Bloods and Crips have shown early interest, and the Irish Mob has already offered based on name alone.

Smith was two spots away from being a 5 star on 247 as well, so I think I'd count him, but I have no qualms if some don't. OU and Texas probably have had better walk-on RBs on their rosters right now than Calhoun. At least Smith and Calhoun had the frame and maybe the athleticism to justify a 5 star ceiling though. In my book, you have to either have either size or elite athleticism, and preferably both, to warrant 5 star consideration. Bookie's 5 star status never made sense. He was undersized and had below average athleticism for a high D1 corner. In no world could he ever have lived up to a 5 star billing. Speaking of Wease, I'd put him in the Bookie category too. He doesn't have the size or athleticism to warrant a 5 star status IMO.

Jalen Redmond was a 5 star on 247, and Clayton Smith was a 5 star on Rivals, but neither had a Bama or tOSU offer, so they might fall into the category you created for Bookie.

I totally agree, but again, I think the more apt comparison is to a bar fight, not to hitting an intimate partner. According to what I know, he hadn’t even seen the woman before. I also think it’s worth noting Mixon committed his assault on his 18th birthday. He had legally been an adult for less than 24 hours. Your points are well taken though, and I agree. No violence against women is ever OK.

I get paid to quibble. Nuance is important. I’ve actually discussed this with my wife, and she agrees. Though to be fair again, she gets paid to quibble too.

No one claimed Stoops kicked Mixon off the team. Most OU alumni I know hated Stoops by 2014. E.g., I was with a very highly ranked OU commit in a minor but prominent sport when they tweeted “Fire Bob Stoops” during OU’s playoff loss to Clemson in the 2015-16 season. Within 15 minutes of sending the tweet they received a text from their future head coach demanding it be taken down immediately and lecturing them about never doing anything critical again. Probably not unusual for high level athletic departments, but I thought it was funny and very Gestapo-ish.

Fair point, but I’m assuming that’s in reference to domestic violence. It’s at least a little different that the woman Mixon hit was a complete stranger. He wasn’t hitting an intimate partner, he was hitting a random person talking crap in a bar. Still completely wrong and probably worthy of being kicked off the team, but more similar to a bar fight than a domestic violence situation.

I submit the following brief to the court: The outcome of the Mixon situation is undeniably worse by an order of magnitude, but I think there is an argument to be made that what Bridges and McGowen did showed them to be worse people. Mixon's right hook was a reaction to at the least a minor annoyance and at the worst incessant racial insults. Neither end of that spectrum in any way justifies the assault, but it's undisputed that he did not leave his dorm that evening planning to assault anyone. Bridges and McGowen's stupidity, however, shows at least two levels of premeditated violation of team rules and state and federal law. First, they have a drug dealer. This shows they have purchased illegal drugs in the past. No moral judgment for getting high here, but purposeful violations of team rules generally have a direct inverse relationship with character. For Bridges, he had already been suspended for a positive drug test at least once. It is unclear why his suspension lasted longer than the other two players who were suspended at the same time, but there is some speculation it was due to a subsequent drug violation of some sort. Second, if the rumors are true, Bridges and McGowen left their house with the premeditated intention to commit a violent robbery using firearms. This was not a split second reaction like Mixon's assault. Bridges and McGowen dreamed up a plot where at least one of them was going to put on a ski mask, hold up their drug dealer at gun point, and steal things from the drug dealer's apartment. Then, as they were bouncing this idea back and forth, they collectively decided "You know what? That sounds like a great idea!" and put the plan into motion. The proper answer to both situations is probably to kick all three off the team, but I think Bridges and McGowen's actions are more telling about them personally and show less of a possibility of reform than Mixon's.