posted by Andrew Carter on May 5, 2008 4:27:53 PM
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So Florida State announced today that junior linebacker
Marcus Ball asked for a release from his scholarship, and that the university granted his request. I think some details might have been missing from FSU's one-sentence release but the point remains: Ball is gone.
And you know what? It's not necessarily a bad thing for the Seminoles.
Don't get me wrong. Ball is talented. He's energetic. And he probably would have started in the fall -- at least after serving a likely three-game suspension resulting from FSU's academic fraud scandal.
But Ball had been in trouble before. He was suspended during his sophomore season from the Music City Bowl, which FSU lost 35-28 to Kentucky. And he was suspended last Nov. 10 during FSU's loss at Virginia Tech. He missed that one for the nebulous "violation of team rules."
You have to wonder how much Ball's past discretions led him to "ask for a release" from Florida State. And you have to wonder whether the coaches are sad to see him go. My guess is they're not.
On the surface, Ball's departure might appear to be another setback in an off-season that's turning rocky. Team MVP
Preston Parker, of course, was arrested two weeks in Palm Beach County and charged with possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon.
Ball's exit, though, isn't necessarily a bad thing. It doesn't cost FSU in the short term because he would have likely missed the team's first three games. And it doesn't hurt FSU in the long term because the program has a solid core of good young linebackers (see:
Kendall Smith,
Maurice Harris,
Nigel Bradham and
Vince Williams) who now will have more of a chance to prove themselves.
(Events)
