Jeez, this is a weird thread. The consensus (and it is nearly unanimous) is that Bruce deserved to get punched by someone twice his size for talking back and stepping on the T? We now officially believe that violence is the best reaction to disrespect?
Sure, we might say that it doesn't bode as poorly for Croom if the attack was provoked. Sure, we can say that Bruce wasn't exactly completely innocent. That makes a difference. But to sit around and praise Croom for clocking somebody is just insane.
And what is this whole "what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room" nonsense? It isn't Vegas. It isn't international waters. Do you think this holds for everything? If a player beat someone into a coma in the locker room? If there was legitimate persistent bullying? If they raped another player? Look, I get that a punch isn't as severe, but the "whatever happens in" mantra is absurd, and it is not that much less absurd just because the situation is less dramatic.
Unless Bruce punched him first, Croom screwed up. Croom deserved to be punished. And Croom sure as heck doesn't deserve to be praised, and lifted up as a hero of the program. Punching a much smaller freshman, somebody who was decent enough to take a blue shirt, and who seemed to love UT, is not heroic.
