John Lomax III, Image: Newscom

Police have charged 21-year-old John Lomax III with the murder of Howard, which took place on October 18. Johnny Hood, also 21, has also been charged, and he reported that he got into an argument with some other Connecticut players because they were “disrespecting” one of the girls at the dance. Says Hood’s friend Hakim Muhammad,

“Johnny was telling the guy, ‘That’s a girl, be respectful to her. The guy then started directing his disrespect to Johnny and the two of them got into it a little bit.”

The players in question? Brian Parker and A.J. Portee.

Apparently, someone pulling the fire alarm didn’t have anything to do with the argument. Outside, the two groups confronted one another. Hood and Lomax both say that the football players took swings. Parker says that one of their friends, De’Quan Muhammad, rushed him, and at some point, someone stabbed him in the back. At that point, police broke up the fight and arrested Hood on charges related to disrupting the peace and interfering with police efforts.

The football group then walked across the street, but the non-football players went to their cars, where they allegedly armed themselves. Witnesses say that there were at least seven or eight people started fighting, and some have noted that Howard swung at Lomax first. Witnesses also say that Kashif Moore and Kalmetrus Wiley, two other UConn football players, were involved in the fight. These players haven’t been charged with any, but a number of others involved in the fight have been charged with assault, hindering the prosecution, and related charges.

It seems to me that everyone is at fault, that the football players are no more innocent than the non-players. That said, regardless of who said or did what, no one deserved to die that night. It’s my hope that everyone involved is prosecuted and punished, whether they were players or not.

Post from: EveryJoe

Connecticut Stabbing Allegedly Over Woman

Mutchler posted several messages on Facebook and an ESPNU news page warning people to “stop snitching” following the stabbing of Connecticut player Jasper Howard, who died despite attempts by fellow teammates to save his life at the scene of the crime.

RIP Jasper Howard, Image: Newscom

One of the messages he posted reportedly said:

“STOP the snitching and post the names of anyone you know who gave information to the cops…jazz didnt deserve do die the person who killed him didnt intend to kill HIM anyone who snitched should face the social consequences.”

Police have determined that there is not link between Mutchler and the other men that have been arrested in conjunction with the attack – John Lomax III, Hakim Muhammad, Johnny Hood, and Jamal Todd. None of these men are students at Connecticut and their motives are still unclear. They do believe that Mutchler was attempting to scare potential witnesses, though they are not sure why.

The university is also investigating whether or not Mutchler violated their personal code of conduct, and if he did, he could receive anything from a warning to expulsion.

Post from: EveryJoe

CT Student Arrested for Anti-Snitch Warnings

It is my hope that players, friends, and family members can remember Howard in the happy times. Image: Newscom.

As of now, the police have not made any arrests, and they’re asking that any students who might have pictures or videos of the fight to come forward. While there are suspects, and the Howard family is confident that the person responsible will be brought to justice, this is an especially hard pill for everyone to swallow because Howard was actually working hard to get away from violence. Howard was from a rougher area of Miami, and was thriving at college. Friends say that he was the type of person everyone loved and was very outgoing and friendly.

The show must go on, but this weekend, players at Connecticut will were a sticker wearing Howard’s number (#6). In addition, one of Howard’s high school friends, Chris Chancellor, now plays for Clemson and got permission to wear #6 at their next game to honor Howard.

Post from: EveryJoe

Players to Honor Jasper Howard

First and foremost, what the crap, Oklahoma State. I think like, the entire state of Oklahoma is bummed out. First, Sam Bradford gets injured. Now this. In case you didn’t watch the game…Oklahoma State, who was ranked #5, got their asses handed to them by Houston. Most people don’t even realize that Houston has a football team. At first, it was just a good game, but Oklahoma State didn’t look like they were really in jeopardy. Whatever adjustments the Cougars made during halftime worked, though. They scored 21 points in the fourth quarter alone! Final score? 45 – 35. Ouch, Cowboys. There goes your bowl game bid.

Everyone’s still talking about the Ohio State – USC game, too. I actually watched every minute of this game on a 72 – inch HDTV. Be jealous. I was cheering Ohio State (Big Ten love), but I knew it would be a close game, and I’m not upset that USC won. Every year, people say that Big Ten teams can’t compete with Pac-10 teams, but I think this game proves that they can.

USC's #4 Joe McKnight was key in the win against Ohio State. Image: Newscom

The final score was 18 -15, and it was not an easy game for either team by any means. It came down to a final amazing drive across the field by USC’s Matt Barkley and Joe McKnight, which led to a score and two-point conversion. There just wasn’t enough time left on the clock for the Buckeyes to make anything happen to take back the lead. Ohio State dropped to #11, from being #8 last week, and I personally think it is a good place for them to be. Although some are calling for them to drop farther, if you saw the game, you know that USC just barely outplayed Ohio State, and the win had a lot to do with timing rather than talent.

Florida, Texas, and Alabama all won. *shrug* No big new there. The games sucked, for the most part. It was interesting that Texas was so sloppy against Wyoming in the first half, but other than that, there really wasn’t anything to see.

Other interesting scores:

• On Thursday, #15 Georgia Tech was almost upended by Clemson. Final score, 30 – 27. Read about it more at The Palmetto Scoop and Football Zone TV.
• Connecticut kept up with #19 North Carolina, but ultimately fell 12 – 10. Read about it more at Tar Heel Blue.
• Ouch. Michigan State lost to Central Michigan 29 – 27, who is a better team than people give them credit for. Read about it more at The Niles Star and The Scores Report.
• Wisconsin held on against Fresno State in double overtime. Final score was 34 – 31 – it was a great game. Read about it more at Bleacher Report.
• UCLA beat Tennesse 19 – 15. Another great game. Read about it more at the UCLA website and Ledger-Enquirer.

Post from: EveryJoe

College Football Week Two 2009 in Review