Wild Details Behind Boston University Hockey Task Force Report Emerge

The other day BU's task force released its findings after six months of review of the culture surrounding the Terrier hockey program. The general consensus was "yikes... but we knew this already." Aside from a few scathing remarks within the report itself, there was only so much to say.

We did, of course, have a couple former Terriers taking to Twitter with their opinions on the task force:

The findings of the BU task force is a joke. Boston University should be ashamed of the way they have handled this from the start. Disgusted

— Colby Cohen (@ColbyCohen36) September 5, 2012

Some of the findings by the BU task force are pretty comical. They think kids being in MET is a major problem. A joke in itself #bestschool

— David Warsofsky (@DaveWarsofsky5) September 5, 2012

Ooh, bad timing...

'Cause then this happened.

The twitterverse pretty much exploded this afternoon after the Globe released confidential details behind behind the task force's report.

Some of the finer points included accusations that players drank for free at T's Pub regularly, without needing ID's, and while underage, actual BU players telling the task force that they didn't feel they needed to "ask permission" when they were drunk, a not-so-subtle suggestion that head coach Jack Parker lied to the Task Force, and many, many other jaw-dropping revelations.

Cue the mud dragging!

In the documents, which were obtained by the Globe on Thursday, were tales of a late-night 2009 NCAA championship party at Agganis Arena where dozens of guests drank from kegs in the locker room showers and took to the ice naked to shoot pucks.

"It was insane," one former student who attended told the BU task force. "People were having sex in the penalty box."

What?!

Look, I get celebrating after a championship and partying and college athletes having some special perks. But is this for real?

The article went on to say that Parker 'had never heard about the bash, but later acknowledging he knew of "a few guys drinking in the locker room."' Yet multiple eyewitnesses claim Parker knew all about it and confronted the team days later.

What else you got for us, Boston Globe?

A female student told the task force that a player had shoved his hands down her pants at a party and refused to stop even as she was punching him. She did not report the incident to authorities because, she said, "that’s just what [BU hockey players] do." Another told of a Facebook posting "in which hockey players boast about their sexual exploits," referring to conquests as "kills."

These guys are such winners. And the article is just paragraph after paragraph of this stuff.

The media storm was endless. NECN released an article with some student reactions, including my personal favorite:

"That is really gross," said BU junior Tawri Matsushige. "I’m sorry, but I’m not going in there (Agganis Arena) anymore."

If there's one thing you have to give BU students credit for, it's their pretty widespread disapproval of the BU administration and, particularly, Coach Parker, for their handling of the team.

The Globe released another opinion article later in the afternoon, with a little shoutout for the beacon of excellence on the Heights:

If you want to see how it’s done right, look just up the street at Jerry York and Boston College, where national hockey championships are won more often of late but without the criminal charges and controversies.

You're damn right.

Look. Let's not pretend that every other schools' student athletes are little angels with purity rings. But at some point in Jack Parker's tenure as head coach of the Terriers, something went horribly awry. It went from the Big Men On Campus getting perks here and there, to a significant portion of the hockey team not only running completely out of control, but being a genuine danger to those around them.

Why?

Because Jack Parker couldn't control his team. These were players that he recruited. Players he was supposed to lead and mold into respectable young men. At least, that's what watching Jerry York leads me to believe.

Parker told the task force he had stressed the importance of being respectful to women and advised players to avoid group sex, which the confidential report notes players engage in with surprising regularity. "However," Parker is quoted as saying, "my job is not to say, ‘You guys gotta be celibate.’

You've got to be kidding me. Talk about missing the point.

The craziest part about this is that Jack Parker will probably not lose his job as coach of the Terriers. Maybe that's just fine with us. But to Boston University, it's really a shame. He has truly embarrassed the Terrier community with his lack of control on his team. For BU not to either fire Parker or force his resignation is a slap in the face to those who support the program.

But who knows, maybe they'll surprise us.