Suspension looms large

Whenever a player gets suspended from a team, it can be good or a bad deal.

One of the biggest events of the past weekend in the Mountain West occurred when SDSU suspended of its second-leading scorer Kyle Spain. The Aztecs then went on to lose at TCU, a team they should have defeated.

I’ve been fairly hard on SDSU coach Steve Fisher in print because I question his ability to consistently get his teams to focus, the tend to run off the track at times.

But I’ve got to hand it to him in the suspension of Spain. I remember when Dave Rose suspended Rashaun Broadus last year after an 18-point performance over the Aztecs. It was his second such suspension and he never came back, although he finished school and graduated. BYU could have used Broadus in the MWC and NCAA tournament where point guard defense really hurt against UNLV and Xavier after the Cougars had second half leads in both those games.

Fisher canned Spain and didn’t blink and eye. It must have been something ugly. Some message boards have hinted at it involving some heavy partying.

Said Fisher, “If I could express my emotions, I would say there is disappointment, a little anger and sadness all rolled into one. I’m not a guy looking under covers to suspend and dismiss kids form the team. I don’t have a million rules. The ones I do have, the kids are well aware of. The rules are in place for the protection, the benefit and the betterment of, first the kids, then the program and then the university.”

Spain was suspended in 2005 for five games. He was suspended last week, a few months after Fisher suspended point guard Richie Williams, who pleaded guilty to underage drinking while driving and an open alcohol container in an Oc. 11 arrest.

Back in August, Fisher dismissed Jerome Habel, SDSU’s top returning scorer. He had previously been suspended for four games at the start of last season. Back in November 2006, Fisher suspended Brett Hoerner for DUI and he left the program.

Early on Monday, it was unknown if Spain’s suspension would be for a few games or for the remainder of the season. Fisher refused to talk about it on a Monday conference call, but later, a San Diego website declared he is gone for the rest of the season. That means he would miss the BYU-SDSU game in Cox Arena on Feb. 23 – a game the Aztecs have earmarked as a nuclear-type season-making event.

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The Cougars will practice today in the Marriott Center before taking a charter flight to Loveland, just outside of Fort Collins. The charter flights, which we’ve seen for the AFA and Wyoming games, have proved big in saving time away from Provo, the classroom and hanging around in airports.