What a day Monday was. Mary Burke is running for governor, and J.B. Van Hollen is not running for attorney general.
I may comment on those later this week. You really want to know what’s going on with Lions center Dominic Raiola vs. the UW Marching Band.
For those who didn’t see it yesterday, here is the terse word from DetroitLions.com:
We are aware of the reports involving Dominic Raiola and the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. Those reports are extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players and from every member of the organization. We currently are gathering more information and will respond further when appropriate.
The writer later added about Lions coach Jim Schwartz:
Schwartz said he’d be disappointed if the reports about Raiola are true and said his players need to be “above that.”
The Detroit Free Press reports:
Detroit Lions president Tom Lewand offered a personal apology for alleged homophobic slurs center Dominic Raiola directed towards the Wisconsin band before Sunday’s 22-9 loss to the Green Bay Packers even as Lions coach Jim Schwartz insisted neither he nor any of his assistants heard the comments first hand.
Wisconsin band director Mike Leckrone said Lewand called him to apologize Monday afternoon after allegations of Raiola’s comments surfaced on Facebook and the Internet.
“He just called to tell me that he was sorry for the actions of one of his players and hoped that we didn’t consider it reflected badly on the entire organization, and asked me to convey that onto the band, which I will do (today),” Leckrone said. “I think he felt genuine concern for the people’s reaction. It was short, but we had a very nice conversation.” …
Raiola declined public comment to the Free Press on Monday, and the Lions released a statement saying they are investigating the incident.
“I didn’t hear that personally on the field,” Schwartz said. “No other coaches did. I think we’ve already released a statement that we’re going to look into it as an organization. I’d be very disappointed if that was the case because that’s certainly not the character that we want to display.”
Leckrone said he did not hear Raiola’s comments personally, but several band members relayed what was said and “were quite shaken by it.” …
Leckrone, who was near midfield close to the Packers sideline at the time, said he’s not aware of any band staff members who heard the exchange, either, and he does not have audio or video of the incident.
“As far as I’ve been able to ascertain is our band was in the end zone preparing to finish our pregame show with the Star Spangled Banner and several of them were verbally abused, assaulted, however you’d like to put it, by a player from the Detroit Lions,” Lekrone said. “To their credit, I was really pleased with the way the band handled the situation. If I’m a 115-pound clarinet player I don’t think I would do anything different. But they handed themselves very well and did what they were supposed to do, focused on their part of the performance.”
Some posters on Detroit websites claimed the band member(s) made it up, or criticized the original poster, Tom Melton, for not getting the Lions’ or Raiola’s side. (As if either would have commented, as you read a few paragraphs ago.) The fact one of Raiola’s teammates felt compelled to apologize. even before the Lions’ president did, suggests that the incident did indeed happen.
Some of the comments on the Detroit News‘ and Free Press’ stories are hilarious:
A guy who is obese by any standard and dyes his hair blonde is making fun of fat kids and questioning their sexuality?
This Lions team has a bunch of douche bags who act like they have mental problems. Does this really surprise anyone?
His comments were the only offense the Lions managed all day.
Really? Insulting band? Your OL gave up 5 sacks and couldn’t establish a running game. The Wisconsin Marching Band got into Dom’s head before the game? It would be funny, if it weren’t so Lionsesque!
“Those reports are extremely inconsistent with the standard of behavior we expect from our players and from every member of our organization.”
You mean to tell me that the Lions actually have a standard of behavior for their players??? Could have fooled me. At least Dom hasn’t been in jail, which puts him ahead of many of his teammates.a few too many ped’s before kickoff??
While not proven, if the facts stated are true Dominic Raiola should consider another career. In the NFL you prepare and beat your opponents and do not get points for insulting the band. While other players tend to be able to tune out the behavior of the fans Raiola seems to let it impact his play. Maybe it is but a coincidence but the fact that Raiola yelled at the band rather than preparing for the game might be one reason the O-line that he makes the line calls gave up so many sacks and pressures. He has a history of attacking fans with verbal tirades and obscene gestures. The fear I have is was this conduct more a problem with the system that coach Scwhartz has instilled in this team; that the team knew Calvin Johnson was not playing the day before and thus was defeated before the game even started. Why prepare for a victory in Green Bay when you already know you are going to lose, thus it is acceptable to yell at the fans. Delmas knew of the incident so either the coach did not care about his players not preparing fully for the games because they are distracted during pre game preparations or an example of the coach’s lack of focus on the discipline that results in his players committing costly penalties during the game and pre game incidents that embarrass the team before the game.
You commentators are falling down on the job. Raiola harasses the band and not a SINGLE one of you accuses him of “Badgering” them? C’mon – do I have to think of all the puns???Maybe the UW Marching Band can form an intramural football team. The Lions can come across the lake and play them and if the Lions win…IF the Lions win…they’ll finally have won a game in the state of Wisconsin.
(I think there were some seasons, though not recently, where a UW Band football team would have beaten the real football team.)
Guess the boys in the band shouldn’t have suggested that Raiola use a matador’s cape to improve his blocking skills.
Another classy move by the sad sack Lion’s. I’m surprised Suh didn’t tackle the band and stomp on their heads as a follow up.
Typical meathead athlete. Has no USEFUL skill like musicians do, but he is given piles & piles of money and women throw themselves at him, so naturally he lords it over the rest of us. He should be made to dig ditches or mop bathrooms at minimum wage for the rest of his miserable life.
It’s just that the Lions and their coach have a history that makes such allegations totally credible.
How many concussions has Raiola had? This must be the best argument yet for improved head gear. I’m sure those musicians could have carved this imbecile up verbally had they so desired.
You would think never having won a game in Green Bay in his career, he would focus on that and not taunting band members! Really not the guy to be ridiculing.
Normally, I’d be wary of making judgments with these sort of “he said” reports… but knowing how Raiola has treated HIS OWN TEAM’S fans, I’m not the least bit surprised he’d have some truly disgusting bile for another team’s band.
DetroitLionsDraft.com vouches for the initial report, and adds:
I’ve reached out, as has Tom, to the Lions Media Relations department for comment and a request to interview Raiola and Louis Delmas, who was mentioned in the piece as a Lion who tried to apologize for the actions of his teammate. Neither Tom nor I have heard back from the Lions at this point.
I also texted a teammate of Raiola’s for comment, a player who I have a good relationship. His exact text response, “Sorry man, but no way I’m commenting on that”.
I’ve had limited interaction with Dominic Raiola. I met him at a Lions training camp in either 2008 or 2009 (I can’t recall which) and did nothing more than exchange pleasantries. I ran into him again over this past summer and got the look of “I know we’ve met but I don’t know where”. That’s it. So I’m far from an authority on Raiola’s personality or how he might feel about a tuba player.
I know Louis Delmas a little better. I interviewed him while he was at Western Michigan and spoke with him informally at the Renaissance Hotel in Mobile during his Senior Bowl week. The way he is characterized is 100% in line with the Louis Delmas I know. He’s a good guy who takes both his own and his team’s reputation quite seriously.
A longtime friend of mine who is a Badger alum and a level-headed Packers fan (yes, they do exist) reached out to me on Facebook with a link to Melton’s blog. His intimation is that Raiola’s act directly reflects upon the cavalier and arrogant (those are my words, not his) leadership style promoted by Jim Schwartz.
I have to say I had a hard time reconciling that. Schwartz has enough on his plate trying to keep the Lions bound together and staying in first place to worry about how one of his players acts off the field. But I quickly realized that was a hypocritical stance. After all, I’ve criticized Schwartz at length for his inability to foster discipline and respect for the rules in his players on the field.
It’s ridiculous to suggest that Jim Schwartz advocates demeaning and bullying fans of other teams as a motivational tactic. Yet the culture he has worked very hard to foster in Detroit does bear some culpability. He wants his players to push the boundaries and to play on the edge. Schwartz himself is often truculent and vapid with the media, even in unofficial situations; I’ve seen it firsthand. He is the example to which he holds his players, and his standards of behavior are not all that desirable. …
Please don’t let the actions of one Detroit Lions player misrepresent the Lions as an organization or the fan base as a whole. Most Lions fans have for years felt about Raiola the way Badgers fans felt about Bret Bielema in his later Madison years; we know he’s a jackass, but he’s our jackass so we tolerate him. He’s always among the leading vote-getters for dirtiest player and most unlikeable opponent in league player polls. This allegation certainly falls in line with that reputation. We are universally hoping this is his last season in Detroit.
If Raiola was looking to motivate himself, he failed. This was one of his worst games in a long time, and his inability to do much of anything really inhibited the Lions offense. Perhaps it was karmic justice that he played such sour notes on the field after spending the pregame accosting the Wisconsin band…
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 
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