It would be understandable if you missed the end-of-week news dump surrounding Mark Few's forthcoming suspension.  Few will miss the team's Midnight Madness event, two meaningless exhibitions, and the team's season opener against Dixie State.  He will be on the sidelines for the Zags second game of the season against a nationally ranked Texas team.

Few gave the usual remarks about accountability, owning up to his mistakes, and believing he should be suspended.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.  Gonzaga blew this about as badly as Few would have had he agreed to a field sobriety test.  

To quantify this, Few's breath sample indicated that he was over the legal blood alcohol limit by 50%.  That's not being a hair over the limit.  That's being completely wasted followed by getting behind the wheel of a vehicle.  This is serious stuff.

There were three ways Gonzaga could have gone with this and frankly, I believe they picked the worst by far.  Clearly, they could have acknowledged the gravity of this incident and suspended him at least for the Texas game and arguably other big games as well.  Everyone under the sun knows that Few will neither be missed nor needed when his team plays Dixie State (or during exhibitions).  If the rationale was that a three game suspension was just, then Texas should have been included.  This would have represented a meaningful suspension.

I'd have had even more respect for Gonzaga had they not suspended Few at all (even if I would be in disagreement with this).  Gonzaga could have said that Few's punishment will be determined in a court of law.  They could have said that the incident took place outside of work.  Again, I could argue against all of this but I'd have more respect for this because at least the school would not be making a sham out of this suspension.

Instead, Gonzaga took the worst possible route.  It's as if they said to Few that they needed to do something, Few proposed this and the school said fine.  They can now say that they took action by suspending him.  

This is not the first time that a school has pulled a stunt like this under similar circumstances and it sadly will not be the last.  Few wasn't a little drunk.  He was in absolutely no shape to drive.  It is scary to fathom what damage, or worse, he could have caused.  I am sure he is sorry and am sure he has been a great community leader.  But what he did was not at all commensurate with a slap on the wrist.  And that's exactly what Gonzaga, a school in a position to send out a very meaningful statement by issuing a real punishment, ended up giving him.  

 

TMZ has obtained the body cam video: https://amp.tmz.com/2021/10/26/mark-few-arrest-video-coach-combative-with-cops-rgonzaga-basketball/#click=https://t.co/MWLcXv9G4Y