No. 13 Wildcats need to focus

The Weber State University Football Team is 5-0 in conference play and perhaps having its best season in school history. So why are so many fans and team members so upset? The Wildcats just jumped up to No. 13 in the nation after beating - actually destroying - the only other undefeated team in the Big Sky Conference, Northern Arizona University, last weekend on the road. The 'Cats now sit alone in first place in the conference and look primed to run the table and finish with a conference championship. All should be well in Wildcat country right? It seems like it should be, even considering the loss of one of the key players on the team this year, Bryant Eteuati. Since Eteuati's arrest last week and this paper's coverage of the arrest, fans and players have been quite vocal about how upset they are about The Signpost's coverage of the recent happenings. Many fans and players have approached The Signpost, claiming that if it wasn't for the paper's coverage of Eteuati's arrest, the team never would have suspended him - basically the out of sight, out of mind idea. Some individuals have even claimed that the team's coaches and administration have confirmed that idea. I gave WSU Athletic Director Jerry Graybeal a call yesterday to see what he thought about the rumor. "The media doesn't create suspensions," he said. Graybeal preceded his quote with a sigh and an "oh jeez," apparently amazed that individuals would come up with this idea. He said that he had also been approached by different individuals with this idea of The Signpost being responsible for Eteuati's suspension. Graybeal also said he's planning to address the football coaches and players to clear up the matter. "Right now we're trying to put everything behind us and move on," Graybeal said, "and draw the attention back to the season and the success of the team." That makes sense. That makes a whole lot of sense. Iwould think that Wildcat fans and players would understand this concept, that the best thing this football team can do right now is put the Eteuati situation in the past and get ready for Portland State University next week. The last thing the team needs is to be wasting energy getting mad at the student newspaper. Graybeal said he had not had any conversations with authorities to find out what the latest is with the legal side of Eteuati's situation. Right now the indefinite suspension continues to stand. "We stay out of it," Graybeal said. "To be quite honest, it's better. We don't want to deal with innuendo or any of those other items that could create problems in the case or the representation of a student-athlete." So the WSU athletics department is staying out of the Eteuati situation and putting it in the past. Maybe players and fans should do the same. As for us at The Signpost, we'll put this in the past as soon as it's not news anymore, and when this stops becoming news is entirely dependant on the WSU athletics department, fans and players truly putting this situation into the past. As was so amply stated by the WSU athletic director, we don't make the news, we just report it.