Sweeting suspended, charged with DUI, drug possession:: Independent Florida Alligator
Sweeting suspended, charged with DUI, drug possession:: Independent Florida Alligator ~~~
Little did I know that when I posted the Gainesville Sun's Ryan Sweeting profile, only two days later a much more dismaying article would surface.
The charges are serious and even those of us who know Sweeting only from brief encounters at tennis tournaments are disappointed. Advocates for college tennis, and I include myself in that description, were hopeful that a player of his stature could convince others that college is a viable path for those with professional ambitions. Now he will face issues of much greater significance than that.
Maybe I'm naive, but incidents like these seem rare in college tennis, making a story like this even bigger news than it would be if a football or basketball player were involved. It's no use playing ostrich here though. I'll just say I hope this is the last story of its kind I link to.
8 comments:
It's disappointing to see this. But also know Ryan as a really good kid, young man and tennis player. He'll recover from this setback, and will be stronger for it.
Will be interesting to see how many of those who know him will
support him, or dismiss him. I choose the former.
I and many others have known Ryan for a really long time. He's a great kid. I can only believe that this was a mistake and poor judgement on his part - as with many teenagers, tennis and any sport - but he'll rebound and this will mature and better him as a young man and player - well, that's the hope anyway.
Ask the USTA about how many kids have been suspended and reprimanded for poor behavior and judgement over the years while traveling on tournaments or in training. Not to excuse Sweeting's poor behavior, but headlines don't say it all.
As a fellow advocate of college tennis, I am fairly speechless (those who know me know this is rare!), but I would like to agree that this is not the norm. While I won't say that there has never been a college tennis player that did something like this, it is definitely not the norm. I wouldn't want to see college tennis take the rap for this. Had Ryan gone professional instead, the odds of his doing something like this would probably have increased. Ask Jennifer Capriati.
I'm concerned that Ryan had in his possession a prescription drug, (not his)namely Adderall, that could be lethal for an athlete to take in the first place. And to combine with the sedative affect of alcohol is a sure way to get your name in the paper alright, the obituary column perhaps.
anyone can get a DUI, straight A students included. you think you can drive in your mind but not in reality, or you say its just down the road and its no big deal. im not condoning it, but remember, a DUI is a poor judgement situation, especially one an 18-19yr old would make. i guarantee he learns from this and wont let it happen again because now hes used his one-time screw-up because hes a young kid excuse. also, i hate seeing the term "drug possession" used in this case, he had adderall on him, if he doesnt have ADD then he was using it to help him stay up and study, thats the only other thing adderall is used for, so please make sure you realize its not in the same galaxy as pot, cocaine, etc. most people i know who have gotten DUI's have learned from it and now use better judgement before driving, if hes a good kid we wont have to hear about this again.
I wonder how many juniors are using Adderall to help them stay focused on there matches. I know my son asked me about it a month ago and I did'nt even know what it was until I resurched it. A little scary.
I saw him him the juniors and was not particularly impressed because I thought he was not ready from the pros as are about 98% of juniors. To see Donald Young against the pros is not edifying. But I thought he was a very nice young man and like anyone that age you can make your mistakes. But when you are young and full of yourself you don't think think much beyond the next hour.We have one of these in our family. Let's hope he learns from it and goes on. I agree the pro tour with its endless travel,endless hotel rooms and the temptations of leisure time might have been worse. You ever learn or you crash and I think Ryan will learn. He already knows (from previous pasts by Colleen) that the college game can be even tougher than the hand picked juniors.
Well, guess the talent he showed as a junior has been combined with some hard work - to win the Futures this week in Vero Beach. Qualifying to finals, and winning convincingly 6-3, 6-0 vs the guy who beat Brendon Evans in 3 sets.
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