The University of Colorado men’s basketball team is playing with an intensity they didn’t possess last season; it’s one of the driving factors behind their four-game win streak. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen with the Denver Broncos defense, unrestrained intensity can come back to bite you — literally.
On way to a 81-70 victory against the Air Force Falcons, Colorado forward Tory Miller exemplified just that.
A Colorado player was ejected for biting his opponent last night. https://t.co/seWTm78h6v
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) November 26, 2015
There are few things you can do that will get you ejected from any game, no matter what sport or league you play in, but biting your opponent is definitely one of them.
Miller was ejected from the game, and Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said that he is being reprimanded by the league in a press release, though no suspension was mentioned. In that same release, Miller issued his own statement:
“I would like to apologize for my actions during the Air Force game,” Miller said. “I would like to apologize to Hayden Graham, Air Force, my teammates and fans. It was a heat of the moment thing. I’m an emotional player, but I let my emotions get the best of me. I will use this as a learning experience and focus on helping my teammates and respecting my opponents for the rest of the season and beyond.”
While I’m sure it was a “heat of the moment” action, it’s not as if biting someone is a regular occurrence in sports — unless you’re Luis Suarez, of course. Miller’s minutes have already dropped from nearly 14 last season to under nine so far this year; I wouldn’t be surprised if Tad Boyle makes a point by sitting the sophomore forward at the end of the bench for the foreseeable future.
CU may be on a roll right now, but the program can’t afford to have outbursts like this during Pac-12 play; Boyle would be wise to show the team that actions like this are unacceptable now, rather than later.