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Daily News Columnist Calls For A Season-Long Suspension For Sark

Columnist Mark Whicker writes that Sunday morning's apology doesn't excuse Sarkisian's actions Saturday night.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

LA Daily News columnist Mark Whicker has called for Steve Sarkisian to be suspended for the 2015 season in wake of Sark's expletive-laden comments at the Salute To Troy event last evening.

Whicker writes:

Even if you discount the high likelihood that Sarkisian had been drinking, and that he was ushered off the stage by athletic director Pat Haden for that reason, this is ridiculous behavior by the man who is supposed to be the head adult.

And the fact that the boosters cheered him doesn’t matter.

Coaches tell their players that phone cameras are everywhere, and the night has a thousand eyes, and they have about as much of a private life as an East German in the age of the Stasi.

Later in the article, Whicker compares Sarkisian's behavior to Kiffin's:

Kiffin made lots of mistakes, but never acted as irresponsibly as Sarkisian did.

It's refreshing to read this coming from a major media outlet. Whicker goes on to discuss how much tougher it becomes to discipline any u$c player for an alcohol-related offense if Sarkisian is required to do nothing more than issue the apology issued this morning.

That isn't to say that, as Bruin fans, we necessarily want to see Sark disciplined. Anything which causes chaos in the Trogan football program should probably be welcomed by Bruin fans.

But, from a decency perspective, Whicker may be right when he says that Sarkisian may be "beyond redemption."

Either way, it's nice to see that the traditional media isn't just letting Sarkisian get away with his boorish behavior last night.