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Show 16, I SPORTS N(f.V.0.!.ii.;) 01f: w 11411 .0 D'ir4 t 4-.1 . 1 - :- 'it'i-L--4- 'f , ,,, ,,.......,".,.",.,.--- -, 8 SU DzsEfethaH :Dounces ThanErs-G7M5-2- bach, hos2s aass!ic TolgEsnanne:n2 3 , BY MONIQUE CHAVEZ I- i t,!-- --, k . , , , , .,...,,.., , 66-7- -- t A : ' . i ' . - Ments Basketball 121 7:30 p.m. Away , Salt Lake City Westminster College 11K,Nt 1 ,, ,:., ' ir.,,,,:-r- ' , ,, .., ;,,,, ,,,,, i r,,,r,,,,,.A svood,,,,,- - fivnb;",,,,,,,,,,o,",. ., I .. . ' ' ' - --- - . ow . .., t ( , A t ,t ' . i i, t'..;--- . . ;;; '''''."..4 ;,,i 1 e?f,'wft,,; . , ?a v. -' -'t , .., i :::.-'----.- --p ..ii.V;' - - .11C..... 4611kolm..m,,,,- aril 0 TNS A Facebook post suggesting FSU coach Willie Taggart should be lynched has cost a Semi- noles fan his job. "Our concern regarding this situation has been a top priority. The person responsible for post- ing this information has been terminated," Hilton Grand Vacations spokes- woman Lauren George said via email Monday. "His behavior was in violation of multiple company policies and the furthest example from being a reflection of our company's values." State attorney Jack Campbell also confirmed his office received word of the post Saturday and is looking into the matter. "The nature of anybody being lynched in the Sec- ond Judicial Circuit is of grave concern to this of-fice," Campbell said in an interview with the Sen- tinel. "Any time a threat or lynching or any other things like that are made against one in our com- munity, we're going to look into it and if there's a crime there, we're go- ing to prosecute it." The investigation is still in the early stages and Campbell could not confirm whether Tom s ,.........,. glee!! ..........0. .. r I gi , , Josh Newbold, a freshman business major from South Jordan, shoots the ball during practice at the Burns Arena. Men's basketball team hosted the Thanksgiving Classic Tournament. pretty good teams, so we're just excited for the competition to show what we can do." Head coach Jon Judkins said what they learned from the CPP game is to come out strong from the start. "We've got to come ready to play right from the start," Judkins said. "We can't get down 19 points and then fight that hard to get back, we've got to fight that hard at the beginning." The Trailblazers had a victorious weekend defeating both the Academy of and Western Art 77-6- 8, Oregon 80-7- 0. "They're both really good teams, so we're going to Shand was the person who wrote the comments posted using a Facebook account featuring his name. Under a post in the Facebook group Florida State Football, a meme depicting Taggart being lynched with the words, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing your rep" was added to a thread of comments. When another fan in the same thread asked if the person was serious, the user replied via the Shand account, "I'm dead expletive serious. This is how far I'm willing to go to get rid of this clown!!!" The post has since been deleted but not before fans saved screenshots of it and called for Shand to be fired from his job. His Facebook name was used to locate what appeared to be his Linked In account, which indicated he worked for Hilton Grand Vacations in Orlando, Fla. With that information, FSU fans began tagging the company's Twitter account in posts Sunday, suggesting Shand face consequences for the Taggart com- ments. The accounts under Shand's name featured extensive posts about Florida State football and a Linked In page under the same name indicated need to play defense a lot better, and not get down by so much and try to make up the lead," Wade Miller, a redshirt senior from Tremonton said. Miller had a game-hig- h of 14 points in game two of the Thanksgiving Classic against the Academy of Art. BY 1997-200- 5-- 36-ye- ar "We want to play the best teams we can early to get us ready for conference play, and these two teams are just going to be that," Judkins said. DSU men's basketball is now 1 and will be on the road for their next game at Westminister College on Dec. 1 in Salt Lake City. 2-- 2018 Red Lion Hotel Thanksgiving Classic. Women's Swim placed No. 4 of seven teams at the Colorado Mesa A3 Performance Invitational. Women's Basketball won 107-10- 3 against Saint Martin's during the Dixie State Tournament. Reasons for dismissal of football staff not clear he was a student at FSU 0 before from graduating from Purdue University Global with a bachelor's degree in business administration. FSU officials issued a statement Sunday rebuking the post. "A recent racist social media post aimed at our football coach is ignorant and despicable," Florida State president John Thrasher said in a statement released by the school. "1 speak for the entire FSU community in expressing our disgust and extreme disappointment, and I am glad the state attorney is investigating. Coach Taggart has our full support and as true Seminoles know, he is a respected member of the FSU family." By Sunday afternoon, Facebook and Twitter accounts under Shand's name were deleted, but screenshots of posts are still being circulated widely online. During his press conference following a loss to rival Florida Saturday, Taggart vowed to improve. The Seminoles posted a 7 record during his first season leading the program, ending a bowl streak. Taggart urged FSU fans to never lower their expectations for success on the field. Men's Basketball topped Western at the Oregon 80-7- 0 u fired after posting coach Willie Taggart should be lynched CHAUNTE'L POWELL - 4 - FSU fan BY Westminster College 1 pre-me- 2-- ...I. X ; '''' 121 5:30 p.m. Away Salt Lake City ,.......,--, .1 1 "'4t ' ' tr,,Iln...",.. I , ,..,..i.m... , -- . I , ,. -. o,1. ' 2. Matt Conway, a junior d and Spanish major from Chandler, Arizona, said his team's greatest strength is when they play together. Conway put up 25 points against Western Oregon University for the final game of the Thanksgiving Classic and 12 points against the Academy of Art. "We're excited to get back and try to hopefully be 1 by the end of the weekend," Conway said. "I heard they're some ,- .t 0-- game. Despite fighting hard to come back, DSU still came out short in the end, making the final score , 1 Women's Basketball ,..t.,....- ..-11 i I- .6,,,,,,,,,s1,:,....,,y I . , - '.,),::) 4....:,-- ,,-- ,,..,:,..,.,,,,,,. r u '7iG ,..,,,, e "',''l MoniqueDSN ipe,m.,..,,--"",,,,,- paPOMEMV,V1100,01,,,.., ' . i. I The Dixie State University men's basketball team hosted the Thanksgiving Classic Tournament this weekend in the M. Anthony Burns Arena. The Trailblazers were 1 after losing their home opener against Cal Poly Pomona. After getting only 17 points on the scoreboard in the first half, the Trailblazers picked it up and scored 49 points in the second half, making it a close ',:.'1'.11:61..:7', AWE KITTELL DixieSunNews Athletic Director Jason Boothe announced Nov. 12 that the football coaching staff will not be coming back next year despite the team's success this season. Their reason for being let go was classified for no under cause". Head coach Shay McClure said he and his staff were not given any actual reason for being let go. All the coaches had meetings with the athletic department, but none of them were told exactly what had gone wrong, McClure said. "There are no contracts," McClure said. "We are employees. So they are allowed to let us go at any time for any reason, or in my case for no reason." For all members of the football team, the news came as a shock, McClure said. "It was all very sudden," McClure said. "My players were asked to go to an assembly, and they thought they were going to be congratulated on a great season. But instead they were told their entire coaching staff was fired, it just doesn't make sense. All of us, coaches and players alike, were totally "non-renew- at-w- ill al blindsided." McClure led the DSU team to a 3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Confer- ence record this season, the best season in the teams NCAA history. Tri- umphs on the field aside, Boothe said he wants to sure all aspects of the team, including aca- demic performance and the welfare of the students, are all up to expectations. McClure said he feels between himself and his staff, all aspect were being taken care of. "To say that a focus on academics was lacking in our program, I would say that is absolutely not true," McClure said. "We met with our guys every week to make sure they were taking care of business just as much off the field as they were on it." Several rumors surfaced regarding why he was being let go, however Mc- Clure addressed these. McClure said:"I know many people have been saying that there were some issues with me al- lowing players to compete without being cleared, due to injury. All I have to say that is that it is abso- lutely not true. I never, nor could I, allow a player to compete when they were not able." Coach McClure said he felt the people who 7-- would be affected by this the most are the players, and he worries for them. They will not have anyone working with them until they find a replacement, which could take a while, so they will be missing out on a lot of training, Clure said. "It's just sucks to talk about because I wish there was a way to get all our coaches back," Shiloh Pritchard, a senior criminal justice major from can Samoa, said. "And now I feel like everything we changed here at DSU1 in these last three years was for nothing." Pritchard said he feels the coaching staff did a lot for DSU and could have continued to build an amazing program given the chance. "It's hard to build a championship team, and that's what really affects the team because we were finally on the right path," Pritchard said. "This team was a family that was only going to get better. And that was all because of Coach McClure and the staff that he brought in" Boothe said he is grate-aboful for McClure's service to DSU and the search for a new coach will begin imMc-ma- Amen-coachi- ut mediately. More information will be published as it becomes available. |