In an article Tuesday on the Advocate, it was reported that a North Dakota State College of Science football player has been kicked off team. Why? Because he kissed his boyfriend in the press box….

Jamie Kuntz recently got a concussion so had to sit out in a game against Snow College in Colorado. He decided to film the team from the press box and was joined there by his 65-year-old boyfriend. During filming, Kuntz says he got “bored” and started kissing his boyfriend. Several of his teammates saw the kiss. He had told head coach Chuck Parsons when confronted later in the day that he was in the press box with his grandfather.

Apparently when they returned home from the road game, Parsons told Kuntz he was upset what he did in his personal life, but he didn’t need to be doing that on road trips. He apologized for lying, but then was handed his walking papers, being told he was “detrimental” to the team and a distraction. Parsons said that the reason he was being dismissed was because he lied…

Kuntz has a different opinion. He says that several of his teammates who have felonies, underage drinking, etc. are still on the roster. The fact that his boyfriend is 65 doesn’t exactly help his situation, but who is anyone to judge who someone is in love with.

This dismissal comes right at the same time of gay rights discussions in professional sports. For those of you who missed it, you need to read Minnesota Vikings punter, Chris Kluwe’s open letter to a Maryland state delegate. It is worth a read. It is also NSFW, so Google the revised version.

Kuntz is currently looking for a new team to take him in and a place to call home. Hoping to one day making it to the big stage, the NFL.

I might have gone with too many rage faces. (screenshot via Yahoo Sports)

It was a rough day for several Big Ten teams, including two ranked in the top 25.

Wisconsin and Nebraska were both knocked off by Pac 12 teams Saturday. Wisconsin lost to Oregon State 10-7, while Nebraska lost to UCLA, 36-30.

The Badgers were held scoreless against the Beavers for most of the game until late in the fourth quarter when Jacob Pederson caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Danny O’Brien.

Wisconsin had an opportunity with the onside kick, but after being initially ruled as Badgers ball, the play was reviewed and the officials determined kicker Kyle French touched the ball before the ball traveled 10-yards.

Montee Ball had a rough game as he was held to 61 yards rushing.

UCLA and Nebraska turned into a first half shootout as the game was tied 24-24 at halftime. The Bruins stepped up their defense in the second half, holding the Cornhuskers to six points and even sacking Taylor Martinez for a safety.

Michigan was in a close one with Air Force, but they were able to hold on to win and avoid starting the season 0-2.

Penn State wasn’t able to avoid starting 0-2 as they lost a close one to Virginia, 17-16. The difference in the game was the kicking game for Penn State as Sam Ficken missed four field goal attempts Saturday, including a 42-yarder with one second left in the game in soggy conditions.

The losses didn’t end there for the Big Ten as Iowa, Illinois and Purdue all lost as well.

Iowa lost a low-scoring CyHawk game to Iowa State. The final score was 9-6. The only touchdown of the game came in the first quarter came when Steele Jantz completed a five-yard pass to Aaron Horne.

Illinois was blown out by Arizona State, 45-14. You can read all about Illinois Football at Z for Three.

Purdue meanwhile lost to a ranked Notre Dame team, 20-17.

It wasn’t all bad though as Michigan State, Minnesota and Indiana all picked up blowout wins against their teams. Ohio State was able to get the win over UCF and Northwestern scored 17 fourth quarter points to beat Vanderbilt.

The B1G and Pac 12 had announced in December that they were entering into a scheduling agreement. The agreement covered all sports, and would also expand the football partnership in the Rose Bowl into the regular season.

The official statement on the matter can be found here.

Statement from Big Ten Conference Commissioner James E. Delany:

“We are disappointed to announce today that the Big Ten Pac-12 strategic collaboration announced jointly in December 2011 unfortunately will not be consummated. We recently learned from Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott that the complications associated with coordinating a non-conference football schedule for 24 teams across two conferences proved to be too difficult. Those complications, among other things, included the Pac-12’s nine-game conference schedule and previous non-conference commitments.
“A great effort was made by both conference staffs to create football schedules that would address the variety of complexities, but in the end, we were just not able to do so.
“While everyone at the Big Ten is disappointed by the news, we look forward to continuing the historic partnership that we have with the Pac-12 and to working together on other matters in the future.”

Statement from Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott:

“After extensive deliberation and consultation with member institutions, television partners and others, the Pac-12 and Big Ten have decided not to pursue the previously announced plans for enhanced scheduling collaboration across all sports at this time. While we continue to value our close relationship, particularly our partnership in the Rose Bowl, the Pac-12 came to the conclusion that it’s in our best interests to maintain our nine-game conference schedule and maximum flexibility in out-of-conference scheduling. Thus, the Pac-12 decided not to lock into the proposed mandatory 12-game schedule in football.”

The statements from both parties imply that the Pac 12 was the one who made the call to pull the plug. But, why?

While the agreement was to span all sports, it was pretty clear the focus of this agreement was football. There is a perception on the West Coast that there is a pretty large East Coast bias when it comes to rankings and major National awards. What better way to eliminate that bias than playing teams from the B1G? They would garner more national attention and possibly even make a few inroads in recruiting the fertile lands of places like Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Does this signal possible expansion by one or both Conferences? Yes, I know, we are tired of the constant talks of realignment and the like, but either conference expanding to 14 teams is not out of the realm of possibility. A move like this could make expanding the conference, and expanding the conference schedule, much easier. The headaches associated with expansion in an agreement like this might make it seem very much not worth it.

It is disappointing that this did not work out, but hopefully this will open up a chance that the B1G will pursue some agreements with other conferences, at least in football. Strength of schedule will likely matter with a playoff and all conferences should seize opportunities to play some solid competition and not a cupcake schedule of FCS teams.

New Orleans is a crazy place. I’ve been there, I’ve seen crazy things on Bourbon Street, I get it. People sometimes overdo it and fall victim to horrible things. Stuff like what happens in this video, however, should never happen…ever…to anyone. (NSFW, especially at about the 3:30 mark where the incident that prompted the post occurs)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7IEZ4_tSq0

What starts out as some people simply messing with the kid turns into, putting it frankly, sexual assault. If this guy had done this to a passed out female LSU fan, he would be put in jail and someone would probably have kicked his butt. Instead, this guy has taken credit for it and appears to be rather proud of himself. I’m not sure why I would be surprised by this as it is coming from a fanbase that celebrated this guy.

Adding to the already horrifying tale is the fact that Deadspin has reported that the victim was later found dead. I don’t know if that is true or not, but if it is and they had called over a cop and gotten him some medical care instead of putting genitals in his face, that might not have happened.

Bama fans, if you know this guy it’s only the right thing to do to report him. I won’t be holding my breath.