Of the five Cal Poly football players arrested on Sunday, Kristaan Ivory could be the biggest loss on the field. By Owen Main

Are these guys for real?

Kristaan Ivory’s mugshot sure looks real.

On Sunday night, five Cal Poly football players, including Ivory, the team’s star running back, were arrested for robbery of a frat house in San Luis Obispo. This might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. There are so many questions.

Who commits armed robbery in San Luis Obispo?

Where I grew up (Cayucos), San Luis Obispo was where you went to “go into town,” but it was never dangerous. People on the Central Coast pride themselves on living in a relatively safe and easygoing environment. I don’t think my father ever even locked his car door growing up.

So, when people from this county read this story in the Tribune, that has detail about a kid from Los Angeles brandishing firearms and resisting arrest, how do you think it’s going to make them feel about Cal Poly or the football program in general?

From The Tribune story:

The first officer on the scene saw Akins confronting a victim in the courtyard area of the house. The officer drew his gun and demanded the teen comply, according to a news release. Akins did not comply and attempted to flee. The officer holstered his gun and tried to physically stop Akins from fleeing; Akins violently resisted and a couple of other people intervened to help the officer.

As other officers arrived on scene, Akins continued to resist and bit one of the officers, according to the news release. No one was seriously injured. The suspect’s handgun was recovered and secured.

Read more here

I know how it makes me feel: not good.

I also have to ask what else was going on here? My brain cannot conceptualize that this was some kind of random burglary or that a group of five football players went out and stole things from people they didn’t know. Was there history here? As more details come out, it could be drug related. Just nine months ago, former Mustang Geoff Hyde was shot when a drug deal went bad.

At this point, I’m wondering how involved were the other four players who were later arrested were? There are lots of questions that I hope are answered, and soon.

This is going to really put the spotlight on Cal Poly, their players, coaches, and fans this season. Coaches at Cal Poly boast of student-athletes who can handle the rigors of an academic institution like Cal Poly. While all student-athletes have to stay eligible at Cal Poly, the implied connection between high-academic individuals and high-moral or high-quality people in general gets shattered when news like this breaks.

The thing is, there are lots of really high-quality student athletes at Cal Poly. The stigma that will probably be attached to all of them by this community after the events of Sunday morning will be the biggest and probably longest-lasting negative effect of this whole fiasco.

Innocent until proven guilty is still a motto I suppose we need to keep track of. A guy being arrested doesn’t always mean they’re guilty, but associations do matter and decisions are made to put oneself in a position to be arrested or not.

For this morning, their decision-making may have cost them all their future in college and in the game they love.

Statement from Cal Poly:

“Cal Poly recognizes the seriousness of these charges and will move swiftly to take the appropriate responses. The university will do all it can to work with San Luis Obispo police in helping to determine what occurred. The five football student-athletes alleged to have taken part in this incident have been suspended from all team activities effective immediately, and the university will conduct internal investigations into possible student conduct violations. As always, any violation of the university’s student conduct policies will not be tolerated and will be dealt with summarily, to ensure that student health and safety and the university’s academic environment are maintained.”