Navy makes a potentially nasty plunge into the Fulmer Cup races with the arrest of their star qb Lamar Owens for allegedly raping a female cadet at Annapolis last month. Rape is a notoriously difficult charge to prove, but with things taking as long as they did to surface from the closed ranks of the military academy, the case has to have something resembling substance. Things look even worse for Owens given that his trial will not be a civilian trial, but rather a military court; if our multiple viewings of subpar military thrillers hold up, the burden of proof is on the defense in those cases.
The lesser question of where this lands in the Fulmer Cup standings remains: how bad, quantitatively, is rape on a scale of 1-10 in terms of program offenses? Murder--the Loren Wade, walk-right-up-and-shoot-someone-in-the-face-variety--is a straight ten, though manslaughter could earn a 9. Rape's got to be at least an eight, which would bolt Navy right to the lead for the Fulmer Cup, especially if "star player commits felony" points apply (which they definitely do here.)