Headshaking (II)

This knocks me for a hell of a loop:

The Duke women's lacrosse team couldn't win the NCAA title its troubled men's counterpart never got a chance to play for.

Adopting the men's motto of ''No Excuses, No Regrets'' and writing on wristbands the numbers of three indicted classmates, the Blue Devils lost 11-10 to Northwestern in overtime in the national semifinal...

Instead, about 10 Blue Devils wore wristbands that said ''45 13 6'' -- the uniform numbers of the three accused men. Other players wore wrist and headbands with the men's logo...

Asked to explain the various messages, [junior player] Leigh Jester pursed her lips, turned toward her coach and signaled her to answer.

''We had the intention of showing support for the men's program all along,'' [Coach Kerstin] Kimel said. ''The message we were going to put on our bands was intended to be undecided until we came to Boston.''

What the HELL is this about? "Innocent until proven guilty" is one thing, but explicitly aligning yourself with the three men accused of a rape with horrific racial overtones, in a town with sharp boundaries of race and gender, at a time when you should be reflecting on and analyzing your "natural" loyalties ... What a ludicrous way of exhibiting "solidarity."