There’s so much to unpack here and I’m not entirely sure I have what it takes to be the one to go through it all. But for virtually my entire life, lacrosse players have been vilified because of one gigantic lie. And now that the lie has finally been admitted, these three players and the entire Duke lacrosse program deserve to have this admission spread to as many people as possible.

There are so many lives around the world that are destroyed in unimaginable ways by sexual assault. It is beyond heartbreaking to think how many people have to go through life with this trauma wherever they go. It is even more heartbreaking to know that some victims have to endure this trauma while no one believes them. And the reason it’s still hard to believe that anyone who accuses someone (or some people) of committing violent sexual assault is coming forward is because of people like Crystal Magnum.

Not only did she try to completely ruin the lives of three lacrosse players at Duke University. Ultimately, not only did it cause the entire team season to be canceled, the coach was fired, the program’s reputation was damaged, and a narrative about lacrosse players was created for an entire generation. But she has also committed perhaps the worst injustice against actual victims of sexual assault. Lives are ruined by sexual assault, but lives are also ruined by unlawful and outright fabricated allegations of sexual assault.

Just from a personal perspective, I have been coaching high school lacrosse for 10 years. I also have two daughters that my wife and I adopted. They are 19 and 18 years old respectively. I love the shit out of every kid I coach and of course I love the shit out of my daughters. I would like to live in a world where I knew for certain that nothing bad would or could ever happen to my daughters. I would also like to live in a world where I know that no one could ever wrongly accuse any of the kids I coach of doing something heinous and then have the court of public opinion find them guilty before anything happens at all. Moments like the 2006 Duke lacrosse case make it so hard to believe we will ever live in this world. But at least this approval is a good start. At least David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann finally learn what they thought was the truth all along. It won’t be able to make up for the fact that public opinion has continued to joke about the whole ordeal for 18 years. But it’s a start.

@JordieBarstool