"Nobody ever died for dear old Rutgers"

Was a song back in the 20's or so referring to the fact that RU was basically a academic school where sports were a fun thing rather than an obsession.
I admit I was caught up as much as anybody to see the football program take off ,admittance to the BIG 10 and the fact that the program under Schiano was considered clean with a high graduation rate and produced guys like Ray Rice and several others in the NFL.
I could never figure out what the problem was with B Ball considering all the talent in this area.
Now they have to circle the wagons ,do a ton of pr damage control and pay out a ton of taxpayer money to Rice,Pernetti,Murdock and who knows who else.

 

It really sucks for them because its become such big news and it really shouldn't be. I sometimes workout with one of the strength and conditioning coaches from Rutgers when he's at my gym and I can't wait to hear his take on it the next time I see him.

I don't have a major opinion on it but I do lean to the side that coaches should be given some latitude in their aggressiveness and their players should have thicker skins. Breaking someone down and then building them back up stronger has worked for coaches and players for ages.

 

On this one I guess I'm a bit "old school" as well... this wasn't a 3rd grade rec-league team, these were 18-22 yo college men, but when a tape like that surfaces there's no way to stop the shark-like "public feeding frenzy" that demands everyone from the University President to the Janitor be fired. I wonder if the suspension and direction to anger-management classes were working... we'll never know.

Their coach, who'd worked his way up the ladder over years of what I'm sure was hard and dedicated effort was earning $650K w/ a wife and 3 kids and now he's unemployable. I dunno... I'm not sayin' he's a saint or that the methods depicted on the short tape should be condoned, I just hate it when public sentiment is so swift and decisive that "off with you head" is the standard punishment.

 

Anyone who has ever played in organized athletics has most likely been bullied by a coach, I know I was. But, I don't think it was throwing of the BB at the players that caused the over the top reaction. I think it was more of the homophobic rants that just went too far in today's society.

Also, keep in mind that the AD saw this video back in November, before it became public and they fined the coach $50,000 and suspended him for 3 games. Only after the tape was made public, did the public outcry make them fire him.

Also, after they first saw the tape, what did they do? They hired an outside counsel to see what their liability might be. We all know it has to do with the money and nothing else.
From the NY Times:
But Mr. Pernetti is hardly the only person who watched the edited video and still approved of keeping Mr. Rice on staff until last week. The athletic department’s human resources and chief financial officer saw the video, as did the university’s outside legal counsel. At least one member of the board of governors saw it. Robert L. Barchi, the university president, has said he did not see it before last week, although at least one of his senior directors asked him to watch it.

 

I'm in the army. Have been for 23 years. We always hear this 'old school' nonsense when it comes to abusive leadership. It's not 'old school.' It's wrong. It's a crutch for a poor leader.

 

it's just amazing how this kind of stuff continues to happen - people at the top making stupid decisions to hide things and hope they never get out. they always get out and it does 100x more damage than taking care of it in the first place. they just always think they're going to be the ones to be able to keep it hidden ...

 

Yeah... I know in my heart you're right. I shouldn't confuse feeling bad for someone with doing the right thing.

 

I feel bad for him too. Not that he lost his job, just that it had to play out in such a spotlight. The problem with guys who act like that and are successful...people enable it, because he's getting results. So while he's at fault, he's by no means the only one to blame.

 

I was a solid CFB and CBB fan until I could no longer overcome the revulsion.

The one and done zero academic integrity route of CBB and complete meaningless regular season made the game unwatchable. For the first time since 1978, I have not followed or predicted an NCAA bracket.

I was a bigger CFB fan, and through the 2000s CFB and HS FB were the only two versions I watched (I abandoned the National Felon League after the Rae Carruth / Ray Lewis season).

After the Penn State debacle, where the "university leaders" in charge aided and abetted a serial child rapist for upwards of 5 decades, and the National Child Abuse Association's response was a wrist slap and not a single canceled season (or even a single game including the disgraceful bowl appearance in 2011).

Delany insured every drop of tainted revenue continued to line the pockets of the thousands of leeches, aka adults, cashing in on this farce. The NCAA and their member institutions lost their final shred of decency or respectability.

Then again, college athletics at the Division I level turned into a cesspool decades ago. From Wooden's "pyramid of success" ("Papa" Sam Gilbert sat at the top) and point shaving at CCNY through the scandals of today, greed and avarice is the norm at top on-field programs, not the exception. Then again, many aspects of the university have become corrupted and warped over the past 50 + years.

 

Remember this is both post Penn State AND Tyler Clementi. Stuff like this isn't going to fly anymore - no one's kid should be assaulted for playing a game and the people they are with should be better examples of good character. And in a day and age when we are all paying dearly in taxes in some fashion to support state colleges and universities and facing higher tuition despite it, more and more people are going to start being more aggressive in demanding programs run with more integrity, especially since there are some cases where the college coaches are the higher paid state employees and reaping all the pension benefits that entails.

I do need to understand why no one has started putting in contract clauses that penalize coaches for scandalous behavior. It makes no sense that you have guys that ruin programs for years with all sorts of misconduct and they still get paid. They leave for greener pastures and sometimes get paid by the old school and the new one. It's got to stop.

 

Both Rice and Penetti getting a cool million.

Give or take a few bucks. Murdock,a local guy is suing for wrongfull termination and the news tonite reported he's being investigated by the FBI for extortion.
People have been complaining about the salary ,1 million, paid to the Womens B Ball Coach C. Vivian Stringer which makes her the highest paid public employee in the state,
I look back at the only winning team I ever played on ,and the coach who was more of a teacher of the game ,quick to praise and help you.There was only one thing that he didnt tolerate well , mental errors.I can remember him saying"errors are a part of baseball,but theres no excuse for pulling a "rock".

 

Continually Throwing Bballs at players is not coaching.
Physically pushing players is not coaching.
Homophobic language is not coaching.
.
This was so "routine" --
I noticed some players didn't even react when pushed or
hit by the basketball.
.
One does not coach like this.
He was reprimanded.......good.
.
But was this a "cover up" by higher school officials ?
Sportstalk has brought up the fact -
Rutgers was trying to move into the new league.....
that means ALOT MORE $$$$$.

 

Agreed completely. Though I've never served myself, I have quite a few close friends and family members in various branches, and even more friends who played college sports, and having talked to them about situations like this to get their opinion, I'm pretty convinced that there's a huge difference between being tough, and being abusive. Even more so when you're talking college athletics -- no college kid who's there to play basketball deserves balls thrown at them and homophobic slurs screamed at them.