Somehow this sounds vaguely familiar. A northeastern based school, physical abuse, a fired coach, the athletic director and university president embroiled in what some might call a cover-up, and folks clamoring for their heads to roll as well. But in this case there is indisputable video evidence. And it ain't pretty.
Today, Rutgers men's head basketball coach Mike Rice was fired, and justifiably so. The video clip(s) of his misconduct, which have quickly gone viral, leave no doubt that Rice stepped WAY over the line with his players on multiple occasions. Grabbing them, pushing them down, throwing basketballs at them, and screaming ethnic slurs. In today's day and age, any of the above is a fireable offense, let alone all of them. In the real world, Rice would likely be in jail facing multiple counts of assaultive behavior and perhaps even hate crimes. By those standards, the fact he was merely terminated from his employment at Rutgers (so far) would seem quite lenient.
But there are some interesting sub-plots afoot as well. It's been documented the above mentioned AD and Prez were aware of this abuse months ago, yet elected only to fine Rice $50,000, suspend him for three games, and require him to take anger management classes. Other than that, the beat pretty well went on in Scarlet Knight land.
Which leaves one to contemplate a few what-ifs? First, though Rutgers has a fine reputation as an academic institution of higher learning, their men's basketball program isn't exactly what one would consider high-profile, much less a powerhouse. Indeed, during Rice's 3 year tenure, they compiled a record of 44-51, including 15-16 this year and 5-13 in the Big East conference. Of course, any such stats should be totally irrelevant given the whole picture of the debacle that has been brought to light, but would a more famous program have handled it any differently? One would certainly hope so, and further hope this was but an "isolated incident". But we really don't know, do we?
More importantly, can we dare assume that if the damning video evidence hadn't been made public, that Rice would still be there as the head coach? The way things have played out with the latest statements put forth by the AD and Prez -- it appears to be a definite possibility. Worse yet, when originally apprised of Rice's obvious misbehavior months ago, it seems they terminated the guy that brought it to their attention, while Rice was allowed to go merrily on his way. If so, something is horribly wrong with that picture. It took the pressure of public outrage for these guys to act? And what of the "whistle-blower" that tried to do the right thing? Where is his justice? If it hasn't happened already, yours truly suspects a wrongful termination law suit could be on the horizon.
Whether Rice had changed his ways since the videoed abuses actually took place is unknown, at least to the public. Also, Rice freely admitted his wrongdoing, apologized, and appeared genuinely remorseful over his actions when he eventually faced the press. However, there are some offenses that don't warrant a second chance. Presented with such overwhelming evidence last year, the AD and/or Prez were clearly remiss in their duties by allowing Rice to stay on. He should have been fired within the hour, not months later when public outrage boiled over.
Here's hoping Mike Rice has indeed seen the light and changed his ways, and he eventually finds another niche in life that will be rewarding. Regarding his being fired from Rutgers, later is better than never, but he had to go.
And, in my opinion, so do the AD and Prez for ever countenancing such egregious behavior. All the spin in the world isn't going to make it go away.
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