Anybody that's paid attention to the news lately knows that several college athletic programs (and their coaches) have been busted recently. The ever unctuous Rick Pitino of Louisville, as slippery as he could be, now finds himself fired. And by most accounts, justifiably so.
Michigan State found itself in big trouble in the wake of Larry Nassar's conviction and sentencing for serial sexual abuses.
[Idle thought. The dude's been sentenced three times in different courts. Add up all the years he has to spend in prison, and it's over 200. Dang. Will they still have to offer his skeleton three meals a day and an occasional shower? Seems like overkill, no pun intended.]
But MSU head basketball coach Tom Izzo is standing fast, saying now that the conference tournament, then the big NCAA party is coming up, he'll only answer basketball questions. That sounds great, but probably not very realistic. Though the various investigations into the possible wrongdoing of some of his players has gone quiet -- for now -- it's hardly over. It might well be considered the calm before the you-know-what hits the fan.
Between the NCAA probers and the "law enforcement" sleuths, few would doubt Izzo, a few the players under his watch, and the whole program are being thoroughly examined as this is written.
Where that will go is anybody's guess. But if and when it comes time for Izzo to be hauled out upon the carpet and answer some very tough and pointed questions, it's not like he's going to have a choice in the matter.
The same can be said for head football coach Mark Dantonio. Some of his players have been implicated in various hanky-panky, and that's not likely to go away either. Somebody somewhere continues digging and digging some more to find out the whole truth.
MD has stated on the record, repeatedly, that he always reported any alleged wrong doing up through the proper chain of command. But various reports have contradicted that claim. If he (and/or Izzo) indeed tried to keep it "in house" and mete out their own form of "discipline" instead of abiding by the rules -- it's only a matter of time before it all comes home to roost and they find themselves in deep doo-doo.
Let's not forget the president of Michigan State abruptly resigned in the face of this mess. And the athletic director took a convenient "retirement". Enter a former Governor of the state of Michigan -- one John Engler -- to assume command.
[This is the same guy that, once upon a time, was campaigning in the parking lot of my workplace, shaking hands, talking immediate improvement, and promising to only serve one 4 year term to get it done. Because of him and his forked-tongue ways. twelve years later, when he was still in office, the state finally got around to passing term limits on Governors. Two terms max, then out you go. Dude looked me right in the eye while shaking my hand and flat out lied. Big time. And they expect THIS guy to deal honestly? REALLY? He's found another taxpayer cha-ching bed of roses to drop into.]
Meanwhile, out in Arizona, one Sean Miller, head coach of their hoops team, is coming under some scrutiny as well. It appears the feds picked him up on a wire tap mentioning paying a recruit/player $100,000 to sign up with the program. Needless to say, you can't do that. At least not legally, let alone within the bounds of NCAA rules. One of his assistant coaches has already been busted on a few counts and finds himself jammed up every which way with the authorities.
But by thunder, dear Sean, like Tom, and Mark, vow to keep on coaching their teams. Like an ex-President of the USA was fond of saying -- "stay the course". Of course that was the same guy that kept ranting about a "thousand points of light". Nobody ever did figure out what the hell he was talking about, and he probably didn't know either. But it made for good sound bytes at the time -- among the feeble minded and gullible.
Thing is, these messes are going to come to a head someday. And when that happens, maybe any or all of these three coaches -- and the programs and players they were responsible for -- will be exonerated.
But after the entire paper trail is pored through, witness testimony subpoenaed and given (and who knows about even MORE wire-taps and snooping that could have been in play throughout and will emerge?), it might also just be that these three heroic "rocks" are turned into sniveling apologists merely trying to survive the guilt that has been thrust upon them and made public.
The moral of the story? Far be it from any objective and open-minded person to pre-assume anything until all the facts are in. But if any of them know they were anything less than, say, doing their duties and forthcoming about the same -- now is the time to own it. If it's not too late already.
Because if they ride this out and come up on the losing end, not only will they lose their jobs, but they can kiss whatever decent legacies they had built up before good-bye as well.
We shall see.....
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