Months after finding out that Rutgers men’s head basketball coach Mike Rice was physically and verbally abusing his players, the school has fired Rice after suspending him for three games back in December. Following an episode of Outside The Lines by ESPN, the Scarlet Knights were called out by most to fire their head coach. After stating that he wishes he had done things differently upon first finding out about the abuse, Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti decided to fire Rice.
Now, the question remains, when will Pernetti and university president Robert Barchi be relieved of their respective duties at the school? Both were made aware of the abuse scandal and did very little to resolve the problem. Rice should have been fired immediately. Pernetti and Barchi dropped the ball, and should also both lose their jobs because of their negligence.
Rice came out and apologized for his actions and said he has no explanation for his actions. Pernetti said that he was wrong to attempt to rehabilitate Rice, and that he should have been dismissed back when the abuse first came to light. Barchi is yet to make an official statement. But while only one of these men has been fired, it could be just a matter of time before the axe officially drops on the employment status of the other two involved. George Dohrmann of SI.com said that he hopes that the “Rutgers Board of Governors calls an emergency meeting and fires Pernetti. No investigation needed. No internal review required. His actions (or inaction) are as despicable as Rice’s, and to do anything but kick him to the curb is just a repeat of the mistake that Pernetti made in December when the found some excuse to keep Rice.”
This case is already drawing comparisons to a pair of other scandals at major sports programs at other universities. When Bobby Knight was the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers men’s basketball program, he won National Championships and more games than any coach in college basketball history. He also physically and verbally abused and berated his players. When Joe Paterno was the head football coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions, he won National Championships and more games than any other coach in college football history. He also covered up a major sex scandal. Eventually, both men were fired and some of those who assisted in the cover ups were also later dismissed.
I am not saying that this is the same. I am not condoning what any of these men did. All were wrong, at least to some degree, while Paterno was most at fault by not even being the one who ever laid his hands on his players. What he knew was certainly worse than what Knight and Rice did, although that does not let the others off the hook. The question is, did Knight and Paterno get more second and third chances because they did one simple thing that Rice did not?
They won.
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel also made the comparison between Rutgers and Penn State, stating that “This scandal is a miniaturized version of Penn State, which knew all along about the heinous allegations of child sexual abuse against Jerry Sandusky, but only distanced itself from Sandusky and fired head coach Joe Paterno after the transgressions became public.”
Bianchi also went on to say that “defending the brand is more important than safeguarding the kids.” He has a point, as scary and wrong as that is. Schools and the NCAA do care more about the brand than the student athletes responsible for making it what it is today.
Penn State was beyond wrong for what they did. They knew what Sandusky did and did everything possible to cover up the sexual abuse of countless children. It was beyond reprehensible, and they finally paid for their actions, or inactions. But it was far too late.
When Indiana finally fired Knight, it came much later than many had hoped for, since it had been going on for years. It even went on to happen when Knight went on to coach the Texas Tech Red Raiders following his removal at Indiana. But Knight was given many more opportunities than Rice.
Of course, Knight won. In three seasons with Rutgers, Rice went just 44-51 and failed to qualify for the NCAA Tournament during his tenure with the Scarlet Knights.
Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports said the difference between Knight and Rice is quite clear.
“So why do we accept — even respect — one and cluck our tongues at the other? Both have laid hands on their players, bullied them and berated them. One thrives because of basketball. The other may never coach on the Division I level again. The difference? Bob Knight has won 785 more games in his career than Mike Rice.”
Parrish went on to write that “Knight’s saving grace is that as a former coach somehow he — perhaps we — separated his coaching talent from his obvious character flaws. All it took was 900 wins and a slightly less irascible stance off the court to keep from making Jeremy Schaap the next Neil Reed.”
It is true. While we make fun of the new Nike ad featuring Tiger Woods, winning may actually take care of everything. At the very least, it has caused many people in high places to turn a blind eye to something that was very wrong. Had Knight and Paterno had as poor of a record as Rice, would the situations at Indiana and Penn State had gone down differently?
Perhaps, we should have all wished that they would have. It would have saved many.
Sadly, enablers have allowed accused pedophiles like Jerry Sandusky and Sylvain Kustyan to remain in harm’s way of our children. Kustyan has been formally charged with two counts of 1st Degree Sodomy of a ten-year-old little boy. Upon learning of imminent arrest he fled the US back to his native France. Although his abuse was of a different sort, Rice’s enablers should also be punished.