Rutgers shows what happens when priorities get out of control.
Shame on all parents and players who knew the truth about Rutgers.
You’re not naive if you think that some players didn’t tell their parents about the horrible basketball practice.
This is not to be ignored Mike RiceI am not letting him off the hook. He verbally and physically assaulted his players. This led to him being fired on April 3 as Rutgers’ Men’s Basketball Coach.
Rice was dismissed after ESPN broadcast a video showing Rice pushing and kick his players. Rice also uses gay slurs in the video.
“Coach Rice’s abusive language and actions are deeply offensive and egregiously violate the university’s core values,”Robert Barchi, Rutgers President, said in a statement.
Of course, Rice should not be allowed to coach children or young adults again. His actions are unacceptable in any setting, particularly not educational. This place is meant to educate and nurture young people, and not to degrade or abuse them.
This brings us to the players. It is mind-boggling to think Rice could have committed abuse against them. They simply accepted it as normal.
Your dignity and self-respect are more important than a scholarship.
It wasn’t hard-nose coaching or tough love. It was a brutal act of abuse. Anyone who has seen the video will find it hard to believe their eyes. How can people who are being pushed and kicked on college campuses believe that this is OK? They saw it all with their own eyes but didn’t notice.
He could have been stopped by his players. He’s not a coach, but that’s exactly what he was. It was not like there were any witnesses or that this happened in one incident. It would have been impossible. “he-said, he-said” skepticism. It would have been more difficult to prove, and would put players in a vulnerable spot.
This was in full view of all those involved in the basketball game. It was also taped.
These aren’t nine year-olds. These are intelligent, young men in their twenties, who would not accept this treatment from their peers.
I can’t believe that my nephew, a former Division II basketball star, would allow a coach or educator to push and kick me without him telling his father.
This is what’s so frightening. Today, you know that some parents of those players are suffering from guilt. They know their son called or came home to tell them about the abusive coach.
They chose to keep their mouths shut instead of talking to the school president or AD. The only thing that matters is their son staying on the team and getting his college education.
It is sick.
It is our way of life as a nation. We will accept anything provided it’s not on our own dime.
Worse is the fact that Tim Pernetti, athletic director at the school, and the school’s president saw the tape back November. The tape was given to them in November by an employee. They only suspended Rice for three matches and fined him $75,000.
It’s a joke.
It reveals what is wrong with college sport in this country. It’s all about money and not kids. It was evident at Penn State’s lowest level in the sex abuse scandal.
Rice’s suspension in this instance should have raised alarm bells for parents. They should have requested to see the tape, and asked why the coach was only being disciplined and wasn’t fired.
They should have reported the story to the media if they didn’t get any answers.
Such behavior could have led to a player being kicked out of the team or even banned from college sports.
All of us remember 1997, when Latrell Sprewell choked Golden State Warriors coach P.J. Carlesimo during a practice. Sprewell claimed he could not take verbal abuse from his coach any longer and was removed from the NBA for 68 games.
Sprewell was wrong, and he was punished in the same way as Rice.
This sad situation can only be a warning to coaches that such behavior will not be tolerated. We can only hope that this situation will serve as a warning to coaches and other players.
For speaking the truth, stopping abuse and other wrongdoings, players shouldn’t be afraid to be kicked off the team or expelled from college sports.
Rice’s abuse would have been stopped long ago if Rice and his players had stood up for their rights.
This story is courtesy “The Shadow League.”Visit www.sports-story.com for more. www.theshadowleague.com. Rob Parker, a Detroit-based columnist with The Shadow League, is here. His column is available every Thursday, or whenever news breaks.
