Warning – this post will not make you want to go out and run. It may make you want to throw-up but read the whole thing – it finishes on a high note!
What a week in sports? One of the great weeks of the year, especially for college hoop fans (count me in), has been even more interesting than usual. A few folks should be ashamed of themselves, and one stood above the rest.
The head football coach at THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY has obviously lost all sense of perspective. Of course THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY has supported this lack of perspective. We learned this week that the head football coach at THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY, a state employee and at some level an educator, knew that some of his players were violating NCAA regulations in March or April. He conveniently failed to tell anyone because he couldn’t figure out who to tell. Even in the fall as the NCAA suspended his players for 5 games of the 2011 season, there was no admission by the head football coach that he knew about the violations many months before. So now it becomes public knowledge when he knew about the violations. Somehow the head football coach only draws a two game suspension. By the way the two games are against very weak opponents. If you are going to coach college students, you should set the right example. So I have a couple of questions…..
-
Why did the players get suspended for five games but the head football coach only got two games?
-
Since the head football coach’s contract allows the school to terminate the contract if he violates NCAA regulations, why wasn’t he terminated?
-
How does the Athletic Director at THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY regain his trust in a head football coach that could not figure out how to report a known rules violation?
On Friday evening, reports are that the NFLPA is decertifying and a class action suit on behalf of the NFL players is being filed against the owners. At the same time the owners of the NFL franchises are going to “lock-out” the players. I am a big football fan, I prefer college but I enjoy NFL football as well. Press reports are that they are arguing over a billion dollars or maybe two billion dollars. Honestly, I could not care less about the issue. I think it would be great if the NFL imploded and all these players had to find real jobs. Let’s see how easy it will be for them to find jobs for the league minimum, approximately $225,000 per year outside of football. Someone should remind them that they are entertainers and if there is no “stage”, there is no pay.
On March 9, the Rutgers men’s basketball team was playing St. John’s in the Big East Tournament. They battled tough and due to an error by the officials at the end of the game, they were denied one last chance to win the game. It was an obvious officiating error. In the post-game press conference, the Rutgers head coach Mike Rice did not rant and rave and criticize the officials and act like a child. He behaved as an adult that realizes this is a game. No one will live or die based on the results of one game. He set an example for all people about how to behave and accept that sometimes things don’t work out the way you want. This is the way we should expect, no demand, people act toward others.
So in a single week, we have seen incredibly different examples of how leaders act to difficult situations. The head football coach, athletic director and president of THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY should be ashamed of themselves. Not only have they embarrassed themselves, they also embarrassed the University. The NFLPA and the owners of the NFL franchises should figure out fast that the “fans” won’t take a side in this debacle. If there is any disruption of the NFL season, the “fans” will blame everyone involved the NFL and all will pay dearly.
Coach Rice of Rutgers University, THANK YOU. You have proven to me that someone involved with college or professional sports has maintained their perspective. I was beginning to wonder………
-
runrichmond posted this
