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Life is a dream, a little more coherent than most. Herman Wouk's classic best-selling novel The Caine Mutiny describes a fictional ship the U.S.S. Cain, its paranoid, abusive captain Queeg and a mutiny by the ship's officers bent on saving the Caine during a murderous typhoon. It was fiction; no U.S. Naval vessel has ever been commandeered by mutiny. In contrast, the "novel" emerging from Rutgers University makes Wouk's story look like playground politics.
Last week Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice was ignobly shown the exit with athletic director Tim Pernetti not far behind. As of this writing, the Scarlet Knights' president remains in office under siege from fans, alumni, and the press. Coach Rice was fired a day after video surfaced showing despicable acts of player abuse. If you haven't seen these fantastical shots of Rice kicking his players and throwing basketballs at their heads, knees, and other anatomical zones, you've missed one of college sports' darkest coaching moments. Rice matched his physical tirades with verbal assaults, calling his players by every name in the gym and some that aren't.
Ironically the videos surfaced just as Rutgers was receiving a gold-engraved invitation to join the venerable Big Ten Conference. Pressed for an explanation of this hideous embarrassment to the State of New Jersey's premier public university, its erstwhile athletic director offered this explanation for his seemingly vapid leadership: "I thought it was in the best interest of everyone to rehabilitate, but I was wrong." Rehabilitate? In who's best interest? At what price? Players later admitted they said and did nothing simply out of fear. A $200,000 college education was at stake for those who valued one.
That a coach for a major college sports program would practice conduct-unbecoming isn't new. Some misconduct is worse than other misconduct. Mike Rice's abuse of players and the university's brand equity defies explanation. While the university's leadership went into emergency session last week, faculty members including the dean of Rutgers' graduate school signed a letter asking for the president's resignation just 7 months into his contract. Among other comments, the Rutgers graduate dean wrote "Dr. Barchi should resign for his inexcusable handling of Coach Mike Rice's homophobic and misogynist abuse of our student athletes." Some Rutgers faculty accused Barchi of covering up the coach's behavior by neglecting to admit the extent of Rice's misconduct while renewing his contract calling for $700,000 annual salary!
As with most bullying tyrants cast in inappropriate leadership roles, Rice made a meager attempt to appear contrite as he addressed the press on his way to the dumpster. It appeared the worst was over. But...as with any great novel a kicker-story is emerging as you read this column. CBS Sports reports the FBI is investigating former Rutgers assistant coach Eric Murdoch who allegedly attempted to extract $950,000 from the school, promising to expose his video collection if the university failed to pay-up for what the former assistant claims is compensation-owed for wrongful termination.
So, if you're keeping track of the dramatis personae and the plot, Rutgers coach Mike Rice is gone, athletic director Tim Pernetti is gone, school president Robert Barchi is hanging by a thread, a former assistant may be charged for making claims against the university over video that sank the Scarlet Knights men's basketball program, while the school's faculty and alumni are crying "foul." The principle difference between fiction and reality is that "reality" must be believable. Captain Queen was imagined. Mike Rice is real.
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