Seems that Rutgers was trying to bury Mike Rice's problems
Last edited Sat Apr 6, 2013, 04:57 PM - Edit history (3)
It took a public broadcast of the Rutgers practice videos on ESPN for Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice to be fired and athletic director Tim Pernetti to resign. So what DID the public know since the now-resigned AD at Rutgers decided to suspend not fire coach Mike Rice for Rice's behavior at basketball practices? My research shows that as the days went by after Rice's suspension anonymous sources gradually rolled out details of what happened in the practices. Sometimes, different media reported conflicting accounts at the same time.
December 13, 2012: The day Rutgers suspended Rice for three games with a $50,000 fine:
- A Rutgers Athletics press release states: "The suspension is a result of inappropriate behavior and language."
- NJ.com published a short article by Star-Ledger reporter Brendan Prunty at around 1pm. That article only identifies "a violation of athletic department policy, stemming from the use of inappropriate language" as the reason for Rice's suspension.
- ESPN reported (by 8:14 PM New Jersey time) that the punishment was due to "a violation of athletic department policy...related to inappropriate behavior and language."
-- The article also reported that Pernetti "indicated Rice's transgressions occurred during practice and involved players but declined to go into further detail."
-- The article quoted a statement from Rice: "To the extent that my conduct has ever been in contrast with those principles, I have failed my players -- and myself -- and I take full responsibility for my actions and accept the terms of my suspension. I will learn from my mistakes and I will become a better coach, teacher and role model."
- However, by 9:45 PM that night, NJ.com publishes a longer article by Prunty that is also published in the print edition of The Star-Ledger the following day. Prunty cites "multiple people with knowledge of the findings and the video evidence" who revealed details about "an internal investigation that revealed abusive, profane language used by Rice toward his players and an incident during his first or second season in which Rice threw basketballs at some players’ heads during practice." This is the first time it's known that Rice threw basketballs at players. However, Prunty only reported about "abusive, profane language" without further detail, so by now it's not publicly known that Rice used homophobic slurs like "faggot" and "fairies."
December 14, 2012:
- The New York Times print edition has an article about Rice's suspension whose only detail about pracitce: "The behavior did not involve a physical altercation or any contact with a player, according to a person involved with the program who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation." Nothing about basketballs thrown.
So the media on one side of the Hudson River reported that Rice threw basketballs at players' heads and on the other side reported no physical altercation or contact with a player!
December 15, 2012:
- The Star-Ledger (the Newark, NJ paper) prints an article by Prunty reporting that Rice will undergo anger management during his suspension. This article also cited anonymous sources and provided these details about Rice's behavior, not much new: "Multiple individuals confirmed to The Star-Ledger that is was because Rice threw basketballs at players' heads during a practice in his first or second season as Scarlet Knights head coach. Rice also used abusive language towards players that went beyond the allowable limit for a head coach at the university."
- However, the News Corporation-owned tabloid New York Post provided the first hint of how vulgar Rice was. According to the Post, Rice used "demeaning and insulting language, including vulgar references to female genitalia."
December 29, 2012: Rice's suspension ends.
- ESPN.com publishes an interview with Rice. No new details about what happened at the practices.
December 30, 2012:
- Prunty reports for the Star-Ledger: "While the suspension was for a violation of athletic department policy, Rice was punished for an incident that occurred during his first or second year with the Scarlet Knights. After an internal athletics investigation found that he threw basketballs at players’ heads during a practice and used abusive language — of which there was video evidence, shown to him at the time of his suspension."
January-March 2013:
No new revelations about Rice's behavior at the practices were reported.
The blog Daily Onions on January 2 suggested: "...Rice has shown behavior that has no place in coaching, no matter the level," and: "Others I spoke with thought Rice should have been fired immediately, because it's obvious that Rice's inappropriate behavior was an ongoing issue, not just an isolated event."
In the March 12 Star-Ledger, Tom Luicci vaguley alluded in an article about the Rutgers AD suggesting Rice will stay next season: "Rice's future in Piscataway was put in additional jeopardy when he was suspended for three games and fined $50,000 in December for violations of athletic department policy. Following his return, Rutgers assigned a monitor at practices."
April 2, 2013: The ESPN program Outside the Lines plays video showing Rice's behavior at practices, the first time such video is available to the public.
April 3, 2013: Rutgers president Robert Barchi fires Rice. "Amid growing outrage and calls from the governor to fire the embattled coach, the university president finally changed his mind about Rice, according to interviews with Rutgers officials." (link below)
April 4, 2013: The Star-Ledger reports that Barchi knew as early as November 2012 that video of Rice's behavior at practice existed but only asked to see all the video AFTER the Outside the Lines segment!
April 5, 2013: Pernetti resigns. President Barchi states: "I regret that I did not ask to see the video when Tim first told me of its existence, because I am certain this situation would have had a different outcome had I done so."
So what happened, in a TL;DR format:
- The president of Rutgers never bothered to watch the video evidence during the first investigation
- Whatever details behind the suspension revealed by Rutgers were very vague
- It took anonymous sources to reveal the extent of how bad the situation was; over 8 hours after the press conference was it revealed that Rice threw basketballs; a TABLOID report 2 days after the suspension suggested "vulgar references to female genitalia."
- The president of Rutgers decided on a suspension after reading the investigation's findings but decided to fire Rice after watching the video.
- So contrary to popular belief, it wasn't really public outrage that influenced the firing. The president, with the power to terminate Rice, relied only on second-hand reporting of evidence rather than seeing the evidence himself.
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