I wanted to wait for all the chips the fall before commenting on this Rutgers story.
We all already know all the details so I won’t waste time recapping. I think Rutgers absolutely made the right moves. I know it was obvious that the coach, Mike Rice, had to go. The other great move was firing the AD Pernetti. He tried to sweep it under the rug with his slap on the wrist punishment he gave Rice back in December. Cited things like it was a “first offense.” First offense?!?! In every single other workplace, that behavior, even as a first offense get you fired every single time. Pernetti then went out into the media and defended his punishment when the world was calling for Rice’s head. Terrible PR move and basically left the Rutgers President with no option but to fire him.
As for what I thought about the video itself; clearly Rice went way over the line. Look, if you want to be the rough and hard dickhead coach, I get it. If you think yelling and screaming at your team is what will get through to them, knock yourself out. Where I draw the line is the name calling referring to sexual orientation and player heritage. You want to call your big man soft and a pussy because he lets guys 5 inches shorter and 30 pounds lighter box them out and out rebound your big man, go for it. I also think it is fine to grab a player who isn’t focusing and putting them into the right position on the court. There is no need to call anyone a fag or pick on their heritage…or in Gilvydas Biruta’s case, both. No need to call Gil a “Lithuanian faggot.”. Absolutely zero basketball purpose for that.
Also, maybe there are better ways to get your point across without rocketing balls at players’ heads.
Rhody Ram Mascot Fights 