0 0 1 609 3472 Elder HS 28 8 4073 14.0 Normal 0 false false false EN-US JA X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:”Table Normal”; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:””; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Mike Rice, head basketball coach at Rutgers University was fired from his position April 3rd after three years with the program. Rice was wiped from his coaching role for verbal and physical abuse of his players after a tape was leaked from one of his brutal practices. By now, almost everyone has seen the video where it shows Rice pelting players with balls, shoving them, and belittling them with his words. After watching the video a few times through, a lot of thoughts stirred around in my head. The first question that came to mind is how could he have gotten away with this horrible method of coaching for so long? Before his three poor years at Rutgers, Rice spent three years as the head coach of the Robert Morris University basketball squad. I don’t know if this behavior just started at Rutgers, but logic tells me this type of mentality doesn’t simply fall from the sky. This led me to my next train of thought. The head coach is not the only one with the players at practice. There are assistants and managers throughout the gym. How could nobody put up a fight against his tyranny? Is the abuse of players an everyday thing in the world of college athletics? There eventually came a loan cry from at Rutgers from the former head of player development, Eric Murdock. He saw the pain and distress Rice’s technique put on the players and even tried to stop it by bringing in Tim Pernitti, the athletic director. Unfortunately, Rice pulled a complete 180 in his attitude when the A.D. showed up so Pernetti really did not understand what was actually going on. Later, the video evidence proved to Pernetti that Rice is a loose cannon and should be extinguished. Coaches are supposed to be role models for young athletes but apparently Rice failed to get the memo. His insane behavior even drove three players to transferring in his time at Rutgers. Calling players “f**king fairies” and “f*ggots” is not a positive message for these young athletes. Now I know we have all taken some verbal heat from coaches, yes, we’re guys, it is just an accepted form of expression. The part that riles me up the most is the physical aspect of Rice’s “coaching”. Never have I seen such a small man harass huge athletes like Rice did. I thought Bobby Knight looked bad when he had his show on ESPN, “Knight School”. But comparing Bobby Knight’s coaching to Mike Rice is an insult to Knight. I was absolutely amazed that Mike Rice coached like that without physical damage to himself. Even though he was fired, he should be thanking God that a 6’-8″, 225 power forward didn’t knock his block off for the way he treated his team. The reality is, some athletes grow up in places where violence is prevalent and college should be an escape from those kinds of environments. The only thing Mike Rice was teaching his players was immaturity. Think about it, a man in his forties, acting like a big baby and abusing his power sounds awfully immature to me. In all honesty, some people just cannot handle a position of power. I had a fifth grade basketball coach who off the court was a great guy. But on the court, oh my, was he a sight to see. Kicking ten year olds out of practice, using profanity, all occurred for about ninety minutes three days a week. What for? Are these actions performed to try to assert authority? Power breeds corruption. Like the classic story of “giving a mouse a cookie”, some people just need to stop at milk. What I’m saying is, take your medicine, control yourself and treat people with respect., everything else is unnecessary. I’m not sure Mike Rice is truly sorry for what he had been doing. Yes, he apologized but I wouldn’t call it sincere. How could he just now realize what he did was wrong? Oh I know, because he got caught. Obviously he had to apologize, he ruined the name of a university. If Rice is given another coaching job in the future I will be deeply upset. All I know is, since the whole basketball coach thing didn’t end up working out, he could definitely hold his own in some dodgeball leagues the way he was chucking those balls.