Monday, April 8, 2013

The Mike Rice Scandal: How Far is Going to Far?


The Mike Rice scandal was a shocker to me; I was not pleased at all with the tape or the treatment that the players received.  To me this is a case of a coach going way too far, calling his players homophobic slurs, hitting them, berating them and getting physical as well that is inexcusable.  I have been asked by some friends what is the length a coach will go before it is considered too far with how they talk to and treat their players. 

Before I talk about what going too far is and what crossing the line means to me I want to explain what I think is in the right of the coaches.  Firstly I think any sort of yelling that does not involve slurs is fine, sometimes you have to get into a players face or head to get the most out of them that is not an issue with me.   However, that being said I am appalled by what I saw on the tapes, aside from the abuse what makes it worse is the fact that these are kids that parents are entrusting the coaches with, and Mike Rice failed to hold that trust.  These kids also live on campus and spend much time practicing and playing and probably keeping in touch with the coach. 

His actions are sickening to me, how can someone hit and verbally abuse a poor college kid just trying to practice, I can only imagine how angry he gets in the locker rooms if the game isn’t going well, but I hope it is not as bad as it was on the tape.  When it comes to college athletes I think sometimes people forget that they are students first because college is an educational place unlike professional sports which is someone’s job.  

I have heard stories of NFL players being grabbed by face masks and told they were awful players but that is their job and they must perform, but in NCAA sports anything that is verbally abusive of physical threatening is unacceptable.

If coaches in college want to get to their players fine yell, but don’t be using slurs and smacking them around, that is unfair because they are kids.  What Mike Rice did is not only sad but pathetic as well, if it was my decision he would have been fired as soon as I saw the tape…

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