Whether it's on the road, in relationships or at work, when someone loses control it often ends up on the web. And for NCAA basketball coach Mike Rice, this reality is surely hitting home.
Rice found himself out of a job after a video of him hitting, shoving and berating his players with anti-gay slurs went viral. The taunts are surely a sensitive topic at Rutgers. It's the same university where student Tyler Clementi committed suicide in 2010 after his roommate used a webcam to spy on him kissing another man.
The tape made headlines after it was aired on ESPN's Outside the Lines. But surprisingly, Rice's inappropriate coaching style wasn't breaking news to the school.
Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti was given the video back in November of 2012. However, in agreeance with the university president they chose to suspend Rice for three games, fine him $50,000 and order him to attend anger management classes. A decision Pernetti is now calling a mistake. Ummm, ya think?!
So this makes me wonder...Are we now becoming a society that places so much importance on winning that the needs of athletes are being neglected? And are parents now making a deal with the devil by turning their children over to coaches who will use whatever means necessary in order to produce champions?
While for three years Rice's players suppressed the abuse, Los Angeles Laker superstar Kobe Bryant says "he would have smacked the hell out of him." So why didn't any of the players retaliate against Rice's unacceptable behavior? I'm sure some of them are well aware that if they dared to challenge Rice they could kiss their playtime goodbye. But for others, it may not register as abuse, just his "coaching style".
So the question is, how far do YOU think coaches should go? What is acceptable?
What Coach Rice did was way too far. I don't any coach should put down his players by calling them degrading names or using anti-gay slurs either. Kicking your players or shoving them is way too far. However, it is ok for coaches to be brutally honest with his players. It is ok for a coach to yell because sometimes thats the only way to get your point across of how important what you are saying really is. These kind of things give players mental toughness which is important to win games and most importantly, to handle life situations where mental toughness is necessary.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I dont think Rutgers kept him there because they were so determined to win, they still sucked and werent winning lol
Haha, yeah maybe that's why he was so mad.
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