Thursday, April 4, 2013

Guide to the firing of Rutgers' basketball coach

In this four-image combo taken from an ESPN video, Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice kicks, shoves, and throws balls at his players during NCAA college basketball practices in Piscataway, N.J. Fueled by outrage from even the governor when the video went public, Rutgers fired Rice on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, after deciding it didn't go far enough by suspending and fining him for shoving, kicking and throwing balls at players along with spewing gay slurs. (AP Photo/ESPN)

In this four-image combo taken from an ESPN video, Rutgers men's basketball coach Mike Rice kicks, shoves, and throws balls at his players during NCAA college basketball practices in Piscataway, N.J. Fueled by outrage from even the governor when the video went public, Rutgers fired Rice on Wednesday, April 3, 2013, after deciding it didn't go far enough by suspending and fining him for shoving, kicking and throwing balls at players along with spewing gay slurs. (AP Photo/ESPN)

Rutgers University fired men's basketball coach Mike Rice this week after the public airing of video showing him berating players. At at-a-glance look at the facts in the case:

___

THE VIDEO

The edited clips of practices from 2010 through last year were made public by Eric Murdock, a former basketball program employee at Rutgers, the state's flagship public university. He shared it with university officials in November, and ESPN later obtained a copy of it. With the cable network readying a report, Athletic Director Tim Pernetti released the video to other media outlets this week. It shows Rice shoving and kicking players, as well as throwing basketballs at them and spewing gay slurs.

___

THE UNIVERITY RESPONSE

In December, Rice was suspended for three games and ordered to anger management counseling over his behavior, but officials decided not to fire him at the time. This week, he was ousted. University President Robert Barchi said he changed him mind and decided that a suspension was not sufficient after finally watching the video. No explanation was immediately given on why the first-year president didn't view the video last year.

___

THE RUTGERS FALLOUT

Rutgers alumni who have spoken out about the case have overwhelmingly said Rice deserved to be fired. And like a growing number of faculty, many say Pernetti should also go. Some are calling for the president to lose his job, too.

____

RUTGERS AND GAYS

The revelation that the coach used gay slurs and still kept his job struck a nerve at the university because of the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi. The university put policies in place to be more hospitable to gay students after Clementi jumped off a bridge days after his roommate used a webcam to see him kissing another man.

___

THE RESPONSE IN COACHING

Several well-known coaches say it's never been acceptable to shove, kick or throw a ball at a player.

___

THE POLITICAL FALLOUT

In so many words, Gov. Chris Christie let it be known the day the video aired that he didn't want Rice around. Senate President Stephen Sweeney is calling for Pernetti to resign or be fired. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver has called for an investigation into how the case was handled but no hearings have been scheduled.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-04-US-Rutgers-News-Guide/id-a6f1c1637a8c4d38bc81baa9621660fa

andrew breitbart red wings penguins the band colton dixon houston weather dwyane wade

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.