
Better Times
Oy, does this whole affair with Mike Rice and the subsequent firing of Tim Pernetti feel… slimy. This has a bad stench all around it.
Here’s the thing for me. Why didn’t Pernetti just fire the guy when he found out about this back in November? It wouldn’t have been pretty, but it would have made this a lot easier, don’t you think? If this timeline from ESPN is true, they found enough evidence that Rice violated policy and his contract, and they would have had ample grounds for termination. Yet, all we ended up with were conflicting stories and a lot of finger pointing. This doesn’t just look bad, it is bad for a university trying to make itself a premier athletic institution in addition to an athletic one.
For all of the people who are angry about Pernetti being forced to resign, this is the thing for me. When they fired Rice on Wednesday, Pernetti was pretty clear that the decision to suspend Rice at the time was his and he deeply regretted the decision to suspend and not fire. Now when he’s let on Friday, his story has changed that he wanted to fire Rice, but the University would not let him. I’m not sure what the truth is, and it may be somewhere in the middle, but I have this thought. It seems pretty obvious that while there wasn’t some black-ops X-Files kind of coverup at work, there was at least a strong hope that they could sweep what was on that tape under the rug and that the suspension would give the impression that the matter was handled. For a few months that worked, until ESPN got their hands on the footage. Once it was out, what hope did Pernetti really have of staying? Either he was really behind it, or he was the easy scapegoat.
Don’t forget as well that Rice was Pernetti’s guy. He was the big hire that he managed to get to turn the basketball team around. I’m sure he wanted to make sure that his big fish made it through, no matter what. These sorts of allegiances matter.
I honestly hope that Rutgers doesn’t suffer through too badly with this, and I hope that they do well in the Big Ten. However, this is the time for the school to stop and look inward and reflect on what they have brought upon themselves. Has the school paid too big a price in its quest to become a major athletic player, and not just an academic one? Until we answer that, the water on the banks will just be muddied by this whole affair.