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The real problem with the football scandal at the University of Colorado is not the coach or the athletic director or any of the personnel. It's the system.
A dozen years ago, when our daughters were in high school, we talked about colleges, and brought up the University of Colorado at Boulder, which then had and still has some outstanding departments and faculty members.
However, this was during the tenure of Promise Keeper Bill McCartney as CU football coach. Two players were accused of date rape; McCartney defended them, saying that the act had to be violent to be rape. There was another CU football player who bound his victim in duct tape before raping her. Since she was then in no position to struggle, presumably that was no rape, if we go by the McCartney definition.
I'd never go to Boulder,
said our younger
daughter. They just import thugs and rapists from all
over the country, and I'd never feel safe.
Naturally, she did end up graduating with honors from CU -- but it was CU Denver, which has no football team, and thus has no need to import thugs and rapists from all over the country.
This does illustrate how a successful football program builds a university's reputation, although it may seem strange to some people that a university would want a reputation that repels straight-A students.
After McCartney resigned, CU hired Rick Neuheisel as head coach. Like all head coaches, Neuheisel recruited, telling players he'd be there to develop their talents.
Like most head coaches, Neuheisel stayed until he got a better offer somewhere else in 1999; since this is amateur athletics, the players are supposed to be loyal to the school and team, but their coach and mentor looks out for himself foremost.
Neuheisel was an enthusiastic recruiter, though; after he left Colorado, the NCAA found 51 recruiting violations during his Colorado days. The report criticized the University of Colorado for poor oversight, and even though Neuheisel was long gone, CU was put on probation.
Neuheisel was then at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he too was penalized for his Colorado violations by being forbidden to leave campus to recruit. Then last summer, he was fired for betting on college basketball tournaments, and then lying to school officials and NCAA investigators about it.
Neuheisel was replaced by Gary Barnett, who is now suspended pending further investigation as the rape charges continue to emerge. The odd part about the suspension is that the straw that broke the camel's back -- his comments about Katie Hnida's place-kicking skills -- might have represented the first time he's told the truth since this scandal broke.
She wasn't a good kicker, and Barnett should have left it at that, without making it sound as though everyone who is not a good place-kicker, which is most of us, deserves to be pummeled and raped.
The rest of the time, though, Barnett is one of those fellows who's supposed to be in charge, but doesn't know what's going on. An allegation appears, he says that's the first he's heard of it, then someone brings up a memo or conversation which indicates that Barnett had heard of it -- then there's another allegation of rape or recruiting orgies, and the cycle continues, and a special investigatory panel is convened
It's safe to predict that this will end with Barnett's forced resignation, or his outright dismissal. CU will purge the staff and hire a new coach. There will be announcements that the problems have been fixed, and all will appear well until the next scandal, just as Barnett's followed Neuheisel's that followed McCartney's.
The rationales for big-time college football are pretty thin. At CU, 64 percent of all students graduate within six years of starting college. But only 44 percent of football players do -- so the program really isn't providing college educations to deserving student-athletes.
There's the argument that alumni donate more generously to a school with a nationally ranked football team. Why would any school want to admit its alumni, who are presumably educated people, were really that shallow? And it's been a long time since Harvard had a top-ranked football team, so why does it lead in alumni donations?
CU won't fix its problems, but help could be coming from another quarter. Early this month, federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin ruled that the National Football League's draft policy -- potential players have to be at least three years out of high school -- violated federal anti-trust laws.
Many commentators said this would destroy college football, since the best players would go to the pros. Let's hope so. CU can keep hiring new coaches, but until it gets rid of the program, it won't get rid of the problems.
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