Rutgers President Barchi Flops at Press Conference

     Though the situation at Rutgers is slowly being talked about less and less, the consequences being felt by the basketball team, athletics department, and university will be long lasting.

     As of Thursday of last week, Coach Mike Rice had been fired by Rutgers Athletics and Assistant Coach Jimmy Martelli had resigned from his position. Both had been seen throwing basketballs and hitting players in a video released by Outside the Lines on April 1^st.

     On Friday morning, Athletic Director Tim Pernetti followed Rice and Martelli out the door. Pernetti resigned after four years of leading Rutgers Athletics including helping them become added to the Big 10 Conference.

     But following Pernetti’s resignation on Friday, Rutgers’ President Robert Barchi had a press conference to discuss the situation.

     It was not a symbiotic relationship for President Barchi though. During the press conference President Barchi was figuratively mauled and rightfully so. Barchi stated “I did not fire him (Rice) for cause, I just fired him.

     But why did Barchi have to “just fire him”? Is throwing basketballs at and kicking students not enough to be fired? Apparently it was not.

     President Barchi watched Wednesday night with Pernetti and admittedly knew Rice had to be fired after just five minutes of observation. While already treading deep waters because of his lack of a reason when asked why he did not watch the video, when asked if Barchi knew about details of the incident in December, Barchi responded “I was aware that basketballs had been thrown.”

     According to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, upper level management of a corporation is required to know of and implement appropriate internal controls in order to prevent accounting scandals. Why should this just be held to accounting or corporations? I feel it is reasonable to think that President Barchi and President Emeritus McCormick (whose time at Rutgers overlaps with the time the incidents at the basketball practices were taking place) should have known what was happening at Rutgers University and Rutgers Basketball practices and I believe that both Barchi and McCormick should be penalized.
     In addition, ignorance followed when Rutgers’ Board of Governor’s Chair Ralph Izzo spoke. Izzo stated that the incident obviously showed a failure in the process. The Board of Governors is directly responsible for developing the process (the President is responsible for day-to-day operations). If the process was setup so that coaches can hit and throw things at students and the coach is merely suspended for three games then Izzo is correct, the process is flawed. As a contributing member to the design of the process, Izzo transitively fueled this incident through inaction rather than action. Izzo and the Board of Governors also need to be penalized in order for Rutgers University to maintain a strong positive relationship with the nation.

     My opinion seems to be consistent with the opinion of Jay Bilas and the rest of the College Gameday staff.

               

     In the last post, I wondered what JMU President Alger would have to say about the topic. I did reach out to President Alger and I received a response from Don Egle, JMU’s Senior Director of Communications.

               

     It reads:

Hi Patrick:

     On behalf of James Madison University, President Alger has stated as follows: “Under our policies at James Madison University we believe that all of our students, including student-athletes; should not be subject to discrimination or harassment. We strive to create an atmosphere conducive to learning for all students."

     (Please note that it would not be appropriate for President Alger to comment on current matters at another institution where he previously served as general counsel; he left Rutgers in June 2012 and had no involvement with the incidents being discussed.)

Thanks,

Don

                

     So while this may not be the long conversation I was hoping to have with President Alger about Rutgers, it does at least show us that he is aware of the situation and feels that the actions of Coach Rice and Coach Martelli were wrong (which is better than nothing). I hope that although no longer affiliated with Rutgers University, President Alger learns from the mistakes of Rutgers and takes precautions so that we do not ever experience a situation like this at James Madison University.

Rutgers Basketball: Pernetti is Out, Eyes turn to President Barchi

     If you have not heard by now, then you probably are not much of an NCAA Basketball fan. If you are a basketball fan though, you have seen the video of Rutgers Coach Mike Rice harassing and violently “coaching” players.

     The video showed Rice grabbing, pushing, and yelling at his players. At several points, Rice is shown throwing basketballs at players and is even heard (although censored in Youtube videos like the one here) using phrases that even sailors and truckers would consider foul language.

     This video isn’t new though. It surfaced last December and when AD Tim Pernetti saw the video deemed that a three game suspension would suffice. But after the video made its way to the web, the public disagreed. Rutgers was forced to act again. On Wednesday, Rutgers fired Mike Rice.

     Following Rice’s termination, there were a number of questions asked, the most obvious of which was “Why wasn’t Rice fired in December when these videos were first seen by Tim Pernetti?” Throwing basketballs at players repeatedly is not a small deal. Pernetti should have known that a three game suspension was not enough.

     Jimmy Martelli, Rutgers assistant coach resigned yesterday, no doubt embarrassed by his own violence toward the players (which was also shown in the videos) and lack of action to prevent Rice’s abusive nature.

     Martelli’s resignation was likely the final straw for Rutgers. Following the videos that clearly showed Martelli partaking in the violence toward the team, why wasn't Martelli at least suspended like Rice? It makes us wonder, did Pernetti take an investigation of Rice’s actions seriously?

     Regardless of whether he did or not, this morning Pernetti paid the price for his inaction. Rutgers has released him from the Athletic Director position though no word has been released on whether he resigned or was fired. Pernetti will take part in a press conference at Rutgers at 1 o’clock.

     Besides waiting for Pernetti’s press conference, eyes have also shifted toward Rutgers President Robert Barchi. As president, it is the viewpoint of many that President Barchi should have watched the video and otherwise been aware of the actual actions that happened at the Rutgers Basketball practices.

     As a JMU student, I would find it interesting to learn the opinion of JMU President Jon Alger on the incident because Alger is a former Rutgers administrator. Eric Murdock, the former Rutgers basketball assistant that blew the whistle on the incident, has stated the former President McCormick contributed to Murdock’s wrongful termination last summer. President Emeritus McCormick spoke at President Alger’s inauguration earlier this semester so it is reasonable to conclude that President Alger has an opinion on the situation.

     Please note, that this is not accusing President Alger of anything. I respect President Alger and I believe that like much of the JMU community are hoping for Alger to be supportive of his former colleague and assure us that the appropriate actions are being taken at Rutgers University.

Nationals Ready For New Season...and to Bring Home Trophy in October

     With the Nationals Opening Day game later today, it’s time to take a peek at the outlook for our local MLB franchise.

     Between the World Baseball Classic and Spring Training baseball, Nationals’ players are getting their fair share of competition early and should be ready to go right off the bat in their opening series versus the Miami Marlins just under two weeks away. The Nationals’ young pitching staff, led by right-hander Stephen Strasburg, have done well leading up to Opening Day.

     With just six spring training appearances for a cumulative 25.1 innings, Strasburg has posted 31 strikeouts and while he suffered two losses, Nationals’ fans should not be too worried. Last year, Strasburg started off with just one win and four losses during Spring Training and then went on to a 15 and 6 regular season. With the experience has gained and confidence he is gaining after his Tommy John surgery in 2010, the Nationals’ ace should be ready to go for the postseason this year after missing the ALDS versus the St. Louis Cardinals during to an innings limit.

     Members of the United States team Gio Gonzalez and Ross Detwiler performed admirably at the World Baseball Classic before the United States was eliminated against Puerto Rico on March 15^th. Detwiler saw action in the United States’ second game of the tournament versus Italy, where he put in four innings of work allowed only one hit and striking out three. Detwiler set the bar high for Gonzalez whose first start would be against Puerto Rico on March 12^th and Gonzalez answered. In five innings, Gio Gonzalez did not allow a run, averaged a strikeout in each inning and allowed just three hits.

     As for the rest of the team, they too have been busy.

     The Nationals’ premier infielder Ryan Zimmermann, has had no problem getting back in the swing of things since his arthoscopic surgery on his shoulder in October. Zimmermann is currently batting an 17-for-57 (that’s a .298 average) at Nationals’ Spring Training. Though Zimmermann made his first fielding start only half way through Spring Training, his fielding percentage was still .938, .024 higher than last season.

     Also making some noise in Florida is 20-year-old superstar Bryce Harper. Bryce Harper led the MLB with his Spring Training batting average. In 67 at-bats, Harper has had 32 hits including 5 doubles, a triple and 3 homeruns for .478 average.

     Though the Nationals dropped their final Spring Training game to the Yankees 4 to 2, they already appeared to be ahead of the curve. In my opinion with the young talent the Nationals possess in both their bullpen and lineup, Washington will get an early lead in the MLB standings and hang out at the top of the MLB for the majority of the regular season.

     This is also my warning to my beloved Washington Capitals because if they do not step it up now, then they will not be the ones to break Washington’s championship drought; that honor will belong to the 2013 Washington Nationals.