March Madness and April Insanity!!



This Certificate of Insanity is proudly presented to former Rutgers college basketball coach Mike Rice Jr. for the following stellar performances.  Roll the tape!!

After hypocritical "deliberations," Rutgers University was moved to present Coach Rice with this beautiful Certificate along with an equally impressive "pink slip." Ironically, the slip was PINK  in honor of Rice's prolific renderings of homophobic insults. Overwhelmed with emotion, Rice issued the following twitter statement Wednesday morning in appreciation for this rare and special honor:

"It's a difficult day, but I appreciate everyone's support and concern. I will not be discussing this further at this time. Thank you."  Famous last words?

I, like millions of sports fans, have been transfixed by March Madness.  It's a form of "madness" that infects us each  Spring as we prepare to watch student athletes compete for the coveted John Wooden trophy. While this collective "madness" is made manifest in a figurative sense, Mike Rice appears to have a "certifiable" illness! An illness eclipsed only by the "heart condition" inflicting Rutgers University.

Although I fill out an annual NCAA tournament bracket and I'm predicting a Syracuse v. Louisville final, I know almost nothing about the teams. I'm really more of an NBA kinda guy, and my friends ask, "Why?" Well, the Rice incident epitomizes the many reasons I no longer care very much for college basketball.

I hate the power dynamics between coaches and players at the college level!!!

The distribution of power between coach and player is disproportionately tilted toward coaches. As we can see, this power relationship, in the hands of the wrong coach, can play itself out in cruel and sadistic ways...akin to a Master/servant, Roman Emperor/gladiator or Pimp/prostitute relationship. Be honest...this is nothing new. Have you ever heard of Bobby Knight, Woody Hayes, or Paul "Bear" Bryant?  Did I hear somebody say, "Joe Paterno?"

Listen, I appreciate the need for passion and discipline in sports and in life. I believe a creative mind combined with passion and discipline leads to originality, authenticity and universality. The likes of John Thompson, Jim Boeheim, and Mike Krzyzewski are cases in point. But, college athletes are totally at the mercy of these "sainted" authority figures.  The players are in school on scholarship and the Coach holds the power of "life or death" in his hands.  One "stray look" or "bad attitude" and a player's dream of college hoops, a college education, or NBA stardom goes down the drain.  Yes, technically the players are adults. But, at the tender ages of 18-22, these young men are ill equipped to leverage their modest power against the biggest man on campus, the Coach!

Exacerbating the issue, many players don't have stable family situations or sophisticated adults in their lives advocating on their behalf.  In the Rutgers case, the families who trusted their sons to play basketball for Coach Rice were sending their "sheep to slaughter." There is simply no excuse for the physical and verbal abuse these young players endured at the hands of Mike Rice!

Nietzsche said, "Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule." But, I believe Rice's behavior is insane and far from rare. More so, institutional insanity has become the rule in college sports...Penn State, Auburn, and Rutgers representing Exhibits 1, 2 and 3.

More simply stated, but equally profound are the words of Hunter S. Thompson, “If you're going to be crazy, you have to get paid for it or else you're going to be locked up.”  Preach!!  So, now that Rice is no longer getting paid, he should be locked up...alongside the Rutgers University administrators who condoned his sadistic behavior.

Oops....Rice is probably still getting paid. Sadly!

Until we rendezvous...

Peace!!