Well, it’s that time of year again. Nah, not the end
of the NCAA basketball regular season and impending March Madness, although I
certainly can’t wait much like every other year. It’s that time where a big
name school and/or flagship university must have their alleged scandal exposed.
Earlier, it was Louisville basketball with the prostitutes for recruits. Fairly
recently, it was Carolina with the bogus classes that Rashad McCants felt so
compelled to enlighten us about. And let’s not forget Bobby Petrino allowing
himself to be lost in the sauce of a young jones and opening up the University
of Arkansas to a vicious lawsuit.
Speaking
of lawsuits, it is now time for the University of Tennessee to take their turn
at the plate. Six unnamed women have officially filed suit against the school
citing Title IX violations that include an attitude of indifference against
victims of sexual assault committed by athletes. Now, I won’t jump to
conclusions on either side of this case. I will simply evaluate some facts as
they have been presented.
Let’s
say Tennessee is guilty as sin of every allegation thrown at them by the six
victims. Chances are that means this culture has existed for quite some time.
Significantly longer than one of the most recent allegations against Michael
Williams and A.J. Johnson dating back to November 16, 2015. It probably means
these women finally found the courage to speak up against an oppressive “good
ole boy” network. So, given their guilt, the next question becomes, how in the
hell were soooo many people (coaches, support staff, trainers, athletic
directors, presidents, and a plethora of others) convinced to look the other
way on what was happening?
Did
not some of these people have college age daughters? Or at least women in their
family for whom they cared deeply? Regardless, they all looked the other way,
and now are banding together, doing press conferences in full support of the
institution. 16 coaches to be exact. While it’s nice for them to come together
on television and present a united front, they’re not who I wanna hear from on
this issue. I’m not interested in hearing from anyone who still represents the
University (especially employee or scholarship athlete). Of course we won’t
hear any of them admit such a culture or own up to any wrongdoing.
I want
to hear from former students. Specifically female students with connections to
the athletic programs. People like Jamie Naughright. The woman who accused the
phony gee-golly Peyton Manning of sexual assault in 1996. The woman who won a
$300,000 settlement from the university in light of the allegations on top of
more money from Manning when he violated a gag order by talking about the
assault in his book. Call me crazy, but it’s extremely difficult to comprehend paying someone that type of money
for completely false accusations. So,
while we will never know exactly what
happened between Manning and Naughright, we do know that enough happened to
make him and his alma mater dig ocean deep into their bank accounts to make
this woman go away.
But,
she is the type of person I want to hear from. Someone who doesn’t represent
the University’s favorable image or have any reason to be biased toward any
side. I want to hear from former trainers about conversations they had with
players. I want to hear about the conversations they had when reporting
incidents to superiors. So, still assuming guilt on behalf of the orange and
white, what happens next? Do they cough up $300,000 to each of the six victims
and ask them to be quiet while this same thing possibly happens to more women?
Do the perpetrators of the crime (not just players) continue to go on about
their daily lives as if nothing happened? If that is the case, then what
message is being sent? That if an athlete wants your body, your consent or lack
thereof holds no weight? Good Lord, I hope not.
If indeed
that is the case, then nothing will ever change at Tennessee. The athletes won’t
fix their behavior because they know the coaches won’t come down on them for
it. The President and Athletic Director won’t come down on the coaches because
they know they can just keep writing fat checks to pay for silence and
disappearance. The ladies won’t be able to function at their best because they
know their story will never be given a fair shake. It will all likely remain a continuing
cycle until that fateful day when one of these ladies snaps and uses a weapon
to do some serious harm to one of these athletes. Or maybe, she has some of her
crazy brothers and uncles roll up on campus one day with bad intentions. Then the
University will make sure to paint itself as a victim of unwarranted violence
and tragedy. Also known as business as usual.
Regardless
of how it goes down. Regardless of the level of guilt on behalf of Tennessee,
it is clear that some type of foul play is going on in Knoxville. And you can
bet your bottom dollar that if any of the 16 coaches who sat and defended the
Volunteers at that press conference had daughters or nieces in this situation,
they would surely be volunteering to take serious action while being thoroughly
unamused at anyone’s attempt to defend said culture.
