Thanks for helping me skip a meal (possibly two).
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Thereās no particular virtue in the culture of distributing the work disproportionately to the newer players. Thatās just a choice of hierarchy and entitlement (that we as a society widely emulate and celebrate in thousands of ways). But they could have just as easily decided to continue to share the responsibilities equally, or even put it disproportionately on those more privileged (the team leaders, the players who get the most time on the field/court, etc.).
My son was the leader of the percussion section of his band for several years. That group constantly had to lug and setup a ton of equipment for all the shows, do maintenance on the equipment, etc. Sure, he could have required the newer members to do most of the work. Instead, he did a disproportionate share himself, and let members decide whether to do the right thing and pitch in or not. If a member quietly disappeared after a show, no one stopped them, but it was noticed. When he graduated, the leadership passed to one of the people who had always stayed.
The rules we tolerate arenāt inherent or inevitable, they are choices. And those choices impact the way people think and act. Sports are supposed to be about teamwork, but itās also about competition. And while that competition is supposed to be outwardly focused toward other teams, its not surprising it focuses inwardly as well, with teammates consciously or subconsciously competing for hierarchy. But, again, it would be possible for a program to set a different set of rules that instead emphasized sharing the burden and respecting each other if they chose to. It would be interesting to see what kind of impact on team culture that had.
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Truly stomach churning. How do people think of these things? And then to actually implement the idea. And then for other people to follow along. A long chain of bad choices.
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The disgusting practice received a lot of publicity many years ago in a book about Dartmouth College fraternities.
The people participating in and perpetrating this stuff are straight up sociopaths. I donāt think they belong in a university, period.
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Former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald is suing the school for $130 million, saying his alma mater wrongfully fired him in the wake of a hazing and abuse scandal that has engulfed the athletic department.
With all the lawsuits, makes me wonder whether Northwestern wants to have an athletic department at all. And it also makes me wonder about the salaries of the coaches.
The $130 million includes $68 million remaining in owed salary plus $62 million in future lost income
It youāre earning millions upon millions a year, and youāve been there 17 years and the hazingās been going on for many years, then yes, you should have known.
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Totally agree. I expect NU will settle for some ridiculously high amount.
If I were NU, I would signal to Fitz that Iād be happy to let this play out in court, and bring students who say theyāve been harmed in front of the judge and/or jury.
Clearly Iām not on the side of Fitz, lol.
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Likely insurance will pay. Not them.
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They will not drop out of the Big 10 without a big fight.
I bet they wish they could get rid of it. But not possible in a country that worships at the altar of college sports.
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Oh Iād guess thereās a large deductible to be paid by NU first. And insurance policies typically have limits of liability.
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I donāt think NU wants to get rid of athletics. Itās a big part of their identity, the student experience, and provides a strong touchpoint to the local community.
I went to NU for grad school, live nearby, and attend events (sports and music) often, so have that bias. I am not saying the admin would rather not have had all the controversy thatās surrounded athletics in the last year. NU relies on the money from participating in the Big 10 conference and I donāt see that changing. Staying in that conference entails prioritizing athletics at least to some degree, alum arenāt happy when the big teams (revenue generating) are losing. I donāt know NU specific data, but donations increase at many schools when teams do well, and decrease when they donāt.
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I donāt know if this is a fair comparison but USC paid over a billion dollars for a rogue doctor. Over a billion.
My guess is insurance will be involved - but for schools like this, this is a one time writeoff - whatever they pay - and theyāll be fine financially.
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Itās disheartening to see that hazing remains a concern at numerous schools. The future of Coach Fitzgeraldās job is uncertain, and time will indeed be the ultimate judge. If Jim Phillips were still Northwestern Universityās Athletic Director, it might have had a different outcome. The stance of the new AD will be a significant test of their leadership and how they handle this complex situation.
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But Phillips was the AD while this behavior was happening and being ignored.
Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired by Northwestern University about 2 months ago.
And in post #146 @Mwfan1921 shared an article that Coach Fitzgerald is suing Northwestern for firing him, too.
Right. Standard protocol. (As is a non-disclosed settlement agreementāprivate schools only.)
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