He was just fired, and the University will be settling a wrongful termination lawsuit very shortly

And eventually getting fired.

Dude looks like a real winner.

He got the ax.  But, the AD should be going with him if he thought suspension and a fine was all that was needed.  Plus, Rice was a losing coach.

js34603: And eventually getting fired.

Well, if he'd been fired in the first place, the AD wouldn't be in fear of his job.

IlGreven: js34603: And eventually getting fired.

Well, if he'd been fired in the first place, the AD wouldn't be in fear of his job.

He's the one who fired the assistant that made the video. I'm pretty sure he'll get the axe soon enough once the university sees that bill

I really, really want to see this jackass throw a basketball at LeBron's or Kobe's head and call them a derogatory slur at practice. It will not end well...for him.

Not enough blood spilled yet, Pernetti will be out soon. ESPN and outraged people that can't spell Rutgers will demand it.

Car_Ramrod: Well, he's been fired now after national pressure, so that's something.

I'm torn, because I don't want a society where being unpopular with people who have no relation to you or your employer can get you fired, just because those people have access to Facebook and twitter.

But I also don't want a society where teachers call students '#ucking #aggots' and keep their job.

So I say, let the coach keep his job (for now, he'll eventually get fired when he can't recruit any players), but fire the AD and anyone else in charge who knew about the situation and didn't speak up. (The situation being the abuse by the coach AND dismissing the whistle blower.)

/as the state university of New Jersey, I wonder if there are any whistle blower protection laws that apply

3 game suspension, $50k fine (total between the two was just over 25% of his annual salary, I believe), anger management classes, neutral observer for practices to ensure everything was being carried out properly. When the punishment was initially handed down people were marveling at the size of the fine as it was proportionally quite large. Almost all of the offenses shown in the video occurred during the first year of his tenure (he's just exiting his third). Pernetti thought he could "rehabilitate" him to whatever extent and until the public outcry he probably could have, considering his practices and demeanor in the past few years has been much better. Not surprised he's being fired though - people don't get second chances any more.

You're kidding yourselves if you don't think similar antics to these go on at a ton of schools all across the country. Wally Judge (current Rutgers player) said that Kansas State practices (where he transferred from) were worse in this regard than Rutgers practices. K State just didn't have disgruntled employees filming the practices to be used as leverage in an eventual wrongful termination suit.

ongbok: Lost Thought 00: He was just fired, and the University will be settling a wrongful termination lawsuit very shortly

And why would they be settling a wrongful termination suit? What he did would get a person on the street arrested. Did Bobby Knight settle with IU?

I'm guessing the law suit referred to is by the assistant who brought the video to the AD.

NightOwl2255: So what he is saying is "my attempt to cover this up failed, so I fired the guy"

I would say that you do a remarkable job of translating douchebag to English.

I'm not white-knighting the guy, but some of the stuff on the Shock Tape on ESPN wasn't out of line.

But that's also like being like Marge Schott - sure, he did some great stuff...

/Godwinning a sports thread?
//Achievement Unlocked!

Also, it's my understanding that the "whistle-blower" had his contract not renewed because of something completely unrelated, and after this happened, he brought the video to Pernetti later (in December, when the initial fine/suspension occurred). Don't think whistle blower applies here as he was terminated well before he blew the whistle and for job performance related reasons.

I hope Rice and Pernetti decide to open a restaurant together, and every customer comes in with a box of store brand pasta expecting a discount.

/Jersey Justice

He can always go coach for Indiana.

ongbok: Lost Thought 00: He was just fired, and the University will be settling a wrongful termination lawsuit very shortly

And why would they be settling a wrongful termination suit? What he did would get a person on the street arrested. Did Bobby Knight settle with IU?

Not him, the assistant who was fired in December for showing the video we saw yesterday to the administration

Subby is confused. The guy got fired.

I hate to say it but bmckenna makes valid points. And this is not in defense of the guy. This goes on. It goes on in athletics, in your military, in your law enforcement. The necessity of it has been debated for years. What discipline is not necessarily most acceptable but most effective? This was a major issue when I was at USMA and they were under some fire for hazing, during the Nineties, when political correctness became more of an issue, mostly due to the access to things that technology provided. I remember them showing the Colonel Jessup scene from A Few Good Men and having a discussion with plebes about what is acceptable and what is not. But it didn't change the fact that some of those kids had an idea of discipline that they already bought into.

The video is painful to watch, and I assert again that I in no way defend the guy. But this is a leadership style that is not new and won't be going away any time soon.

You could have just canned him based on his record two weeks ago and not worry about any of this.

I can't believe this dude was allowed to act like this before winning a National Championship.

Because, of course, if head won one of THOSE it would be okay, right Bobby Knight fans?

funk_soul_bubby:

The video is painful to watch, and I assert again that I in no way defend the guy. But this is a leadership style that is not new and won't be going away any time soon.

True, but that ship had sailed once the video became public.  The hit to their recruiting efforts, alumni donations, etc.. was not going to be worth retaining a coach who wasn't putting up results anyway.

From one of the ESPN articles on this douchebag:

In addition to Rice's physical actions seen in the practices, Rice calls Rutgers players "f----ts," "m-----f-----s," "p-----s," "sissy b-----s," and "c---s," among other epithets.

I was sure I was going to see a headline here that read simply "f----ts," "m-----f-----s," "p-----s," "sissy b-----s," and "c---s."

What a dumbass coach, you need some trophies before you can act like that and get away with it.

Time for some GenX geezing. I've been watching the videos of his 'abuse' on ESPN for the last half hour, and he hasn't done anything that my middle school basketball coach didn't do back in the 80s. All the cursing, gnashing of teeth, and sideline gymnastics? Check. Throwing balls at players? Check. All the head games? Check. And the kid on the team who always got the worst end of everything? Yep, the coach's son.

I also played baseball with this guy as coach. One day at practice, I was running my mouth, cursing, talking sh*t to everyone. I tried to steal 2nd, and Coach, who was catcher, aimed right for my head and knocked me out on the slide. When I got up and tried to rub it, he grabbed my arm and cussed me out for being a pussy and trying to rub out the hurt. Good times.

I had a gym teacher who behaved similarly. As far as I know, he's still terrorizing kids to this day.

WhoopAssWayne: Time for some GenX geezing. I've been watching the videos of his 'abuse' on ESPN for the last half hour, and he hasn't done anything that my middle school basketball coach didn't do back in the 80s. All the cursing, gnashing of teeth, and sideline gymnastics? Check. Throwing balls at players? Check. All the head games? Check. And the kid on the team who always got the worst end of everything? Yep, the coach's son.

I also played baseball with this guy as coach. One day at practice, I was running my mouth, cursing, talking sh*t to everyone. I tried to steal 2nd, and Coach, who was catcher, aimed right for my head and knocked me out on the slide. When I got up and tried to rub it, he grabbed my arm and cussed me out for being a pussy and trying to rub out the hurt. Good times.

Yep, and if you were in HS that sociopath should have been thrown in jail for child abuse.

bmckenna:
You're kidding yourselves if you don't think similar antics to these go on at a ton of schools all across the country. Wally Judge (current Rutgers player) said that Kansas State practices (where he transferred from) were worse in this regard than Rutgers practices. K State just didn't have disgruntled employees filming the practices to be used as leverage in an eventual wrongful termination suit.


You're kidding yourself if you believe that there are "a ton" of coaches throwing balls at their players and pushing them around.  Wally Judge said practices were harder at K-State, not that Frank Martin was being physically abusive like Rice.    So that's the difference, not a disgruntled employee.

Everybody knows that most coaches will yell at their guys from time to time.  Some more than others.  The physical stuff completely crosses the line and if one of those players had decked Rice they would have been completely right to do so.   He sucked as a coach anyways, so quit defending that piece of crap.

WhoopAssWayne: Time for some GenX geezing. I've been watching the videos of his 'abuse' on ESPN for the last half hour, and he hasn't done anything that my middle school basketball coach didn't do back in the 80s. All the cursing, gnashing of teeth, and sideline gymnastics? Check. Throwing balls at players? Check.

Uh....where did you go to middle school?  Prison?  I can tell you my middle school team was not getting basketballs chucked at us in the 80's.

I_Can't_Believe_it's_not_Boutros: From one of the ESPN articles on this douchebag:

In addition to Rice's physical actions seen in the practices, Rice calls Rutgers players "f----ts," "m-----f-----s," "p-----s," "sissy b-----s," and "c---s," among other epithets.

I was sure I was going to see a headline here that read simply "f----ts," "m-----f-----s," "p-----s," "sissy b-----s," and "c---s."

I would've said "remember George Carlin's "Seven Words" skit? Well, Mike Rice said them all to his players"

ongbok: ongbok: Lost Thought 00: ongbok: Lost Thought 00: He was just fired, and the University will be settling a wrongful termination lawsuit very shortly

And why would they be settling a wrongful termination suit? What he did would get a person on the street arrested. Did Bobby Knight settle with IU?

Not him, the assistant who was fired in December for showing the video we saw yesterday to the administration

Oh, ok.

Wait a minute. If he was fired for bringing the tape to the attention of the administration, didn't Rutgers break a major law, the whistle blower law? The school should be facing a lot more problems than just a potential lawsuit.

Depends. Eric Murdock had his contract not renewed, with the AD claiming it was due to insubordination. It was after this that he brought up the tape to the AD office, my guess is to get Rice fired out of spite, and when that failed he leaked the video to ESPN.

If he got fired for whistleblowing, I am guessing he would have to prove his insubordination was related to disagreeing with the player abuse and that he had brought it up to the AD office before his dismissal, even if it was just a verbal recount of the events.

At this point, this whole thing is just "Taking You Down With Me"...

That said, It's far more likely that Rice will find a coaching job eventually before Murdock does. No one forgives a snitch.

verbally and physically abusing players is so far out of line he should have been fired on the spot. There is a difference between yelling at a player to do something specific and yelling insults at a player. Putting your hands on a player to show them correct position is not the same as throwing a ball at their heads in an attempt to inflict pain. Anyone defending this idiot ask yourself, would you want your kid to go play under him?

I_Can't_Believe_it's_not_Boutros: From one of the ESPN articles on this douchebag:

In addition to Rice's physical actions seen in the practices, Rice calls Rutgers players "f----ts," "m-----f-----s," "p-----s," "sissy b-----s," and "c---s," among other epithets.

I was sure I was going to see a headline here that read simply "f----ts," "m-----f-----s," "p-----s," "sissy b-----s," and "c---s."

he called them ferrets, monkfishes, plumbers, sissy bacons, and conifers?

WhoopAssWayne: Time for some GenX geezing. I've been watching the videos of his 'abuse' on ESPN for the last half hour, and he hasn't done anything that my middle school basketball coach didn't do back in the 80s. All the cursing, gnashing of teeth, and sideline gymnastics? Check. Throwing balls at players? Check. All the head games? Check. And the kid on the team who always got the worst end of everything? Yep, the coach's son.

Ah yes, the old, it happened to me so I'm fine with it happening to others defense. Kind of like when a kid goes to his elementary school and picks on the smaller kids because it turns out his older brother beats him up at home. Go ahead and pass that sage advice down to your heathens, but I hope the rest of the world is learning to treat young people with more respect

ITT: "Well, I'm not defending this guy, but everyone does what he does and so I'm defending him".

my high school bb and football coach was like this...back in the 70's.  people thought he was a legend.  total douchebag.  he farked up a lot of kids. the rutgers AD should get canned to, for knowing about this shiatbag and only suspending him.

Wow... Colin Cowhead is right for once. Hypocritical of Rutgers to ask Don Imus for spouting slurs about their players, but cover up for their coach who did the same.