From Jomo:
JG- how could you possibly NOT mention the disgusting situation with UTK football not only the rape lawsuit , but the utterly horrible way UTK teammates treated Drea Bowles for helping a rape victim ? the Knoxville paper was all over this as well as the National media, yet no mention of the Bowles situation in the TFP. My question is could this turn into a Louisville / Pitino scenario for Butch Jones ? if he is the "hands-on" coach the media and fans talk about, how could he NOT know of the Bowles situation ? as it happened on more than one occasion according to sworn statements ? Or could this with rape and title 9 and bullying, all super hot buttons these days even turn into a Penn State scenario for Butch and UTK ?..if you noticed at the Bowl game 2 years ago, Bowles was in uniform, on the sidelines with 2 police security guards and no player talked to him. Disgusting.
- Jomo
Fair points.
And in addition to bullying, the entire view of 'snitching' in our society has become a monster problem. (Side note: The TFP's Joan Garrett did an awesome series of articles on this topic in the non-sports realm a few years back.)
As we wrote earlier this week, it's very important to remember these are allegations right now. Nothing more. It's also of note that Bowles denied being beaten in an interview last year with the Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com/sports/vols/football/lawsuit-ut-football-players-assaulted-drae-bowles-for-helping-rape-victim-2b605b1c-9e5f-56e5-e053-01-368262521.html.
Before we get to all of the specific questions above, let's talk about a couple of things that we believe also are important here.
First, this is a problem across college campuses everywhere, and since athletics get a lot more publicity than fraternities and other social or academic societies on campus, this is a much bigger deal. It also is a much bigger deal because the pockets of UT football or FSU football are way deeper than say the local Sig Ep chapter.
Second, as these allegations become more common, at some point, the lawsuit is going to hit the fan. FSU settled the Title IX allegations in the Jameis Winston sexual assault case out of court and paid the plantif $900,000. And that was in a case in which Winston was found innocent. Along those lines, would it surprise anyone if UT settled this before the AJ Johnson or Michael Williams cases went to trial later this summer? We'd be surprised if they didn't settle before the to tell you the truth.
Third, as many great things as Title IX has accomplished - with some negative results, too - it's puzzling how a federal law like that would require a university to be responsible for conducting an effective and judicious investigation into a matter this serious and grave. Should everything be turned over to the authorities as soon as possible? Not only because, well, you know, it's the actual job of the police and investigators to handle this, but because in truth, turning everything over to the authorities offers the athletic department in particular and the school in general the ability for transparency.
As for the UT case, we'll address your questions before we offer our predictions.
In regard to the Bowles scenario, if it happened, it's a terrible testament to the individual atmosphere within the UT locker room and within society in general as we mentioned above. This is more than 'an athletic culture' problem; the "snitches get stitches" philosophy is deadly to individuals and the operating culture of a safe society. Even if the allegations are overblown in the Bowles situation, there's already been a fair amount of PR damage, considering headlines from N.Y. to L.A. and even on ESPN Outside the Lines have echoed the message of "Tennessee player beaten by teammates for helping an alleged rape victim."
The Louisville-Pitino comparison does not exactly compute, because that started as NCAA recruiting violations and now are being investigated as crimes. This is an accusation that there was a violation of federal law. Now, the NCAA can become involved when Title IX requirements are not met, but that's more in equal opportunities. This has the feel that it would be worse if found to be true, and maybe could affect future federal funding.
The Penn State-Paterno comparison, while not a Title IX case, has a little more comparison in its scope. And to be fair, it's important to remember that these are currently allegations, but if this can be connected up the food chain, the phrase that brought down Paterno - "A lack of institutional control" - certainly could be used for the alleged atmosphere within the UT program.
The sworn statements from some of the accusers that coaches were present when Bowles was attacked is especially troubling. (The claims that Jones told the team not to talk to Bowles could easy be spun in semantics, and that the coach told his team to "leave him alone" per se.)
And you are correct, the issues in this cape - on-campus sexual assault, bullying, attacking people who cooperate with authorities, et al. - are hot button issues.
As for what we think will happen here: We think UT is discussing very seriously settling this before testimony starts in the Johnson and Williams cases. (Remember, Bowles is subpoenaed in those cases.) We think a lot of the blame will fall - rightly or wrongly - on some of the former members of the UT communications arm. (There has been a lot of turnover there in the last two years.) There also will be a fair amount of UT trying to explain they are becoming more compliant within this arm of Title IX. It's been a familiar refrain for schools who have faced these types of serious allegations before.
It's also one that at some point will fall on deaf ears.
As for Jones, unless we have seriously mismanaged his attention to detail, even if the worst of the allegations prove to be true, we would be stunned if anything in this connects back to him. Yes, if it becomes a worst-case situation for UT, there will be some claims about "lack of institutional control" but we could really see athletic officials crafting a scenario in which this was the type of culture in place before Butch got there and one that he has worked to rebuild - "brick by brick" even - in his time there.
***
From Drew:
Hey man, love the column. It dawned on me that the SI Swimsuit issue comes out this week. Is there anything in sports that has fallen more?
- Drew
Man, that's such a great point. There was a time in the mid-1980s that the SI Swimsuit issue was the most anticipated magazine of the year.
Heck, the hate-filled letters to the editor the following week also was an enjoyable issue too.
Man, coupled with the recent news that Playboy is now going non-nudity, add 'adult' magazines to the pile with Blockbuster and the rest that the internet has buckled.
Alas. Man, "Where have you gone Kathy Ireland?" could replace the 'Mrs. Robinson' reference for this generation.
***
From Randall:
Mr. Greeson, I read your stuff and listen every day to your radio show. I was wondering how you guys at Press Row get such great guests? Thanks and thanks for your time.
- Randall
Great question, and thanks for reading and listening and playing along with the circus.
In truth, Paschall, Wells and I all have a variety of contacts. It also helps to have the ESPN call letters in your name.
Other than that, it's a product of trying to find people we think will be interesting to talk to for the listeners to hear.
We've been very fortunate, too. Like Chad "Ocho Cinco" Johnson on Thursday, who was greatly entertaining.
It's a real group effort, and we're glad to hear you are enjoying it.
***
From a few of you:
Did you mention your thoughts on the Rushmore:
- Gang
Here's our view on the Rushmores from the week:
Rushmore of upsets - Buster Douglas, Namath's Jets over the Colts in Super Bowl III, U.S. Hockey team, Miami over Nebraska in 1983 title game. (That said, Jomo's thought that us not mentioning Cam was inspired)
Rushmore of current (post-2000) kids movies: Toy Story 3, Cars, Lego Movie, Shrek. (We had the original Toy Story on our first one, but that was released in 1995. Man, we are in a place where Toy Story is now old enough to buy a Co-Cola.)
Rushmore of famous people with the same name: Michael Douglas, which has the bonus of adding Michael Keaton to the mix, because his given name was Michael Douglas. Michael Jordan and Michael B. Jordan. Anne Hathaway (current actress and the name of William Shakespeare's wife) and we'll go with Kenny Rogers - the country star, the MLB pitcher and the director of HBO's Hard Knocks and several 30-for-30s.
***
From Mike:
Is Peyton the greatest ever?
- Mike
It's a question that is more pertinent now than this time last week.
Last week we would have leaned strongly toward Tom Brady's four Super Bowl rings as the ultimate tie-breaker. And if Brady plays another four good years, he likely will catch Manning's yards and could reach the TD marks. (Brady is 13,000 yards behind and 111 TDs; Brady's career average per season is more than 4,100 yards per his 14 full seasons and more than 30 TDs. He's 38 and has said he'd like to play another decade, which seems about as likely as the 5-at-10 riding a unicorn to work, but another four may be doable.)
That said, and a fifth ring will forever close the book on the discussion. (Rightly or wrongly, the value of a title for a quarterback outweighs every other position and role in sports. If not, we think Dan Marino may have been as good as anyone who ever took a snap, but he's barely in the top 10 because he doesn't have a ring.)
That said, two of the more meaningful value statements for Manning are as follows:
Manning not only is the first guy to win a Super Bowl with two teams, dude has reached four Super Bowls with four different head coaches.
Manning and Brady each missed an entire season in the relative primes of their careers. In that one year, the Patriots without Brady were 10-6; without Manning, the Colts were 2-14.
In truth, there may not be a more angle-driven sports conversation than the GOAT quarterback. Do you value rings, or stats, or physical abilities more? Do you value leadership or star power? Do you give more credence to winning or accolades?
Yes, all of them count, but the weight of each varies.
If we had to rank them, we'd go Brady, Manning, Montana, Unitas.
(But in 15 years, Cam will be better than all of them. Jomo, you didn't think we'd get through back-to-back 5-at-10s without some sort of pro-Cam Newton stance, did you?)
Enjoy the weekend friends.