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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Bad Mommy


Like a lot of commentators, this one (a very good writer) picks up on the sick mommy aspect of Shalala's relationship with her football team:


The thing about Miami is it's not the heat -- it's the stupidity.

The football teams from Florida International and the University of Miami displayed ample doses of it during their televised third-quarter brawl last Saturday night.

There was holder-tackling. Helmet-swinging. Cleat-kicking. And even a medical breakthrough -- crutch-clubbing.

It was an ugly incident, even for a school that has a long police-blotter history of such incidents.

At the minimum, several lengthy suspensions appeared to be in order for the brawling Hurricanes. Some dismissals from the team, perhaps. And revoking of scholarships.

But no, not at Miami.

University president Donna Shalala said Tuesday that the wrist slaps already imposed on 13 Miami players were punishment enough.

"This university will be firm and punish people who do bad things," Shalala said. "But we will not throw any student under the bus for instant restoration of our image or our reputation.

"I will not hang them in a public square. I will not eliminate their participation at the university. I will not take away their scholarships."

Amazing.

Effective immediately, the school president added, Miami will institute a "zero tolerance" policy for football players who fight. From now on, it appears, swat somebody with your crutches during a midfield melee, and you're gone.

I get it. Rant and rescue. The mark of another bad parent.



Another reason people keep picking up on Shalala's infantilizing of her team has to do with her language: "People who do bad things" is out of a Barney the Dinosaur song, not a university president's news conference. There's something of Blanche Dubois to Shalala's blindspots about the boys.