SHALALA
I'm indebted to one of my readers, superdestroyer, for teaching me a lot about university sports programs. One of the things he often mentions is that in some cases the sports program is financially and in other important ways independent of its university. When people complain about how much bigtime sports teams cost universities, the universities will on occasion defend these costs by noting this relative independence.
Yet there's never an absolute independence from the university that shelters your program. In all sorts of ways, there are significant costs, both financial and reputational, in having a money and game losing, or behaviorally questionable, or -- in the case of the University of Miami -- criminally thuggish football program. (Football and basketball are almost always the games at issue in discussions of university sports, though lately lacrosse has to be added to the mix.)
And of course independence isn't in itself necessarily a good thing. T. Boone Pickens pretty much runs Oklahoma State University and its adjoining neighborhood -- not just its football team -- with his humongo money and his Citizen Kane ways. As it hands over major decisions to a major donor, OSU loses its integrity and looks like the plaything of a rich man.
When the shit hits the fan at big and lucrative university sports programs that are to some extent independent of a university's academic administration, the full reality of presidents who cannot or will not take responsibility presents itself:
... No one should be surprised by the lack of responsibility and propriety Shalala and Florida International president Mitch Maidique showed. That's what university presidents do. They hide behind their cherry wood desks and ivy-covered walls, cashing checks and wielding more power than any group of administrators in college sports, yet they leave accountability to others.
...In truth, Shalala's actions reflect the most disturbing thing of all in college sports. University presidents are responsible for everything affecting and financing the games we love. University presidents control the Bowl Championship Series, the NCAA Tournament, television deals, scheduling, hirings, firings, postseason playoff power, even rules.
Shalala brokered Miami's controversial move from the Big East Conference to the ACC in 2003, much like many school presidents have done to chase dollars and glory.
Presidents always show up to collect trophies, checks and ceremonial congratulations from politicians. Yet their public accountability has been virtually invisible, and most fans of Division I-A universities hardly see them or know their names.
Imagine Astros owner Drayton McLane never poking his head out of his Union Station office. Imagine Texans owner Bob McNair never having to stand under the glare of lights answering questions and addressing issues.
Drayton Who? Bob McWhat?
University presidents are every bit the proprietors of their programs as owners of professional franchises. Yes, they have an assortment of other university duties. But athletic programs, particularly football, are the most visible and often profitable parts of university systems.
Yet school presidents consistently get a free pass.
When issues come up — coaches in trouble, postseason playoff discussions, on-field brawls — and journalists try to arrange interviews, presidents always conveniently insulate themselves from the fray.
Sorry, but the president is out of town. The administrative assistant will get back to you. Did you talk with the athletic director? Try again next week.
Nothing reflected the gutless soul of most university presidents more than Shalala's tap dance and soft stance on students who should have been expelled.
Instead, most suspended players will wear the Miami colors again in time for the big Georgia Tech game Oct. 28.
In her news conference Tuesday, Shalala defended the punishments, saying: "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."
Unless, of course, they are regular students caught up in an on-campus riot.
College football and basketball fans should expect more, and this ugliest of incidents should trigger accountability from the people really in charge.
Fire Coker? Fire Dee? Yeah, probably. But don't stop there. The person ultimately responsible is Shalala. She's the one assuming the usual university president position, safely tucked behind her desk, away from the line of fire.
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