Baylor’s Precedent

Since it’s all over the news today, I thought I’d throw my two cents out there. First, let’s clarify a few things.

  1. I am a college football fan. I’m not a fanatic – I can’t quote random historical facts or statistics – but I know more than the average girl and can usually keep up in a discussion with the fanatics. I enjoy the game, I love the traditions, and I will yell and scream at the TV as the games are played. I’m pretty sure my kids will pick up all their bad words from this.
  2. I am a proud graduate of Baylor University. Just like my mom. Just like a number of close friends I met at Baylor and will never not consider friends. I remember when the football team won 2 football games each year and those were not conference games. I remember when the buildings were old, for example: one of the boys dorms didn’t even have air conditioning – ever tried to move into a 4-story dorm in August in the Texas heat with no A/C and no elevator? I remember when we managed to win the first and only conference game of my 4 years: we beat the University of Kansas (a mighty football powerhouse according to nobody) and were SO excited that we tore down a goal post and carried up the service road of a major highway and dropped pieces of it around campus and everyone signed it with a sharpie. I guess you could say I was there before it was “cool”.
  3. I was in the marching band at Baylor. You gotta have a love for the school and the sport if you’re going to willingly sign up to watch every single game – the whole game, no leaving early – and accept every loss with a smile. I saw University of Oklahoma fans throw oranges on our field just to rub it in that they were going to the Orange Bowl. I saw University of Nebraska coaches and players trying not to play good and putting in their 3rd and 4th string players just to make it more competitive (and we still lost that one 73-10). I saw us losing by 40+ points almost every game. The highlights of each game really was whatever the band did and whenever the bear mascot was paraded by the other team’s cheerleaders (who were always scared to death of it).

So, all that being said, buckle up, people, because here we go: I totally agree with most of Baylor’s decisions.

I know some people will say, “oh, Baylor will never win another game”, or “oh, there goes all the talent that Baylor was trying to recruit”. And maybe those people are right. But, who cares? Is it NICE to win a football game? Yes. Is it NICE to be able to successfully recruit highly talented high school players? Yep. Is it NICE to have a brand new stadium and state-of-the-art practice facilities on a campus that has been pretty much completely redone in the last few years? Yeah, that stuff makes it pretty.

But, is any of that worth having if we can’t ensure that everyone on campus will be protected and kept safe and treated fairly, in accordance with the law and with whatever human decency we have? No. Never.

So Baylor fired their Head Football Coach, Art Briles. They demoted the school President, noted attorney Ken Starr. They put the Athletic Director, Ian McCaw on probation with a short leash. Other football staff have resigned, and other football staff, including interim Head Coach Phil Bennett, are likely to be let go once a new coach is hired. The school is creating a position for someone to oversee all the Title IX practices that had been ignored, they are going to implement training for staff on this subject, and they have openly put themselves in position to be judged and juried by the public. Personally, I would have also fired McCaw (and probably Starr, since the reports indicate he had some knowledge of the misdeeds).

Keep in mind, this is a coach who has won 50 games in 5 years, including 2 conference titles and some bowl games, which is more than we (Baylor fans) could have hoped for on a good day. And we just kicked him out the door because he didn’t live up to the standards we want to hold ourselves to? Yes, yes we did, and I’m pretty glad we did.

A football program can be rebuilt. The tools are there now – nice stadium, nice facilities, and, most importantly, an alumni demographic that is now willing to spend money on sports because they see how valuable it is. But a university – especially one so closely affiliated with the Baptist church – should not have to watch its reputation suffer because the football program is unethical. And, while the problems at Baylor should be unacceptable at every school across the country, a school is ultimately responsible for protecting its student body and Baylor had failed miserably. When you have failed at something so spectacularly, and so publicly, you need an equally spectacular response, and I think Baylor has delivered.

It’s very easy for other people to hate Baylor; particularly people who are fans of other Big 12 schools. I suppose it’s understandable. They are used to beating Baylor by 40+ points, not getting beat by Baylor by 40+ points, and that’s a hard pill for them to swallow. So they will point and laugh and mock and insult and belittle. And some so-called “Baylor fans” will walk away, ashamed to cheer for a school with faults or a football program no longer assured of a winning season. But they fail to acknowledge that other schools are not perfect, either. I thought about giving examples of other programs that had problems where players acted inappropriately, but 5 minutes of research gave me about 30 examples and I don’t have that kind of time.

Baylor has just set the bar on how to handle issues: willingly conduct a full and uninhibited investigation that results in quick and decisive action. I hope other schools will not be afraid to admit this if they ever find themselves in a situation: football is never worth the well-being of students.

Will we compete for a conference title this fall? Probably not.

Will we be able to walk out on the field with our heads held high? You betcha.

Sic ’em, bears. Always.

Discussion

  1. xxx
  2. c
  3. Bob

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