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Articles
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The Black and White Theater How to shut down the show By: Malamute, 7 July 2003
We live in a black-and-white society, where there are few in betweens. Who says so? The media; they’re running the show. They get to pick and choose what must be perfect in this country when it comes to a certain element of society they feel has run amok, whether it be an industry or a politician they don't like. Big time college football is one such element. Writing about a collision between Big and Little Football, Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post, says, "The real cause is the Bowl Championship Series alliance, a rule-the-world cartel so ruinous and corrupt that it ought to be promptly dismantled by the NCAA..." So how do the media deal with the alleged corruption inherent in college football? They create unrealistic standards for those teams and people that participate in the sport, standards of perfection impossible to meet, unless they are aware of the rules of the game. It then all plays out in the Black and White Theater, where the good guys of the media, in this case, are pitted against the bad guys belonging to big-time college sports. As an actor on stage, Rick Neuheisel, dressed in gray, never understood the meaning of the script, delivering his lines apathetically and perfunctorily. In her termination letter to Neuheisel, AD Barbara Hedges obviously grasped the meaning of the stage play when she wrote, “Your admitted gambling on college athletics shows poor judgment.” As the act played out, the NCAA displayed full omniscience, while Neuheisel appeared pathetically obtuse. During the ESPN interview, Neuheisel said, “I think the NCAA has put on a lot of pressure because of some the statements they made. I think that the day after I was questioned by the NCAA, Miles Brand said I should be fired. There was no way they could know all the facts. The university felt pressure to make a decision. I think it was simple as that.” Wrong coach, the media put the pressure on the NCAA, which put the pressure on Washington. What the heck was Miles Brand supposed to say? Gambling is okay? "I feel that it’s totally unacceptable behavior...It’s wrong and should be dealt with severely,” he’s quoted as saying. He didn’t know all the facts of the case at that time, but he gave the right answer as far as the media were concerned. During another interview, Brand, a former president at Indiana University, responded dutifully, as if he were a sycophantic lapdog. He was asked how he would handle such a situation if it occurred at a school where he was president. "Hypothetically, I would find that incompatible with continued employment." What was Barbara Hedges supposed to do, say yes to Neuheisel when the head honcho of the NCAA says no? Art Thiel of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer knows the meaning of the script, when he writes, “But what Neuheisel seems to have misunderstood is that the twisted values that have increased the money and pressure have burned up any slack and all humanity that once were extended to most Division I coaches.” The phrase “twisted values” is paramount in understanding Neuheisel’s tumble from the top; the twisted values of the media—although Thiel probably doesn’t mean it this way—have placed certain public figures in an untenable situation, since they’re subject to human foibles 24-7. For coaches in Big Time College Football, it’s all black and white for them; there are no in betweens, nor is there any slack given. In his article, Thiel quotes Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, “’If they want to do something to you, they can...You get paid a lot of money and there is prestige as a coach. What that means is you can't lead your life the same as everyone else. You have to be able to handle that. There's a price to be paid. You're not just representing your program but your university. You have to understand you're more visible. You have to be careful,’” When asked if he has ever heard of a worse case involving a coach and so much money, Bill Saum (NCAA's director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities), replied, "I'm not familiar with one...If a student-athlete or coach put a dollar in a pool it would be a violation, but the penalty would not be significant. If a significant amount of money were bet, the penalty would be significant." The question is what is a significant amount of money? Only the media know. Somewhere it’s in their script. Reference: Thiel, Art, “These are the days of Rick’s life,” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 4, 2003. Richard Linde (a.k.a., Malamute) can be reached at malamute@4malamute.com
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When
Rick Neuheisel and his troop of actors came to Washington in January 1999,
members of the local media were busily building a theater for their act. Call it
the Black and White Theater. After a few months' running, they panned the show,
but it took four years for them to shut it down.