Guess who's back...

It's only been about a year since my last post and I know everyone has been on the edge of their seats waiting... Right? A lot has happened in that time that took me away from here but I'm back now so you can all rest easy.

What really sparked my return to the blogging world is all the news about Mike Rice and Rutgers.  I've seen the video that is public and granted my knowledge of the situation is limited to what the university and the media have reported but I played sports all my life and at the collegiate level and understand this, if a coach of mine ever treated me that way I'd be in jail for assault.  There is a HUGE difference between challenging someone's man-hood and just flat out being a dickhead.  Mike Rice was being a dickhead.  You can be an aggressive coach and demand the best from your players and challenge them to be better than they are today but there is a right and a wrong way to do it.  And it is not about the language, although the homophobic remarks were a bit much, but the cursing doesn't bother me, at some level that is part of competitive sports.  Is it necessary, absolutely not, but is it in itself outlandish, I don't think so. 

I think the bigger part of the story is that Rutgers AD Tim Pernetti knew about it and only gave him a 3 game suspension!  You get a 3 game suspension for yelling at your boss, for assaulting your players, the kids who trust in you to be their leader and develop them, you get fired.  Pernetti came to his senses today when he fired Mike Rice but in my opinion, it is too little too late for me to still trust that Pernetti can make sound decisions and lead Rutgers into the Big Ten Conference.  I honestly believe that if the story wouldn't have blown up in the media Pernetti wouldn't have have fired Mike Rice and that shows a serious lack of judgement.  I will be surprised if Pernetti's head is not the next to roll at Rutgers.

I am honestly surprised that no player retaliated against Rice during a practice, I'm sure they didn't want to risk messing up "their chance" which I can understand but I would not be surprised to see law suits follow against not only Mike Rice but Tim Pernetti and Rutgers University. 

With that, I welcome you back In My Mind. 
 

I have lots of opinions.  You may not agree with them, or may want to argue with me about them, and that is perfectly fine!  Even encouraged.  These are thoughts that are "just in my mind" that I have decided to put down in words as well.  Feel free to comment on any post or take it to twitter and follow @JustinRolfes.