Rutger’s coach’s tirade goes viral months after school neglects to fire him
Video surfaced on Tuesday of Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice shoving players, throwing balls at them from point-blank range and yelling gay slurs at them during practices this season.
Originally aired on ESPN and later shared widely online, the disturbing footage triggered a deluge of outrage among fans, basketball players and even non-sports nuts on Twitter.
The story gets even worse. Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti was given a copy of the footage in December and chose to suspend Rice for three games and fine him $50,000 rather than fire him, even though both options were on the table.
You can count LeBron James among the outraged. Here’s a tweet James posted on Tuesday afternoon:
If my son played for Rutgers or a coach like that he would have some real explaining to do and I’m still gone whoop on him afterwards! C’mon
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 2, 2013
And here’s Ray Allen’s reaction, via ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh:
Ray Allen’s reaction to Mike Rice: “Despicable.”
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) April 2, 2013
ESPN basketball analyst Jalen Rose was infuriated as well:
The video of Rutgers HC Rice ABUSING players is APPALLING! He should be FIRED ASAP. I’m embarrassed for College Basketball. #NCAA
— JALEN ROSE (@JalenRose) April 2, 2013
Even, You Can Play president Patrick Burke had something to say:
Haven’t seen Mike Rice video yet. From descriptions via people I trust, sounds pretty typical of men’s coaches. That’s not a good thing.
— Patrick Burke (@BurkieYCP) April 2, 2013
Finally saw the Rutgers/Rice video…my previous tweet based on description was inaccurate. Not typical behavior in the least. Way over line
— Patrick Burke (@BurkieYCP) April 3, 2013
Due to the video’s public revealing and reaction, Rutgers officials are reportedly reconsidering whether or not to keep Rice as a coach.
What do you think? Should Rice be fired or are people blowing this video out of proportion? Give us your take in the comments below.
