A BobLee What Do You Think Commentary. You know the basics about The Baylor Football Rape Scandal.
Over a period of the past 4-5 years as Baylor University became a national college football “juggernaut”; there were an on-going series of rapes and sexual assaults on Baylor coeds perpetrated by various Baylor Football players. These rapes and assaults were ignored and “shoved under the rug” by top academic administrators…. top athletic dept. administrators and Head Football Coach Art Briles and members of his coaching staff.
That these assaults (and possibly many others) took place and were “duly reported” is a matter of record. That in-place protocols for handling such reports were NOT followed at the various admin levels has also been proven. A “culture” existed with Baylor’s Football Program that downplayed the severity of these crimes, “blamed the victims”, and saw the perpetrators, time and again, get off with little or no restitution.
Now The Baylor Board of Regents after a year or more of “being concerned” is “officially appalled” and metering out various suspensions, demotions and firing of assorted high level staffers.
When the extent of the “problem” eventually came to light, Head Coach Briles “went Sgt. Schultz” claiming he “Knew Nuthing” about any of it. The standard response for Big Time College Coaches whenever gross dereliction and atrocities are discovered within their programs. These very highly-paid men whose on-field successes are attributed to their intense “micro-managing of every detail” suddenly “dummy up”. ….. Butch, Roy, Petino, Petrino, Boeheim, Jones, Fisher, Freeze, Paterno, etc etc etc.
“Fat Cat” boosters and rabid “board monkey” fans circle the wagons to protect “the program”. Protecting the on-field success of “the program” outweighing any common decency or “what’s right”. Common excuses thrown up are “everybody does it” …. “our jealous rivals are out-to-get-us” ….. “the media is unfairly picking on us” ….. “those skanky girls are lying” …. “just the collateral damage that comes with a successful FB program” .…. and even “boys will be boys…. we all did stuff like that in college”. Yes, that last one pops up more often that you might want to believe.
In many cases these Fat Cats boosters and board monkeys are otherwise respected members of their communities…. business leaders…. “family men”…. and seemingly rational human beings (like UNC’s BOT3) reduced to babbling jackasses when their beloved sports teams – and the bragging rights they so cherish – are in-peril for these quite serious malfeasance.
But in the case of this Baylor Mess – unlike recent messes at UNC-CH, Louisville, Syracuse, Florida State, Penn State, Ol’ Miss et al …..
Baylor is:
“The largest Baptist university in the world.”
LINK to Baylor University – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylor_University
Here is a recent article by some obscure college professor of extreme liberal persuasion who BLAMES Baylor’s Christian principles for their mistreatment of women. This obscure professor seems to have the usual wagon-load of axes to grind that characterize her ilk.
Is this unnecessary “piling on” by one of the anti-Christian forces; or is there any “truth” to this?
Asked to name prominent Church-affiliated / Religious colleges most short lists would be Baylor, BYU & Notre Dame – then non-Power Five / FBS schools such as Liberty, Wheaton or Bob Jones and assorted smaller Catholic / Jesuit schools in the Northeast.
What? You thought of Wake Forest? You’re showing your age. WFU severed it’s ties with Baptists several decades ago. Long before Melissa Harris-Perry became the scary face & angry voice of that institution.
Notre Dame has a long ignominious history of “special rules applying to Football”. “Special rules” being essentially what Baylor has been found guilty of.
BYU, on the other hand, is regularly lampooned in the sports media for a No-Nonsense standard of strict Mormon rules of behavior that even mainstream Christians find a bit much in The New Millenium. OK, back to Baylor.
When Art Briles was hired by Baylor (following a long career as a Texas high school coach and success at Houston) he was described as “a Godly man” which, I suppose, means he wears his Christian faith on his sleeve – and to all who knew him was touted for living his personal / professional life by “Christian principles” a/k/a says a blessing, goes to church, doesn’t cuss et al .
Now many are saying – How did “Godly” Art Briles get so corrupted? The easy answer is making more $$$$ than he ever dreamed of and the lifestyle that afforded him and his family…. totally predicated on him building and maintaining a national Juggernaut Football program which can ONLY be achieved by on-going recruiting of the very best football talent available.
To Quote Lane Kiffin: “Angels don’t play Football so we don’t recruit Angels”.
That Art Briles was not “recruiting angels” would seem an obvious conclusion at this point.
Baylor was one of the first Power Five Juggernauts to have a “team chaplain” on staff to “minister to the players”. Now most all P-5 programs have them…. since recruits’ mamas like the idea a lot. In almost all cases these chaplains are AfAm as the assumption is that young AfAms are most in need of “spiritual guidance”. Lord only knows how epidemic these corrupt cultures would be WITHOUT “team chaplains”… OUCH!
Florida State (which also has a “team chaplain) is well-known for its long-time laissez-faire policy of student-athlete thuggery. “Rapes and Assaults” are simply seen as a collateral reality of recruiting athletes who will be the best college football players. Doak-Campbell Stadium sells out every game and whatever resistance there might be to said collateral reality within FSU’s administration and alumni is irrelevant.
Regardless, Florida State certainly does NOT promote itself as any sort of “Christian institution”. Nor does UNC, Penn State, Syracuse, Louisville, Ol’ Miss etc.
The current culture at FSU was started by Bobby Bowden. Bowden promotes himself as “a Godly man” and speaks to FCA and such groups across the country. Bowden’s “justification” for his laissez-faire policy towards “on-going consistent thuggery” is:
“I am the last hope for many of these kids. If I dismiss them or allow them to be punished they will be lost to society.”
Ergo they run a few extra laps and do some extra push-ups and that’s it.
THAT works with FSU fans and Fat Cats. How popular it is with families of the victims of these “almost lost boys” is another matter. That likely applies at Baylor too. If Briles used Bowden’s Rule then Baylor “being a Christian school” does not factor in.
Briles and Bowden get to be seen as “Godly men”….. while nubile coeds are seen as “convenient prey” by their players.
Current Miami Coach Mark Richt, formerly at Georgia, is also considered “a Godly man” despite UGA also being a program where “serial thuggery” was the rule during his tenure.
The University of Tennessee is also undergoing a similar investigation of a long-standing “corrupt culture” within its money sports – FB and MBB. UT has an FSU “rep” for a laissez-faire attitude to its athletes raping / assaulting its coeds. UT has no “religious affiliation”. Their FB Coach – Butch Jones – of course, knew NUTHIN’ about it.
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My Opinion: Baylor’s “Christian-affiliation” has nothing to do with this corrupt culture. The We want to be a Football Juggernaut culture simply overwhelmed it.
It always gets back to Eve choosing to eat that forbidden fruit thereby dooming Mankind to being a prisoner to Free Will and it’s assorted carnal urges…
At all the other (profoundly carnal) Power Five institutions with similar “corrupt cultures”, the “but aren’t we suppose to live our lives to a higher standard” question simply never comes up.
What is Your Opinion?
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