# Rutgers Coach Mike Rice Fired

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-coach-mike-rice-fired/654794>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [April 4, 2013, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-coach-mike-rice-fired/654794 "2013-04-04T02:09:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-coach-mike-rice-fired/654794/21 "2013-04-07T20:24:27Z")

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Why is it that, no matter how badly other schools are embarrassed because of cover-ups, these college sports people’s first instincts are _always_ to cover up? Is a whistle blower pretty much unemployable in any athletic program, anywhere?

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**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-coach-mike-rice-fired/654794/22 "2013-04-08T16:01:47Z")

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> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#):
>
> Why is it that, no matter how badly other schools are embarrassed because of cover-ups, these college sports people’s first instincts are _always_ to cover up? Is a whistle blower pretty much unemployable in any athletic program, anywhere?

The instinct to cover up is hardly limited to college sports. I suspect that it is their first choice because most of the time, it works. Their only mistake was not paying Rice to go away (for “family reasons”). Then Rice would resurface elsewhere. That’s how corporate America handles it. And of course the Roman Catholic Church has its own variation of this.

And whistle blowers? Every large organization of any type hates whistle blowers.

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**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-coach-mike-rice-fired/654794/23 "2013-04-08T16:17:07Z")

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It’s hardly an organizational impulse.

If you’re accused of anything (a crime, eating that extra cookie, taking the trash out, etc), the first impulse for a lot of people is to deny any wrongdoing and cover it up.

But it certainly is harder to pull off in an organizational setting where multiple people may be in the know. “How do you keep a secret between 3 people?” and all that.

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**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2013, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-coach-mike-rice-fired/654794/24 "2013-04-08T16:34:04Z")

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I’m not so sure there is a real cover-up here, to be honest. I just think it was bad judgment by the AD…very bad judgment, probably being too close to the coach to mete out the truly needed punishment. But they did punish the coach initially, not a slap on the wrist, although it was certainly not enough. I just think AD was too close, too distracted by other things (joining the Big 10), and just thought it would go away.

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