Like many alumni I have an “oh, that’s nice” attitude towards the BC Women’s Hockey program and its success. No disrespect to female athletes, it is just that access and coverage of women’s hockey is thin at best and I don’t have much passion for it. For most of the year women's hockey is under the radar, they pop up and win a big tourney, then fall back to their place in the sports scene. So this potential scandal involving misconduct between Coach Mutch and one of the players is the worst kind of news and attention. As expected, the Globe takes a soft approach while the Herald gets a little more salacious.
The degree of this relationship and misconduct is still unknown, but even if it is just inappropriate text messages the guy had to go. There is a line and he crossed it. What I can’t figure out is why these things continue to happen. Whether it is straight or homosexual, there is an underlying creepy factor to many women’s sports. If this were happening in men’s sports I think it would receive much more attention and explanation.
I hope it gets resolved quickly. BC is positioned to have a perennial power in women’s hockey. Let’s hope the school finds someone who can coach and control him or herself.
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5 comments:
This is terribly sad. The team was really coming along. It's horrible to see something like this happen - it ruins lives. I just hope the girls stay strong.
I agree it ruins lives, but the coach should know better.
It is probably not the best idea for a coach or teacher to become sexually invovled with a player or student, but both parties to this relationship are adults under the law. The ethics of cheating on your wife with a new baby at home notwithstanding, neither the coach nor the player deserve the salacious treatment this story is getting in the press. BC is usually good at keeping things quiet, for example, the departure of the two men's basketball players earlier this year. It looks like Gene and company tried initially to handle the departure quietly.
Unfortunately, one of the players and her mother spoke to the press, thereby turning it into a story. And I guess sex is a better story than pot smoking, so it is not surprising that this story is off grabbing local ink like Monica and Bill.
I am not sure about the ethics of borrowing a cell phone, then reading through the contents of private text messages, sharing them with your mother, and then discussing them with the press.
There is no question that a Jesuit university has the right to tell married coaches they may not carry on with their players, but no laws have been broken here, and it is unfortunate this couldn't have been kept quiet.
Flwright, it's more than just "not the best idea"--it's an extreme breach of professionalism (particularly at the college, as opposed to pro, level) and almost certainly a breach of his contract with BC. Being a Jesuit university has nothing to do with it, LSU just axed their women's hoops coach for more or less the same thing.
flwright, no laws were broken, but the common sense meter was shattered. I don't know Mutch, but this was beyond stupid. Emails, voicemails, texts all leave a trail. Use your head. Secondly, in any professional situation (especially when you have students in your care) always take the high road with your humor or conduct.
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