When the Sandusky story broke, it was all anyone could talk about for a good month. It was horrific what happened to these kids, and justice will definitely be served. But it didn't just stop at Sandusky. Joe Paterno, college football's most winningest head coach, was fired from his position after failing to report an incident to the proper authorities (though he did alert his Athletic Director). The athletic administration has been put on trial by the public, both fans and non-fans alike. Loyalties only go so far in cases like these, though it doesn't seem to matter to the Penn State students.
Fine, on the other hand, was in a bit of a different situation. He wasn't outright charged by the police with anything, just accused publicly by former ball boys for Syracuse. Jim Boeheim, head coach for the Orange, came right out to the media saying the Fine did nothing wrong, and that these men are just looking for fame and sympathy after the Sandusky case.
Did Boeheim just completely skip a day of media training when he signed on as a head coach? I thought most, if not all, coaches and staff were trained as to how to handle a crisis situation. And, after more proof came out after a phone call of Fine's wife and the accuser was leaked to ESPN, Fine was fired and Boeheim forced to apologize to the accusers. It also didn't help that a Syracuse basketball player took to his Facebook to publicly support Fine, but subsequently was forced to delete his post.
Once again, these cases are terrible and tragic. But that's no excuse for such prestigious and popular universities to not have an implemented strategy to deal with a crisis situation. Coaches, players, students, EVERYONE involved with anything to do with these cases should know (and if they don't know, be taught BEFORE it happens) not to just go to the media or go public with whatever you're thinking.
Boeheim learned his lesson. Let's hope it doesn't take another case like this for other universities and colleges to train their staff.
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