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Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski
So through decades of burned couches I’ve never been ashamed of my college, until this Nassar horror. Still I think the attack on basketball and football unfair. Nothing was hidden with either. Any thoughts?
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I think if it were basketball or football, there would be a lot more attempts to justify or make it seem not as bad or otherwise try to prevent from upsetting the status quo. (see: Penn State) I think that Nassar is probably the tip of the iceberg with regard to doctors/coaches/trainers abusing the hell out of the athletes under their care, and that universities and high schools and private clubs do everything they can to avoid looking too deeply into it because athletics are so profitable.
Also, many athletic programs, and gymnastics seems to have been really bad at this, foster a culture of making athletes afraid to complain or raise concerns because they risk being cut from the team if they do so. So athletes mask injuries or do things that they find risky or uncomfortable or exhausting without complaint in order to stay on the team and "follow their dream." I think this is environment is ripe for all sorts of abuse, and people like Nassar, especially after a few years of legitimacy, can thrive.
I also know that pretty much every educational institution in the country has spent at least the last three or four years working on developing more robust Title IX policies and then had the feds come down last year and rescind some of the protections and send everyone back to the drawing board. I imagine that Michigan State will be used as a case study going forward. For example, stop billing for services where sexual assault is alleged.
The rage is justified, and the inclination to burn it all down is understandable. I think that Michigan State will probably be ok in the end if they're not stupid and get their trustees to shut the fuck up. And I know that other institutions are looking at how to prevent something like this from happening.
