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Leadership Through Sadism: The Mike Rice Method

I was pleased to see Rutgers can basketball coach Mike Rice after footage of him physically and verbally abusing his players went public. But they don’t get a cookie for doing the right thing only after they had no choice: In December, after seeing the video, Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti fined Rice $50,000 and […]

I was pleased to see Rutgers can basketball coach Mike Rice after footage of him physically and verbally abusing his players went public. But they don’t get a cookie for doing the right thing only after they had no choice:

In December, after seeing the video, Rutgers Athletic Director Tim Pernetti fined Rice $50,000 and suspended him for three games. He offered little elaboration.

So they’ve known about this thug for more than three months. They hoped it would go away. NBC News reported tonight that Rice spoke to a journalist today at his home, and was in tears. I guess he was. I wonder how the young men he bullied over the years felt when Rice was on top, and treating them like dogs.

I have no patience for creeps like this. When I was in 7th grade, and a fat, badly coordinated geek, the new coach at my school tried to teach me how to do a tire drill in P.E. class by kicking me and yelling insults at me in front of my classmates (and I wasn’t the only one treated this way). If memory serves, that coach didn’t come back after that year. I just looked him up, and he went on to become a hugely successful high school football coach. Maybe he changed. Or maybe he managed to humiliate a bunch of other kids on his way to the top.

Serious question: what is it about men like Rice that makes them think sadism is the same thing as inspired leadership? Why do young men and their parents put up with it?

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