Shortly after Rutgers announced Julie Hermann would take over as the university’s new athletic director, reports came out that Hermann herself had been accused of verbal abuse of players while she was the women’s volleyball coach at the University of Tennessee. Hermann is supposed to help clean up a scarred Scarlet Knights program that has been marred by coaches behaving badly, not add to it.
Tim Pernetti resigned from the AD post and men’s basketball coach Mike Rice was shown the door after tapes surfaced of Rice and one of his assistants throwing balls at players, using gay slurs, and making inappropriate contact with student athletes. Rutgers men’s lacrosse coach Brian Brecht was suspended while the school looked into claims of verbal abuse against him. A mess for sure. Now, with the accusations flying against Hermann, opinions are coming in from everywhere, including politicians.
New Jersey State Senator Dick Codey is joining the growing chorus of those calling for Rutgers President Robert Barchi to go. Codey speaking to the Associated Press said this about Herman and Barchi:
“His successor is someone who is an obvious liar, a flat-out liar. She shouldn’t be the AD anywhere, whether it’s Rutgers or anywhere else. She should stay in Louisville and not come back to the state, and Barchi should go to Louisville himself because he is not a leader. It’s dumb and dumber.”
The criticism may very well be warranted. Codey’s approach, however, is wrong.
Saying Hermann should “stay in Louisville and not come back to the state” means what? Liars belong in Kentucky but not New Jersey? Barchi should go to Louisville because he’s not a leader? So The Garden State is filled with leaders but The Blue Grass State is corrupt?
Senator Codey called Hermann a liar. Many others have too. He should have left it at that. Bringing states into it is a typical low-class, gutter-politician move that has become commonplace.
Cards on the table: I grew up in New Jersey, about 15 minutes from Manhattan. I have pride in the state. I believe in the people of the state. There are good people all over New Jersey. I also have friends in Kentucky. That state is filled with patriots. Codey’s pot shots are unnecessary. Unfortunately, they are typical of a Democrat who’s had a hand in the cronyism and nonsense that goes on in Trenton, New Jersey’s capital, for decades.
Codey thinks Barchi isn’t enough of a leader for New Jersey. Actually, he’s quite the pussy cat compared to the “leaders” that have crippled the state for years. Codey himself took over as acting governor after Jim McGreevey left on the heels of his “I’m a gay American” speech. A gay American who paid for trysts with his gay lover on the taxpayers’ dime. Jon Corzine was the next gubernatorial disaster to slam New Jersey. Corzine, an anti-gun, anti-death penalty Obama chum had such a love for tax hikes that the New Jersey government shut down due to his policies.
Now, Chris Christie is in charge. When he’s not palling around with Obama that is. The two of them look like the number ten walking down the road, yet their strange partnership has accomplished zero, except maybe to deliver that fatal blow to the Romney campaign. If Christie and Obama get any closer, one may have to propose to the other.
McGreevey, Codey, Corzine, and Christie. Failed leadership.
All of these accusations against Hermann may turn out to be true. If that’s the case, Codey is justified in calling her a liar. The jabs at Louisville however make no sense. Investigate Rutgers all you want, but keep the snarky comments out of it. As far as his cutesy reference to “Dumb and Dumber,” Codey needs to be careful because movies can be used against him as well. Just because someone may have an uncanny resemblance to Shrek doesn’t mean he should act like an ogre to get his point across.
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