Northwestern- Fitzgerald Suspended, Now Fired Due to Hazing
- Thread starter Knight Shift
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He needed that kind of pushback and the players were really the only ones that could come out and do it with credibility.
If the hazing allegations and level of intimidation are true, then wouldn't you expect that same level of intimidation and pressure be applied to such a letter. The "Entire" team, really, or those trying to cover their tracks and exonerate a coach who knew exactly what was going on and condoned it?
Considering the context, you're standing on much lower ground than you seem to think.
Scurry on outta there before the horse gets to pissin.
Wow- so many comments in this thread are crazy.
This is pretty far from normal. Yeah- back in the days, some crazy stuff was done but that crap became a big no no more than just a couple of years ago, so, it has nothing to do with wokeness or not.
Also- to say these actions make the one doing it “gay or gay curious” is also just not even close either.
And there are some forms of hazing that are much worse than others. Anything sexual or forced drinking or similar are criminal actions.
The things they are talking about are just dumb, stupid and bullying bordering on criminal.
And not surprised of the two that think it is no big deal.
Doubtful Fitz survives this
This is pretty far from normal. Yeah- back in the days, some crazy stuff was done but that crap became a big no no more than just a couple of years ago, so, it has nothing to do with wokeness or not.
Also- to say these actions make the one doing it “gay or gay curious” is also just not even close either.
And there are some forms of hazing that are much worse than others. Anything sexual or forced drinking or similar are criminal actions.
The things they are talking about are just dumb, stupid and bullying bordering on criminal.
And not surprised of the two that think it is no big deal.
Doubtful Fitz survives this
Agree but may be too little too late. We live in a world where unfortunately perception is more important than reality. Once public perception is formed it’s hard to overcome. If this was a public school he’d already be gone
You are a fool, plain and simple, read the posts connected to my reply. Nothing to do with the Northwestern incident. Now crawl back into your hole.
The whole threads about the NW incident, as was the post to which you were replying.
Now, gfy with a rusty rail tie.
The stories are horrible; I just don’t think they’re true. They’re certainly not proven…
That world existed about 10 years ago with the Mike Rice firing, and before that in 1999 with the Kevin Bannon who had players doing nake wind sprints, whose name I can't remember.
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How can you say that you don't think they're true when the law firm whom the university hired came back with these findings:
According to the release, Hickey’s investigation revealed that while current and former players “varied on their perspective” regarding the conduct, the whistleblower’s claims were “largely supported by evidence.”
Participation in or knowledge of these hazing activities, which were not detailed in the summary, was “widespread” across NU football players, the investigation found.
While they didn't specify the details of the hazing, they said the hazing was supported by evidence and widespread across NU players.
Disagree on gay or gay curious. Perhaps you might agree on latent homosexuality? Originally written in 2006 by Cyd Zeigler, founder of outsports.com .
"Many of the acts that younger players are submitted to are also homoerotic or homosexual. Licking each other's bodies, simulating sex acts, forced sodomy with various objects – these acts work on two levels. First, they reinforce the notion that same-sex affection is weaker; the subjected men are rarely "hazed" with forced affection from someone of the opposite sex. Second, they serve to satisfy the latent homosexuality of many of the players involved."
Both of those cases were “abuse” by the coach. This is abuse that the cosch may or may not known about. Very very different
I didn’t say what you’re saying I said. And we don’t yet know that there was any sexual assault. We only know what may have been alleged. Seems pretty unlikely the school would have issued nothing more than a slap on the wrist suspension if the allegations of sexual contact were true. Players would be under arrest already.
Anyway, my point was that the people directly involved (the school, players, families of players) should be informed. Possibly the police if there actually was sexual contact, as was alleged by unknown persons. But you and me and the rest of country don’t need to be given every detail; it’s none of our business. I have no desire to know that stuff, it doesn’t impact me and mine.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Honestly the psu allegations 5 years ago were FAR worse and found to be fabricated as well
I am more inclined to believe the statement made by the players than the reporting about sexual contact. I still think the nude and sexualized contact reporting is, at the very least, greatly exaggerated, or else flat out lies.
Has anyone established who made the sexual contact allegations? I see people assuming it was the players. But I didn‘t see that established as fact yet.
I’m not gonna say the sources aren’t FOS but that’s some novel worthy imagination. Naked car wash showers?
Just some kid getting his weekly car wash thinks “if those were cocks in a shower I could shake down northwestern”
Players statement helps but I don’t think he’s out of the woods yet. The president’s new statement isn’t the most supportive either. Still could go either way, maybe harsher punishment like actual game suspensions if he doesn’t get fired.
The President is a Schill. But this statement says it all: "However, upon reflection, I believe I may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction for Coach Fitzgerald."
So long, Coach.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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Im not biased at all here but I think they should suspend their top 10 players for just week 1
To me it sounds like they are saying that the same small group of disgruntled, anonymous ex players told the same stories, but it didn’t measure up to what they found on their own.
It’s tough for outsiders to know, admittedly. But I don’t believe the culture there is as the faceless detractors claim. As Mildone said, why would any player want to be a part of that? Especially in an an unsuccessful program.
Maybe I am inappropriately superimposing Maryland 2018 on this situation.
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Notice how the President has taken the lead on this? Unlike Barchi, who threw Pernetti under the bus when Barchi finally got "involved" and did not like the discipline Tim had used.
Nothing in these articles leads me to believe the coaching staff knew what was going on. I don’t think a coach would be so stupid to make the hand motion that he knew was created to symbolize “time for a hazing punishment”. My hypothesis would be that it probably happened in reverse. Maybe Fitz used that motion to signify a mistake years and years ago before the hazing started. Maybe in practice - that signal could’ve meant - time to run laps or something. It would make a lot more sense for that the first group of hazers to have taken the hand signal from the coach and made a parody of it. If I had to guess, I bet Fitz uses the signal regularly and was ignorant to its meaning with respect to the hazing.
The “unsuccessful program” part may be what ultimately pushes Fitzgerald out the door
You said it should be kept quiet.
Isn't it protocol to notify the police when there is an allegation of a crime???? Isn't there laws that require the police to be notified? Do you want schools investigating themselves?
Yes, to me it doesn’t pass the eye test. There’s no way I can know, of course.
I can say unequivocally that I don’t believe that the coach used a hand signal to indicate that certain players should be sexually assaulted in the locker room as punishment for mistakes on the field…
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"It did not measure up to what yey found on their own".
Do you trust any school to investigate themselves? Aren't schools required to notify the police when there is an allegation of a crime?
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
Yeah, I mean if there was legitimate sexual assault this whistle blower wouldve went to the police. Theres probably some form of hazing that occurred but this is a money grab more than anything else imo
Coaches tend to not know what's going on in their team's locker room. They tacitly know there's hazing going on, but they look the other way. It's been mentioned upthread that "sexual assault builds bonds" and if you asked these highly successful coaches off the record they would agree. It's sick and it's sad, and it's commonplace. When it is brought up to the coaching staff, the coaches will dance around the subject, talking about how the locker room belongs to The Team, and the activities are Team activities, and anything untoward should be brought up to Team Captains to handle it...as if the team captains aren't participating or ringleading that sh*t.
Difficult to believe that a coach as entrenched and involved as Fitzgerald has been over the last 17 years would not be aware of locker room details. This seems like a serious issue which could become a larger issue.
To be clear, I’m not suggesting he didn’t suspect something and look the other way as you propose. What Im saying is that the detail provided in the article to support his awareness, actually suggests the opposite (at least in my opinion). It’s certainly possible he suspected hazing but was clueless with regard specifically to that trigger signal. My point is that (in my view) it’s highly unlikely he knew what that signal meant in regard to hazing and intentionally used it in front of the kids to encourage the behavior. It doesn’t make sense.