Column: Colorado got at least one thing right

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Feb. 21, 2004
Thank goodness, there appears to be at least one person at the University of Colorado with a functioning brain cell.
School president Elizabeth Hoffman made made a swift and decisive move by putting Buffalo football coach Gary Barnett on paid administrative leave on Wednesday. Brian Cabral took over as interim head football coach at Colorado on Friday, pending the outcome of an investigation into a recruiting scandal that includes allegations of rape.
Over the past week, Colorado's football program has been slammed with allegations of rapes and alcohol-fueled sex parties more times than the team's linebackers stuffed tailbacks.
It seemed the Buffaloes were running wild in the Rocky Mountain State, and no one knew it was happening.
Barnett claimed ignorance of any wrong doings by his players. Athletic director Dick Tharp didn't have a clue his football program was doing anything wrong. Time after time, any allegations of wrong doings were being smothered more than a wide receiver by a corner back.
But finally, Barnett's indignant attitude towards the avalanche of accusations of things happening under his watch went too far.
Former Colorado and New Mexico kicker Katie Hnida, one of the first women to play college football, stepped up to tell her story.
The 22-year-old student went public with an accusation that when she was a member of the Buffaloes four years ago, a teammate raped her.
Hnida, who left the school in 1999, said she didn't come forward with the accusation because she feared the player she claims raped her and the media circus that was sure to ensue.
When the coach was confronted with a question about Hnida, Barnett opted to deliver what has to be one of the all-time insensitive statements.
The coach also talked about how football players will respect anyone with the talent to play the game. He told reporters that if a 90-year-old could play, the elderly citizen would be accepted.
There is no way to know why Barnett decided to answer what could have been an easily deflected question with this tirade, but we all know what the answer should have been.
When asked about Hnida, the coach should have simply said, "I don't know, that is a question you have to ask her."
Even the most thick-headed Neanderthal could figure out that was the right answer.
Instead, Barnett thought it was a good idea to blast Hnida's athletic abilities, which led to his removal as the team's head coach.
Barnett apologized for his remarks about Hnida after being placed on "administrative leave," and told reporters that his comments were taken out of context.
In truth, the coach's comments, that were hopefully induced by the stress of having to defend his program at every turn over the past few weeks, were not about the incident Hnida claims took place during her time with the program.
He wasn't implying that Hnida got what was coming to her because she couldn't kick, instead he just traveled so far away from sanity that what he said made him an easy sacrificial lamb for a school in desperate need of a scapegoat.
Barnett's comments, as disgusting as they were aside, are not the central issue with this problem that has exploded in Colorado.
The problem is that the coach either had no knowledge his program was out of control, or he knew full well what was happening and turned a blind eye.
But the coach is not alone, Colorado had plenty of problems before Barnett ever arrived on the campus.
The Buffaloes were implicated for paying players in 1962; a Sports Illustrated cover story in the 1980s documented players being accused of everything from drunk driving to serial rape; the NCAA sanctioned the program two years ago for recruiting violations; and the latest, a 17-year-old high school student accusing a football player of rape after a 1997 recruiting party. Which been followed by five other rape allegations.
At this point, there doesn't seem to be a single person in Colorado associated with the football program that should be allowed to be around for any more time than it takes for them to gather their personal belongings and leave the campus.
During Colorado's run to the national title in 1990, the Buffaloes received an extra down at the goal line against Missouri in a late season game.
Colorado punched the ball in for a touchdown on a fifth down to keep its record perfect and eventually capture the national crown.
In its current situation, the program will not be getting any extra downs, and the only big score left for the school is to clean house and start over.