As the national headlines continue to mount against Delaware State University and their football fiasco with the University of Michigan, one question has risen to the top of the pile of steaming mismanagement:
Who exactly signed off on this mess?
The person who would be most likely to blame, the athletic director, is unable to have any comment. Derek Carter just got there. Yet, he is fielding all of the questions, and most of the heat, thanks to the unwillingness of university administration to step up and acknowledge responsibility for what has become a public relations issue for the institution. From ESPN.com writer Gene Wojciechowski’s column on the foolishness:
Carter had nothing to do with this mess. This was a deal made by, well, who knows? At the time — and University of Michigan officials say they sent the contracts to Delaware State early last fall — DSU didn’t have an athletic director, per se. Instead, said a Delaware State spokesperson, “the university handled the larger projects, i.e., the Michigan deal.”
But when you try to talk to Carlos Holmes, the university’s public relations officer, he sends word that he has nothing to say, that any questions should be directed to Carter. More dumbness.
Indeed. And it gets better. Let’s bring MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas into the mix.
Conference commissioner Dennis Thomas couldn’t broker a settlement. Delaware State couldn’t break its dumb deal with Michigan without paying a buyout penalty. Instead, Delaware State sold its soul and its conference out for $500K.
An unknown university official signs off on a deal, and the conference commissioner makes no moves towards disciplinary action? Buffoonery at the highest and lowest levels, to say the least.
I’ve long said that this kind of fiasco can lead to bad things throughout black college sports. Teams can take a conference loss in exchange for some scratch, and leave the scene of the disrespect unscathed. There will be phases of coverage to this story. The first will be when the season starts and the Hornets are 0-1. The second will be when Michigan beats the brakes off of DSU, and the third will be when the season is finished and remarks are made about the $500,000 loss that shouldn’t have been.
The best way to fix it? For the DSU president to acknowledge fault, and for Commissioner Thomas to levy a signficant penalty; not now, but right now on both accounts. Accountability is the only way to cut the legs out from under this running storyline.
Problem is, all of the people responsible are running away from the story faster than story can keep up.
