University of Kansas Jayhawk Football Head Coach Mark Mangino is reportedly being investigated under the guise of an “internal review” for “a personnel matter.”
What caused this review to be initiated? Well, KUSports.com has reported that it is because he “allegedly poked KU senior linebacker Arist Wright in the chest several weeks ago,” according to an unnamed source in the KUSports.com article.
According to the report, Wright then and went to KU Athletic Director Lew Perkins with concerns about Mangino.
Though KUSports.com, with help from The Lawrence Journal-World, reported that the investigation had no timetable now and no indication when it would be finished was released by KU, I don’t think this “internal review” should have ever been initiated.
Assuming Mangino did in fact poke Wright in the chest, who cares? He just poked him in the chest.
It’s not like Mangino poked a female in the chest, which would have undoubtedly caused a firestorm of sexual harassment accusations.
Did Wright complain that Mangino punched him in the face? No. He whined that he got poked in the chest.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but by playing the game of football wouldn’t he be encountering higher degree of physical contact than some coach’s meaty finger jabbing him in the chest to drive a point home?
I think so. So maybe Wright is just a little girl.
This entire situation just smacks of a scam. Maybe Wright wants something that Mangino won’t give him.
I don’t know, but Wright seems like a huge pansy by complaining about this. If he can’t take a poke to the chest from a coach at the collegiate level, get that guy a purple skirt and some matching pompoms.
He just proved he might be tough enough to be a Kansas State University Wildcat cheerleader, but even those gals can probably do work on a farm. Wright’s from Houston, but he probably doesn’t like to get his hands dirty or break a sweat.
Forget it. Send him back to Texas instead.
Perhaps all the players are as delicate as Wright. That would explain the losing streak the Jayhawks have been on recently after beginning the 2009 season with such potential.
Which actually brings up a good point — if the Jayhawks were on a winning streak right now, would this whole situation even have come up?
Not a chance.
Wright is probably just mad the team hasn’t been doing well and wants to hang it on Mangino, even though he can’t be blamed entirely because the team members such as Wright are the ones stepping out on the field and performing as they are.
Interestingly enough, the KUSports.com article said Wright wasn’t the only person that voice concerns to Perkins. The article said “others with ties to the program” joined Wright in raising an alarm.
It is illegal to yell “fire” in a crowed theater, yet this ordeal just feels like a select few people are trying to oust Mangino.
If that’s the case and the true motives are exposed, those people should be dealt with accordingly, in the harshest manner possible of course.
Really, if KU wants to get rid of Mangino, that’s fine. I will just start cheering for my second-favorite team, the Nebraska Cornhuskers, more often.
KU would be hanging themselves getting rid of Mangino because the big man has made incredible progress from where the program was when he signed on in 2002 (last fall he signed a contract extension through 2012).
It would be a huge mistake, but if Mangino was let go, he wouldn’t be without a coaching job for long. He’s too good.
The Kansas City Star has reported that Mangino is known for being volatile.
“In 2007, Mangino grabbed the facemask of Raimond Pendleton after Pendleton showboated during a punt-return touchdown in the season-opener . . . Mangino verbally lambasted Pendleton, calling him a ‘hot dog,’ and the video became a YouTube sensation,” the article said.
Those lines were then followed by several quotes from anonymous sources complaining about Mangino.
Aside from my problem with using anonymous sources in this certain instance of journalistic reporting (I won’t rant about that this time; though I will say there is a time and place for anonymous sources, but in dealing with a situation as this, anonymity shouldn’t have been granted), if people aren’t brave enough to own up to their opinions in the newspaper then the reporter shouldn’t have allowed them to speak ill of Mangino without revealing their identities and without being balanced enough to speak with people who would have spoken well of Mangino (again, without ranting, not speaking to both sides is poor journalism).
Just as I said earlier, this smells like it is because of the lack of success the team has had lately, especially being 1-5 in Big 12 play, and Mangino agrees.
“This is what comes when things aren’t going well,” Mangino said in the Star’s article. “You’re going to find disgruntled people. It’s a fact of any organization, whether it’s sport related, whether it’s corporate, any profession you’re in . . . That’s life. It’s how it works.”
If this finger-poking whining from Wright proves to just be the tip of the iceberg, fine. I will address that when it happens.
Until then, though, I will maintain that Wright and the other players need to man up, remove their dresses and stop being a bunch of whiney pansies so they can get a victory over Texas Saturday night.
Focus on the game, Jayhawks. Don’t let drama, such as fighting with the basketball team, get in the way. It makes you all look like a bunch of teenage girls.
You do not know what these young men have been going through on that team and why so many transfer!
Your beloved coach is a fat round hitler!
I have a son on that team, and you should not speak about things you know nothing about!