CU puts Barnett on leave (after "poor" response to rape allegations)

Denver Post ^ | 2.19.04 | Erin Emery and Jim Hughes

[PBRSTREETGANG]

She scored two points in a 72-8 rout of Texas State-San Marcos last year.

[AmishDude]

Yes she did. In August 2003 it seems that she scored a point.

[shadowman99]

Looks like Frank Solich might finally have a shot at a new coaching job.

[Teacher317]

University of Colorado president Betsy Hoffman put football coach Gary Barnett on paid administrative leave Wednesday night, saying she was "utterly distressed" by a police report that describes Barnett as siding "100 percent" with a player accused of rape...
"Our decision was based on coach Barnett's recent remarks about former student Katie Hnida's athletic abilities," Hoffman said. "His remarks about her were extremely inappropriate and insensitive. Rape is a horrific allegation, and it should be taken seriously."

Umm, I understand that Barnett is a sleaze, etc., but what if the allegations were made up? Is it now "unconscionable" for a coach to stand by his players "100%" in the face of any rape accusation, even a flase one, simply because it is a serious subject? Once accused, the alleged perp and all his loved ones must immediately prostrate themselves?

[thinktwice]

I hope they prosecute and imprison with maximum sentences every single player who harassed this chick. Put them all on the sex offender registry. Post their photos in whatever communities they try to live. Make their lives the same miserable hell they gleefully inflicted on others.

All you need now is a hot, steaming cauldron, and ... you'll be the next Football coach at CU.

[TheBigB]

He'll probably have to beat out Barry Switzer.

[Judith Anne]

I have a problem with the women NOT going to the police or a hospital to report the rape, THEN, when it is all he said/she said, alleging what is, after all, a serious offense.

[Seruzawa]

you'll be the next Football coach at CU.

Couldn't happen. I pulled my head out of my @$$ years ago.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Fire him and move on or get over it.

[Steve_Seattle]

It is almost beyond belief that Barnett could be so brain-dead as to make those comments - hasn't he been paying attention to ANYTHING besides football for the last 30 years?

[cynicom]

Of course all of this happened in a near vacumn, so there was no way that Hoffman could have known anything? How
does one rise to a job like that and yet operate totally clueless? Has she no eyes, no ears? Apparently no brain.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Is it now "unconscionable" for a coach to stand by his players "100%" in the face of any rape accusation . . . "

The point is precisely that he WASN'T standing up for Hnida, one of his former players. When the rape accusation surfaced, he ridiculed her in public by drawing attention to her poor performance as a kicker, which is utterly irrelevant to the rape charge.

[dfwgator]

I hope Barnett gets fired, and all of the rapists are convicted to the maximum extent of the law. Having said that, why the hell you would anyone allow a woman to kick on an college football team? What was the point? It was just asking for trouble (albeit I didn't think rape would enter the picture). Did they think this would be like Helen Hunt in "Quarterback Princess?"

[Steve_Seattle]

"Barnett is a total sleazeball. He nicely covered up a gambling scandal while he was head coach at Northwestern. Then there's the way he sneaked out of Evanston two days after he vowed to his Northwestern players that he would "take the Purple back to Pasadena"."

C'mon, give him a break - who else could have filled Neuheisel's shoes at CU? Meanwhile, at the U-Dub, fallout from the Neuheisel era continues as the UW faces possible NCAA sanctions for a variety of infractions ranging from gambling to illegal recruiting activities to abuse of prescription drugs by a team physician.

[hoot2]

"Regina Cowles, president of the National Organization for Women's Boulder chapter, said she thinks CU should have fired both Barnett and athletic director Dick Tharp on Wednesday. "

...and, have n all girls team; no more nasty smelling boys...

[Texas2step]

he ridiculed her in public by drawing attention to her poor performance as a kicker, which is utterly irrelevant to the rape charge.

The poor performance could have been completely due to the rape charge, don't you think?

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Having said that, why the hell you would anyone allow a woman to kick on an college football team?

Two Division I-A universities did it in Hnida's case, ultimately giving ESPN the chance to highlight her "accomplishment" of kicking two extra points in a contest that was already decided. One does wonder why she was on CU's team if the coach had such a low opinion of her ability to begin with.

Barnett has proven himself to be a cluless ass who should be fired in short order.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

cluless = clueless

(When it comes to typing, I haven't a clue.)

[Who dat?]

I have a problem with the women NOT going to the police or a hospital to report the rape, THEN, when it is all he said/she said, alleging what is, after all, a serious offense.

That confuses me about the article. In it they claim that Barnett responded to her “complaint” by saying he would back his player 100% if she took it forward in the criminal process, etc.

Why would you bring a rape complaint to the attention of a football coach? There’s really not much he can do IMO. It’s not his place to determine guilt or sentence someone for it. He can “investigate” in a cursory manner, I suppose. He could question the person(s) involved, assuming they want to cooperate, but they could just as easily tell him to pound sand and he has no legal authority to do anything meaningful about it.

He certainly has no authority to arrest or detain. I don’t believe he can file criminal charges on behalf of a third party… at least not in this case.

It seems to me you’d go to the PD and fill out a report. They’ll handle it from there. The coach can support the player(s) or not, but he’s not in a position to call any shots regarding a criminal investigation.

I have quite a few questions that are unanswered by this particular article.

[LS]

The comments they ran on the air were insensitive at best and despicable at worst. HOWEVER, I would have liked to have seen all his comments in their entirety. Were these yanked off the end of promises to "look into this," and "find those responsible," and blah, blah? In other words, are we getting the full story of his comments?