University of Colorado

The University of Colorado has truly been one of sports biggest embarrassments of all time. And they just made it worse. They fired Gary Barnett yesterday after an awful end of a decent season. He found out because someone leaked it to the media before they told the coach. He started out the season 7-2 and they athletic department was talking about extending his contract. Then things got ugly ending with a 70-3 loss to Texas. I'm not against firing Barnett. I just think the timing and the reasons are wrong.

While Barnett was at Colorado there was a huge scandal with his recruiting. Visiting recruits were given drugs, alcohol, and sex. The administration of the university, including the chancellor, president, and athletic director, resigned or were dismissed because of this scandal.

A former player, female kicker Katie Hnida, may have been raped while she was a player under Barnett. In a press conference after she went public Barnett said, "It was obvious Katie was not very good. She was awful. You know what guys do, they respect your ability. I mean you can be 90 years old, but if you can go out and play, they respect you. Well, Katie was a girl. Not only was she a girl, she was terrible. And there's no other way to say it. She couldn't kick the ball through the uprights." I don't care if the comments are taken out of context, as he claims, you don't make those comments in a press conference where you are responding to her allegations.

Barnett and his staff have been accused of having a slush fund. They have had gross accounting oversights that have included thousands of dollars.

An assistant coach sexually harrassed athletic trainers and a grand jury faulted Barnett for not properly reporting the trainers claims.

It wasn't any of those things that got Barnett fired. They were looking to extend his contract at the beginning of this year. Any one of those scandals could have been enough to cost him his job. However, it took losses at the end of the year to get him fired, earning the University of Colorado an official Shame on you. Mom you can shake your finger at them now.