Northwestern Fires Pat Fitzgerald

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Nax5 said:
Honestly sounds like pedophile shit. That's terrible.
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I think certain personalities are attracted to hazing for those reasons. Not all involved but I suspect it attracts some folks.
 



I have only followed this at arm's length. Heard Robert Smith on Barreiro last week and the Mason interview of the week before was referenced and I agree with both synopses. If Fitzgerald didn't know something this widespread was going on, he's clueless. If he did know it was going on, he's complicit. In either case, ample reason to be shown the door.

My bigger question (and I've heard this about other hazing rituals), is why does this stuff always seem to boil down to some level of homoeroticism?
 

50PoundHead said:
I have only followed this at arm's length. Heard Robert Smith on Barreiro last week and the Mason interview of the week before was referenced and I agree with both synopses. If Fitzgerald didn't know something this widespread was going on, he's clueless. If he did know it was going on, he's complicit. In either case, ample reason to be shown the door.

My bigger question (and I've heard this about other hazing rituals), is why does this stuff always seem to boil down to some level of homoeroticism?
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Sports are generally separated into same sex so…. that…
 




The lawsuits have begun against Northwestern, so the depositions taken under oath will be made public unless the powers at NW, their lawyers, and insurance companies decide to settle to avoid going to a trial.
Will the former HC sue for wrongful dismissal; will any players sue the coach?
This is just getting interesting.
 




Plato said:
The lawsuits have begun against Northwestern, so the depositions taken under oath will be made public unless the powers at NW, their lawyers, and insurance companies decide to settle to avoid going to a trial.
Will the former HC sue for wrongful dismissal; will any players sue the coach?
This is just getting interesting.
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I’m betting on everyone settling and everyone disappointed.
 

That is very possible for the students' law suits since they are suing for only tens of thousands of $$ but if Fitz pursues his suit we are talking about many millions $$.
 



“WITH REGARD TO OUR CLIENT, COACH PAT FITZGERALD, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS COMPLAINT (AND, WE ASSUME, THE 30 OTHERS THAT PLAINTIFFS' LAWYERS SAY THEY
WILL FILE) DOES NOT NAME OUR CLIENT AS A DEFENDANT. IN ADDITION, WHILE

THE COMPLAINT MAKES DETAILED, FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS ABOUT STUDENT ATHLETES' BEHAVIOR, IT FAILS TO SHOW THAT OUR CLIENT, COACH FITZGERALD, HAD ACTUAL, CONTEMPORANEOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE BEHAVIORS DESCRIBED IN THE COMPLAINT. RATHER, IT ASSERTS FACTS THAT LEAD PLAINTIFFS' LAWYERS TO MERELY ASSUME AND INSINUATE THAT OUR CLIENT SOMEHOW MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT SUCH BEHAVIOR WAS OCCURRING. ASSUMPTIONS AND
INSINUATIONS ARE NOT LEGAL ARGUMENTS, HOWEVER.”
 



matt said:
On a scale of 9-10, how fired is the AD?
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It’s a really good question because he is newish.
also the president seems to be taking lead on some of the decision making
 

highwayman said:

“WITH REGARD TO OUR CLIENT, COACH PAT FITZGERALD, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT THIS COMPLAINT (AND, WE ASSUME, THE 30 OTHERS THAT PLAINTIFFS' LAWYERS SAY THEY
WILL FILE) DOES NOT NAME OUR CLIENT AS A DEFENDANT. IN ADDITION, WHILE

THE COMPLAINT MAKES DETAILED, FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS ABOUT STUDENT ATHLETES' BEHAVIOR, IT FAILS TO SHOW THAT OUR CLIENT, COACH FITZGERALD, HAD ACTUAL, CONTEMPORANEOUS KNOWLEDGE OF THE BEHAVIORS DESCRIBED IN THE COMPLAINT. RATHER, IT ASSERTS FACTS THAT LEAD PLAINTIFFS' LAWYERS TO MERELY ASSUME AND INSINUATE THAT OUR CLIENT SOMEHOW MUST HAVE KNOWN THAT SUCH BEHAVIOR WAS OCCURRING. ASSUMPTIONS AND
INSINUATIONS ARE NOT LEGAL ARGUMENTS, HOWEVER.”
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The full statement implies they are planning to file regarding the for-cause termination.
 

Some guy said:
It’s a really good question because he is newish.
also the president seems to be taking lead on some of the decision making
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He is newish, but he’s been there for two years and the president is only 10 months in. Bigger heads still have to roll, and I think that includes the AD within the next few months, especially given the new headlines continuously coming from other NW sports programs.
 

matt said:
On a scale of 9-10, how fired is the AD?
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Depends on whether he knows where any bodies are buried? Maybe more useful inside the circled wagons than outside.

If I had to guess…most teams at most schools have had some level of hazing at some point in time in the past or present but people just don’t talk about it or it was accepted at the time. At school, in sports, in the military, in social clubs, maybe at work. At NW volleyball, cheer, soccer, football all suggests teens and young 20s (male/female)have lizard brains, and add in group dynamics….or creepy Phys ed teachers (holy f****!),and out comes Lord of the Flies stuff. There is a huge difference though in spirit if not in rule between, say, the broom handle treatment on one extreme and running sprints or other milder forms of indoctrination/embarrassment/humiliation/special punishment or work conditions on the other. Like porn, maybe we know it when we see it.
 





Some guy said:
It’s a really good question because he is newish.
also the president seems to be taking lead on some of the decision making
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The volleyball one seems to name him specifically for not acting on a complaint by a player.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I know I posted this pretty recently out here, but it never gets old...
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One of my all-time favorite movies. Funny story (at least to me). I went out to see the movie the last week it was playing at the old Centennial Lakes Theater in Edina and there weren't a lot of people in the theater. I was around 40 then and the composition of the crowd was split between people in the 30-40 range and young metalheads (who must have thought the movie was an actual documentary). Those of us in the non-metalhead contingent would be laughing uproariously at the jokes and the metalheads would all turn around and look at us like we were nuts. I don't know if they were flat-out missing the jokes (some of them were subtle and in the stratosphere of humor) or if they thought that Spinal Tap was an actual band.
 

matt said:
For real. “No comment” is a much better defense.
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I take back everything I said about these guys making bad choices about hiding under their desks.

When they come out and actually talk ... it's worse.

I still wonder how these "adults" got these jobs...
 
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mngolf said:
The volleyball one seems to name him specifically for not acting on a complaint by a player.
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Yeah. I have no idea what’s going to happen.
Being there not very long gives him some cover.

“Not acting” on one complaint that may or may not have been able to be substantiated doesn’t merit a firing (depending on what the complaint was and what he did to try to substantiate it).



The president and the AD could be very well at risk.
I’ve seen others on here say that Fitzgerald shouldn’t have been fired and he will get his full buyout.
 

Well his admitting to not reading the report is pretty damning. If Fitz is at fault for incompetence than so is the President.
 

GopherJack said:
Yup. Early-mid 70's. Rochester. I know there were other districts at that time that also had this bizarre policy.
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Duluth late 60's. Both boys and girls had naked swimming ( not at same time if course). People I tell still don't believe it.
 

Some guy said:
Yeah. I have no idea what’s going to happen.
Being there not very long gives him some cover.

“Not acting” on one complaint that may or may not have been able to be substantiated doesn’t merit a firing (depending on what the complaint was and what he did to try to substantiate it).



The president and the AD could be very well at risk.
I’ve seen others on here say that Fitzgerald shouldn’t have been fired and he will get his full buyout.
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The AD gets ripped constantly on the radio here since this started, heard it again today. I don't see how he survives or why he should. Too much going on in his dept. And he's like Kliavkoff, he never says anything to the public about this. Complete disappearing act.

With NW now saying that the players will not speak at media day but Braun will, why would he want to be in front of the media? He's new and can't possibly have anything positive to say about his program right now or for the season.
 


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