Razorback fans got a rotten egg in their Easter basket this year. To say that there is trouble in “Hog Heaven” is an understatement and a little bit tongue in cheek, since it coincided with a major religious holiday. The question at hand is one that was asked of Bill Clinton and many other leaders past and present: How perfect do we expect our non-religious leaders to be? Do we accept unethical behavior from these people if it has little or no effect on the job they are hired or elected to do? Maybe the simpler question is whether it is forgivable to lie about a sexual dalliance or at least to prevent people from thinking that one has or was going to occur?
Maybe we should consider what would happen to an assistant coach if the same thing had happened. It is hard to make the parallel since none of them are as recognizable as the head coach, but if they lied to the police, then they would probably be a footnote in the annals of Hog History.
On the other hand, Bobby Petrino is a football coach. But what is the other hand? Does considering the issue from the view that he coaches young men in an athletic event played between neighboring schools make it better or worse that he did this? There are many people (most are silent) who think that going to a college or university is about learning. They think learning occurs in the class room, and not at the “Temple of the Hog” down on stadium drive. Then there are others that believe that college is nothing but an organism that lives so that the football team can exist. There are many people that would never write a check to a school if it did not somehow determine where they would sit and park at the fall spectacles.
That being said, I am a season ticket holder who lords over 16 tickets that I dole out to friends and family. Everyone in my family has a personalized Hog license plate. I have Razorback Foundation Scholarship plaques conspicuously displayed in my office, and even have an official red blazer from the Razorback Foundation. [The blazer was given to me last year when we had to raise our scholarship-giving level to keep from losing the same tickets we had the year before.] I once sat in a bowl of Jell-O and sang the Arkansas Fight Song every five minutes for eight hours straight in an attempt to win a trip to Colorado for Spring Break. I think I qualify as a Razorback fan.
As a fan, I am torn and saddened by what has happened. On a global scale, the lesson to be learned is that the cover up is always worse than what you are hiding. Did we learn nothing from Richard Nixon? This would have been embarrassing for Coach, but nothing like what we have now. What about our team? What is this going to do to our season?
Will we still start in the top 10? Does it matter?
I have seen various Internet posts from people I consider to be pretty full of themselves spiritually who seem willing to forgive and forget, when I am not sure they would be so willing to do so if this incident involved someone they knew and did not have direct control over their college football team. Sometimes it is easier to judge when the spotlight of judgment does not indirectly shine on you or your interests.
I am really okay either way. Football is football. I love Arkansas football and will attend the games regardless of the name of the coach. Coach Petrino will be fine, but and should Arkansas send him away, I am sure some other school will be happy to ignore his predilection for misrepresenting himself to his superiors when faced with tough facts, as long as they think he will win. Whether Arkansas feels that his conduct eliminates him as the proper person to head the football team will soon be seen. Regardless of the outcome, it should serve as a life lesson to all of us, especially those of us way up in the CHEAP SEATS!
Bill James is a co-founder of the James Law Firm with offices in Little Rock, Conway and Fayetteville, Arkansas. His primary area of practice is criminal defense. He can be contacted at Bill@JamesFirm.com.