Nassar disaster; the need to support survivors
Here is a link to yet another piece on the Nassar disaster. This is more of a column or personal perspective, and was penned by Aly Raisman in December in the Player's Tribune. It came to my attention through someone I know personally who was the victim of sexual abuse.
What strikes me is that every survivor is different, and heals in a different way, on a different time frame. I am hoping that Nassar and MSU stay in the public consciousness for more than a few weeks, and don't just fade away. At least until MSU legitimately deals with the problems and coverups and lack of transparency in the administration and the athletic department.
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:07 PM ^
Well izzos commets about the middle tennesse game certainly didnt help my god
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:22 PM ^
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:26 PM ^
You be the judge if he is respectful and caring for the victims or self absorbed.....
On whether he’s had a tougher week as the head coach:
“When you lose to Middle Tennessee, that’s a tough week. I don’t know. I have an understanding of what’s going on the best I can, and I’m just gonna handle it by working, keeping my mouth shut and doing my job. And when the time comes, I’ll address the things that I need to address.”
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:56 PM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 12:02 AM ^
Holy shit he really did.
Tom Izzo asked if this has been his toughest week at Michigan State, he compares it to the Middle Tennessee State loss pic.twitter.com/ogl0lIoP4o
— Tom Eschen (@TomEschenJr) February 1, 2018
February 4th, 2018 at 12:38 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 12:48 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 1:27 AM ^
I disagree . . . please, Tom Izzo, keep on digging. Keep on making things worse and worse. Keep on showing your cluelessness. Keep on being grossly insensitive. Keep on until you do what I thought was impossible and alienate most of the MSU fanbase. Stonewalll, obfuscate, deny, deceive, ignore, belittle, until you self-destruct.
February 4th, 2018 at 2:17 AM ^
"I had a terrible week. I was sexually assaulted by a serial molester."
"Oh yeah??? Well, I lost to MTSU!"
"Yeah, that's not the same thing."
February 5th, 2018 at 9:53 AM ^
it is.....
Izzo is a clueless tool. We've always known that, but now he's showing the rest of the world.
February 4th, 2018 at 7:44 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^
his life is being controlled by someone telling him to keep his mouth shut and he just spews out this nonsense, sad life you live Mr Izzo and your Counsel.
Making these comparisons is baffling. This video should go viral just to show the ignorance and pure disrespect they have for anyone besides themselves. I am not sure if I am supposed to be angry or sad.
Good riddance fucker.
February 4th, 2018 at 8:20 AM ^
Brenda Tracy, a rape victim survivor, said that she talked to Izzo about speaking to his team awhile back and Izzo was offensive and was blaming the rape victims.
Brenda Tracy claimed that Izzo had backwards beliefs on consent, women lying/wanting attention, the burden of proof, etc.
Izzo is a classless pig that blames rape victims.
February 4th, 2018 at 11:57 AM ^
I spent an hour on the phone w Izzo last April discussing me possibly working with his team. His rhetoric was full of victim blaming. It was upsetting to say the least. I don’t even think he realized how bad it was. I hope he’s sincere when he says he now stands with survivors. https://t.co/SWKtHGafgz
— Brenda Tracy (@brendatracy24) January 29, 2018
February 4th, 2018 at 12:08 PM ^
Brenda Tracy also said of Tom Izzo: "For the record, we did NOT talk about specific cases. Our discussion was a general one, but I firmly believe his attitude & beliefs regarding consent, victims lying, and placing the onus on women, did & would contribute to a culture that dismisses survivors & protects players."
https://twitter.com/brendatracy24/status/957972638210473984?ref_src=tws…
February 4th, 2018 at 2:34 PM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 4:32 PM ^
Oh it has already.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:11 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 7:18 AM ^
you see now and then in American life. A screamer coach, idolized by millions, has flamed out repeatedly on the big stage. . . completely maladroit. Can not put two words together to save his life. Every time I've listened to him for years I have wondered what people saw in him.
Brady Hoke was a little like this--people needed a savior and were so desperate to see something that was not there. . .
I don't think it necessarily even matters much whether Izzo goes now or later; his reputation is irreparably tarnished.
February 4th, 2018 at 7:56 AM ^
Please don't compare Brady Hoke to Tom Izzo. WTF, man? Yeah, we saw something we wanted from Brady, and held him to a standard he couldn't possibly meet. But nobody ever accused Hoke of covering up sexual assault (poor comparisons to Gibbons aside), and nobody ever will. Hoke might have been clueless with the media, but he's a far better person that Tom fucking Izzo can ever strive to be.
February 4th, 2018 at 8:27 AM ^
The disgusting side of Izzo hasn't really been covered by the local media yet and his reputation is still solid due to that. I just had a female coworker telling me how he has the highest integrity and doesn't even let his players trash talk.
The local media knew the Payne-Appling rape info for years and how shady it was, they chose to be silent.
February 4th, 2018 at 9:00 AM ^
I guess if I were MSU's general counsel, this would be the point where I would advise Tom Izzo to make sure that all future questions were either "Yes / No" questions or questions only answerable if you've actually read an entire James Joyce work or something. I mean, that's really an awful, selfish attempt at comparison. He really needs to just speak as little as possible in public for now.
February 4th, 2018 at 4:51 PM ^
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:27 PM ^
and caused so much pain. I can't begin to understand how, if trying to understand this, thinking about any such harm coming to those that I love shakes me so much how those involved--hundreds of people, repeated instances--begin to cope. And yet they do, admirably and well. Raisman's comments inspire admiration.
Justice, I think, has in part to be exposure, especially when these crimes have been denied. And this, on a campus where the DOE found that a climate of sexual antagonism prevailed, is what ties Izzo, Dantonio, and Nassar together. Their shielding players from accountability amounted to a denial of what happened to those women.
February 3rd, 2018 at 11:58 PM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 2:03 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^
Of course, this is a common trait at ESPN, but is particularly insideous in her case. Sure, Tom Izzo needs to come as clean as his lawyers let him, but I read her article as "Izzo needs to come clean in an exclusive interview with me". If he's smart, that's exactly what he will do, as he won't find a more sympathetic mouthpiece. I can only hope that lawsuits in the legal system keep this sordid state of affairs in the limelight until the truth is revealed and drives meaningful change at MSU and, by extension, throughout college athletics.
February 4th, 2018 at 6:59 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 7:41 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 8:01 AM ^
February 5th, 2018 at 12:02 AM ^
I am with you on this, but I suspect this is going to be a story long after Dantoni and Izzo are gone for their misdeeds and inactions, now compounded by their observations on the issue.
February 4th, 2018 at 7:40 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 8:56 AM ^
“When you lose to Middle Tennessee, that’s a tough week. I don’t know. I have an understanding of what’s going on the best I can, and I’m just gonna handle it by working, keeping my mouth shut and doing my job. And when the time comes, I’ll address the things that I need to address.”
This guy needs to feel some “pain” for this.. I don’t mean the Nassar
Stuff. What he let occur without reprise. So far he hasn’t.
February 4th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
My biggest fear is that some or all of the following may happen in the following days, weeks, and months (some of it already is):
- The reaction to new revelations becomes, "We've seen/heard this before; nothing new here."
- "This happened under the previous Administration; new guy(s) seems to be cleaning it up."
- "The members of the current team(s) didn't have anything to do with this; let's not punish them, too, by sanctioning the program(s)."
- "MSU has been punished enough in the court of public opinion; financial settlements in the hundreds of millions only punish innocent students and faculty."
Barring anything truly shocking (e.g. an email from Izzo and/or Dantonio that directly associates them with a crime) I think both survive this.
Particularly since a very contentious gubenatorial campaign is getting underway, and the vote margins one way or the other are going to be razor thing, I can't see either party wanting to alienate potential voters in this state. The two major candidates will (probably) say the appropriately tough words, but do very little in the end to punish MSU.
February 4th, 2018 at 5:00 PM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 9:46 AM ^
Whether they survive and keep their jobs shouldn't be a primary concern to people. Not their fans. Not rival fans.
The fact is right now MSU is doubling down on the good judgment of two sports coaches who have already been outed in a sorry public way. Which if we had an actual media in Michigan, particularly Lansing and Detroit, would have happened a long time ago. It might have even stopped more issues before they happened.
Upon review of all this, both guys better be spotless in their judgment in keeping all these different guys on campus. Otherwise, the ordeal of their "due process" will further harm the school's reputation.
Which is already in the toilet among basically everyone outside of their hardcore sports fans.
Stay when ANY of those incidents fail the "would they have done the same thing if the victim was their daughter?" test, and the embarrassment only deepens. I think it's fair to say Izzo already failed that one badly with the Walton and Appling/Payne matters.
But let them both have their due process.
And while that saga plays on, let the outside world keep believing what I believe: "another Baylor type deal, only this place is less willing to cut bait with their coaches, that's big time college athletics" yawn.
Prove everyone wrong and program wasn't put before safety or look like knuckle dragging dimwits to the max. That's what's at stake in all this.
February 4th, 2018 at 10:12 AM ^
1. "I have an understanding of what’s going on the best I can,
2. and I’m just gonna handle it by working, keeping my mouth shut and doing my job.
3. And when the time comes, I’ll address the things that I need to address.”
IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU AND COUNTLESS OTHERS AT MICHIGAN STATE AND USA GYMNASTICS HAVE ALREADY DONE THUS NOT STOPPING A SERIAL RAPIST!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF. Have you no morality? Are you truly this obtuse?
February 4th, 2018 at 11:10 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 11:21 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 11:59 AM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^
Because they haven't killed themselves over the abuse they've suffered. Yes I'm being serious.
February 4th, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^
February 4th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^