A reader writes:
As a native of Syracuse and longtime fan of its basketball program, I've found it curious that after so much coverage of the scandal and cover-up at Penn State I haven't seen any coverage of the situation at Syracuse centered on its long-time assistant coach Bernie Fine. Two men, now 39 and 45, have accused Fine of inappropriate sexual contact dating back to the 1970s. ESPN's "Outside the Lines" program has aired interviews with the two men (who are step-brothers) where not only do they make the accusations against Fine, but allege that Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim witnessed them spending the night in Fine's room and never reported it.
Jim Boeheim, for your readers who may not know, can fairly be called (if not the, then certainly a) Joe Paterno of college basketball. Boeheim is second among active basketball coaches in wins, won the national championship in 2003, was an assistant on the 2008 Olympic Gold Medal team and his program is currently ranked #5 in the country. Unlike Paterno, Boeheim has vociferously and repeatedly denied the accusations of the brothers (as has Fine), going so far as to call them liars.
When ESPN broke the story last Thursday night, they failed to mention that the younger man, Bobby Davis, had made similar accusations about Fine in 2002, to the Syracuse Post-Standard as well as ESPN. They also failed to disclose that Davis and Fine had been involved in a physical altercation more recently, resulting from Davis owing an unpaid loan of $5,000 to Fine. Both media outlets investigated Davis' story then, and concluded there was insufficient evidence and corroboration to publish the story.
In 2005, Davis approached the Syracuse Police, who told him the statute of limitations had expired. Davis then told the University, which launched an investigation, which like ESPN and the Post-Standards yielded no evidence or corroboration of wrong doing. It should be noted that Syracuse isn't Happy Valley; the Post-Standard has a somewhat strained relationship with Boeheim after it broke a story on players who were academically ineligible within the program in the late 1990s, and ESPN saw the same information in 2002 and declined to publish.
The only thing that has changed from '02-05 is that Davis' step-brother, Mike Lang, has come forward echoing the tales of abuse, to ESPN. ESPN was careful in 2002 with the Fine story, investigated and determined there was not enough to move forward with. In the wake of what happened at Penn State, the University placed Fine on administrative leave after the ESPN story broke and now the University, the Syracuse Police and the media have reopened their inquiries into the matter. Lang was interviewed by the Post-Standard in their previous investigation and denied the story. Lang has recently said he was inspired to come forward after what happened at Penn State.
Obviously this matter is not at the same stage as Penn State – we are at the beginning of an investigation rather than in the midst of a grand jury indictment – but it could offer a variety of interesting lessons. Fine has been as vocal in his denials as Sandusky was flimsy with his half-admissions of impropriety. Boeheim has stood by his assistant and denied outright the accusers version of events, where Paterno sat by and passed the buck, admitting he could have done more. The Syracuse administration had been aware of the Syracuse Police investigation in 2005, and now have pledged complete cooperation with authorities, while Penn States administration, it seems obvious, participated in a cover-up at worst and were uncooperative with the official investigation.
On the heels of Penn State, we need to be as vigorous as possible in rooting out those who would do harm to children, so I support the investigation into Fine. On the flip-side, following a case like Penn State there are those who would shamelessly try and capitalize on these allegations for either publicity or seeking some sort of financial settlement. There are some who suspect that Davis and Lang are trying to reap attention and reward, and some have criticized ESPN for airing the story with the thin evidence that exists, trying to get the scoop at the expense of journalistic ethics.
All we know now is that somebody is lying – either Bernie Fine is lying and did terrible things to Davis and Lang, and if history tells us anything, likely countless others. On the other hand, if Davis and Lang are lying, they will have ruined the career of a well-respected coach, and ESPN will have driven the get-away car. Right now all I can hope for is a thorough investigation to reveal the truth, and hope that the media handles it fairly and that the victims receive some measure of justice.
The Dish 