Not Good Enough and One Down, One to Go

Greg Byrne April 3, 2013 U of Arizona Athletic Director Dear Sir, NOT GOOD ENOUGH The controversy over the “jest” by referee director Ed Rush will not go away. The integrity of the entire sports program is under suspicion and will be until Mr. Rush is removed from his current position of authority. As I have read, on two occasions he admonished the referees to go after the coaches and the second time with specific reference to our coach Sean Miller, a man Arizona fans hold in the highest regard. Over the years I have witnessed reprehensible conduct from coaches but not Mr. Miller. He is a complete gentleman, working in a volatile environment. To emphasize the seriousness of Mr. Rush’s admonition he jokingly asked if he had to give a bonus for them to do their jobs. No one should suggest that it was a serious proposal. The point I want to make from my own work experience as a factory manager is that a person in authority speaking to his subordinates, whether joking or serious, gets his point across of what he wants to be done. The subordinates then are duty bound to carry out his request. That’s it, pure and simple. The call made on Miller was a direct result of this edict, not in a regular season game, but in a championship game with all that entails. You need to understand that U of A fans take their sports seriously. We want to win or lose based on the skill of the players and coaches not on an arbitrary edict from on high. If you and the other Directors don’t demand the removal of Mr. Rush then you are all abdicating your collective responsibilities. Yours truly, Jack B. Walters One Down, One to go Ed Rush is gone, next to go should be Larry Scott the conference director for his comment that what Rush said was not a fire-able offense. He can no longer keep the confidence of the athletic directors, coaches and players if he truly cannot grasp the seriousness of the comments made by Mr. Rush to his officials. Sports fans everywhere want integrity. They want the game to be decided by the players and coaches not an arbitrary edict from on high directed at the officials to go head hunting. I read that the other Pac-12 directors had not commented. If that is correct, then shame on them too, as this incident wasn’t just an Arizona concern but a concern for all the universities. Jack B. Walters March 5, 2013