Kim Mulkey's Comments about Scandal

[RockyMTblue2]

Completely love it. She defended her program in a similar manner to the way Geno defended the WNBA concerning the charge of Bullying. She said what every Baylor fan has been thinking. The football scandal has been addresses and people fired. If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor. The only thing I didn't like about her speech was that she didn't flip the bird.

People can continue to talk about it for as long as they want.

[mod edit] Kim today acknowledged it isn't over. In her 2d attempt to make amends: "Nobody is dismissing what happened here. I want us to get to the bottom of it." It is apparently nothing right ett? That is what your position is, right?

 

[Plebe]

Completely love it. She defended her program in a similar manner to the way Geno defended the WNBA concerning the charge of Bullying. She said what every Baylor fan has been thinking. The football scandal has been addresses and people fired. If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor. The only thing I didn't like about her speech was that she didn't flip the bird.

People can continue to talk about it for as long as they want.

So you openly criticized Geno's defense of the WNBA, but you "completely love" this.

I get that you're riled up — and I get that the whole of Baylor Nation is caught in a siege mentality — but come on.

I didn't hear Geno incite mob violence against those who don't agree with him. Nor did I hear Kim say that she was fine with people not coming to Baylor if they didn't like it.

 

[easttexastrash]

Now you are being a jerk. Kim today acknowledged it isn't over. In her 2d attempt to make amends: "Nobody is dismissing what happened here. I want us to get to the bottom of it." It is apparently nothing right ett? That is what your position is, right?

No further comment from me. Said the only thing I wanted to say.

 

[j66kicker]

Completely love it. She defended her program in a similar manner to the way Geno defended the WNBA concerning the charge of Bullying. She said what every Baylor fan has been thinking. The football scandal has been addresses and people fired. If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor. The only thing I didn't like about her speech was that she didn't flip the bird.

People can continue to talk about it for as long as they want.

Well she didn't e-x-a-c-t-l-y say, "If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor." Or, "If you don't like it, don't send your daughter to Baylor."

 

[Charliebball]

Yes. She should have at least acknowledged that there were problems, but the school administration has addressed the situation, and proper steps have been taken to insure nothing like that ever happens again. The problem with that is the Big 12 Conference is witholding 25 percent of Baylor's conference revenues until it is satisfied they have taken all necessary steps to be in compliance with their new standards. I don't think the conference has made the call yet on that, so she arguably couldn't defend her stance even if that was her intent. If she's presenting the idea that it's now safe to send your daughter to Baylor, then why hasn't the Big 12 decided they're doing what they're supposed to be doing so they can release several million dollars in athletics revenue to the university?

ok.......you're right............she should have said anybody representing the Big12 Conference should get a smack in the face!!

 

[j66kicker]

Rebecca and Andy Landers discuss Kim's comments...

Women's Basketball - ESPN (scroll down to video)

 

[HopJim]

Geno has never said anything this bad but close. I understand what she likely was trying to say, but she sure put her foot (and most of her leg) in her mouth. Terrible choice of words with awful timing but those that think she was inciting violence are stretching it.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Bingo!!!! All she had to say was that Baylor was doing it's best to prevent this episode from ever happening again and that now parents should feel comfortable with their kids attending the school.....don't know whether that is true but it's as simple as that

Actually, what she needed to say was that she was shocked by the terrible way in which victims of rape at the hands of football players had been treated by Baylor, that she believes that this rape culture must be ended, and that she is 100% supportive of women who were victims of rape at Baylor receiving justice. She needed to say that she sat in on those briefings and that the Baylor student body needs to know what she knows, and a full report on how rape was treated by Baylor needs to be made public so that it never happens again.

 

[Adesmar123]

Completely love it. She defended her program in a similar manner to the way Geno defended the WNBA concerning the charge of Bullying. She said what every Baylor fan has been thinking. The football scandal has been addresses and people fired. If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor. The only thing I didn't like about her speech was that she didn't flip the bird.People can continue to talk about it for as long as they want.

I think your response says a lot more about you than Kim Mulkey or Baylor.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

Geno has never said anything this bad but close. I understand what she likely was trying to say, but she sure put her foot (and most of her leg) in her mouth. Terrible choice of words with awful timing but those that think she was inciting violence are stretching it.

Geno Auriemma has never made any comment that was "like this" or even "close." He can be sarcastic. But Mulkey urged violence against any parent worried about their daughter's safety at Baylor. It wasn't a bad choice of words; it was a terrible thought. Mulkey said that it was "over," which it is definitely not. Still a cover-up going on at Baylor. And as Rebecca Lobo stated, Mulkey is the most important woman's voice on Baylor's campus and in the athletic department, so for her to make those statements was outrageous.

There is absolutely no equivalence between anything that Geno Auriemma has said and what Mulkey just uttered. It's offensive to suggest it.

 

[baylorprof]

Like anything, life lived in sound bites is a scary place to be; this story is now WAY derailed.

ONE reporter has dogged Kim for weeks trying to get her to address the tragic actions and environment created by her colleague and friend Art Briles. And and all of us in the public eye at Baylor get the same goading. But Kim's by far the biggest target because she commands national media. She has multiple times spoken out against abuse and what Briles and the former President and AD allowed to happen on their watch.

The whole Baylor public feels like she does; take care of the victims in private and stop the rhetoric bullshit in public. Stated in Mulkey-speak, "Move on; stop asking a wbb press conference to be a court of public opinion about some men who actually DID trivialize a "rape culture". Pressure builds and Kim finally let it blow.

ONE reporter consistently goads KMulkey to be a spokesperson about a horrific environment and coverup in the FOOTBALL program. and the reporter finally won for 10 seconds that Kim wishes she could get back.

Yep. I've got on my blinders. The "moving on" had nothing to do with her now supposed trivializing sexual assaults or coverups and EVERYTHING to do with one reporter that is just a Big 12 press corp sphincter.

What she should have done is invite the reporter to meet her outside. And the reporter would have had a new sphincter created for him.

But, when you are in front of the national media as Kim was/is, it only takes 10 seconds of venting and ESPN editing to create a national firestorm. And now Kim will have to live with the ESPN that hates her today, but loves her for what she's creating for network programming and viewership.

Regrets that I didn't read seven pages of posts before I posted this one. I understand I'm a guest. Hopefully a somewhat respected one.

But that's my theory . . . and I'm stickin with it. Ask away if you want info beyond what you'll get out of your neighbors at ESPN.

 

[bags27]

Thank you, baylorprof: that sheds a very different light on it. I (we) are grateful for this information, and I hope this interpretation gets wider distribution.

 

[Hope]

They found enough to justify getting rid of the head coach, A.D. and University President. How much more did they need to find? They found enough detail to fend off Briles' wrongful termination suit without even a fight. As you indicated, they did what they were hired to do by their employer, the Baylor Board of Regents.

Texas state representative Roland Gutierrez filed HR 644 on Friday (24 Feb 2017), asking the Texas governor to have the Texas Rangers investigate "the obstruction of justice surrounding the sexual assault of young female students at Baylor University." The resolution goes on to say that "the level of cover-up that has been both reported and also admitted at this point is appalling."

In a separate Title IX lawsuit filed in January, additional claims were made that there had been 52 acts of rape committed by 31 different Baylor football players between 2011 and 2014.

 

[Bernie]

 

[Waquoit]

It's difficult to acknowledge on one hand that they need to get to the bottom of what happened, but on the other hand encourage parents to send their daughters to Baylor. It seems to me if they are still unsure about how to prevent what occurred from occurring again, you can't believe an unqualified statement that it's now perfectly safe for women at Baylor.

I guess it's as close to an apology as she's going to get.

Forget it Nick, it's Baylor

 

[JordyG]

Completely love it. She defended her program in a similar manner to the way Geno defended the WNBA concerning the charge of Bullying. She said what every Baylor fan has been thinking. The football scandal has been addresses and people fired. If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor. The only thing I didn't like about her speech was that she didn't flip the bird.

People can continue to talk about it for as long as they want.

But my friend Geno isn't connected in any way to the WNBA. He has no vested interest in their performance and he certainly isn't recruiting from the over 22 crowd. Exactly the opposite on Mulkey's part.

Look. I know Baylor fans, administration and alumni want this to just go away. Nevertheless her whole "fight fire with fire" speech was either self-serving, insensitive, or blind to the culture of self-absorption and violence that permeates our society. It also feeds into this incredibly ignorant and dangerous antagonism and enmity directed at the 4th Estate. This is not "over and done" until the investigation is "over and done", and wishing won't make it so. I'm sorry, but this stuff is about real life. Baylor fans should be urging and supporting the investigation so that it gets" over and done", and not wear blinders while hoping it all just goes away so we can get back playtime. This is a CHRISTIAN college, with CHRISTIAN values which I would think believes that the New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old. Therefore "Do unto others" and "Turn the other cheek should prevail, while supporting the strictures against violence which are 1/5th of the Ten Commandments. The majority of posters here have nothing against Texas, its this new post fact check culture, this new wrong is right culture. This new "just shut up and don't disrupt my fantasy" culture, this new civility be damned, what about me culture. This new "when in doubt resort to violence" culture that disgusts us. Which you Baylor fans should be ashamed by and not cheering for Mulkey's sad attempt at populism.

 

[BroadwayVa]

The first step to healing is an apology. Kim absolutely needs to apologize. Because of electronic media, she can manage her message carefully that way. She (meaning her agent or Baylor's PR chief) can post or tweet in her name her love for and confidence in Baylor while condemning the actions of former football players.

This is a critical time for Mulkey. I listened to her comments after that last minute win against TX, and her emotional comportment was, frankly, worrisome. Nothing precisely what she said, but it was evident that she was on an emotional edge. As much as possible, she needs to stay away from the camera and live performance and let her people do the work for her.

Otherwise, if she lets the press hound her because of her statements last night, she will speak extemporaneously and, pugnacious as she is, she may well double down on her remarks and compound her problems to the point where things could get very bad for her.

Kim Mulkey, by every thing she had said and done over the past 8 or years, says: Kim is a very emotional person--Geno is emotional and has made some stupid comments (we shall win another National Championship next year, not we may or we can, --the least of those comments). Her remarks at the Senior night were in appropriate for the night and for the criminal acts (if they are deemed criminal) and mostly for the victims. I/m not a high road taker--but I'll withhold judgement until the court and lawyers have had their turns at smearing the victims and the university--win/win for lawyers only.
\
Kim isn't one to hide anything--what you see is what you get. In some areas that is called an honest person. I don't defend her, that's not my job, but every stupid thing a person does --is not always criminal or suspect or an indicator of mental imbalance--if that were the case--I would have been locked away 40 years ago and I'd would have had lots of company.. Being emotional and stupid are long time , probably wired in, human conditions.

Yet what you say is more that truly true--it is accurate: The media will make many thousands of dollars writing highly negative stories about Mulkeys words and dice them in a thousand different ways. She shall not find a hole to hide in that does not have a Baylor administrator, president, AD, or other functionary in it before her.

 

[JordyG]

truly, truly horrible. And was it covered up, all the way from the coach to the university president?

And did a female coach of (say) the women's swimming team say without provocation that people should stop talking about it because it was over, even though there was still on-going lawsuits?

No one on this board is trying to say that any university has the moral high ground. Mulkey introduced this on senior's night, trying to erase the history of what happened. She's since apologized. Whether or not that's sufficient or effective is up to everyone to decide. But the point is: she recognized that she had made a terrible mistake. Why can't you?

Honestly bags that apology was just a glance at what she said previously. No one feels Mulkey supports rape, but often what people say today feeds into the worse part of what I see as a rising culture of alternate everything: What is truth and what is violence are becoming casualties before our eyes.

 

[BroadwayVa]

But my friend Geno isn't connected in any way to the WNBA. He has no vested interest in their performance and he certainly isn't recruiting from the over 22 crowd. Exactly the opposite on Mulkey's part.

Look. I know Baylor fans, administration and alumni want this to just go away. Nevertheless her whole "fight fire with fire" speech was either self-serving, insensitive, or blind to the culture of self-absorption and violence that permeates our society. It also feeds into this incredibly ignorant and dangerous antagonism and enmity directed at the 4th Estate. This is not "over and done" until the investigation is "over and done", and wishing won't make it so. I'm sorry, but this stuff is about real life. Baylor fans should be urging and supporting the investigation so that it gets" over and done", and not wear blinders while hoping it all just goes away so we can get back playtime. This is a CHRISTIAN college, with CHRISTIAN values which I would think believes that the New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old. Therefore "Do unto others" and "Turn the other cheek should prevail, while supporting the strictures against violence which are 1/5 of the Ten Commandments. The majority of posters here have nothing against Texas, its this new post fact check culture, this new wrong is right culture. This new "just shut up and don't disrupt my fantasy" culture, this new civility be damned, what about me culture. This new "when in doubt resort to violence" culture that disgusts us. Which you Baylor fans should be ashamed by and not cheering for Mulkey's sad attempt at populism.

A little boy says to God in a prayer: God if you can't make a good boy of me--don't worry.
I'm having a good time as I am.

 

[JordyG]

A little boy says to God in a prayer: God if you can't make a good boy of me--don't worry.
I'm having a good time as I am.

Mark Twain: Heaven for climate, hell for society.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Fans are funny people and emotionally driven about their teams--many fights erupt over perceived insults about the colors, the coach, any player. The opposite is true--fans circle the wagons to protect the University be it Texas, Baylor, Okla, U Ark, Harvard, Yale, Uconn over similar events albeit not to the magnitude being reported about Baylor. Will the NCAA shut down Sports programs at Baylor--should they?? They have history on their side.

 

[JordyG]

Fans are funny people and emotionally driven about their teams--many fights erupt over perceived insults about the colors, the coach, any player. The opposite is true--fans circle the wagons to protect the University be it Texas, Baylor, Okla, U Ark, Harvard, Yale, Uconn over similar events albeit not to the magnitude being reported about Baylor. Will the NCAA shut down Sports programs at Baylor--should they?? They have history on their side.

Man I hope not. There are clearly many honest, hardworking, forthright people in Waco who deserve better. Mulkey was right in some ways. This is a great school and a great program, no doubt. But it needs to face its problems and its skeletons head on, clear out the dead wood, offenders, apologizers and do-badders before it can call itself a good "Christian" school again.

 

[Buzzyboy]

Actually, what is at issue is that more than 40 football players raped more than 50 women (at least, that's the current count, which continues to rise), the coaching staff knew about it, including a Kavanaughed, but only two football players were expelled. This is not about sexual assault statistics, but about the university administration's and the athletic staff's actions to ignore, then stifle the reports made by women victims in order to protect its multi-million dollar football program.

That is not the same situation as at every other university. This is Baylor's outrage.

And a woman and a coach of women at that university should not be protecting those coaches and administrators from prosecution and other consequences of their actions.

Couldn't agree more. For people to say that she didn't mean it literally and take her off the hook is silly. She knows what transpired on her campus (the coverup) and for her to use that chose of words, in light of the horror by the coaches and the administration is inexcusable. The whole thrust of her remarks was to protect her basketball program and her recruiting capabilities and what does it say for her to use that choice of words. Do those victims and their families matter to her at all? How could she be any more insensitive to what happened on her campus. It seems unlikely she knew anything about the cover up in years past but some of those victims could have potentially been part of her program and she should be totally focused on helping to insure that those type things never occur again. Yet she goes after potential recruits families that have concerns about the welfare of their daughters and to anyone who could suggest that Baylor isn't the safe campus they'd like their child to be on. Unmitigated gall!!!!!!

 

[UcMiami]

Like anything, life lived in sound bites is a scary place to be; this story is now WAY derailed.

ONE reporter has dogged Kim for weeks trying to get her to address the tragic actions and environment created by her colleague and friend Art Briles. And and all of us in the public eye at Baylor get the same goading. But Kim's by far the biggest target because she commands national media. She has multiple times spoken out against abuse and what Briles and the former President and AD allowed to happen on their watch.

The whole Baylor public feels like she does; take care of the victims in private and stop the rhetoric Stop in public. Stated in Mulkey-speak, "Move on; stop asking a wbb press conference to be a court of public opinion about some men who actually DID trivialize a "rape culture". Pressure builds and Kim finally let it blow.

ONE reporter consistently goads KMulkey to be a spokesperson about a horrific environment and coverup in the FOOTBALL program. and the reporter finally won for 10 seconds that Kim wishes she could get back.

Yep. I've got on my blinders. The "moving on" had nothing to do with her now supposed trivializing sexual assaults or coverups and EVERYTHING to do with one reporter that is just a Big 12 press corp sphincter.

What she should have done is invite the reporter to meet her outside. And the reporter would have had a new sphincter created for him.

But, when you are in front of the national media as Kim was/is, it only takes 10 seconds of venting and ESPN editing to create a national firestorm. And now Kim will have to live with the ESPN that hates her today, but loves her for what she's creating for network programming and viewership.

Regrets that I didn't read seven pages of posts before I posted this one. I understand I'm a guest. Hopefully a somewhat respected one.

But that's my theory . . . and I'm stickin with it. Ask away if you want info beyond what you'll get out of your neighbors at ESPN.

Thanks for coming here and giving us the background on Kim and her dealings with the press - from outside we obviously do not get that aspect of the current situation. But ...
The initiation of this current problem for Kim did not start in a press conference or with fielding questions from reporters, it started after a basketball game on the home court where she took the mike for presumably some unscripted remarks, and chose that moment to volunteer her thoughts on the scandal and how people should react when questioned about it, and that it was old news and everyone should move on. That is what started this current round of stories and she has no one to blame for it but herself.

That she has not taken the 'time out', settled herself, and made a statement as simple and explanatory as yours above. to put in context her state of mind is not a smart move. Every time she has spoken since, she seems to be digging in deeper, while the above post would have defused some of the reaction. A simple statement, 'I have been dogged with questions regarding the scandal at Baylor as if I can be a spokesperson for those responsible and the ongoing investigations. I have made my own position very clear in the past, and will continue in my own sphere to do everything I can to support victims and to help correct areas within the athletics department and university as a whole that failed to live up to basic standards. But I cannot and will not be a spokesperson for the football program or the university in the ongoing changes and investigations.
I made a mistake in speaking in the way I did. Rape and sexual assault are deplorable acts of cowardice, and the action to cover them up, protect the perpetrators, and victimize the victims that occurred shock and offend me. I have made this clear previously.

 

[Blue Huskie]

Completely love it. She defended her program in a similar manner to the way Geno defended the WNBA concerning the charge of Bullying. She said what every Baylor fan has been thinking. The football scandal has been addresses and people fired. If you don't like it, don't come to Baylor. The only thing I didn't like about her speech was that she didn't flip the bird.

People can continue to talk about it for as long as they want.

That's just an absurd comparison. She knows she was wrong and that's why she apologized. For you to say "You love it" is shameful.