Friday column: No one here is getting MY applause

When considering things done and said in the world o’ games, the word corruption often comes to mind, and the last few days have been no exception.

Let’s start with Sepp Blatter.

To do that, we have to reference footballer John Terry, who recently was stripped of his captaincy of the English national team after it came out that Terry, a married father of two, was sleeping with teammate Wayne Bridge’s ex-girlfriend, the mother of Bridge’s 3-year-old son. Reportedly even paid for an abortion, thoughtful fellow that he is.

Commented Blatter, head of the International Federation of Association Football, “Listen, this (reaction) is a special approach in the Anglo-Saxon countries. If this had happened in, let’s say, Latin countries, then I think he would have been applauded.”

Applauded.

Anyone else feel the sudden need of a nice hot shower?
Then there’s Binghamton, a formerly well-respected New York university that sold its soul for a winning basketball team.

According to the report of a four-month investigation into the rot that took hold under coach Kevin Broadus, athletes were accepted that had no business on campus, including two with GPAs under 2.0.

To accomplish this, pressure — apparently with the OK of the school president and athletic director — was applied to the admissions department.

Worse, pressure was applied to teachers to give passing grades. Worse still, coaching staff personnel did course work for players. Worse still, players committed crimes in the community and a cover-up was tried.

When the team’s star was charged with selling crack, the house of cards finally crumbled. The AD resigned; the president announced her retirement. Broadus was put on leave — paid, of course — while the school tries to figure out how to fire him without a lawsuit.

Enter Broadus’ attorney, who in an obvious bid to squeeze a bye-bye payday for his client, insisted, “Coach Broadus is prepared to return to his position and continue to lead the young men that he committed himself to lead prior to their arrival in Binghamton.”

Can we get some disinfectant with that shower?

But at least no one died at Binghamton. That can’t be said for the Vancouver Olympics, where luger Nodar Kumaritashvili lost control during a training run, hurtling off the track and hitting an unpadded metal pole.

The track had been criticized before the accident for being too fast and having inadequate walls, among other shortcomings. Yet within hours — hardly enough time for a proper assessment — officials pinned the tragedy squarely on the dead luger, and not on any “deficiencies in the track.”

Then they went about fixing the problems with the course that ostensibly didn’t exist.

Forget the shower. Wading into this story, I feel the need for a full hazmat suit.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.