Friday column: Cover-up or bungling? Either way, it ain't good

Sports build character.

Or so we’re told from the time we can toddle onto a playing field or a soccer pitch.

How has the character building been going at The University of New Mexico lately?

Not so good on the women’s soccer team, which was embarrassed by a video showing Elizabeth Lambert engaging in various bits of thuggery in a game against BYU.

Suspended, Lambert issued an apology, claiming her actions were in “no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am.”

Maybe.

But as anyone can see by googling “Elizabeth Lambert” and clicking on the video link, this wasn’t a single incident, or even two. It was multiple incidents that included a punch in the back of one BYU player and the pulling — by the hair — of another to the ground.

“Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship,” said UNM head coach Kit Vela.

You think, coach? Lambert didn’t just cross the line; she nuked it. And if you thought she had — oh my goodness, crossed the line — why didn’t you pull her from the match?

“Liz’s conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate,” said UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “There is no way to defend her actions.”

Good to know, Paul, because if anyone can defend “inappropriate” actions, it’s you.

Krebs, of course, is the one who soft-pedaled football coach Mike Locksley’s altercation with assistant coach J.B. Gerald — only admitting something had happened after a police report became public, then vocally supported Locksley while “reprimanding” him.

The altercation, according to Gerald, involved Locksley choking and punching Gerald during a coaching meeting. Despite evidence to the contrary, Krebs backed Locksley’s contention that no punches were thrown but did allow that the coach’s actions were “inappropriate” — clearly his favorite word.

Under pressure from news media and faculty, Krebs finally suspended Locksley, and an investigation separate from the athletic department was begun. But this, too, has been tainted by controversy, including the destruction of notes.

How bad has it been? Bad enough that school President David Schmidly asks us to please believe it was mere “bungling,” and not an attempted cover-up.

So what are we to believe? Are Krebs and company conspirators or incompetents? Actually, they look like nothing so much as small-minded bureaucrats in perpetual damage control.

Back to character and sports. We’ll give the last word on the subject to legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, who knew something about both.

Sports, he said, doesn’t build character; it reveals it.

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.

Friday column: Locksley precedent is a hit

If you’re a scalp hunter for The University of New Mexico, your job just got easier.

UNM might not be Harvard, and Albuquerque might not be — oh, I don’t know, Cambridge or Palo Alto — but at our state’s largest university, there is one personnel perk you don’t get at any other school.

One free shot.

Yes, thanks to the precedent set by the administration in the case of head football coach Mike Locksley, all university personnel can take a productive swing at the co-worker of their choice and get no more than a verbal reprimand and a letter placed in their personnel file.

Talk about a great recruitment tool.

“Well, no, I’m afraid our salaries are rather limited at the moment, and the school contribution to the 401(k) plan has been halted … but if you run into an annoying fellow professor, you can cold-cock him!”

“When do I start?”

To be fair, Locksley didn’t knock out assistant coach J.B. Gerald, but grabbing him by the collar, hitting him and splitting his lip — an attack bad enough to necessitate a police report — is close enough to allow a little hyperbole for recruitment purposes.

After all, coaches have been known to mislead athletes to get them to sign on the dotted line. Locksley, for instance, is accused of wanting to fill the football office with young lovelies bodacious enough to make potential recruits sign letters of intent before they remember where they are.

Alas for football administrative assistant Sylvia Lopez, 54, it was decided she didn’t fit the bill, and out the door she went. Lopez in May filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, charging sexual harassment, age discrimination and retaliation.

At the time, UNM athletic director Paul Krebs said of Locksley, “He is an outstanding football coach. I believe he is an outstanding individual. I’m really looking forward to what he’s able to build here long-term with our football program.”

What he’s built so far is a program that’s an embarrassment both on the field and in the office. But he remains the coach.

The only possible problem for Locksley — and the one-punch rule — is an investigation launched by the school’s Human Resources Division. But UNM President David Schmidly and Krebs are two of the three people who will make a final decision on the matter. Schmidly has made it clear he’s got Kreb’s back, and Krebs has made it clear he has Locksley’s.

“I do not believe (the punch) is a reflection of his dealings,” Krebs said Monday. “It’s not a reflection of his character. This does not shake my faith in his leadership whatsoever.”

Let’s roll the tape on that last part again: “This does not shake my faith in his leadership whatsoever.”

Who wouldn’t want to work for an administration like that?

Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.