Kirk Ferentz and ESPN Play it Safe

UPDATE: ESPN's frontpage is ridiculously funny. It is akin to the Government launching their own counter-culture anti-government division and telling you that you no longer need to be a part of that protest group, because we've got everything you need right here! Don't mind that smell, it's just establishment...

Well, he has spoken. Kirk Ferentz did an interview with Adam Rittenberg for the WWL, and it was...um...fluffy?

Not that we've come to expect anything more from ESPN, but there was not a single poignant question relating to the alleged rape in that whole bunch. The most telling?

Do you expect the second investigation to change anything?

KF: I'm only involved in certain parts of it and I can just tell you this. Everything I'm aware of was done with concern for the young woman, also concern for the alleged parties involved. That's really all you can do. From what I know, at least everyone on campus exhausted every possible option available to them and everything was handled very well. The Regents already came to that conclusion after an investigation, and I'm very confident they're going to come to the same conclusion down the road. The only other aspect of that, I would not be surprised if they readjust the procedure one more time. That may be a result of this investigation. But that's up to them. All the parties involved could do was follow the procedure that's been laid out.

What could that adjustment be?

KF: I have no idea what that might be.

Right, Kirk. You have no idea what the adjustment might be. Here's a hint: why not get the POLICE INVOLVED? And Adam, you're really ok with that answer? Come on, dude, why didn't you press it?

Here's a question I'd like posed to the WWL: Why are you treating this with kiddie gloves? If this were Ohio State, USC, Michigan, or any number of programs, this would be a HUGE deal, and there is no way you'd just have Rittenberg spend 20 minutes on the phone flinging marshmallow questions. Hell, you'd have Outside the Lines and the Sports Reporters in one giant orgy of soft focus outrage.


But since you decided to take the "little-read pseudo-blog" route, any ONE of the following questions would have been good to ask:

Why weren't the police informed?
Why did you have somebody move into a crime scene?
Were you aware that the protocol in place involved an "in house" solution?

Rittenberg does an admirable job discussing the recent off the field issues - even going as far as to ask how Kirk plans to address the discipline issues that have plagued the team. However, the questions about the pending rape allegation were softballs at best. If Iowa AD Gary Barta is "looking forward to addressing the specifics of this case publicly" then I'm looking forward to hearing them, because Ferentz and ESPN both fluffed it up for this piece.