The University of Maine is being a follower instead of a leader in its poor decision not to fire hockey coach Shawn Walsh despite his involvement in numerous NCAA violations.

Walsh was suspended without pay for a year on Dec. 21 by the school based on information uncovered in its self-report. The NCAA recently released its specfic charges against Walsh and the school. UMaine responded to the charges on Friday.

UMaine President Fred Hutchinson, defending his decision not to fire Walsh, said Monday he talked to several other university presidents who agreed the suspension was a very severe penalty. UMaine Athletic Director Sue Tyler also said the suspension was sufficient and added that she didn’t know of any other penalty a university coach had been given that was worse, short of being fired.

Unfortunately, it appears the university has decided to follow the status quo. It has looked at what other schools have done and has used the juvenile rationale that everyone else jumped off a cliff, got beat up a bit, but survived.

So, instead of establishing precedent and initiating loftier standards on what should be done to a coach who commits violations, Hutchinson and Tyler are doing what other universities have done with similar cases.

Their reasoning that the suspension was sufficient punishment is flawed given the number of violations and apparent lack of knowledge Walsh had of NCAA rules.

If Hutchinson and Tyler are determined to follow the status quo, then they should turn to the private sector for guidance. Most employees of a private company who break rules and don’t know company policy are fired. The same standard should be expected of an employee of a public institution such as the University of Maine.

– Joe McLaughlin, BDN

Golf is usually thought of fondly as a genteel sport with friends strolling along close-cropped fairways, cracking jokes, and tossing out light barbs and well-meant compliments with equal enthusiasm.

But every once in a while, a reminder – usually in the form of a small, white sphere less than 2 inches wide – silently zips in and forcefully interrupts the reverie. Paying attention to the goings-on around you can be as important in golf as it is in driving a car.

There are two aspects to the safety issue on a golf course.

Golf course owners and managers must determine where the safety hazards are, and the golfers must remember that there are such areas.

Recently, I played a round on the nine-hole layout at Bangor Municipal Golf Course.

The tee shot on the seventh hole carries over a hill to a blind landing, the type of situation which screams for some kind of warning that golfers are out of sight but not out of the way.

Unfortunately, the safety measure for that hole – a red light on a pole in front of the tee – was not working. Fortunately, play has been sporadic enough, according to pro Brian Enman, that there was no need to turn on the electricity for the light.

Enman says it’s working now.

But there was that period between the course’s opening and now when there was no warning system. I would imagine that in this time of huge payouts in legal liability cases that such a situation would not be allowed, that the warning system would be in place the first day.

Enman said they wait until it’s needed. The course has to pay a flat fee for the light because it doesn’t reach the minimum usage per month.

On the flip side of the coin, as Enman also pointed out, sometimes golfers are their own worst enemies.

On the last hole of the 18-hole layout, there is a buzzer by the tee which is activated by a button about 300 yards down the fairway. The button is supposed to be pushed when the group clears the area and it’s safe for the next group to tee off.

The problem is the button takes a lot of abuse from the golfers. Often, said Enman, golfers in carts drive up to the button and jab it with a club.

Consequently, at times the button is broken – as it was Sunday, although a press on the interior parts sounded the buzzer.

At other times, equipment is destroyed by vandals.

These examples are from Bangor Muni, but they could have come from almost any golf course in the state.

Golf courses have a safety responsibility. Golfers have a safety responsibility.

The system works best when both sides take their responsibilities seriously.

– Dave Barber, BDN

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