Oller's Second Thoughts: Big Ten continues to fail sex education; Urban Meyer's weird wall

The Big Ten keeps failing sex education classes, unable to comprehend that, among other basic health tips, showers are for getting clean, not dirty.

The latest “F” on the report card belongs to Northwestern, where football players alleged they were hazed when teammates stood naked at the entrance to showers, spinning around so that other players entering the shower were forced to rub up against them.

The Wildcats athletic program is coming under fire for allegations of widespread hazing in other sports, too, as well as sexual transgressions in the volleyball program.

If only this were a one-off. Unfortunately, the Big Ten has had more than its share of sexual scandals.

Before Northwestern, there was the Ohio State abuse case involving former team doctor Richard Strauss, who – among other inappropriate acts – showered with athletes. His alleged abuses cost OSU more than $60 million in settlements.

It doesn’t end there. Michigan reached a $490 million settlement over sexual abuse by former sports doctor Robert Anderson.

Keep going? Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted in 2012 of the sexual abuse of 10 boys, with at least one assault happening in the team showers.

Sadly, there is more. In 2016 Michigan State fired doctor Larry Nassar, who later was convicted of sexually assaulting female gymnasts.

Certainly, other conferences have their issues, but the Big Ten’s scandals jump off the page, making one wonder if the similarities are simply coincidental or if systemic issues within the culture of these institutions of so-called higher learning serve as incubators of sexual abuse. It could be something as simple, yet disgusting, as a prideful collective attitude of “nothing to see here.”

It may be instructive to analyze the comments of former Northwestern quarterback Lloyd Yates, one of the athletes to have brought accusations against the Wildcats football program.

It often is argued that if these things really happened, why didn’t the victim speak up earlier? Or why did they allow themselves to be abused in the first place?

Yates addressed both questions.

“We just thought that this was part of playing college football, playing (in the) Big Ten, and we wanted to be accepted,” he said. “We wanted to fit in. We wanted to earn trust and respect, and if you went against that you were an outcast ... and it warranted further abuse.”

“We just thought this was part of playing … (in the) Big Ten.”

If the Big Ten’s perception is one of “boys being boys,” of toughness equated with having to endure sexualized hazing, then perception is only changed by reality. And the reality is these abuses happened. To what degree does not matter, not when it comes to sexualized, bullying behavior. It is one thing to make freshmen sing at the team meal or to have them dress in costumes as a prank or practical joke. But the fun must end where the showers begin.

Urban Meyer’s weird wall of helmets

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ new practice facility includes a wall of helmets that will be aligned weekly with the top 25 college teams, according to the Associated Press.

Ohio State currently occupies the top spot, which makes sense since former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer was instrumental in the facility design when he coached the Jags before getting fired after just 13 games.

Where things get weird is with some of the helmets on display, including one with only a Masters logo affixed to the side. Augusta State, perhaps?

Personally, I think it would be cooler if the helmets represented schools where members of the coaching staff attended, but maybe the head-scratching helmet wall is meant as a reminder of how things went when Meyer ran the show.

Listening in

“I’ll be walking through somewhere and somebody will be like, ‘Are you Lane Kiffin?’ And I’ll be like, ‘No, I hate that dude. He sucks.’ It’s really cool, because the conversation is over and you can keep moving.” – Mississippi coach Lane Kiffin at SEC media days.

Off topic

I know a guy who still owns a flip phone, not because he wants to be different – well, OK, there is some of that – but because he refuses to be controlled by a device that might as well be surgically attached to me. I respect him for being disciplined enough to rely on an iPod for music and for being able to make it through a day without posting 100 pictures onto the web.

My question for y'all is not would you ditch your smartphone (it’s totally fine to think of it as a useful tool rather than a time-waster), but instead could you?

roller@dispatch.com

@rollerCD

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Northwestern hazing adds another sex scandal to Big Ten mess