All I can say is the power in athletic departments goes beyond what we even care to know or admit. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t heard the stories I have. I love college sports but politics, power and money dictate it all.
In other words, college sports is simply a part of the larger culture. So is the Catholic church. So is the Olympic Committee. So is government. There are no righteous, no not one.
Politics, power, and money have always ruled the world--every single aspect of it--and they always will. All we can do is try to mitigate the damage.
Right now, Iowa appears to have one huge mitigation challenge ahead of it. I have no idea how all of that will turn out, but just when you think things can't get worse, they get worse. Like many Americans and many Hawkeye fans, I've been in some stage of depression since November of 2016. Then we have a pandemic. Then we have riots in the streets. And now this.
I have lived and worked with people of every color and religion all over the world, and I keep coming back to these two things: Treat others as you wish to be treated, and live and let live. If Iowa football and the rest of the world could just do those seemingly simple things, we'd all be a lot better off.
Instead, here we are, sad, frustrated, and depressed. There is no solace anywhere. So I guess all we can do is follow the advice of Winston Churchill: "When you're going through hell, keep going."