Yes, there are bigger things to blog about.
But I can’t ignore the PR flap that the University of Minnesota – in my neck of the woods – had to clean up this week.
Before I go on, here’s the video in question:
Clearly, the approval process at the U of M for carefully crafted media statements must be a nightmare. Or at least demands that several people massage the words and sentences before it sees the light of day. That’s certainly typical in the corporate world, and painful.
Because this statement released by the U of M after that insanely stupid Goldy Gopher incident at Penn State reeks of too many cooks in the media statement kitchen. I could be wrong, but have a look:
“The life of a mascot at a sporting event is fast-paced and enormously high-energy. This was plainly a mistake.”
Okay, get past the “fast-paced” and “life of a mascot” nonsense, I think we all agree there was nothing fast-paced about the endzone prayer. Focus on the “mistake” part.
This was no mistake.
I make a mistake when I don’t realize that I just threw in a red shirt with the whites in the laundry, and wash it on hot water. It’s not a mistake if I know I’m doing it.
The goof inside the Goldy head knew what he was doing. At the very least, he thought it would be entertaining. I’ll give him that. But it wasn’t.
And don’t get me started on the cheerleader who fist-bumped Goldy after his “mistake.”
Please.
The U’s statement also clearly struggled with trying to address the faith angle, but failed:
It certainly wasn’t his intent to offend anyone or trivialize their religion… …On behalf of Goldy and the University of Minnesota, I want to apologize to the Penn State player involved and anyone else who may have taken offense from this incident.”
What’s so hard about actually calling the prayer-mocking what it is, offensive?
Here’s my version of a statement:
“The actions of the students involved are inexcusable. They showed poor judgment. Mocking prayer is offensive to many of our University of Minnesota students, alumni, staff and administration and we apologize to them for this incident. We also apologize to Jerome Hayes and the entire Penn State community.”
It’s offensive to many of the people you’re depending on to fill your new stadium every Saturday. So call it that.
It wasn’t a mistake.
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