On the court, the ride the Binghamton University’s men’s basketball team took us on is finally over.
The Bearcats lost to national powerhouse Duke, 86-62, last night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., putting an end to to the greatest season in the history of athletics at this school: Binghamton won its first America East Conference regular and postseason titles, played in its first nationally televised games, and finished it off against perhaps the greatest college basketball program in the world, the Blue Devils (see Page 23).
It was amazing.
Off the court, however, the ride has just begun. The New York Times’ Pete Thamel’s most recent story on Binghamton University — published Wednesday as the Bearcats were enjoying tournament festivities — includes quotes from a report that states two Binghamton University employees who work in the athletics department “engaged in egregious acts of sexual misconduct” toward Elizabeth Williams, an athletics fundraiser.
This story, unlike Thamel’s previous two over the past month, is truly serious (see Page 1). The GPAs of Binghamton recruits and whether other coaches in the America East snubbed the best Binghamton player doesn’t hold a candle to the possibility that employees at Binghamton University may be guilty of sexual harassment or a related folly.
These allegations and BU’s internal mechanisms for handling these situations need to be thoroughly investigated. One of the problems Williams alleges, according to the Times, is that Binghamton’s internal system isn’t effective. If there’s any truth, the University needs to take stern action — like the removal of Director of Athletics Joel Thirer along with the offending employees, winning basketball be damned.
As for the Times reporter Pete Thamel, his credibility is waning. This story, unlike the others, seems well-reported. But its timing is questionable — right as Binghamton heads to the NCAA Tournament, that’s when both Williams files her complaint and the story gets written?
Thamel must already know many in the Binghamton community look at him, and the poorly conceived story on Binghamton’s basketball program he wrote in February, as public enemy No. 1.
He doesn’t seem to care, nor should a good journalist. But the stories that angered folks in Binghamton weren’t those of a good journalist, and Thamel’s now acting smug on top of it all.
In a question-and-answer session on his blog on Wednesday, he responded to the first question: “Obviously, folks at Binghamton are excited. That’s what happens during times like these. But excitement can’t gloss over some obvious issues.”
If it were so obvious, why did he have to, as Tony Kornheiser pointed out to Pipe Dream, talk to a retired athletics employee for his lead quote? Thamel made a mountain out of a mole hill when it comes to the basketball program. The New York Times sports editor Tom Jolly should not have let the story run as poorly supported as it was and should prevent such occurrences in the future.
Nonetheless, Thamel may have found something truly disturbing in Vestal, credibility aside. We hope a time comes when Binghamton’s men’s basketball team can head to an NCAA Tournament, and, not just beat Duke, but beat Duke without having to worry about off-the-court garbage.