Commentary: Institutional Protocol? |
Over this weekend I was able to dig up additional information about what happened last Sunday at Duke. No need to rehash every little detail. If you don't know what transpired at Jack Coombs Field in the third and final game of the three game series in Durham, N.C. on April 20, go to the front page of this website and scroll down to my previous commentary. It's all there for you to see. Anyway, the person I spoke with with gave me some information that, as far as I'm concerned, takes away any possible defense that might have remained for Blue Devils' head coach Sean McNally and his "baseball operations staff." For instance: - In trying to determine Duke's required course of action concerning rain/lightning warnings and delays on game days, officials in Durham were asked for a copy of the school's written policy covering such matters. Remember, both McNally and the ACC issued statements early last week saying that Duke followed the athletic department's "institutional protocol" in choosing not to tarp the infield during the 30 minutes prior to rain falling - when the game was stopped by the now infamous text message lightning warning - nor in the moments immediately after it began to rain. As it turns out, Duke has no written policy. The "institutional protocol" apparently is a phrase the school came up with to describe the way they do things in the Duke baseball program. Apparently, "institutional protocol" is code for bush league operation. - Then there was this little tidbit. In wondering if Duke had ever used its tarp, I was told that a member of another ACC program which had experienced a rain delay in Durham - since McNally took over the Blue Devils' program - offered up the following anecdote: When the bad weather hit on this particular day a year or two ago, members of both teams worked frantically to get the tarp on the field in hopes of salvaging the game. In a thunderstorm. The game was washed out, but the precedent apparently had been set. Duke's "institutional protocol" was the same then as Clemson's is now - get the field covered as quickly as possible and hope Mother Nature eventually cooperates. At least that was Duke's policy until April 20 of this year. Then it changed when McNally saw a way to use a tie to his team's advantage. One would think the ACC, seeing this evidence, would revisit its decision to leave the game deadlocked, a half-game difference in the standings that could affect not only Clemson and Duke's ACC finish, but possibly three or four other teams, as well. A rainout is something that can't be helped. A field made unplayable by intentional neglect, all in the name of trying to gain an advantage McNally's team wasn't likely to get by finishing the game, is something else entirely. Doing something as radical as forcing the game to be played to its completion on a mutual off day would be proactive, setting a precedent and sending a message that the ACC won't stand for such egregious behavior by one of its member institutions. Instead, sadly, it's business as usual on Tobacco Road. And in the court of public opinion, that means the entire conference suffers a black eye. Again.
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