Has the Imus controversy actually helped Rutgers?
April 13, 2007The thing about this whole Don Imus mess is that he has inadvertantly made media stars out of the Rutgers women’s basketball team. I bet if you ask 100 people on the street who won this year’s NCAA women’s basketball championship, maybe two could tell you it was Tennessee. But the majority of them could tell you that Rutgers lost the championship. Because Rutgers is the team that’s been in the news far more than the poor Volunteers.
In a way Imus has victimized both teams–the Scarlet Knights he has scarred with his bigoted and misogynistic words, and the Volunteers he has scarred because their moment of national glory has been completely overshadowed by the controversy. He owes both teams an apology for turning their game into a sideshow of the media circus his remarks created.
And yet, in the end, you have to admit that the controversy has raised the spotlight on Rutgers and women’s basketball like nothing else could. Would there be this much attention paid to either team if Imus hadn’t opened mouth and inserted both feet?
I’m not saying that’s any excuse for his words but I think there is a thin silver lining to the controversy. I bet it will help Rutgers in terms of recruiting (for all sports, not just women’s basketball) and with their fund-raising this year.