Incident Investigator for ISU

[notabengalalum]

Another stab by the Post-Register to stir the pot. Did ISU create a conflict of interest issue here or not?

ISU hires booster to investigate shoving incident
By Michael Lycklama
[email protected]
Idaho State University tabbed Peter Welsh, a long-time booster of the school's athletic department, to investigate Bengals football coach Mike Kramer's shove of receiver Derek Graves.

Donna Hays, the executive director of the Bengal Athletic Boosters, said Friday that Welsh has donated money to ISU's athletic department for years.

"He's been a B.A.B. (Bengal Athletic Booster) for many, many years," Hays said.

The university employs Welsh, a former FBI investigator, as a part-time investigator to look into issues for the school's office of general counsel, Bradley Hall, a lawyer for Idaho State, said Friday.

Hall, Steven Schaack, the school's assistant athletic director of media relations, and Andy Taylor, a public information specialist for ISU, confirmed Friday the university used Welsh to investigate the incident between Kramer and Graves. Taylor said the investigation is complete.

Welsh also previously served as the chairman of the "I Love ISU" campaign, a fundraising arm of the university, in 2003.

Idaho State athletic director Jeff Tingey did not return a phone call Friday afternoon seeking comment on a former booster investigating the athletic department.

When reached at his home Friday, Welsh declined to comment on the investigation.

A video showing Kramer shoving Graves to the ground with both hands during an Oct. 3 practice broke on ESPN.com on Oct. 16. Graves claims the incident has caused neck spasms and he has not played since then.

He caught 36 passes through the first four games for 306 yards. He has remained with the team and attended practice since the incident. But his lawyer, Don Jackson, said he has not been medically cleared to participate.

Idaho State allowed Kramer to coach last week's game at North Colorado before Tingey announced a one-game suspension of Kramer on Tuesday. He and Schaack have declined to reveal if the suspension is with or without pay.

 

[votb]

So I think I'm working with a clear head here...home from Montana and it's 2:00 a.m. I know Pete Welsh. There's a couple of questions to ask here (if I'm the journalist writing the story:

1- Is Pete Welsh a good investigator?

2- If Pete Welsh loves ISU Athletics as much as it appears he does, would he do something that could have a potentially devastating impact on the program?

The answer is simple. If Pete Welsh is a good investigator and has integrity, his love for ISU would motivate him to do the most thorough, honest investigation possible...because the department can only fix things that need fixing by knowing the truth. Any effort to hide the truth will only hurt the program in the long run.

Now if there's a lack of integrity with either the department or with the investigator (which appears to be what the writer is trying to insinuate) then there's merit to the story.

My Conclusion:

Please remember that I, too, am paid by the athletic department, so you have to weigh whether or not my biases/integrity come into play. I have also built my career on being as good a "journalist" as I could become. That means being willing to look at a story and present it based on ALL the facts.

In my opinion, Michael Lycklama has done NOTHING with this column but reveal his own prejudices. If he truly wrote something that presented both sides of an issue, he would talk about the very questions I bring up. Lycklama never came close...all he's done is insinuate a "cover-up", and in my opinion as a career journalist, he's presented no evidence to back up his premise. Anyone...a journalist or not...can cast aspersions. Unfortunately, that's what we see more often than not from today's mainstream media, and it's a situation that breaks my heart...and that I abhor

Considering that the Post Register seldom shows any interest at all in ISU athletics...this "all of a sudden" interest in ISU smacks of yellow journalism...and a likely effort to sell more papers by a paper with flagging subscriptions. See how easy it was for me to "cast aspersions" and insinuate a lack of journalistic integrity on the part of the PR and Lycklama without any real evidence to back it up?

Do your work BEFORE you print the story Lycklama, and then tell us the story, if there is one.

Over...and out!

 

[Bengal4Sport]

Very well said!

 

[biobengal]

Tingey should have suspended Kramer immediately after the incident was brought to his attention. The rest is fall-out from this decision.

 

[sasquatch]

In my opinion, Michael Lycklama has done NOTHING with this column but reveal his own prejudices. If he truly wrote something that presented both sides of an issue, he would talk about the very questions I bring up. Lycklama never came close...all he's done is insinuate a "cover-up", and in my opinion as a career journalist, he's presented no evidence to back up his premise. Anyone...a journalist or not...can cast aspersions. Unfortunately, that's what we see more often than not from today's mainstream media, and it's a situation that breaks my heart...and that I abhor.

Nice post, votb. But sadly, it seems like the world of journalism is going more and more this way. Flip on Fox News or MSNBC, and you can find more than enough "facts" and "opinion" supporting "one side." But you'll find even more opinions and condemnations being thrown at the "other side."

 

[FormerISUSID]

The Register had stopped covering ISU athletics when I was there, because as their editor at the time told me "Our readers only care about Boise State and BYU, and not in that order".

For them to give any opinions on ISU is laughable. Pete Welsh looked into things plenty when I was there, so it's not surprising that he handled the investigation.

Someone should cut and paste the register stuff here so that we don't give them the webhits.

FormerISUSID

 

[votb]

Tingey should have suspended Kramer immediately after the incident was brought to his attention. The rest is fall-out from this decision.

That may or may not be true, but it would likely appear trigger-happy to take action before an official investigation is complete, and could open up the university for potential lawsuits. Anyway, whether it's fallout or not...it does not excuse poor journalism.


You've got issues with the Tingey's...we all get it.

 

[biobengal]

That may or may not be true, but it would likely appear trigger-happy to take action before an official investigation is complete, and could open up the university for potential lawsuits. Anyway, whether it's fallout or not...it does not excuse poor journalism.

You've got issues with the Tingey's...we all get it.

Votb, typically, students are suspended pending the outcome of an investigation, there's no reason this should have been handled differently.

I'm fine with Tingey on some issues. Yet, in the past year we've had two major scandals garnering national headlines. This is a major problem, wouldn't' you say? I would like to see more integrity and openness in ISU management, from Art Vailas on down. Ultimately, I have no axe to grind; I believe ISU alums are tired of begin embarrassed by an institution that currently and historically shoots itself in the foot.

 

[notabengalalum]

I believe ISU alums are tired of begin embarrassed by an institution that currently and historically shoots itself in the foot.

Now we're talking! Sounds like there's an opportunity to get a nationally recognized pistol and rifle team started at ISU!! :rofl:

 

[PBP]

Actually rifle is a recognized NCAA sport. A lot of schools do have shooting teams.

PBP

 

[biobengal]

I believe ISU alums are tired of begin embarrassed by an institution that currently and historically shoots itself in the foot.

Now we're talking! Sounds like there's an opportunity to get a nationally recognized pistol and rifle team started at ISU!! :rofl:

I like your outside the box thinking.

 

[votb]

I believe ISU alums are tired of begin embarrassed by an institution that currently and historically shoots itself in the foot.

Now we're talking! Sounds like there's an opportunity to get a nationally recognized pistol and rifle team started at ISU!! :rofl:

I like your outside the box thinking.

I just want to make it clear that I did NOT make the post the quote listed above says I did. That was from a biobengal post...not mine.