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View Full Version : What does it take to fire Barnett?


SirFozzie
04-01-2005, 04:04 PM
Is he going to have to start eating babies raw at press conferences, and piss on every professor's car to get fired? Sheesh

The Internal Revenue Service is investigating two summer football camps run by University of Colorado coach Gary Barnett.

Both Barnett and his attorney acknowledged the investigation Wednesday, but said they were not sure what tax issues the IRS is looking into.

At the same time, the IRS has contacted the university seeking additional documents, said CU spokeswoman Pauline Hale. CU attorneys wouldn't say what kind of documents the IRS wants, she said.

"We feel that we are not at liberty to discuss details related to an ongoing investigation conducted by a federal agency," Hale said.

Barnett's lawyer, John Rodman, described the investigation as "broad" and said he thinks it's related to questions raised in media reports during the past several months. Those reports have focused on allegations of questionable accounting and lax oversight of camp expenditures.

Barnett said Wednesday, "We are eagerly cooperating with them because we're just as anxious for the truth to get out -- probably more anxious for the truth to get out -- than anybody. So we're cooperating completely."

Barnett said he turned over "everything they wanted" to IRS investigators roughly two weeks ago. "There was a list of documents," he said, "1099s, (camp) registration forms, tax returns, everything."

IRS officials "did not come in with anything in particular," Barnett said. "They just came in to look at it, and we turned everything over to them."

Jean Carl, an IRS spokeswoman in Denver, declined comment on the matter.

"Disclosure laws prohibit me from confirming or denying any investigation of any taxpayer," Carl said.

The camps operate each summer in two sessions for football players between the ages of 8 and 13. The youngsters get to practice at CU and learn from coaches on Barnett's staff. They can stay in dorms on campus or commute from home.

Although the camps are detailed on a CU Web site, Barnett and university officials say he operates them as a business independent of the university.

The IRS review comes as the state auditor's office continues a wide-ranging probe of spending at the football camps, as well as the university as a whole and its fundraising arm, the CU Foundation.

It also comes on the heels of a report by a state grand jury that criticized how the football camps tracked money, alleging it was loosely guarded and amounted to a "slush fund" for football coaches.

The grand jury was formed last spring to look into allegations that CU used sex and booze to lure football recruits. The panel was assisted by a report from a fraud examiner hired by state prosecutors.

The fraud examiner, Daniel Predovich, raised numerous questions about spending and tax issues at Barnett's two camps.

Barnett has repeatedly said the grand jury and Predovich reports were off-base. Football camp money was controlled, he said, and he can account for all expenditures.

Barnett also has said that he's confident the state audit won't reveal any wrongdoing related to the football camps. As for the IRS review, Barnett said Wednesday he had "no concerns" that investigators would discover anything troublesome.

gottimd
04-01-2005, 04:09 PM
Is he going to have to start eating babies raw at press conferences, and piss on every professor's car to get fired? Sheesh

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Fire Barnett or Bennett? Confused by the title.

Now, pissing on every professors car, that is way too far.

TroyF
04-01-2005, 05:13 PM
As someone who wouldn't mind seeing Barnett go, I have to wonder what the outside world sees sometimes.

Barnett has never been found guilty of a single allegation in Boulder. He was suspended because of a poor choice of words that were taken out of context. People made it seem like he said Katie Hnida should have been raped because she couldn't kick. In actuality Barnett had urged her to come forward and name names. He was then asked why she didn't ever kick in a game. "Because she was horrible, she couldn't kick"

Truthful and certainly not in his best interest to say, but overblown none the less.

The alleged recruiting infrations and rapes? Well, the civil suit was thrown out of court yesterday. They didn't even have enough evidence to have the case tried as a civil suit (where the evidence requirements are much less than a criminal action)

The millions upon millions of dollars that have been spent investigating the Colorado football program to date has come up with one violation: Improper cell phone use by a member of the staff. That's it.

So it's not that he has to eat babies or anything else. . . they simply need to prove something before CU will fire him. Maybe this one is it, but I have my doubts. Barnett hasn't seemed especially worried about it publicly and the original story was broke by some people who really dislike Barnett in the Denver media.

I think he should be gone. Not necessarily because I think he's done anything wrong, but because I think this team needs to move forward. The national perception is that Boulder is a racist town and the athletes take time off of football to go sexually assault coeds or prepare for recruiting gang bangs. None if that is accurate, but the perception won't go away until the university has a fresh start. For that reason, I think Barnett needs to take a hike.

Solecismic
04-01-2005, 05:38 PM
Katie Hnida is probably one of IHOF's top three kickers all-time. No one has scored more points, and she's never missed a single playoff kick. Barnett's loss, Ann Arbor's gain.

Boulder is a nice university town, too liberal if anything. The problems Barnett faces are pretty much the same any coach of a major university team faces. He's just remarkably bad at PR.

Rich people with varied sources of income almost always are doing something funky with their taxes. Doesn't make it right, but it has nothing to do with his job.

The perception will go away if Colorado makes a national title run without controversy. It's all about winning. Want a loveable loser? Go follow Indiana basketball now that they've cleansed themselves from the influence of the greatest college coach ever.

TroyF
04-01-2005, 05:59 PM
Katie Hnida is probably one of IHOF's top three kickers all-time. No one has scored more points, and she's never missed a single playoff kick. Barnett's loss, Ann Arbor's gain.

Boulder is a nice university town, too liberal if anything. The problems Barnett faces are pretty much the same any coach of a major university team faces. He's just remarkably bad at PR.

Rich people with varied sources of income almost always are doing something funky with their taxes. Doesn't make it right, but it has nothing to do with his job.

The perception will go away if Colorado makes a national title run without controversy. It's all about winning. Want a loveable loser? Go follow Indiana basketball now that they've cleansed themselves from the influence of the greatest college coach ever.

WAY too liberal Jim.

And the PR thing is exactly right. He's horrible at it and the university is even worse. They find a way to screw up everything everytime. Without fail.

I only partially agree with your assessment though Jim. Even if a miracle were to occur and we had a national title run, if anything it'd just give more publicity to the factions who want to tear apart Barnett and the football program.

As for the tax thing, I'm REALLY skeptical anything is going to come of this. We all have BS detectors now when it comes to these things. We can usually tell when someone is trying to spin something. Barnett has answered the allegations and there hasn't even been the hint of worry in his voice.

My guess is it's going to turn up what every investigation has turned up thus far: nothing. And I wouldn't mind if I'm wrong. If they find something, it'll get Barnett thrown out. Lord knows, most of us want that to happen anyway.

Franklinnoble
04-01-2005, 06:12 PM
http://espn-att.starwave.com/i/magazine/new/040527_hnida.jpg

I'd hit it...

Ragone
04-01-2005, 10:29 PM
It looks like a witch hunt from the outside really, to be honest..