I really wish this obsession with Scalley would stop—especially since, if we are honest, many of us (and perhaps many of our coaches) are guilty of the same thing.

Homosexual slurs and the n-word have always been coarse, but have only recently taken on a life altering or career ending power. We have ex post facto laws, and civil society does better when we view past social violations in a similar light.

If we can find it in our hearts to defend Washington and Jefferson, in spite of the fact that they own slaves, I think we can forgive a coach who was responding to a question from a black coach in a different era (“You got that n-word?” “Yeah, I got that n-word!”).