Hardbodies

In an almost copycat fashion, CSU is now a part of the

University of Colorado’s not-so-elite club of athletic departments

targeted for using strippers as a means for recruitment.

CSU’s main focus has been to investigate the allegations and

take the proper and appropriate action if necessary.

“These allegations made Tuesday have been taken very seriously,”

said senior assistant athletic director Gary Ozello. “We’re not

going to be ignorant and try to argue that something of this nature

could never happen here. We will investigate the situation and

handle these claims promptly and with integrity.”

The allegations Tuesday were made by Hardbodies Entertainment

Inc. President Steve Lower, who was quoted as saying, “I just

thought it was kind of stupid that CU was taking all of the heat

and was under the microscope. My point is that this is done all

over the country. The public would be ignorant if it didn’t realize

that this is a tradition. It’s kind of like ordering a stripper for

a bachelor party.” Lower admitted he didn’t remember anything

specific in terms of CSU’s involvement with the stripper service

and admitted that, “CSU hasn’t had as many parties, by any

means.”

In a recent staff meeting, head football coach Sonny Lubick

said, “I’ve never heard of anything like that, and if we had, we

would have taken action to make sure it didn’t happen again. If it

did happen, I don’t want it in my program.”

The allegations come as a surprise to the athletic department

and leaves first year athletic director Mark Driscoll baffled.

“Obviously, if this is true, it is completely unacceptable. We

don’t condone anything like that,” Driscoll said at a team meeting.

“It just seems to me that (Lower) is saying a lot of things, and I

don’t know how much credibility he has. This took us all by

surprise. We know of no issues like that at all in our

program.”

Recently at CU, program officials have made revision and

clarified the universities policy and stance on these kinds of

activities. At CSU similar actions have been made, however there

were already specific rules on type of behavior.

“These things are stated in the player’s code of conduct rule

book as inappropriate and unacceptable behavior, the players know

that there are consequences for their actions,” Ozello said.

In hindsight, with the national attention of the CU recruitment

scandals it seems as though every football program is now under the

microscope. Even Division I-AA Northern Colorado was recently cited

as allegedly having ties to strippers entertaining recruits as a

means to entice and have an advantage over other schools.

Though surprising, immorality in collegiate sports is not a new

phenomena.

Last season a wave of collegiate coaches were being pinned for

inappropriate and immoral behavior, including then-Alabama football

coach Mike Price, who was allegedly involved with strippers and

prostitution and ex-Iowa State coach Larry Eustachy, whose drinking

at a party in a sorority house led to his dismissal. With knowledge

of such recruiting tactics in the open, the Athletic Department at

CSU is preparing to quell fears of future recruits while

maintaining the integrity of the program; time will tell if they

succeed.