A column from that Florida ditz that fell down the Tiger Stadium steps in '99. Not sure what paper he writes for, was posted on a Florida Board: SPORTS COMMENTARY: MIKE BIANCHI Bowden sends wrong signals on subject of rape Mike Bianchi March 5, 2004 It was Christmastime, 1993, when former Florida State football player Michael Gibson raped her. He broke into her apartment, shot her twice, leaving two gaping holes in her chest. Then, as she lay there bleeding and crying, he continued with the sexual assault. And then he left her for dead. Except before he left the scene, this deranged monster of a man took one final liberty: Michael Gibson stole the Christmas presents on his way out. "How low can you get?" says John Witherspoon, the husband of the young woman who was raped that day. "How could Bobby Bowden ever write a letter in that man's behalf, to try and help that man someday get out of prison?" Good question and one that hasn't been asked nearly enough. Since when did Bobby Bowden become a spokesperson for rape and rapists? Bowden chose to speak out the other day in support of embattled Colorado Coach Gary Barnett and, in the process, questioned the validity of recent rape allegations against Colorado football players. Bowden, who seems suddenly to have become an expert on rape crisis counseling, questioned why the alleged victims took so long to report crimes that happened a few years ago. "I did not understand how a young lady can say she was abused, or whatever it was, two years later," Bowden told reporters in South Carolina. "At the time, why don't you go report it? It seems like you ought to report it right [away]. So it makes me say, 'Well, did it really happen like that? I don't know.' " I wonder if Bobby also questions the integrity of the boys who were abused by Catholic priests and were too ashamed and embarrassed to come forward until years later? Or is it only boys who tell the truth? "I wish I could say that I'm surprised by Bobby Bowden's comments," says Witherspoon, an attorney in South Carolina. "Doesn't he always take the side of the athlete no matter what? It sure seems that way." Bowden, of course, knows nothing about the specifics in Colorado. He doesn't know the alleged victims. He doesn't know the players involved. All he seems to know is that he's a football coach, and football coaches defend their brethren and their boys -- defend them all the way to the penitentiary if necessary. If anybody has a right to feel betrayed by Bowden's public stance on rape, it is Witherspoon and his wife. She's a former Florida State student who was the victim of the horrifying sexual assault at the hands of Gibson, a former FSU running back who was on the team for less than a season. Gibson also was convicted on three other rape charges -- one in which he held a gun on a man and made him watch while he sexually assaulted his girlfriend. Gibson received six life sentences: four for rape, one for armed burglary and one for attempted felony murder. "What we have here is a serial rapist who has raped, we know of, four women," Tallahassee state attorney Willie Meggs said in court. "Brutalized them with firearms, physical force, deadly weapons. I want to be sure he never gets out." This serial rapist is the man for whom Bowden wrote a self-described "letter of reference" a few months ago before a hearing in which Gibson's lawyers tried to get the life sentences overturned so that Gibson someday would be released from prison. Gibson is the adopted son of former FSU player Ernie Sims Jr. and Alice Sims. Their son, Ernie Sims III, is a sophomore linebacker for the Seminoles who was rated by some recruiting analysts as the nation's No. 1 prep player coming out of high school. In the reference letter to Circuit Judge Kathleen Dekker, Bowden wrote, "I can only account for what I know about him when I was recruiting him out of [Tallahassee's] North Florida Christian High School and for the time he was on our football team at Florida State University." Bowden went on to write that Gibson was "no problem" when he suited up for the Seminoles and that he has a "loving, caring family." At the end, Bowden concluded: "Thank you for reading my letter and may God direct you in your decision." The letter was written on Florida State stationery and signed "Coach Bowden." When the letter became public through court records, Witherspoon said his wife was "crushed and crestfallen." This is a woman who loved Florida State, graduated from the school, and was a huge football fan whom friends say "revered Coach Bowden." "When she first found out about Bobby Bowden's letter, she couldn't even watch Florida State games on TV anymore," Witherspoon said. "How can you support a serial rapist? How could any coach speak up on behalf of this animal?" At the hearing in October, Witherspoon's wife had to get up and relive that horrible day once again. She's 34 now, an attorney and a mother of two. But, still, 11 years later, she can't forget. How could she? "He shot me first, and then he raped me," she testified. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. The thought of him getting out of prison terrifies me." Judge Dekker agreed. She ruled that Gibson must spend the rest of his life in jail. "You have committed unspeakable crimes," she told him. "Monstrous crimes." It has been said that Bobby Bowden sees the good in people, almost to a fault. But despite this penchant for blind loyalty, how could you ever see any good in any man who has shot and then raped a woman? After the Gibson hearing, Linda Miklowitz, the president of Florida's branch of the National Organization for Women, wrote a letter of protest about Bowden to Florida State President T.K. Wetherell. In the letter, obtained by the Sentinel on Thursday, Miklowitz lashed out: "Until FSU starts taking seriously sexual violence against women by athletes, the school will continue to send the despicable message to hundreds of young men that rape is okay. Censuring Bowden would be a good first indication of change of course." Miklowitz's suggestion obviously never was heeded because this week Bobby Bowden, it seems, once again turned into Bobby Knight -- except Bowden's graduation rate isn't nearly as high. It was Knight who once advised victims that, "if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it." Bowden's comments and actions, although not as callous, are just as insensitive. Wetherell came to Bowden's defense Thursday in an e-mailed statement in which he wrote: "I have known Coach Bowden for years. I am sure he never meant to suggest in any way that he condones any type of abusive behavior." What's even more troubling is that this isn't really just about Bowden; it's about the culture and the code of the locker room. In a sports world filled with attractive recruiting hostesses and under-the-table sex favors, women are treated as accessories and enticements. Boys will be boys. Girls will be toys. "It seems to me that these coaches help create this atmosphere of entitlement," Witherspoon says. "The athletes are led to believe that they are special; that the system owes them something. They think they can take anything they want, and that includes women. It's like, 'If she doesn't want me, I'm just going to take her.' " This is not to say Bowden or any coach condones rape, but -- at the same time -- shouldn't they go out of their way to condemn it? Rape is a serious problem in college, and one study found that one-third of campus rapes are perpetrated by athletes. Instead of always defending the players, just once wouldn't you like to hear a coach say, "How's the victim doing? Is she OK? What can we do to help her?" And instead of writing a letter of reference on behalf of the rapist, just once wouldn't you like the coach to write a letter of concern to the woman who was raped? Bobby Bowden defends his insensitive comments about rape by railing against "political correctness." But this isn't about political correctness; it's about correctness -- period. It's about doing and saying the right things and sending the right message. You don't question the honesty of an alleged rape victim you've never met. And you don't write letters on behalf of serial rapists. Especially if you sign your letters "Coach Bowden." That title means a lot to young men.
This article is SO true! I wonder how proud the females in the Bowden family must be? Do you think he ever takes his wifes feelings into consideration? I THINK NOT!!! TIGERS #1
Whether the former kicker (Katie Knida?) is telling the truth or not, TIGERS is absolutely right in that this whole thing should be treated with kids' gloves. Barnett absolutely stuck his foot in the mouth with his comments in reply to the allegations. I could see myself in that situation saying something like that to a buddy out of anger and disgust with the whole thing, but NOT ON A PRESS CONFERENCE! For crying out loud, on a press conference you give the typical "canned remarks" about it. If this ever goes to litigation and I was the young lady's attornery, I would use the remarks that Barnett made as part of my opening comments to the jury to show how little the school supposedly cared about her safety if she did, in fact, approach them initially. You're talking major lawsuit against the university there.
