Data Center is an industry where most assume secrecy is a standard practice. Secrecy makes life easier as many can do things that aren’t known to the public. But, with Facebook, Twitter, and many other social sites documenting people’s actions, it is harder to keep things secret. One of the latest examples in College Football’s Ohio St football coach Jim Tressel.
The WSJ article reviews the situation.
The Sport That Can't Keep a Secret
College Football's Sins Keep Getting Publicly Exposed—But Isn't Sunlight a Disinfectant?
By DARREN EVERSON
The public shaming of Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel is the latest in a series of revelations that have touched nearly all the top programs in college football and many of the sport's most prominent stars.
Photo Illustration by The Wall Street Journal; Zuma Press
The recent suspension of Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel points to a complex truth.
The long trail of investigations, accusations, clarifications and statements of heartfelt contrition has cut from North Carolina to Oregon in recent months, scooping up national champions, famous coaches and Heisman Trophy winners.
Some see the openness as a good change.
The obvious conclusion to draw is that college football's moral center has been replaced with a delicious filling of creamy marzipan. (Good luck finding someone who would argue the other side). But the events of recent days also point to another, more complex truth: College football is becoming an impossible place to keep secrets.
"The more transparency, the more openness the better," said former Michigan athletic director Bill Martin. "I think this is all very healthy."
The NCAA has an impossible task to try and monitor football let alone all college athletics, but their life is much easier thanks to web properties like Facebook, Twitter, and TMZ.com.
In the last year, NCAA investigators have been drawn to ask questions about everything from a report on TMZ.com that a player was at a party sponsored by an agent to a Facebook post in which one heavily recruited high school player posted about his new iPhone.
There have been controversies generated by reports of players who've been spotted in fancy cars. And because most schools are public institutions supported by taxpayers, they're required to respond to requests for information made under the Freedom of Information Act.
The mood is changing to help the NCAA catch the illegal action.
Beyond enforcement, however, there's a growing consensus throughout college football that the NCAA is simply doing a better job of collecting information. "In the past, the NCAA was often criticized for not knowing what's going on in the real world," Baker said. "I think we've got a pretty good idea. Coaches and players are starting to realize that as well."
What's often forgotten is that the immense popularity of college football, the intensity of its rivalries and the increasing interconnections of its fans, have created another potent police force. The result: more messes are being exposed. But the sport is also seeing more than its share of sunlight. And as Justice Louis Brandeis said, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant."
"I don't know that things are a lot different—it's just that people are turning in schools now that weren't before," said Gary Barnett, the former Northwestern and Colorado coach. "It really comes down to all of the hype that's around this sport. The hype is involved, therefore the interest is involved, and people are willing to come forward."
In the future there is going to be a data center disaster that will break the code of secrecy in a location. What type of event? Imagine if there was a loss of life due to a data center going down or a data center is proven to be the center of criminal activity. An investigation into the data center could bring out a bunch of people who were witnesses to illegal activities. What kind? Watch where the money flows.
Ironically what could snare some of the top dogs is how they are proven to know of the inappropriate activity, but as long as the data center was running it is not a priority. Ethics in the data center should help transparency and openness which also makes it easier to green the data center.
