Second Thoughts

Rice band rips Baylor in mock act

Former Baylor Coach Art Briles missed the Rice band’s show, choosing to leave at halftime.
Former Baylor Coach Art Briles missed the Rice band’s show, choosing to leave at halftime.

Rice University's marching band appeared to have a special message for Baylor and former coach Art Briles, who attended the first half of the Owls-Bears game Friday night in Houston.

photo

AP Photo/File

Ex-Baylor president Kenneth Starr

During their halftime performance, the Marching Owls formed a "IX" in front of the visiting fans section -- an apparent reference to the sexual assault scandal that shook up the school this year and resulted in Briles being fired.

"There are nine judges on the Supreme Court or is it?" a narrator said during the performance on the stadium's loudspeakers, according to the Houston Chronicle, apparently referencing the multiple Title IX lawsuits the victims of sexual assault have filed against Baylor in the wake of the scandal.

Briles was one of a handful of high-level school officials fired after an investigation conducted earlier this year revealed Baylor officials tried to cover up sexual assault allegations.

Along with Briles, Rice's marching band also apparently trolled ex-Baylor president Kenneth Starr, who was demoted amid the scandal and ultimately resigned. While playing a rendition of "Hit the Road, Jack," the band formed itself into a star shape.

According to the Chronicle, the performance was proceeded by an image of the Muppet Fozzie Bear on the stadium's video board, while the announcer quipped, "Some jokes can be unbearable."

Unsurprisingly, some Bears fans really did find Rice's jokes unbearable, according to Rice's student newspaper, the Rice Thrasher, which reported an angry Baylor student confronted some members of the marching band later in the night.

"Rice students calmed the situation," the Thrasher reported on Twitter.

Briles, it appears, did not get to see the performance. According to ESPN, he left the game at halftime.

"I'm not trying to be a distraction," Briles told ESPN when he was leaving. "It's about the coaches and it's about the players."

Baylor beat the Owls 38-10.

Miami nice

NBA star Dwyane Wade still plans to do plenty of talking about the need for societal change, a quest that became even more personal for him after one of his cousins was shot and killed last month on a Chicago street.

Talk, he knows, isn't enough.

"Actions," he said, "speak louder than words."

So Wade took action on Saturday morning. Back in Miami -- his former home, the city where he played for the first 13 years of his NBA career -- Wade hopped on a bicycle for a six-mile ride through the streets to promote unity. Alongside him were Miami police officers, who quickly threw their support behind the event when Wade, now a member of the Chicago Bulls, came up with the idea.

"I really reached out to the police department for them to be a part of this, to really drive home unity with the police as well in the community," said Wade, who had hundreds of fans and supporters wake up early to join him as well. "I think today was a good step in the right direction for everyone who came out here."

Sports on 09/18/2016

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