Steve Kelley / Times staff columnist
UW failed its basic mission with out-of-control program

ROD MAR / THE SEATTLE TIMES Lee Huntsman, acting UW president: "We failed in our care for our softball team."

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Softball used to be the feel-good story at the University of Washington, not the Dr. Feel Good story.

It used to be a story about a team of overachievers, who outworked and outhustled schools from the warmer climates and routinely challenged for Pac-10 championships and World Series invitations.

But it became a story, according to the school's internal investigation, about a rogue doctor roaming the dugout handing out prescription drugs and "over-medicating" its players.

It went from feel good to frightening. And now a new administration, after a painful and public self-examination, is admitting the mistakes of the past.

At yesterday's news conference, acting UW president Lee Huntsman mapped the strategies he hopes will assure that the past isn't repeated.

It came a couple of hours after the report by the university's four-member investigative panel was released, confirming previous allegations of drug abuse in the softball program.

After conducting interviews with 42 people, the report claims former team doctor William Scheyer, whom players nicknamed "Dr. Feel Good," and former trainer Craig Moriwaki were dispensing pain-killing drugs to softball players at alarming rates.

Some players who complained the drugs made them tired were given stimulants to get them to "perk up," according to faculty athletic representative Robert Aronson, a panel member.

Report on the UW women's softball program and alleged overmedication of players Introduction and background (815K PDF) Factual findings and analysis; allegations re: Dr. William Scheyer and assistant athletic director Craig Moriwaki (1M PDF) Coach Teresa Wilson's knowledge (1.3M PDF) What was known by assistant coach Scott Centala, Athletic Director Barbara Hedges, and senior associate athletic director Marie Tuite (1M PDF) The softball program environment; conclusion (697K PDF)

The report said former coach Teresa Wilson put her players in danger by keeping Scheyer on her staff even after responsibility for the medical care of the rest of school's athletic teams had been turned over to the University of Washington School of Medicine.

And the report said several witnesses asserted that her assistant and now co-head coach Scott Centala "knew or should have known about the medication that Scheyer and Moriwaki provided to softball players."

According to the report, players were high in the dugout during games. One player was mock-swimming on the floor of the dugout. Another collapsed into Wilson.

The report is scandalous and paints a picture of a program more concerned with winning than with the welfare of its players.

Wilson always was prideful of the fact that her players played hard and played hurt. Now we know the price they were asked to pay to play through the pain.

Parents of athletes send their children to college expecting the universities to take care of their children, not drug them.

The University of Washington athletic department, under the lax leadership of then-athletic director Barbara Hedges, betrayed a basic trust. Huntsman said the school was fortunate none of the softball players was injured by the cavalier medical treatment they fell victim to.

"The welfare of our student-athletes is a fundamental responsibility, and we failed," Huntsman eloquently said. "To me this is deeply troubling and painful. We will do better."

Later, he said, "I do feel very keenly that we failed in our care for our softball team."

And this: "There is plenty of blame to go around."

But the blame game has been played. And the university has acted correctly since the allegations against the softball team first were investigated by the state Department of Health.

No school self-investigates more thoroughly than the University of Washington.

"We are focused on what we can do in the future," interim athletic director Dick Thompson said.

Washington is making all the right moves.

	Dr. William Scheyer

Hedges was allowed to "retire," and the search for a new athletic director has begun. Wilson, who this week filed a sexual discrimination suit against the university, was "reassigned" and told her contract would not be renewed. Both Moriwaki, whose behavior seems unconscionable, and Scheyer are long gone.

The school of medicine now oversees all athletic teams, and Huntsman said the university is committed to changing the culture of its athletic department.

Washington has invited University of Tulsa president Bob Lawless and former NCAA president and Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner Gene Corrigan to visit Washington and conduct a "cultural review" to see how the university can better serve its athletes.

Marie Tuite, senior associate athletic director who overlooked or ignored complaints about Scheyer, should be fired. Centala almost certainly will be gone at the end of this season. Thompson said the search for a softball coach already has begun, and "the meat of the process will come at the end of the softball season."

After doing so much wrong, after placing in harm's way every softball player who ever played at the school, Washington finally is doing things right. By looking backward, it has found the proper way to go forward.

It has reacted responsibly to the irresponsibility of Dr. Feel Good and a legion of co-conspirators.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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