Northwestern: Was Pat Fitzgerald firing right thing to do?

Did Northwestern ultimately do the right thing in firing football coach Fitzgerald?

In this week’s “Polling Place,” your home for Sun-Times sports polls on Twitter, that was topic No. 1. Voters supported the firing by a large margin, despite Fitzgerald’s claims that he was unaware of the alleged hazing in his program that an independent investigation found likely to have occurred.

“He was responsible for the health and well-being of his student-athletes,” @FauxMcCaskey commented, “and the NCAA has said as such about recent hazing incidents. Not knowing isn’t an excuse.”

“All those coaches and support personnel working with the team and nobody knew nothin’? FORGETABOUTIT!” @Bearstradamus_1 wrote.

But not everyone agreed.

“He went from a two-week suspension after an independent investigation to getting fired overnight? Seems a bit quick,” @00723maui offered.

And from @hollyplus5: “Not the right move. No crime was committed, and he was probably in the best position to clean up the mess.”

We also asked if Northwestern’s planned $800 million stadium renovation plan is a good idea at this time and if, in general, you care about the Wildcats a lot, a little or not at all.

On to the polls:

Poll No. 1: Did Northwestern ultimately do the right thing in firing football coach Pat Fitzgerald?

Upshot: The people have spoken. But it still is interesting to think about what would have happened if the initial punishment of Fitzgerald — two weeks without pay, and in the offseason, no less — had shown more teeth. If he’d been sentenced to miss, say, the first three games in September, would that have been enough to quiet this down? We’ll never know.

Poll No. 2: Is Northwestern’s planned $800 million stadium renovation a good idea at this time?

Upshot: There’s internal opposition at Northwestern from those who say the balance in spending between athletics (football in particular) and academics is not just off, but terribly off. And there’s external opposition in the community from those who don’t want the loud, late-night concerts and other events clogging the streets and all that. Evanston may have lost its appetite.

Poll No. 3: In general, how much do you care about Northwestern football?

Upshot: And here you have it, the biggest issue of all. Northwestern football just isn’t that big a deal. Has it ever been?