It had all the makings of a scandal from the start.

A prominent figure at the center of conflict. Revelations unfolding daily. Timeliness.

But in the months since the allegations against Bernie Fine, the former associate head coach of Syracuse University’s men’s basketball team, broke in mid-November, discussion of the scandal has slowed.

The Orange propelled to the top of the AP and ESPN/USA Today polls with a program-best 20-0 start, quieting any concerns the controversy would harm the team’s play. Despite a setback at Notre Dame last Saturday, No. 3 Syracuse is in the midst of a record season, and fans expect a Final Four appearance.

For some, the excitement surrounding a possible national title run replaced the Fine scandal in headlines and daily media. Syracuse fans are focused on the superior play of the Orange on the court rather than the sex abuse scandal that continues to hover off it — a stark contrast to the reaction following the early developments two months ago, said Jim Lerch, a Syracuse sports talk radio host.

On Nov. 28, the day after Fine was fired, Lerch was flooded with phone calls to his show ‘Bud & The Manchild’ on The Score 1260. Lerch counted it among the most remarkable shows he’s done in 10 years working in radio.

The phone lines were jammed — and they stayed jammed for about two weeks.

During that time, the Fine story was the only topic covered on the show Lerch co-hosts with The Post-Standard columnist Bud Poliquin. Not a single mention of Syracuse basketball as the Orange played through national media frenzy and established itself among the top teams in the nation.

‘All Bernie Fine calls, nothing about the basketball team, just about the story and what did we know? What was new?’ Lerch said.

But following the original wave of coverage, fans seemed to lose interest and the radio host estimates that since then Fine has emerged as a topic of discussion ‘less than five times.’ The attention has completely shifted to basketball and the lofty expectations for this season, Lerch said.

The questions now are about how far the team can go in the NCAA Tournament — specifically whether the Orange can make a run to the Final Four and ultimately capture the national championship.

When news broke last week that the fourth accuser lied about the allegations against Fine and the third doctored emails to the media, Lerch said nobody cared enough to call into the show.

‘At this point, I would think it’s very fair to say that the team has taken over and the Bernie Fine story is really, at least at this point, completely on the backburner,’ Lerch said.

For fans following the scandal, basketball can be a common rallying point.

Situations where scandal or other difficulty is involved can potentially unite individuals, said Hinda Mandell, an assistant professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology who studied political sex scandals for her dissertation at SU.

Lovers of SU basketball, for example, might feel under attack when associated with the scandal and band with one another in defense, she said.

Adam Earnheardt, associate professor of communication at Youngstown State University who studies sports fandom, said sports teams and schools often become part of a fan’s identity, so fans want to focus on the positive aspects of the team rather than negatives.

‘They want to focus on the good things that are happening with that team because it makes the fan feel better about themselves, about the life that they’re living,’ Earnheardt said.

In the wake of legendary Pennsylvania State University football head coach Joe Paterno’s death, Earnheardt said fans are remembering Paterno as a leader and visionary in their community because they want to identify with something great, not with the sex abuse scandal involving former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Fan mentality is one of many factors contributing to the drop in attention surrounding these scandals.

Brad Gorham, chair of the communications department in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, offered a different take and attributed the lack of developments and nature of media to the slowdown in Fine coverage.

‘Scandals, like most news events, only stay in the news a long time if there are new revelations, if there are new findings, if there’s something new to pop up and creep in every few days,’ he said.

Should additional, significant details be released, Gorham said the spotlight will once more be cast on the Fine allegations.

The sexual abuse scandal that stunned Penn State earlier in November affected the initial coverage of the Fine allegations, Gorham said. ESPN’s decision to run the Fine story was likely a product of media agenda-setting, in which the media signals important issues to audiences, Gorham said. He added that many were critical of ESPN’s initial Penn State coverage, and ESPN perhaps saw the Fine scandal as an opportunity to recover.

Gorham said SU managed the Fine situation well by creating good will among the university’s key stakeholders, easing the transition from scandal to basketball season.

‘I think that helped set the stage to make it a lot easier for us to focus on the basketball team,’ Gorham said.

But Syracuse’s winning season hasn’t silenced all discussion of Fine, Gorham said. The team’s ability to win, despite the controversy that initially marred the start of the Orange’s season, is also a talking point in media and sports circles.

‘I don’t think people have forgotten about Bernie Fine,’ he said, ‘but I think they see that as separate from what the basketball team is doing now.’

rjgery@syr.edu

dbtruong@syr.edu

Published on January 24, 2012 at 12:00 pm