Columnist Tim Graham: Player carried tiff way too far

Tim Graham's column appears Thursday. His media notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-4078.

As the youngest of three children, I knew how to get my way.

I was my mother's baby boy. Delicate. Fragile.

Still am, in fact.

And it didn't take long for me to figure out how to capitalize.

My brother is four years older than me. When we were growing up he always was considerably stronger. Jeff liked to roughhouse like most kids do, and on more than one occasion, You Know Who got to play the role of speed bag.

Since I was too weak to fight back -- still am, in fact -- I found ways to get even.

Sometimes I would be a willing participant in his own little living room Wrestlemania. And when I was feeling particularly tough I'd crack him one. Then my head would end up damaging the drywall.

Well, when that happened, Mom just had to be informed.

"Look what Jeff did to me!" I'd scream, forcing up some tears. "Look at my head! Look at the wall! What do you need? A videotape?"

Then Jeff would be ordered to his room.

Last week, Amy Wunderlich pulled the same stunt. The UNLV women's basketball player got into a tiff with assistant coach Lisa Rathbun in the heat of competition.

It seems both hit the floor while going after a loose ball in practice and a struggle ensued. Wunderlich elbowed Rathbun and then claimed she was kicked, scratched and had her jersey torn -- a reverse-Sprewell of sorts.

But Wunderlich improved on the technique I used. Not only did the senior forward inform matriarch Regina Miller, but she also talked to the press.

I wish I would have thought of that. The media would have run my brother out of town on a rail for abusing me like he did.

And that, in effect, is what has happened to Rathbun. After she was told to stay away from the team for its two home games last weekend, she was relieved of her duties on Tuesday. She will be paid for the remainder of her one-year contract, but it will not be renewed.

Rathbun hired Las Vegas attorney Steve Stein to represent her and possibly handle litigation against UNLV. Rathbun will meet with Stein this afternoon. The two may release a statement Friday.

Wunderlich, by all accounts, is giddy about Rathbun's punishment. Wunderlich is still playing and is with the Rebels for their two-game road trip, which starts tonight at Wyoming and ends Saturday at Colorado State.

Maybe Miller gave Wunderlich an ice cream cone, too.

C'mon, ladies. You're not children.

This is a minor situation that has been blown out of proportion. Wunderlich and Rathbun have been around athletics long enough to know when incidents arise out of spirited competition you need to let your emotions wane and then make up. Shake hands. Kiss each other on the cheek. Whatever.

As a Division I head coach for seven years, Miller knows this. She should have intervened until her player and assistant reached accord. Instead, an insignificant occurrence escalated into a controversy.

There is no way Rathbun should have lost her job.

Sent to her room? Maybe.

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