Editorial: Dear AD Rubincam . . .

In 1988, the Penn football team went 9-1 to win a share of its sixth Ivy League championship in seven years. In 1989, Gary Steele took over the Quakers' head coaching helm. Since then, the football team has a 7-17 record. Football laughingstock Columbia and the formerly-football dynasty Quakers have an equal number of wins -- three -- in their last 19 games. Coach Steele has shuffled quarterbacks for the past three games, not allowing either junior Fitz McKinnon or sophomore Jimmy McGeehan to get a firm grip on Penn's error-prone offense. Coach Steele has blamed this year's gridiron fiasco on his players several times, including telling his players to play with a more "balls-out effort." Maybe he should ask himself who is responsible for team effort, discipline and fundamentals. So, Mr. Rubincam, are you wondering whether we are asking for the removal of Coach Steele from his position? Wrong. We are assuming that Coach Steele will not be back at his post once this miserable season thankfully ends.