There’s been all kinds of tension of late in Lawrence, KS between the football and basketball programs, and with the University Of Kansas’ No. 1 ranked hoops squad tipping off against Memphis tonight, under normal circumstances, Bill Self’s squad would hog the national headlines. However, that was before the school announced an internal investigation into the conduct of head football coach Mark Mangino, an inquiry that seems to center around Mangino’s alleged temper. Kansas visits Austin this weekend, and if the following report is correct, the UT athletic department would be well advised to offer Mangino a V.I.P. parking pass right outside of DKR. From the Lawrence Journal-World’s Mark Fagan :

In June of 2007, Mangino (above, left) received a ticket from KU Parking and Transit for parking his vehicle in the loading zone south of Parrott Athletic Center ” the 23rd time he had been ticketed for parking in the space.

Donna Hultine, director of KU Parking and Transit, reported that the particular ticket had spurred Mangino to track down the student employee who had written the ticket and launch a 10-minute, expletive-filled œtirade so loud that it drew several employees out of nearby Allen Fieldhouse to watch.

œHe screamed, yelled and cussed for a while and then got out of his car and screamed, yelled and cussed 6 inches from the student™s face, Hultine said, in an e-mail to her boss at Strong Hall, Vice Provost Jim Long.

Contacted Tuesday, Hultine said she was pleased with the athletics department™s quick response to her complaints. Indeed, she said, Mangino hasn™t been ticketed since the incident and even has gone out of his way this season to be cordial to Parking and Transit employees when he sees them.

œIt tells me that he™s willing to play by the rules and if he™s at least changed his behavior towards us, that™s great, she said.

But two years ago, Hultine said, she was concerned for the very safety of her employees.

œI didn™t want to put any of my folks in his path, Hultine said Tuesday. œBased on that incident, I knew what he was capable of. I had to stop it. I needed it to be addressed.”