It's been quite some time since I last wrote, because I didn't really have anything worthwhile to write about. Nothing is changed...there's nothing worthwhile to report...but there IS some garbage I'd like some feedback on.
Here's the deal...I think the parents of kids in sports pretty much suck. The coach of Henley's freshmen basketball team has been suspended for one week and told that he won't be back next season because a kid's mother thinks he's too hard on the kids on the team. She and one other parent wrote a letter to the Principal and AD at Henley to complain about his coaching style...and that was all it took. Presto Chango...write a letter because your kid doesn't get the playing time you think he should get, and WHAM! The guy's job is gone. He coached Doug last year, and Doug liked him...in fact Doug told me a bunch of times this year that he wished that the guy could coach the JV team. He's pretty hard on the kids, and makes them run when they screw up or don't work hard, but he knows the game and from what I've seen is more than fair with substitutions. I'm pretty sure the freshmen won every league game they played last year, and they're 10 and 1 this year, so it's obvious that he has some coaching abilities. I guess he dropped some F Bombs in practice, and that's what he's being hung for.
Here's my question...all of you guys have been in multiple sports your whole lives, and all of you except Doug have done something on a collegiate level...were any of you offended because of a coach chewing your butt in practice or during a meet or game? Were any of you ready to quit because someone used foul language? Did you have any coaches that DIDN'T at one time or another use some pretty nasty words? I don't remember any of you guys ever complaining about anything other than someone's stupidity...which I completely understand...but I don't think anyone was ready to quit because of offensive language or having to work too hard in practice.
Normally I try not to get involved in stuff like this, but I felt that the idiots in this case deserved a rebuttal, so I wrote a letter to Henley's principal backing the coach...and copied Jack Lee and Greg Thede (the Klamath County school superintendent). Do you think I tubed Doug's career at Henley by sticking my nose in where it wasn't really invited? I'm sure the AD and principal are pissed.
Let me know what you think, please....
So, I wrote a big long comment last night, then my Internet died and I lost it... this won't be as "poetic".
ReplyDeleteI never really had any trouble with any of my coaches. Smith like to yell but not so much at us, his pets (the distance girls), he yelled at the rest of the team a lot though. I'm sure Dan yelled a lot of curses and swears at us, but I didn't listen to a word he said because I know he didn't know what he was talking about. My coaches in The Dalles and at OIT were never seemed to yell much, or maybe I'm just so perfect that nothing was ever targeted at me so I don't remember :)
As for Doug's career...did he have one? Ha ha, just kidding. If he gets shunned (more so than he already has) I say that you should move up here to Eugene where the coaches may yell at their teams but at least the parents know better than to complain about it.
I don't know about the parents in Eugene being any better. I'm pretty sure that no matter where you go, you're going to come across people with their heads stuck up their asses. However, the fact that their little tirade actually paid off at Henley is simply ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, I think profanity is a great motivator, sometimes a little harsh, but useful nonetheless.
I can't remember a coach that I truly respected that didn't cuss up and down the court. If every other word is an F bomb, then yeah it might be a problem, but I know that's not how it's done.
There are only a few reasons a coach should be fired and a little profanity isn't one of them.
As far as Doug's career, it seems to me that at a school like Henley where they seem to bend over and take it from the parents, it would only help him out. Dad, you just became one of the parents they don't want to piss off more. What they don't realize is that they can't please everyone, even though they will try.
Well throughout my sports career, as short lived as it may have been, I had the chance to see several different coaching styles. I'd have to disagree with Jeff and say that you don't have to cuss or use harsh language to be a good coach, but you do have to be able to connect with and gain respect from your team! Sometimes I think a coach can do this simply by using harsh language. I'm pretty sure however that there are rules in place at the High School level that prohibit a coach from using excessive harsh or fowl language though, or at least it was a problem once on a team I was on, and the coach actually had to apologize to us (the team) for the way he had spoken to us. I speak for the whole team when I say it was pretty much a joke. What's really stupid here is that it's not the kids on the team that are complaining, its their parents. Even though its not this way, I feel the parent's role on a sports team should be strictly related to spectating.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of getting off the subject though, cussing isn't that bad, it can motivate and help get an important point across, if this coach was fired for that alone then the school is way ridiculous. The guy should at the very least get a warning first.
As for Doug...I've always believed you make your own destiny. Dad, you can be the loudest craziest, most out of control person in the world, and if Doug can play basketball he'll be just fine...if not then he's just got you as an excuse to why he didn't succeed.