Good Article:
It’s rained on spring sports programs around the state all week, but nothing like the way it’s rained down on the head of Blackman baseball coach Doug Greene and his program.
If you’ve missed it, Greene is currently suspended by school officials, while they contemplate his fate following accusations by his players of verbal and physical abuse.
The situation began, according to players and their parents, after a loss to Rossville during a weekend tournament earlier this month. Greene lost his temper, and drew the ire of parents after they were told of his actions.
Originally suspended for two games after the Rossville incident, Greene returned to the field last week, only to have so many players refuse to play the team’s game against Wilson Central had to be canceled.
Some members of the Blackman booster club informed school officials shortly after the incident their sons would boycott the team entirely unless Greene resigned or was fired, and since then the Blaze head coach has been in limbo, while his assistants run the program.
As of this writing, Greene’s suspension looked to be on its way to extending into its second week. A decision was expected on Wednesday night, but administrators have delayed either extending the suspension, or fully resolving the issue by either firing Greene or allowing him to return.
The question which arises, and which has already been asked by writers close to the situation, is simple: How much power does a school’s administration allow a select group of parents to wield?
Sure, they put in their time to help the program. One Blaze booster noted how parents have even gathered in the snow to build fences at the team’s complex, and worked 12 hours in a Titans concession stand to raise money for the team.
But isn’t that what boosters are there for? To support the team, to raise money, and to cheer on their children?
Of course when accusations of abuse are raised, you have to look out for your kids’ best interest. And if a parent feels his child will be exposed to abuse, it’s that parent’s right to pull that child off the field.
But shouldn’t the coach’s future rest with his true bosses — the administration — and not with a group of parents who may have another hidden agenda?
One Blaze player, in an interview with Steve Heath of the Daily News Journal, feels some of his teammates’ parents have had it in for Greene for a while.
“I feel like he apologized to us and said he wouldn’t do it again and I believe him,” outfielder Jonte Haggins said. “People need forgiveness. There was no intention to hurt anyone. If he wanted to hurt someone he could. It’s just a misunderstanding.
“There are probably some parents out there that don’t like him and feel this is their opportunity.”
These boosters, who are so ready to see a man lose part of his livelihood, now claim their sons “have lost all respect for this man over the years” because of his actions and language.
Why, then, is this the first time something has been brought up about it? Could it be because the Blaze, who have been the upstarts of the district for the past few seasons, are suddenly among the league’s also-rans? Could it be because some of their star players have already locked down their future plans with college scholarships, and now there’s nothing left to gain from the rest of their high school careers?
The future of this scenario is plain to see, if you put yourself in the mindset of some of these parents. Next will come the petition, where they try to prove to the school officials how many people want the coach out of there.
If he stays, we’ll see the lawsuits, because “Johnny could’ve gotten a scholarship if he’d played, but they had that so-and-so in at coach.”
If he’s fired, Blackman’s administration has shown it will bow to the will of a group of parents. That precedent could wind up landing any other coach — who shows his temper, or pulls a player out of a lineup, or heaven forbid has a player who doesn’t earn a scholarship — squarely in the next booster club’s firing line.
Bottom line, it’s an ugly situation, and it’s going to get a lot uglier, regardless of the administration’s decision. But fortunately, finally, and for once, it’s not happening here.
At least not yet.