My "dismissal"

[TheEgoHasLanded]

Fair enough Lionboy, keep me informed please.

[dynasty03]

I want to right now take the chance to applaud Ben for standing up against a "giant". It's a shame when people say that he (Ben) should have been hit in the mouth, or that criminal charges should have been brought against him, and that he has no respect. If you are judging a man by a post that he has made on this message board then maybe you should be hit in the mouth. I know that him going against Smith automatically gave him 3 strikes regardless of the terms he was on before. It's a shame that a person is talked so bad about because he did what he thought was right. Not that he rebelled, not that he broke a rule to just break the rule, he did what he thought was right. Basketball is not fun to play if you don't enjoy the people you play with or the coach you play for no matter how good you are. And many coaches and players can make practice and games a living heck and it wears you down mentally and physically. High school is the best 4 years of your life and regardless if you are good at anything or not if you don't enjoy it then you shouldn't play. It seems that people are upset that Ben isn't being the Ben they wanted him to be. But what's even worse than that is people are criticizing him for being the Ben that HE wants to be! I hope people don't get Ben down easily because it would be easy for it to happen with the way people talk. Once again I want to applaud him for standing up for himself and doing what he thinks is right.

[Edited by dynasty03 on 10-26-02 11:52P]

[tnwareagle]

When what HE thinks is right is showing disrespect to an adult and coach, it doesn't show me a very good person. Quitting playing sports because it is not fun is fine. Being disrespectful to an adult because he doesn't do what you think he should is low. Very low! One problem in this world today is that teens show very little respect to others even adults in authority. If he just doesn't like the game anymore, then fine, walk away from it silently with some class.

[TJ]

I didn't want to get involved with this but I'm going to. First of all, Kareem, you idiot, you don't know Ben nor do you know his level of intelligence. Ben is one of the brightest kids I know, even though people may think that he's made some questionable decisions. Ben will go to college, he may even play. Ben will make a lot of money one day b/c he's very smart. So shut your mouth. I have said this 4 or 5 times now, I am not on either side. I love Ben and I love Coach Smith. Like Hardingboy said, Coach Smith does teach good life lessons and does make you a better person. I am a better person b/c of playing for him b/c he MADE me grow up and deal w/ adversity and it goes so much further than just on the court adversity. He helped me deal w/ one of the toughest situations in my life my senior year and it has nothing to do w/ basketball. Now whether he did it b/c he cared THAT much or b/c he did it b/c he knew I couldn't compete on the level that he needed me to w/ it on my mind, I do not know. I would like to think the first, but either way, it helped me deal w/ it and I am a much tougher person b/c of it. BUT, HardingBoy, Ben is entitled to his opinion and obviously things had happened within those 3 1/4 years at Bartlett to make him form his opinion and I do know a handful of other players that feel the exact same way about Coach Smith. Heck, if you would've asked me what I thought about him before the summer of going into my senior year, I may have very well said the same thing. Like Ego said, we know and knew what goes on more than just the outside. All you see is the Coach Smith that the communtity knows. We know him deeper than that, not saying that negitively. And like I said earlier, if you aren't mature enough to deal w/ Coach Smith, then it can turn out badly. He even told me this before I got to Bartlett. I walked into his office at his camp to tell him that I was interested in going to Bartlett and the FIRST thing he told me was, "I'm not an easy coach to deal with." and I said "I've heard." I don't agree w/ the fact that bad poked Coach Smiht in the chest as much as anyone else on here. Me and Coach Smith have gotten into confrontations where our emotions have gotten the best of us too. There was one such situation where he grabbed my jersey once. I personally didn't care, but he knew that he had stepped out of his boundaries and he apologized. Ben's emotions prolly just got the best of him? Has that ever happened to you? Has anyone on this message board made a mistake? Okay, nuff said. Like i've said before so no one thinks that i'm against Coach Smith, I love the man and his staff to death. They taught me so many things that incorporate into my life today and I can't put into words how much to thank them. Adversity can either help of hurt a person and it used to hurt me until they taught me how to deal with it. I can now deal w/ negitivity better because of them now, whether it has to do w/ bball of just some garbage going on in my life. I have now heard most of BOTH sides about this and Ben is far from right but not totally wrong if that's what he felt he needed to do. TroyJ44 IM or TroyJ44@aol.com PEACE.

[Edited by TJ on 10-27-02 6:59P]

[wildcatfan]

Kareem first of all was pointing out that your bright star had butchered some pretty easy words. Maybe he was just concealing his identity, like sometimes is done on a ransom note (I am being sarcastic here). Under no circumstances should an athlete threaten a coach. I come from a background that encourages respect. I forget who mentioned it on this thread, but a team is NOT a democracy. Once he stuck that finger in his coach's chest, he should have been in a bus the next morning on the way to his local Alternative Learning Center, along with all the other kids who threaten faculty members. They have really sporty uniforms- Orange with black lettering.

 

TJ, I am not going to go as far as calling you an idiot, but I do believe that you are misguided. Folks, lets remember that after school athletics are privilege not a right. We must all remember that. There are better ways to deal with problems besides sticking fingers in chests and calling people names.

 

Ben should have told the coach where he stood instead of making a profane, physical confrontation, then he truly would have made the same stand as Martin Luther did at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Luther stood up to the church, but he didn't make his point by burning the pope at the stake(I'm pretty sure he didn't assault them in the locker room either).

[Edited by wildcatfan on 10-27-02 8:58P]

 

[TJ]

Wildcat fan, lol, so I'm misguided b/c I took up for my former teammate, when he does not know Ben, b/c some jerk made fun of him for some minor spelling mistakes, and told him everything he wasn't going to do in his life b/c he quit a basketball team? Get a grip man. This is a message board, not a spelling test. I've said it before, playing for Bartlett or any great program is a privlige that you don't realize until you don't play for them anymore.

 

Ben should have told the coach where he stood instead of making a profane, physical confrontation,

 

Maybe if you would've read all the text in Ben's post you would've seen where he said that he had tried to quit when he didn't like where things were going but they kept talking him into coming back. But you are right about playing sports is a privlige. I guess your post had a little bit to do w/ this thread after all. Don't come on here and get on me when I defend my teammate. After all, I wasn't the one who started the name calling.

[Edited by TJ on 10-27-02 10:12P]

 

[TheEgoHasLanded]

Coach Smith is not like any normal coach and he doesn't want normal players. My brother plays for Coach Harrington right now, and it took him time to adjust...It is not something that you can understand if you are looking from the outside in. I have been around Smith, Harrington, and a few other coaches that follow their ideas to an extent...and it was never like any aau coach or high school coach I was around. There are different paths to success, they choose a different route to get there...

[wildcatfan]

He NEVER had to return. He made the choice. TJ, I think you are way out of touch. Ben (is that even his name) should be in ALC for his treatment of a faculty member.

[TJ]

LOL, you make me laugh. You know NOTHING of the Bartlett basketball program or Coach Smith, so you don't understand. You are on the outside looking in. I can speak from DIRECT experience b/c I was there many times when Ben almost quit. Coach Smith can be VERY persuasive sometimes and is hard to say no to. How about you just be quiet and quit taking up space on this thread b/c you have no idea what you're talking about and you're just trying to cause trouble.

[Stokomo]

I read everyone's article to put down this kid. Yes, what he did was absolutely wrong and he should have went about everything he did a different way. But, if he is saying something that is true, then there are some issues. When I read his post, what stuck out to me was the coach making him play with a stress fracture that turned into a fracture. If, and I mean if, this is true, then there needs to be something done. I would ask where this boy's parents are. If my child had an injury and the coach made him play, I would be upset. And if my child put his hands on anyone, especially an adult, then I would address that issue also with stern discipline. Ego said it best! Neither are 100% correct, and this story just needs to resolve itself, because you have a team that knows the real story and it is supposed to stay within that area. To Bartletths55, I would get your parents involved instead of putting you & your coaches business out in the open. Your parents should have handled this situation. And I'm not knocking anyone for doing or lack of doing. That's just how things are supposed to be done, by adults vs. adults.

[Guest bartletths55]

I have said that the way I handled the situation may have not been the best. In fact it may have been the worst. But Coach Smith involved me as a person, not as a basketball player and that is something I had asked him several times not to do. Because of that, I got emotional.

 

It seems like the biggest complaint was that I dissrespected him by talking to him in such a manner and placing a finger on him, which I will admit once again was wrong and I have been punished because of it. But then what gives Coach Smith the right to personally insult me in the same manner? And if we were being serious about the whole corrections facility remark, I would like the record to show that he has pushed, poked, and shaken more players than they have him. In that case, he should be in jail. Again, I'm not saying I was in the right, but how come you automatically side with him? Because he is older? Because he has a reputation? Because he is a coach? There is alot more that goes on when the gym doors close.

 

Your using spelling against me? Sure, if you would have asked me to explain how a black hole affects time/space I could have done that. But spelling is not my strong point.

 

And maybe I am too individualistic to be successful, at least by society's standards. That doesn't bother me.

 

mhalionboy03 said "It shows a lack of maturity and respect. It's fine to suggest some changes to Coach Smith, but he is the one who has been coaching 18 years and has a AAA state title. If he doesn't accept your suggestions, deal with it."

I did suggest changes to the coaching staff, and they were agreed to. Then they were broken by Coach Smith. No, I don't have much respect for Coach Smith ever since this summer when he showed up late for games. That to me says that he doesn't care very much.

 

"You complain; you are an individual; you don't play college ball; you don't graduate from college; you will never be mentioned by people generations from now, much less 5 years from now in Bartlett."

Do I care if I'm not mentioned at Bartlett? And to infer that I won't graduate from college is a poor assumption at best.

 

"He's lucky Coach Smith didn't hit him in the mouth. A teacher has a right to defend themselves if a student puts their hands on them."

It's funny he should mention "rights."

 

"He NEVER had to return. He made the choice."

No, I didn't have to return, but I did under the assumption that things would change, and they didn't. The only reason I came back was because of the guilt trips he put me through and some indirect threats.

[HighSchoolStats]

Young man your an insult to your family,friends,school, and high school basketball. How can you get on here and try an explain yourself. There is no explanation for it!! The only thing your coach should be blamed for is having you on the team in the first place. How dare you compare yourself to such great men also. They tried to rid the world of thugs like you! You showed you have no dedication to the game, you also showed you have little respect for anyone. So what a coach get's onto you, he's only trying to make you better. Not only should you have been kicked off the team,you should have also been kicked out of school. And...I'll have a Big Mac and fries, get use to that because with an attitude like yours McDonalds is as far as you will get in life!!!!!