Blackman Decision Today

[BigTommy]

wHAT was the suspension for? I've been out of town for a while, and the Tennesean didn't say.

[Guest Oakland]

i believe mr. gill made the right decision by suspending greene for the rest of the season. this gives both sides a chance to cool of and start over again once the season ends. now that blackman knows greene wont be back for rest of the season i expect them to play much better than they have been, blackman could be a potential darkhorse come tournament time if they can get their offense rolling

[ballbasher30]

i totally disagree with the suspension. it gives the message that if students and parents dont like a coach or the style of coaching, blow a situation up and have him out for the year. yes he should be disciplined for the incidient and he was, a two week suspension. since when has it become ok for a player and parent to dictate who coaches a high school team. this is wrong, and the leadership at the school and the county should be ashamed for letting this happen. i guess if i am unhappy with a coach, tell my kid to do something to set the coach off and we can have a new coach for the rest of the year. seems like the thing to do in rutherford county and blackman high school. again, parents and administration should be greatly ashamed for the outcome here. to coach greene, hang in there and maybe after your premadonna seniors leave blackman you can get back to what you do best, coaching a group of kids that want to be coached in the great game of baseball.

[bhump1981]

Year long suspension is a severe penalty no doubt. Coach Greene will probably have to take some anger management classes to show his sincereity in changing. Just from reading today's account of the final decision, it is apparent that this won't be enough for the boosters/parents. A couple have gone on record to state that they don't trust him and don't want him to return next year. Yet, the President of the boosters goes on record to say that the boosters didn't have anything to do with the suspension. How hypocritical can you be.

 

Looks like certain boosters/parents don't believe in second chances or the idea that people can change and deserve another opportunity.

[baseball junkie]

ballbasher30 I agree that we can't let players or parents dictate how our coaches coach. But the problem was that Coach Greene let his emotions get the best of him when he shoved one of his players. That is why he was suspended. Hopefully he will return next year and maybe someone could get the players and parents to calm down and let him coach because what everyone is saying is that he is a good coach.

[ballbasher30]

maybe i have gotten some wrong info, but i was told by a person in the dugout that the player he was upset with is not the one he shoved. he was yelling at a kid and when he turned to leave the dugout he bumped/shoved a kid into the bench an accident. he apologized for bumping into the kid and did not apologize to the player he was yelling at. since someone in the dugout has told me this, i got the feeling that parents and players not happy with coach greene made this seem a lot worse then it was and that he shoved the player he was mad at seeing a chance to get coach greene in trouble. if this is really what happened, who thinks coach greene is being punished justly or unjustly?

[Patriot97]

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.

[baseball junkie]

maybe i have gotten some wrong info, but i was told by a person in the dugout that the player he was upset with is not the one he shoved. he was yelling at a kid and when he turned to leave the dugout he bumped/shoved a kid into the bench an accident. he apologized for bumping into the kid and did not apologize to the player he was yelling at. since someone in the dugout has told me this, i got the feeling that parents and players not happy with coach greene made this seem a lot worse then it was and that he shoved the player he was mad at seeing a chance to get coach greene in trouble. if this is really what happened, who thinks coach greene is being punished justly or unjustly?

If this is what really happened then Coach Greene was unjustly suspended.

[Guest Oakland]

blackman is fast developing a reputation as a school that people dont wanna coach at. blackman needs to follow riverdale's and oakland's lead by letting the coach run his program, and not pestering him all the time because of philisophical differences, somebody from blackman needs to clean house and rid themselves of these crooked selfish parents

[Francis]

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.

Great Post! When parents start having the ability to hire and fire it is indeed a sad day. The Principal better watch his back. He has set a dangerous precedent. He could be next.

[baseball junkie]

Maybe they should let the players quit that don't want to play for Coach Greene and build a team with the ones that want to play.

Edited April 16, 2004 by baseball junkie

[Guest Oakland]

yeah but heaven forbid if gods gift to baseball mr. price and mr. house refuse to play. i hope greene does himself a favor and finds a head coaching job somewhere else