[pager]

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...NEWS16/8010318

IMO Coach Smith can not go back and coach that team. Even if this isnt true he is ruined as a coach at Whitmer.

[tclvet]

A darn shame. As a black man myself, I would love to see the race card retired once and for all. IMO I think this is a witch hunt orchestrated by parents. Coaching is surely a thankless profession. As much as I miss it I am glad I got out 20 years ago.

Some of the supposed things he said seemed bad (like saying 'put your hands up like the cops are behind you'), but others did not (like calling someone hanging on the rim a monkey).

But I agree that he won't be able to coach there again. How could he when it seems like half the team is against him?

[NaismithII]

Not sure what will happen. I don't see the administration and school board firing him either.

[pager]

Even if they dont fire him how can he coach that team again? I would resign and go watch my son at purdue for the next 2 yrs then find another coaching job.

[foultip]

The Blade is a sinking ship. It needs tabloid stories like this to sell their rag.
If there was a dog killed yesterday THAT would be the lead story on today's front page.

[controlledrage]

I would not resign if I was him. He has plenty of people that are backing him. He is a great coach and a better person. These idiot parents don't realize what they are doing. The Hayes kid will get a red flag put on him in the recruiting rings. What coach is going to risk his career on this kid. If u think the college coaches won't take this into consideration when recruiting this kid u are crazy.

[NaismithII]

Agreed.

[litlguysdad]

Originally Posted by tclvet

A darn shame. As a black man myself, I would love to see the race card retired once and for all. IMO I think this is a witch hunt orchestrated by parents. Coaching is surely a thankless profession. As much as I miss it I am glad I got out 20 years ago.

Race is an issue because you are making it one.

[yattamin]

What's wrong with the Hayes kid and his parents taken offense to something?I think Smith's problem is going to be separating the practices like he did.I'm a Black man and didn't get bent out of shape on the curious george comment.But i'm not the kids parent so I don't know how it was taken or made them feel.The hayes' kids,Wormley are D1 players with or without Smith and people are allowed to have feelings and opinions.If they don't like Smith's style just transfer the kids out.

[yattamin]

Originally Posted by litlguysdad

Race is an issue because you are making it one.

No it's an issue when you divide the practice between black players and white players.What the purpose was of doing that I would like to know.

[Village Idiot]

Originally Posted by yattamin

The hayes' kids,Wormley are D1 players with or without Smith and people are allowed to have feelings and opinions.If they don't like Smith's style just transfer the kids out.

Reading the Blade's comment area, there is a suggestion that this whole thing might be cover to do just that. Evidently one or more have been in contact with one of the parochial schools, and, with the typical community scorn of a public-school student-athlete jumping schools between seasons, having an unresolved dustup with the coaches, which the school cannot resolve if it doesn't exist, is good cover for transferring out of the district without the stigma of "becoming a blue-chip-athlete Catholic right before my senior year".

[yattamin]

Originally Posted by Village Idiot

Reading the Blade's comment area, there is a suggestion that this whole thing might be cover to do just that. Evidently one or more have been in contact with one of the parochial schools, and, with the typical community scorn of a public-school student-athlete jumping schools between seasons, having an unresolved dustup with the coaches, which the school cannot resolve if it doesn't exist, is good cover for transferring out of the district without the stigma of "becoming a blue-chip-athlete Catholic right before my senior year".

That sounds very plausible but it doesn't excuse the dividing up the practice along racial lines.If kids are man enough to transfer they should be man enough to take the heat that goes along with it.

[rmolin73]

If he in fact seperated the players based on race as well as telling the biracial players they have to choose. Throw him out he is not fit to coach young men.

[litlguysdad]

more apathy

[Lancer '65]

I may have misread the Blade article and please correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't it say in there somewhere that when the kids scrimmaged they would sometimes divide themselves up into teams separated by race? I don't see anything wrong with the kids wanting to occasionally compete against each other in that fashion. I don't place any racial connotations connected with kids deciding to do that. I think one of our problems is that every little thing that comes up that has the possibility of being in any way racial, ends up on the front page. I like tclvet's take on this whole issue. Let's get rid of the race card. Coaches have a thankless job. They certainly don't do it to get rich. I think the vast majority do it to teach kids a sport and to teach them about sacrifice and playing hard and never quitting. Things that will serve them well in life. Coach Smith, from all I can tell, has done a good job of that. It's a shame.

[NLLtrumpTCL]

some of the players said that they seperated the team themselves at practice..i know in my sports days we too did this ourselves. we would run "fat kids vs. skinny kids" or "white vs. minorities" and other stupid segregated(sp?) games. nobody took offense to anything and if the players came up with the idea then yes, our coach would say "ok, whites vs the rest, lets do it" and if thats what the kids are taking offense to i think its kind of stupid. and if the coach said something along those lines it would leave the biracial kids to choose because they are both black and white. this whole thing is just stupid parents making a fuss about pretty much nothing.

[Ross Ford81]

This makes no sense with respect to transferring out. Parents would have to physically move their residence for their kids to play somewhere else. We'll all be watching.

[wesser27]

From reading the article, it seems like it is a witch hunt from the start.
Parents getting together after a game to talk about the coach?
Anonymous parents complaints to the school board?
When the parents were told they could air their sentiments at a school board meeting and no one showed up?

If he used racial remarks in a derogatory manner, then yes throw him out. But it sounds to me that this is a complete witch hunt with couple of parents finding 'reasons' to try to get a coach, they don't like, fired. Complete shame.

[hookshot]

Wormley's a D-1 player?