The regular season has come to a close in high school football, leaving many teams putting away their uniforms this week. In addition, the college football teams that have no prospect of continuing their season will play out their schedule hoping to create some positive moments to carry over into next season. These teams must deal with the fact that they were just not good enough to play post-season football and, even worse, they must deal with some fans and parents who will berate them and their coaches for perceived incompetence and failure. Rest assured, the players and coaches hear it and read it. In this day of social media, it is hard to avoid.
I was one who always stayed away from the various forums that are out there which attack individuals, teams, and coaches. I just didn’t feel comfortable lending an ear. And I really dislike the anonymity of the process. You can say anything you want without taking any personal responsibility for it.
But, this past week, I took a peek at what was being said and, as I expected, I did not like it. Players were being accused of quitting. Coaches were referred to as “morons”. School administrators were described as “gutless” for not firing a particular coach. And so on. It was not pretty.
So, I got to thinking – what type of person does this? Do they really understand the game? Did they ever play the game? Do they really think kids practice hard all season to lose? Have they ever tried to coach? Do they know what goes in to preparing to play an opponent? Do they take into consideration the strength of the opponent? Do they believe a coach does not play his best players? What makes them think they know personnel better than a coaching staff? Finally, who do they think THEY are?
Granted, part of the enjoyment of watching any sporting event is walking in a coach’s shoes or a player’s cleats and pontificating on what call you might have used or what player decision you might have made. “Monday morning quarterbacking” is certainly part of the game, but so is the reality that a coach and a player have to make split decisions in a very short period of time. You, on the other hand, only make a call when one fails. Would you have made the same call when one is successful? It’s hard to tell because you rarely talk about the successful plays. Instead, those critical forums, in an anonymous fashion, simply fester and breed negativity. No coach is good enough, no line blocks very well, no defense defends, no quarterback makes the right decisions, etc., etc.
I would like to see forums that are fair, accurate in their assessments, impartial, respectful, and knowledgeable. Aren’t these the same attributes we want to see in our coaches? What’s good for one should be good for the other. The down side for coaches and players is that we know their names; we do not know yours!
What would be our evaluation if we came to see you work?
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
1. So fans went to a NASCAR race in Fort Worth, Texas, and a “hockey game” broke out! Driver Brad Keselowski bumped Jeff Gordon in a two-lap sprint to the finish and eliminated any chance that Gordon had to win the race. Gordon then confronted Keselowski and “all-hell” broke loose between the drivers, the crew members, with NASCAR officials in the middle. Both drivers and crew members were bloodied. There were no “game misconducts” awarded, but there may be some stiff fines.
2. If you’re counting, Tom Brady is 9-3 all-time in regular season match-ups against Peyton Manning after the Patriots destroyed the Broncos 43-21 this past Sunday.
3. Although you rarely hear his name mentioned with Brady and Manning, Ben Roethlisberger has accomplished some things even the two greats haven’t. In the last two weeks, Roethlisberger has thrown 12 touchdown passes – 6 against Indianapolis and 6 against Baltimore. No quarterback has ever done that in a two-week stretch.
4. We have done our last Lafayette football broadcast for the season and I just wanted to thank the RCN crew, the Lafayette sports information staff, my fellow announcers, and the game managers at the various venues we visited. No matter the results on the field, it’s always a pleasure to be a part of such a great team.
5. District football begins this week on RCN-TV with a AAAA doubleheader on Friday (Whitehall at Freedom -7:00; Pleasant Valley at Easton – 9:30). On Saturday, there will be a AAA semifinal doubleheader (Lehighton at Beca – 7:00; Saucon Valley at Southern Lehigh – 9:30). It is step one to a district title and a trip to the PIAA state playoffs.
(Last Week – 7-6; Seasonal Record – 84-49-1: 63%)
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