There is virtually no incentive for coaches to do the right thing

[detlef]

I was listening to Mike and Mike the other day talking about Troy P's interview on concussions and they were talking about the need or possibility of changing the culture of football. I was reminded of what that means on so many levels.

 

1) As far as concussions, what incentive do coaches of major HS or college programs have to hold players out for the sake of their health? I mean, unless it's crazy obvious and their actions would be undeniably reckless to any observer. They're paid to win games. And paid very, very well. And if they're at a smaller school with ambitions of eventually getting a big payday at a big school, same deal. So, promoting the culture of "suck it up and do it for the team" is very, very convenient to their end even if it needlessly places young men in danger.

 

2) Cheating never sticks to them. Look at Calapari. He left a trail of violations behind him and yet was able to punch his ticket to be coach at one of the 4 most prestigious b-ball schools in the country. In fact, the only time he had to regroup and take what he could find is when he failed to produce on the court, when he went to Boston.

 

3) JoPa. Even after it was only known that he "didn't do enough" to bring crimes of the worst nature to light, he still had a ton of support. Sure, he got fired, and rightfully so. But had it not come out that he willfully helped hide the truth and he was 30 years younger, how long would it have been before another program forgave his "brief transgressions of leadership" and gave him another chance. You know, because that's what we do in America. We give guys another chance. Espeically if it puts butts in the seats.

 

Seriously. is there any reason, at all to expect coaches with any ambition to act honorably? In fact, we practically beg them not to. After all, losing the right way gets you fired or stuck at the lowest rung and winning the wrong way gets overlooked.

 

This is not meant to slam anyone who coaches. I think that good ones can teach far more than just sports to kids and, these days, anything we can do to help kids become good adults is great.

Edited July 20, 2012 by detlef

[SEC=UGA]

I think a great deal of your essay applies to the population of the US as a whole.

 

Think of almost any situation in life where an individual has made a transgression against his fellow Americans, seemingly, there is some group out there that is playing the "give them another chance" card. You hear it all the time:

 

Kid steals a car and goes on a joy ride... don't come down too hard on him, give him another chance, he's not a bad kid, he's just young and made a bad decision.

 

There are many, many examples out there of this type of forgiveness. We extend it to politicians who get caught lying. We extend it to business leaders who get caught cheating. We extend it to murderers. We extend it to those who get into too much debt, screw people out of tons of money when defaulting on their payments.

 

This is a country where, at the end of the day, acting dishonorably is accepted and second chances are extended to EVERYONE, why should coaches be exempted from this?

[detlef]

I think a great deal of your essay applies to the population of the US as a whole.

 

Think of almost any situation in life where an individual has made a transgression against his fellow Americans, seemingly, there is some group out there that is playing the "give them another chance" card. You hear it all the time:

 

Kid steals a car and goes on a joy ride... don't come down too hard on him, give him another chance, he's not a bad kid, he's just young and made a bad decision.

 

There are many, many examples out there of this type of forgiveness. We extend it to politicians who get caught lying. We extend it to business leaders who get caught cheating. We extend it to murderers. We extend it to those who get into too much debt, screw people out of tons of money when defaulting on their payments.

 

This is a country where, at the end of the day, acting dishonorably is accepted and second chances are extended to EVERYONE, why should coaches be exempted from this?

 

I think you are vastly overestimating societies inclination to give people, in general, a second chance. We talk about it plenty, mind you. But I don't see tons of people tripping over themselves looking to get troubled youth or people fresh out of jail a job.

 

At very least, among the masses, those who screw up rarely come out smelling like a rose. With the Calipari example, he took 2 steps up and one step back. The two steps up (from UMass to Boston and Memphis to UK), both happened as a result of success gotten while he cheated. The one step back (Boston to Memphis) was because he did not win. Again, winning the wrong way is rewarded. Losing is not.

 

And, regardless, this doesn't address the bit about "changing the culture" of not risking further injury vs helping the team. You could argue that players may be putting the possibility of making money down the road at risk by not playing. However, the coach is currently making money and what he is getting paid to do is at odds with making sure his kids are not put in danger.

Edited July 20, 2012 by detlef

[Skilly]

"Just Win Baby."

 

"Winning isn't everything, it's the ONLY thing."

 

"If you aint first, you're last."

 

and on and on and on..........................

[moneymakers]

The name Ron Meyer comes to mind.