There’s no such thing as job security or due process

Last Saturday morning I was a guest of Anthony Joseph on WGMD’s half hour sports radio program beginning at 11:30 a.m. The program leading up to my guest appearance entertained an array of callers who were intently discussing if it’s OK to smack an annoying child in the supermarket.

I thought, “Are we talking anybody’s child, or just your own?”

Anthony and I had a good time live on air, but entertained no callers - just a couple of breaks to advertise Atlantic Tractor and, yes, I’d love a John Deere riding lawn tractor instead of the push mower I own that came in a box unassembled.

LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME - Let me address the issue of job security for high school coaches. They have no security and no due process rights and can be replaced without just cause anytime the administration feels like replacing them. And I’m OK with that because I think athletes and programs trump the coach every time and no school administration would have to ask me more than once to step off. I require love and support to coach a team, otherwise I would be out of there. Coaching high school-aged athletes - not all head coaches are teachers as some come from other professions - is a challenging job that takes an array of special talents and, quite honestly, there are more bad ones than good ones, but the good ones are worth their weight in gold for sure.

And winning is only one barometer for effectiveness as I have known coaches who have won consistently but were disliked by their players because they were selfish and self-centered people and the athletes knew it. The big problem is if a school shows no loyalty to coaches then it won’t have enough coaches to fill all the vacancies.

MOO MAN - Mudhillun Muqaribu, his given name which is Arabic, is a 28-year-old graduate student at the University of Delaware working on a master’s degree in teaching English as a second language. I’ve seen him in races this summer and he is usually in the top five but never a winner. Last Sunday after he placed third in the Grog Shop 5K with a time of 17:14, I decided to seek him out. Friends call him Mu (pronounced moo) and I asked why not M&M and Moo just laughed. He attended Cass Tech in downtown Detroit and the University of Michigan.

“I went out for track in high school and wanted to be a sprinter but I was slow,” he said. “It wasn’t until after college that I started running road races. I ran in the 18s with little training, but now I do track work and train regularly and I continue to improve my times.”

BRETT FAVRE - I watched Brett’s teary-eyed retirement from football speech months ago and let’s not forget he is a 41-year-old quarterback and when you go it is always a good idea to stay gone. I think the Packers must turn him loose because who does he think he is, George Blanda?

That’s why I haven’t missed a single week writing this column since 1982. I know if I give up my spot I may not get it back.

LITTLE EPO - “I’m really looking fine. I drink a steroid cocktail and weigh 289.”
- Rose Frederick

Three riders in the Tour de France just tested positive for new and improved EPO with its active ingredient erythropoietin. The drug boosts red blood cells to increase endurance over the mountain stages, but side effects include diarrhea and nasopharyngitis so to borrow a warning from the movie “Poltergeist” “Don’t go into the peloton!”

EDUCATION WITH NO TESTING - I used to joke with my students, “Let me educate you on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse,” then offer my own commentary.

“You mean drinking to excess and becoming some sorry alcoholic can’t get no job and ain’t got no license loser is a bad thing? And are you saying that smoking crack and snorting angel dust may have deleterious side effects to our general health? Well, thanks Fredman, where would we be without your insight?”

The state of Delaware has opted for a program of education rather than incurring the expense of random testing for steroid use by high school athletes. With so many role models to follow from baseball to cycling to all Olympic sports don’t you think young athletes already under camcorder pressure from overzealous parents are going to seek out that extra boost? Many to most people are educated before making a decision to step off in the wrong direction because it benefits them. The dumbest question to ask a teenager is, “Don’t you know the difference between right and wrong?”

“Yes I do, Mom, but often wrong is just more fun and better for me.”

SNIPPETS - Lewes is host to the Delaware Little League state championship for 11-12 Major League from Monday, July 21 through Thursday, July 24. The championship game is scheduled for July 24 and maybe July 25 if the loser’s bracket team wins on the 24th. District 3 champion Georgetown will play Tuesday at 7 p.m picking up the winner of the M.O.T. versus Naamans Road. Georgetown last won the state championship in 1998.

Here are the stats from the local RBP alumni Jared Tootell: Ironman Switzerland - 10.40.46 and Jason Tootell 11.18.22 arrived backed in the U.S. and picked up Troy Bockius and headed to the Lake Placid Ironman to volunteer and support fellow RBP alumni Jason McKay. Jason finished Lake Placid Ironman 10.22.11. No word on Jason’s place. The winning men’s time was 8:43 while the winning time for women was 9:51. If you know the crazy fitness level of Jason McKay - several times the winner of the Rehoboth Biathlon - you know how crazy it is that anyone beat him by 90 minutes in an Ironman competition. All the athletes signed up for the 2009 Lake Placid Ironman. All sign-ups must be done in person. The full ironman triathlon is a swim of 2.4 miles followed by a 112-mile bike ride and ending with a full marathon.
It’s time for me to start training for the 2010 ironman. Are scooters allowed?