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Warning...anger coming...
So where is the outrage from the "leaders" in the coaching profession?
Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State assistant football coach was convicted on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse...he'll get a minimum of sixty years in jail and a maximum of four hundred plus...and still there is silence...from the people that matter most...the ones who can actually bring about change.
The media has properly railed and experts have foamed at the mouth...even some Pennsylvania citizens have stood up and pointed a finger. Twelve jurors spoke loudest by finding him guilty.
But the coaching fraternity says...nothing.
These so-called leaders of men. These harbingers of the truth. These apparent examples of what is best in America. These so-called teachers. These benders of America's character. These shapers of our future leaders. These preparers and protectors of the precious youth of this great country. These coaching gods have been unclothed and found to be imposters-not leaders at all, but sniveling weasels, cowards and protectors of only what's theirs.
Name me one who has stood up. Name me one who has decried the protected kingdom of Joe Paterno and his football minions.
How do they not rail out of sheer embarrassment? How do they not speak up to reestablish some level of credibility in these football programs? How do they not speak up to help cleanse their profession of its increasingly appalling reputation? How can they not point a finger and say that what happened at Penn State is sickening to them and will not happen on their watch? How do they not rage at the mutilation of the minds of children?
But, you see, there is a catch. To decry Paterno's kingdom is to tear down their own. The nature of what the coaching profession has become-gods running little fiefdoms with college presidents kissing their feet-created the culture that provided the fertile ground for the catastrophe at Penn State. And there is no voice from the coaching fraternity demanding change. To do so would put their own kingdom at risk.
Of course, guilt clips the tongues of men. And the void keeps ringing in my ears...the silence painful and deafening.
I would have loved it if the new coach of my former team (I gave up college athletics last year you might recall...I've had enough) the University of Illinois Tim Beckman had stated at his first news conference, "I'm not sure how many games I'm going to win at Illinois, but I can assure you I will not be a protector of criminals, nor will I turn a blind eye to kids being put in harms way like happened at Penn State. What happened there is a stain on us all and I'm disgusted by it." But no, he just talked the usual blather. Rah, rah.
Some Penn Staters are still in so much denial that there is a movement to name their football stadium after Paterno. They want to name a stadium after a ruler of a kingdom that defended its sovereignty by protecting a child rapist.
Wow.
I've been patient. Maybe these fine coaches across America were simply waiting for a guilty verdict to come down...you know to be absolutely sure of the facts. Ok. You have it now. Where are your voices? Who's gonna be first? Step right up! There's a soap box waiting for you. Well? Well?
Ah...yet they remain sitting on their tongues. Despots worshiping at the grave of a fellow despot. Selfish cowards. I'm so glad they only groom a very small percentage of the youth of America. Poor leaders they'll be, because poor examples they have.
Leadership is making a stand. Leadership is showing the way. Leadership is decrying wrong even if it invites greater scrutiny upon you. This is the moral courage needed for real leadership that blazes the way for real change. And it seems to be lacking in every head football coach in America.
Because of the holiday there will be no newsletter next week. So we'll see you in two weeks.
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