Birthday Blues!

Another day older and deeper in debt.
I ran into a few area coaches last night while we were out celebrating my 34th birthday. My wife and I, along with some friends and family, went to Tiffany's in Frankenmuth were I saw Vassar basketball coach Chuch Fabbro enjoying dinner with Vulcan football coach Jason Kiss.
My party of friends ended up having a great time. We went and watched Rev. Right Time play at Captain Hooks.....all in all, it was a pretty good night!

Never give up!
Seems like the end of the Cass City-USA boy's basketball game ended in a little controversy on Friday night. Trailing by nine points with under a minute left to play, Red Hawks coach Aaron Fernald apparently made the decision to throw in the towel, allowing the Patriots to kill the clock to get the win.
I don't care how terrible the Red Hawks offense had been performing up to that point in the game; there is absolutely no excuse for giving up!
What a horrible message to send to your players....that when all odds seem to be stacked against you, the most reasonable action is to quit!
Imagine if this was baseball. Imagine if your team was down by ten runs in the bottom of the ninth...and your coach, sensing that a loss was all but certain, told his hitters to simply stand there and take their three strikes! Why try if all you're going to do is lose!
Or maybe a football team that is down by 14 with maybe a minute left to play. Instead of trying the Hail Mary pass play followed by the onside kick.....instead the coach just decides to take a knee, conceding defeat.
Wouldn't either of the preceding scenarios cause the fans of those teams to go into a frenzy? The fans would demand an explanation from the coach as to why he just gave up.
So, why is this situation with Fernald any different?
Giving up, even when you are down by nine points with 40 seconds left to play, is inexcuseable! Funny things can happen in basketball....a few missed free throws, followed by a couple of three pointers, and you are right back in the game. What are you telling your players if, as the coach, you decide to not even try to win?
You are telling them that you have no confidence in them. You are telling them that you don't believe that they can overcome any obstacle that might be in their path. You are telling them that you don't care. And you are telling them that it is allright to give up when the going gets tough.
Is it wrong to call the coach out on his actions? Absolutely not!
It is the job of the sports writer to hold the actions of these coaches accountable. If we don't question the coach's decisions, what then are we trying to do? I will never, nor have I ever, called out a kid on any team. I don't believe in doing that. These are 16-18 year old kids who are just playing for the love of the game.
The coaches, on the other hand, are paid (albiet not that much) to foster and encourage that love of sports for those that are on their teams. The coaches need to be held accountable, and that where we come in.
I don't think Fernald should resign over this. That might be a bit much. And if he reads what people in the blogosphere are writing about him, and then he decides not to talk to those who questioned his actions, that's his right (although I think that would be a very childish decision. We are just there trying to do a job).
But no coach should be allowed to encourage his team to so easily accept defeat. I sure wouldn't want my kids to play for someone with that coaching philosophy.

Does anyone listen?
I would like to know exactly how many people are listening to our weekly pre-game show? The four of us who do it, myself, Jon Sicotten Bryan Bassett and Christian Selich, put a lot of time and effort into it, and I'm just looking for a little feedback from anyone who listens. Are we doing a good job? Any ideas on how we can improve the show? Let me know by replying to this post.