By GENE CONARD
It’s been a long haul, but my medical advisers at the animal shelter have confirmed — my bark is cheery as ever.
Shortly, our institutions of higher learning will bail out another batch of human keepsakes taking a final look at their quarantine of 12 years. There have been some grand Tri-Central moments despite the absence of “top of the heap.” Still, it’s shocking to recall the ugly disruptions that have plagued TC athletics, sadly overshadowing honor society standouts and other academic endeavors.
There was a time when mom, pop and all-American families ran to see favorites jump, shoot, throw, catch and fumble. Win or lose, smiles trumped lumps, the sun beamed, and nobody perished via scoreboard syndrome.
Today, the Hessians arrive in full soprano with notepads, scorecards, and sharp tongues to meticulously document people totally dedicated to missions impossible.
Mark Burdsall and Jeff Layden (both recently resigned) and Josh Edwards, Matt Upchurch and Tom Miller (who left in recent years) come to mind as do current coaches Kathie Layden and Lyndsay Sorenson.
Fun and games no longer bear any semblance of sanity thanks to an infamous “two percent” that refuses to curb its asinine behavior. Selfishness and arrogance don’t pay much but are self-explanatory by experience.
Call it chaos, calamity or whatever. But the taint is all over the darned place, and nobody’s calling 911. Where is the Homeland Security Goon Squad when we need it?
But the goons aren’t listening, mindsets are upside down, and biased interests outweigh everything.
Let’s not forget those moms, pops, etc., who, rain, storm, snow or distance, surrender time, energy, funds and the quiet fireside in support of youngsters who play games for all the right reasons.
It’s beyond abomination — TC coaches getting little but cursing and slaps in the face for emptying their hearts for the benefit of everybody else’s offsprings.
So what is the price of total dedication? Is gratitude out of style or the economy that bad?
Burdsall invited parents to a filmed résumé of his first grid program. Two showed up. Some 48 players signed on for the 2009 season and 30 remained after one workout.
He made summer camps possible; had an academic table for players; an extensive weight program; was active in youth football and took an active part in a now-defunct Quarterback Club.
He asked only for time to develop a program but got an ax wrapped in genuine debauchery — a disguise wrapped in “a difference in philosophy.”
Evan Smith, who along with Bret Bailey and Cory Dunn led one of TC’s best-ever clubs, remarked: “Jeff Layden is one of the best coaches I ever played for. He taught me a lot, knows what he’s doing and could turn things around if they’d leave him alone.”
Layden was so vile he asked players to think “team” and give 100 percent while walking them through every facet.
Is it possible to believe that volleyball and basketball coach Kathie Layden (4 sectional, 3 regional, 3 semistate, 3 state titles) — who deemed it proper to play everybody — was verbally assaulted by ranting parents. Of course, there were those who wanted her ousted from her volleyball post.
Sorenson, a high school and college standout saddled with a squad loaded with underclassman and minus senior vets who chose not to play, has had to weave her way through a maze of interference by softball illiterates.
Stunningly, members of the TC family have contributed to the garbage. Parents have considered taking their pets to greener pastures. (Gee, I hope they don’t leave before the major college and pro scouts arrive.)
What ever happened to common sense, decency and community support?
Insanity is described as doing the same thing over and over with the same results. Proof? Check the numbers: Just 26 wore football garb last season; 18 responded for boys basketball, a few more for girls basketball, 16 for baseball (JV season canceled) and softball numbers barely exceeded 20.
But the roar is still loud and clear for championships — except you don’t empty the ocean with a bucket or the bathtub with a spoon.
A group of unbeaten but still-learning eighth-graders was fed a constant diet of praise and paid the varsity price of 1-20 when Tipton, Lafayette Central Catholic, Lapel, Hamilton Heights, Carroll, Western and others failed to honor their mettle.
So was it fair to pile impossible expectations on a coach and his overfed teenagers?
I’ve been playing with words for five decades including the days of Wilford Drake, Roy Watson, Bob Blessing, John Harding, Ed Ransopher, Jerry Fernung, Cliff Hawkins, Tom Miller, Dave Driggs and the brief tenure of under-appreciated Jeff Layden who had the luxury of some great kids.
But until fresh air sweeps away the current scent, success will be the same stifling pipe dream. The more things change the more they stay the same.
It’s a mere four months ’til TC Showtime, Circa 2009-10.
We’ll see.
Gene F. Conard is a longtime sportswriter who covers Tri-Central sports for the Kokomo Tribune.
