If you're a long-time MVT follower, you've seen this before. However, most of you aren't. Therefore, time to teach. We do more than simply tweet about you if you scored 2 goals or 3 touchdowns. Our basis of MVT "Most Valuable Table" was speaking our minds, whether or not it was a popular thought, or politically correct, or pretty much anything that "fits the mold". We worked at Herkimer during a winless basketball season, and we had to make our own fun. With more jobs that we picked up pertaining to athletics, we built on this, and it ballooned into what it is now. However, we stay true to our roots, and I'm sure you'll see some of Rob's Rants in the future. I'm not afraid to share my opinion, and this is what YPY is about. "You Played Yourself" is another way of saying "you let yourself down", "you screwed up", etc... #WhiteBoyDefinition. We give praise wherever praise is due, and I think everyone can catch onto this. However, if you screw up... we're independent. No one fires us from MVT. We'll call you out. Over the last few days, a story has passed up that is the PERFECT start to 2013 YPY...
Notre Dame, what do you have to say for yourself?
Let's catch up on the story, at least what has been released to the public. Mind you, everything I'm saying about the actual story has been put to print in newspapers. I'm not talking out of my ass. 4 Juggler players missed a week's worth of practices due to an ROTC function. Due to missing an entire week's worth of practice, head coach Byron Abraham made the decision to not play said kids in Saturday afternoon's game, a romp of Clinton. These players were supposedly given sufficient notification of this. However, because of this decision, bloody hell was risen, one thing led to another, and Coach Abraham has been suspended for this week's game - which isn't just an ordinary game to them. It's a showdown with Sherburne-Earlville, who is undefeated and sitting at #15 in the NYSSWA Class C state rankings. Offense vs. defense. And now the Notre Dame head coach will be anywhere but the sidelines or the press box.
Is this what society has come to? A sport is a COMMITMENT. It's not something that you do when you have nothing else to do. If you keep yourself busy and have multiple commitments, good for you. I work a couple jobs, go to school, and do this MVT stuff. I have a girlfriend. That's a commitment in itself... but needless to say, I balance a lot. If commitments cross paths, which they occasionally do, I have to do my best to work it all out, and I may have to take a little punishment over it. I understand this. It's part of the deal. ROTC is a commitment, just like football. You have to realize they might cross paths. If you do one and neglect the other, don't expect everything to be all hunky-dory at the COMMITMENT you neglected. You may be punished. It could be 1,000 yards. It could be a half. It could be a game. It was a game. Again, it's part of the deal. If you can't deal with it, then maybe multiple obligations just isn't the thing for you. And I wouldn't even call this punishment... more like standard procedure. If anyone expects to play directly after missing a whole week of practice, you're crazy. Nuts. More berzerk than the Eminem single. That doesn't happen, and it shouldn't happen.
I dealt with parents like this before. I coached modified basketball at one point. I'll dodge details, names, all of that garbage, but a group of parents were out for my ass since the early portions of the season. Was it because their kids weren't starting? Was it because I'd actually coach, be stern, and expect their best effort? Was it because I was a 21 year old whipper-snapper? I don't know. Probably all of them. After a particular game (a win over a larger school, mind you, in a very successful 11-2 season), I dealt with what I would call a "vocal demonstration" and a particular parent who almost tried to turn it physical. As someone who is very thick-skinned and truly doesn't care what people have to think of me, I felt attacked. I'm here to coach. I have a great time coaching these kids. Why do these parents have to ruin everything? I still ask myself that. I'm not coaching this year - and a lot of that has to do with them. I'm too young for that, man. I'm a fan of my hair, and I don't want it gone or gray for quite some time. Society has changed for the worse, because parents like these actually have say. I was put on administrative leave for a short time because a parent who had clout called a board member. When the facts were brought forth, it was realized that these parents didn't have a leg to stand on, and my name was absolved from wrongdoing in that scenario. Whatever happened to letting a coach do his or her job? As I tweeted, if I complained to my dad about a tough practice or a coach yelling at me, he'd basically say "You probably deserved it. It's making you tougher. Now get your ass up and get ready to be better tomorrow". Tough love, but love. It shaped me into what I am now. Tough. These parents are raising a generation of softness. What's gonna happen when these kids get turned down after a job interview - mommy & daddy going to hit the phone lines to complain to the board of directors? Another Dad quote: "Welcome to life and its disappointments." Happens to the best of us. Get tough. Parents like this who blame everyone but themselves and their children aren't doing them a favor at all. I could say it a million times - I don't like the direction society as a whole is headed, especially when it comes to particular people who feel they can run the show due to their position, last name, etc.
Byron Abraham did the right thing. Everyone knows it. The parents of a few kids got their way in a small, parochial school - but it woke up an entire section with 108 member schools, at last count. I saw John Moriello, Mr. New York Sportswriters Association, and out of Rochester, tweet '#FreeByronAbraham'. You really think you made the right decision? If the story is correct, this coach did everything he should have done. Didn't play them, but gave them proper notification well in advance (even though it's really a no-brainer). Abraham had some quotes in the Observer-Dispatch that some would consider harsh, and I would use the word "risky" towards them normally. However, what's he got to lose at this point? Gene and Sister Anna Mae showed they'd bench him for nothing, so you might as well spout off. And everything he said was spot on. I haven't come across a SINGLE PERSON THAT AGREES. Not one. I've talked to dozens about it. Not one agrees. So...
Notre Dame, you played yourself.
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