[Kevin Finnerty]

I don't know where you live, but in Southern California, there are guys like him at several schools, and there is politics just as blatant as this at more than one school, and guys who are even more wildly abusive at many schools. There's a local JV guy who is the worst verbal abuser I have ever heard, and he's been at the same post for 20 years.

As for the coward I referred to: The guy whose place he took got implicated in drinking and weed smoking with some players. This is a major high school with several thousand students. If you can't believe it, then you should feel lucky to be free of it or free from the thought of it. I know the guy I spoke of in the community and even coached the son he once abused. His acts were fairly common knowledge. He abused his two sons right out of the game and then went to the local high school and sucked up to its most wealthy alumnus and that was it. Sorry you can't see it.

At another school, a former major leaguer rebuilt the school himself at $1 million-plus, and took over the program solely based on that. They just handed it to him with zero experience, no college education, and no real coaching or communications skills. He was a very good player, but didn't know three things about coaching. He was horrible, but solely based on his rebuilding the park, he was handed the program at a major high school in a very affluent area.

the real world around here. It's disgraceful, but not impossible.

So you wouldn't accept the assignment? Maybe I won't either. Maybe I won't get it, but it's almost a sure thing that I will. If I do, I will make sure that his players get the game they deserve, and not the one their coward coach deserves.