January 28, 2004
-BY SJ
Has college coaching gone to far?
The money is there, but is it worth it?
Take a look at your sports section, watch a little ESPN, browse at the sports headlines on the web, and smack dab in the middle of it all, flat and center, lies the saddest crisis in sports: The brutality that has become of the coaching profession. Its become a 7 days a week 24 hour job, where all 365 days of your year is absorbed into your work. Lately the college scene has been very involved with the top headlines, where Louisiville head coach Rick Patino was forced to miss action because of health problems, nothing serious, but scary. And then today you had somehwat of a coaching legend in Rick Majerus, the big Utes coach since 1988, announce his resignation immediate at the end of the season-because of health problems. And then you had Bob Huggins and his heart attack, now recovering and roaming the sidelines once again for the Bearcats. But with the money comes the sacrifices, that young and old coaches alike, must deal with. Coaching is a sacrifice. You put aside 9/10 of your year, to recruit, practice, teach, preach, win, celebrate, gameplan, and then start all over again.
All the while coaches have been given a new found respect, many getting very large contracts to do something they love. But if you are what you eat, then you become what you do? These coaches live very stressful and grueling careers. The heat is put on them by the alumni, one day after you were the toast of the town, you become the hated, and soon the hunted. So sit down ponder, has it gone too deep? Has coaching become something like an appetite, where you need to make some people go on a diet? Many of the coaching stars, have come down with health problems, some long term problems. Sadly as well, you can attribute some of it to their avocation, or coaching. It takes its toll on you. The media, the unforgiving fans, the diehards who threaten you with hate email-as they have just gone insane.
The ongoing pressure of building a winner, while trying to live a life, recruit the next big thing, still be you, and not let the public sway your personality. Like it or not, but little is changing anytime soon, attribute it to chat rooms if you choose, but it all adds up. And though the good ones now make millions, is all the green enough to keep them from being green when they are living such a rugged lifestyle. Its obvious that the media as a whole underappreciates coaches.
Yeah the line is thin between what you did a year ago and what you�re doing now, but we really don�t look into this as more of a buisness. For some coaches though, this is life, and the ongoing health problems resulting from coaching, has become extremely unfortunate, and very unfair. Who could ever figure so much devotion could lead you to the emergency room. Its amazing but true, that something needs to change. |
