Friday, May 25, 2012
PSSST! Ray Aspuria. Arcata High Basketball coach Bob Wallace has been on the chopping block for months!
I wrote my comments on Arcata High Basketball coach Bob Wallace back in November. I am really surprised that Time Standard sports writer Ray Aspuria had no clue that Bob was under fire. Bob is a great guy, but just seems to be a lightening rod when it come to public school issues. And there has been an ongoing group of parents dressed in orange attending Northern Humboldt Union High School District meetings to complain about Mr. Wallace and his coaching style. So Ray should have not been surprised, but should have been on this months ago! Ray asks, "Why hasn't the decision been made more public and media notified?" That is your job Ray! KIEM has been on top of this for quite some time.
I do hope that Ray does a follow up on this story. If the decision was made in close session, we may never know the reason Bob was let go. But I do know that 3 of the board members of the NHUHSD are coaches themselves. (Dan Collen, Mike Pigg and Dan Johnson have many years between them.) So please Ray, write a real investigative piece, not some commentary with no meat.
Parents complaining about coaching style? OMG the whining is deafening. Let the winning coach keep his job. This isn't third grade soccer where everyone gets to play. If everyone who wants their kid to play complained about "coaching style" nobody would have a job. Ray did us all a favor by bringing this decision to light. This is a result of poor sportsmanship, not bad coaching.
ReplyDeleteRay has not talked to one player, parent, administrator, school board member or even Wallace himself. How can he have developed an opinion? This article was a commentary without fact checking.
ReplyDeleteIf Ray ran into the same road locks I ran into, then I don't blame him for writing his column.
ReplyDeleteParents told me that the main gripe was playing time, Wallace yelling at kids.
Another incident they bring up is Wallace allegedly getting physical with a player when other players say it was all blown out of proportion.
In fact, I have friends who were at the board meeting and there parents griped about playing time and Wallace's coaching style.
Sure, he's a hard ass, but, which successful coach isn't?
So, Arcata High can all the media and inform them of Tom Witzel signing a letter of intent to go to Humboldt, but the school can't make available the fact they canned the coach that helped shape Witzel?
ReplyDeleteWallace is failed HS administrator at Mack and Arcata, time for him to 'retire' he is clueless
ReplyDeleteWhat is the big deal? We all know Arcata High is more concerned about people's feelings and being fair, than education and winning sports teams.
ReplyDeleteI presonally would like my child at the high school level to start leaning about life and how its hard and unfair.
My guess is Arcata High graduates go to 8-10 years of college then get upset because playing hackysack doesnt pay off their student loans.
Wallace needs to go to a school that cares about winning.
From one anonymous to another, you don't really know what you are talking about. The boy you mentioned signed his letter of intent before the season ever started, and the coach had never been his coach before. So how could the coach have "shaped" him in any way as far as contributing to his going to HSU? Your statements are about as "accurate" as the TS and the radio media. Just gossip artists.
ReplyDeleteAs far as successful coaches being hard asses, that is fairly accurate. But none need to be, and few are bullying, intimidating, and derogatory to student athletes like that coach is/was. General yelling and some cussing during halftime, or maybe a timeout is somewhat acceptable, but actually getting to within inches of a student athletes face and screaming directly at them while using the F-bomb and other inappropriate language should not, and was not tolerated. Also others may find it a little bizarre that he has followed his son as his head coach in 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and then last varsity season. If a parent is currently in a position of head coach, and his or her son or daughter come up through the ranks to be coached by them, that is different and not strange or a little questionable at all.
I think those involved in letting that coach go probably know a lot more than the people in the media being so incredibly one sided. I am sure it was a tough decision to have to make, but there must have been something to back it up to avoid a legal controversy.
Skylar Rice (Fortuna High), Chris Pender (McKinleyville) are just two examples of very good basketball players who were coached by their father at high school. Yet, no one had a problem with pop coaching them. And there are countless other examples of this.
ReplyDeleteAnd coaches dropping the F-bomb? Have you seen St. Bernard's former baseball coach Del Grande? His baseball team won NCS title after NCS title and the F-bomb was audible the entire time. HSU softball coach Frank Cheek is the same way.
Over half the coaches in the county use "not so friendly language".
As far as Tommy Witzel, when he tells people Wallace was one of the best coaches he's had at Arcata and that includes Eric Vollmers, what does that say?
Let the coach, coach!
ReplyDeleteWallace is a bully. He was to staff as an administrator and was to other coaches as an AD. He inherited a very good team. They would have been successful without him. His behavior is ridiculous and inappropriate. He has no perspective in what high school sports should be about. You would never allow a teacher to get face to face to a student and drop F-Bombs in the classroom. Why should it be tolerated on the basketball court. Other coaches have survived playing time issues. There must be more to can a guy after 1 year. He has always been a jerk. Every dog has his day. Karma.
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