Getting a second, second, second chance

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September brought us two incidents involving local high school coaches. One school overreacted to a minor violation, while the other chose to ignore an astonishing display.

In a huddle during a Eureka Springs High School volleyball match, volunteer coach Penny Pemberton dropped an incidental f-bomb. Other than the players, only one parent in the gym heard the slip, and she carried her outrage to Principal David Gilmore. He immediately relieved Pemberton of her duties, and appointed two men to take over the program. Pemberton had donated countless hours on and off the court, but Gilmore chose to pay guys who didn’t know why one of the players wears a different-colored jersey.

Gilmore could easily have resolved this incident with reprimands and apologies, so he clearly had other reasons for his decision. He gets to work both sides of the street here: even though Pemberton served as a volunteer, Gilmore said he considered this a personnel matter, so he couldn’t discuss it. On the other hand, as a volunteer, Pemberton has no appeal procedure.

On the other side of the county, Green Forest Superintendent Matt Summers suspended football coach Bobby Bishop after a game on Sept 28. Bishop appealed the suspension and had a hearing before the school board on Nov. 15.

The Green Forest Tigers had just taken a 58-0 thrashing, and Bishop aggressively went after someone who had publicly criticized his coaching. With Bishop spewing profanities and physical threats, Summers intervened and sent him to his office in the nearby locker room building. Bishop took a little time to build up another head of steam, and then came out and accosted someone else.

At the hearing, his attorney excused his behavior because someone criticized Bishop’s coaching. At that point in his Green Forest career, Bishop’s record stood at 8-27, so you can see where that thought might arise. His team tacked on five more lopsided losses without him, giving him a four-year record of 8-32. I’ve heard Bishop’s apologists list all the reasons why winning comes so hard in Green Forest, but his predecessor went to the playoffs in 2013 and finished with a 10-3 record.

Bishop’s attorney dismissed the tirade of profanities, pointing out that we’d quickly run out of coaches if we enforced that standard. I’d absolutely agree with him in Pemberton’s case, but Bishop went “nose to nose with some sonabitch while threatening to kick his ass.”

The school board decided to give Bishop a second chance. They got really tough on him, however. He’ll remain on suspension until January, and he has to complete an anger-management course. Then he can go back to drawing his $72,000 salary while short-changing the kids who put body and soul on the line because they want to play football.

The school board shares the responsibility for this whole mess. They put an unqualified guy into a high-stress situation where this outcome was just a matter of time. They can tell you all the reasons why they thought he deserved a “second chance,” but the kids deserve better, and the taxpayers do, too.

Bishop has also gotten off to a shaky start in taking responsibility. His Facebook page said, “A lot of mistakes were made in the incident.”

Even if you knew nothing about Bishop’s background, you’d have to say a coach just can’t act that way. But his “second chance” didn’t come at the end of a long and noble career. Let’s look back to 1995, when legendary coach Ronnie Clark retired at Berryville. Bishop, Clark’s long-time assistant, seemed like the heir apparent, but the Berryville board went out and found another head coach.

Eventually, Bishop straightened up enough to get a job as an assistant coach at another school. Then Berryville decided he deserved a “second chance.” He came back as head coach to much fanfare, and had one good year with someone else’s seniors. After that, he flamed out and Berryville sent him packing after two dismal seasons.

Green Forest used the same “second chance” language when they hired him, and more of the same when they looked past his outrageous behavior. They’ve made it clear that his job has nothing to do with his failures as a person or his failures as a coach.

Unlike most athletic directors, Bishop actually teaches social studies, too. At least he doesn’t teach math. Because then Green Forest kids would learn to count “first chance, second chance, second chance, second chance…”

Mike Ellis