[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=39748.61

City's Coaching In Disarray
Money On Mondays
As you know, my boss Adam Parkhouse is from Michigan City. But so is one of our photographers, Robb Quinn.

Shortly after now former Michigan City girls basketball coach Terry Allen departed, The three of us were discussing the situation. Both of them told me how things were here in 1995 at the time of consolidation.

They each said they remember when Rogers and Elston high schools consolidated; Michigan City High School was supposed to be this powerhouse in the state. The city had two schools that were doing quite well in the athletic arena. They were fielding state champions in teams and with individuals. Heck, Rogers even had two Mr. Indianas on the same floor in the early 1980s with Dan Palombizio and Delray Brooks.

The two schools became one.

But only the girls volleyball team of 1995 has brought home a team state title, and only a handful of student-athletes has brought home a state championship since. What happened to the supposedly-dominating school this town was supposed to get with consolidation?

With this latest episode with Allen, who's going to want to come to Michigan City and coach?

I'd be surprised if anyone does. Who would? One coach I've spoken to said he wouldn't even dare to apply.

Like Adam said in his column Sunday, this school has seen a football coach "resign" because of theft allegations, a boys basketball program is in disarray, a girls basketball program - the most successful one in the school by far - will go into the 2009-10 season with its third coach in three years, and the baseball team has had five different coaches in six years.

There are 18 head coaches at the school, but only a small handful has been there five years or longer as the head coach. Norm Bruemmer (girls tennis), Ray Bloomer (boys cross country), Tim Bumber (girls cross country and girls track & field), Bruce Stahl (boys soccer) and Dan Jenkins (boys and girls swimming) fit that bill.

Terry Peckat has been the head coach for five years, just not continuously after taking the 2007 season off, but has since returned.

Then you have girls soccer, football, girls golf, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, baseball and softball are all programs with or will have coaches who have been with the program fewer than five years.

The instability of coaches is, and should be an embarrassment, and this can be a reflection on the leadership at the school.

If Allen's allegations are true, this contributes to the negative image people outside of this town have of the whole system.

We have so many youth league teams in this town doing terrific things. Yet many of these kids will likely not stick with the program and carry that success onto high school.

Because of the instability at the high school, it doesn't allow coaches the opportunity to monitor the youth or feeder programs which helps them keep the kids interested and excited.

Michigan City's perception has clearly been damaged. You can't be successful unless there is consistency, and right now there isn't any.

If Allen's departure is work-related, then say so. I can't blame Allen for wanting to resign. Just like with Kevin Hannon at South Central. Why work in an environment where you know you're not wanted?

And most importantly, don't lie about it. Stand up for your reasons. Otherwise, you, along with the community, are viewed as an embarrassment, thus creating a situation no one wants to be a part of. And that's what you have at Michigan City right now.

Contact sports writer Nick Dettmann at ndettmann@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 447.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...amp;TM=39851.91

No One Deserves To Be Lied To
Home Cookin'

Adam Parkhouse
Sports Editor, The News-Dispatch

I'd be the first to tell anyone that, in my opinion, the jury was still out on Terry Allen's abilities as a coach.

I believe the 2008-09 Michigan City girls basketball team was going to be good no matter who the coach was, so I'm not sure how much Allen helped that along. It's just difficult to quantify.

In fact, it could be argued that his tiffs with fans/parents may have even been a distraction for the Lady Wolves.

But if he was treated the way he says he was treated by administration, then count me in the category that's hopping mad about the decision not to renew Allen's contract.

An important factor to consider here is we really don't know how much Allen's performance in the classroom factored into the decision. Allen thinks the administration might have made it about his teaching abilities in an effort to drive him from the school.

I've heard some people say that Allen was a subpar teacher, but then I've heard from others who said he did a good job. Naturally, there's no official word from principal Mark Francesconi one way or the other, who cited the issue as a personnel matter, as usual, and refused comment.

But whether it's about Allen on the court or in the classroom, no one deserves to be lied to, as is Allen's claim. And for that, he points the finger right at Francesconi.

A brief timeline, according to Allen's calendar, goes something like this: After City lost to South Bend Washington in the Valparaiso Regional final, Allen had a performance review at which time he was told no decision had been made about the reneweal of his contract.

Shortly thereafter, rumors began to circulate that Allen wouldn't be retained, prompting him to go into a meeting with Francesconi, where the principal once again assured Allen that no decision had been made. Rumors persisted, and another meeting with Francesconi took place, where Allen said he got his boss to admit that the coach/social studies teacher in fact would not be retained, and that the decision was made even before his review.

Now, I've also been told that first-year teachers don't require a reason to be fired. That is, administration doesn't have to give one. Allen accepts that part of this fiasco.

What is unacceptable, however, is the alleged misleading that occurred. If Allen wasn't going to be retained, and it was known that he wouldn't be, why not just tell him so that he may begin looking for another job? If indeed he was lied to, then his ability to find employment for the next school year was heavily compromised.

Now, about Allen as a coach, I ended the season with a mostly positive impression. I say mostly because of the following two things: First, I thought in the end of City's losses to Washington that Allen appeared to have given up on the sidelines.

Instead of coaching right down to the final second, he appeared to be disconnected from the game, at least from an observer's standpoint, and for that first game at the Wolves Den I was just feet away from City's bench. I'm not saying definitively that he did give up, but perception is reality, right?

Second, and this also has to do with that first Washington game, it still bugs me that Allen chose to engage a heckling fan following the game. The fan, who was sitting behind Washington's bench, was out of line. He was suggesting that Allen should lose his job and said some other things that might not necessarily be fit for print.

But, the bottom line is a coach can't verbally engage a fan like that. You just have to be able to take it and move on. To Allen's credit, he stuck to his guns afterward and defended his decision to fire back. I give him credit for having principles, I just think he's very wrong.

So what does this all mean? Well, I'm not sure it means all that much, frankly. City lost a guy that may or not have been the right guy to lead the program into the future, and he may or may not have been lied to in the process.

To me, the bigger issue is with the continued disfunction of Michigan City athletics and its major programs. In the top three "revenue" sports, just look at the past few years.

In football, you had a coach "resign" amid allegations of theft from the program.

In boys basketball, I mean, the Wolves were 3-18 this season in a campaign that was a certified disaster and is now without a coach.

In girls basketball, two coaching controversies in two years, all for the most successful program in the school over that time period.

In baseball, David Ortiz is in his second year, but in 2008 he was the fifth coach in as many years to lead the Wolves into battle.

Listen folks, it's time to demand more. I'm not naive enough to think that winning athletic programs are the only things that matter in a community. Clearly the onus should be on our kids getting a strong education rather than being able to dribble with their left hand.

But sports are important, and ultimately reflect on the community in a way that's bigger than most people want to admit.

Right now, we're not looking too good.

Contact Sports Editor Adam Parkhouse at aparkhouse@thenewsdispatch.com or 874-7211, Ext. 461.

[Ang]

When Jeff Freitag was "reassigned" I applied for the interim AD position. I spoke with Mark about the chances of getting the job, and he told me "Why not? You're already basically running the department. I think you should apply."

So I did.

I never even got an interview.

Then one day I came into work and there was a new interim AD. Mark didn't even talk to me about anything concerncing the position. Not even to tell me they decided to hire someone for it. I just walked into work one day and there she was sitting high and mighty behind the AD desk.

I was uber pissed. I went straight into Mark's office and asked him about it. He said, "Did you really think you had a chance at that?" And I said I did because HE told me I did, HE encouraged me to apply. His response? "Well, it would have been unethical of me to discourage you from applying for any position." I put in my notice right then. I asked him for a piece of paper and scribbled a two week notice on it while I sat across from him at his desk.

So I guess lying to employees is considered ethical in Mark Francesconi's world, and being honest with people is not. What a wonderful role model for our High Schoolers to look up to.

[Southsider2k12]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...&TM=48535.3

Principal interfered with coaching
Our local sports writers Adam Parkhouse and Nick Dettman have recently chimed in on the coaching situation at Michigan City High School, and their words could not have been truer. I think given all the shenanigans Michigan City Area Schools seem to always find themselves embroiled in, do they need a high school principal running roughshod over the athletic programs at MCHS?

The question that seems to stand out like the 800-pound gorilla in the room is, are we not currently paying for a competent athletic director and a handful of qualified assistant athletic directors? Either Principal Francesconi has no confidence in these positions, or he his simply imposing his will upon the athletic program with total disregard for these positions.

After the uprising last year with the forced resignation of Coach Collins and his staff, and now the same exact scenario being played out with Coach Allen, maybe Mr. Francesconi has done enough damage to the MCHS credibility and the athletes taking part. While you may dismiss athletics over academics, Mr. Francesconi, are you so naïve to not grasp that some of these athletes and their families might actually use athletics as a means to an end to attend higher education? Have you not accepted the fact that a college education will set the average student and their family back about $50,000 over a four-year period, and given the current economic downturn many parents had their college savings accounts decimated by this occurrence?

Are you not aware that colleges will steer clear of MCHS athletes due to the instability going on? Can you even fathom the lost opportunities these athletes will incur by not having a steady and competent coach guiding them for an extended period of time, versus a new coach and style year after year?

Maybe it's time for Mr. Francesconi to concentrate on that little piece of land located on Pahs Road that is supposed to be an educational facility, I hear that the issues contained within the academic portion of that place are in disarray as well. It seems a common trait of MCAS to continually keep delving into issues while others issues are never solved. I say to Mr. Francesconi, try fixing the academics, you know those ISTEP scores and related items, and stay out of athletics, let the people we actually pay to run the athletic programs do their jobs.

Roger A. Butler

Michigan City

[MCFan]

I have to agree with Parkhouse; saying things back to the fans, that was wrong of Allen and I told him so. He admitted that he should not have told the fan that they could have applied for the job.

As far as coaching, no matter how close we sit to the bench there are just some things that the fans and writers just won’t have knowledge of. Just based on my knowledge of the girl’s basketball program over the last four years, there are a couple of players who just didn’t know how to be team players and it showed during this season and in previous seasons. To his credit Allen gave those players chance after chance to conform. But, when family and friends are pumping a players head full of negative stuff about the coach, while telling the same player that they are better than they really are it causes problems.

The real issue is the refusal of the administration (Principal) to address family members that caused numerous problems for Allen and Collins. Has MC sports gone down yes it has, you only have to look back to the girl’s game against S.B. Washington at the Wolves Den. I saw the parent of a starter sitting with the S.B. Washington fans. When did it become fashionable for the parents of our players to sit with the opponents fans? The big problem is the principal has allowed certain things to happen which has caused the last two girl’s basketball coaches to have problems.

Allen should have been retained because the program was more disciplined, Allen was taking an active role in monitoring the girls in school, he was personally working with the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls and a a junior and sophomore were getting serious looks from a Big Ten School. One year is not longer enough to determine if it was going to work as a coach or teacher, and we all know that.

[CaddyRich]

MC Born&Raised - Any scoop on a new Lady Wolves head coach?

[MCFan]

No word yet, but I hear that Strawbridge, Thomas and Commers have applied for the position, which would be a step in the wrong direction.

What I have heard because I am very very close to want is going on at MCHS:

One: Principal, superintendent, and AD met right before the end of basketball season to discuss Allen, at that meet the principal asked Falls not to recommend Allen's contract be renewed for the next season. Reasons why principal wanted Allen out:
1. Allen didn't work with younger players at the middle schools. (He did)
2. A sophomore center didn't get any better, and he parent complained about playing time. (Michigan State was interested in the other sophomore, who is better)
3. He believed that anyone could have won with the team Allen had. (No body thinks that, because Allen was brought in to instill discipline and structure, he did)
4. The father of a senior who had signed a D1 scholarship complained all season long that Allen was mistreating his daughter. (Allen wanted to cut her because she was detrimental to the team concept and she would not listen, they wouldn't let him)
AD refused. Nice to know that the principal wanted to use an African-American to do his dirty work so the pressure wouldn't come back on him for getting rid of a coach that did such a good job, with what a lot people considered to be a dysfunctional team and an even bigger set of dysfunctional parents and relatives.

Two: Another fact that has slipped by is that the administration secretly allowed Busher to resign, he was told that his contract as an administrator and coach was not going to be renewed long before the official date that the principal has to notify teachers of their status for the next school. Wonder why they didn't do the same Allen.

Three: Rumor has it that Moore and her younger sister who is one of the better 8th grade guards in the area are transferring, I heard Chicago or LaPorte. Edwards is moving back to Illinois. Wonder what the team is going to be like without Moore and Edwards. The joke around the school is; team is going to have to function without Nixon for the first time in four years and no one on the team has ever played with out her, they are wondering if her coat tails will extend from EIU to Michigan City. The prediction is that they won't win more than 10 games, and the administration is ok with that.

Four: I heard a rumor that Allen might end up at LaPorte, that he has a job in Chicago but he might just go to LaPorte so he can stay close to his mother.

[JHeath]

All very interesting. How many times has Thomas applied for this coaching job? I can remember many people who had him as a coach when I was a Red Devil...most admired him, but ALL remembered him.