I just want to get the rhetoric straight. Your head football coach at your school winning 19 out of the last 21 league championships, averaging 10 plus D-1 scholarship offers to your athletes (some of them your sons); unprecedented in High School sports. Instrumental in helping boys become decent young men for over 3 decades is now expendable?
If you follow High School football here in the Washington D.C. area, you probably know that I am talking about DeMatha Catholic High School football. They (the Stags) suffered their worst loss as a program in the 2010 WCAC championship this past Sunday to the Good Counsel Falcons 42-3. Hats of to the Falcons for playing the far better game, and to legendary coach Bob Milloy for having that team ready to play the better game than the Stags.
When it was evident that Our Lady Of Good Counsel High School was going to win their second straight championship; reportedly some players' parents and others were overheard rumbling about firing coach McGregor and his staff as if the game has passed him by.Granted as the radio play-by-play 'mouth' of the Stags I could be a little biased. Getting to know Coach McGregor personally I could take offense to such rumblings. I also know however not to make business decisions and judgments based on emotion. Emotions can be unreliable if they do not line up with the will of the creator. 'Dats how mah Mama and Dadda taht me.' So let me bore you a little with the facts:
6 undefeated teams
16 full NCAA Division I scholarships 1990 (most in the USA)
2001- 14 Division IA or IAA full football scholarships awarded to seniors
2004- 18 Division IA or IAA full football scholarships awarded to seniors
Over 320 players awarded full NCAA Division I scholarships
HONORS
11 time WCAC Coach Of The Year
1982 Prince Georges County Coach of The Year
1987 “Big 33” Head Coach-Maryland vs. Pennsylvania
2000- Super 44 Head Coach-Maryland vs. Virginia
2001 Pigskin Club Coach of the Year
2003 Washington Post All-Met Coach of the Year
2003 Maryland State Coach of The Year
2004 Washington Redskins High School Coach of The Week
2005 Washington Redskins High School Coach of The Week
2004 NFL National High School Coach of The Year
2004 Gerald R. Ford High School Coach of The Year
This is just a partial list.
To make a long story short you, me, fans, parents, supporters, boosters, and casual observers are straight up, spoon in mouth, soiled diaper spoiled!
It is one thing to expect excellence. We should all strive for it. We however never reach perfection so we settle for constant improvement. You can say going from winning 17 out of the last 20 WCAC championships to coming up short in the last two is a step back. Maybe maybe not.
I would just pose the scenario to St. John's, Carroll, Paul VI and many of the 38,000 or so high schools in the Continental U.S. I would expect they would love the chance to lose the WCAC championship in true 'Buffalo Bills' or 'Minnesota Vikings' fashion.
It's evident in today's society that we don't enjoy the ride. If the path to consistent success was always smooth then we would all be Billionaires (I get closer everyday insert smile and wink here). I'm no mind reader, but I would guess that coach McGregor and his staff relish this opportunity to overcome this championship drought if you want to call it that.
Football people, I have come to learn, love being behind with the game on the line. That is where you truly find out what you are or are not made of. Can't we find some fun in that? Isn't this just the kind of adversity that will make next season that much more enjoyable? Or am I just weird in not seeking instant gratification, championships every year that come like Thanksgiving heartburn, and 'ho-hum on to Basketball.'
So unless you are not getting my point here no I don't think that Bill McGregor and his staff should lose their jobs, much less be sent to the principal's office or any slap on the hand. You are certainly welcome to have your opinion. That is what soldiers like his former player and Afghan war vet (The late Brendan Looney) fought and continue to fight for.
So here's to another 30 years coach. If you are willing to put up with the occasional grumblings.
