Massachusetts Most Wanted

I almost coached a registered sex offender. Splash was a regular during our summer workouts but stopped showing up once Campus Police declared that they had to post a picture of him on campus since he was convicted of statutory rape (re: Say Cheese!). As with the countless other situations I've encountered as the Head Coach, that matter caught me completely off guard. For awhile, I thought I was the only coach dealing with the craziness until a colleague from another college called me with his own dilemma.

Within the first month of each season, I've found myself wanting to resign because of the daily dose of drama that comes my way. By nature, I don't have a ton of patience. I also really dislike confrontation. For better or worse, coaching has required me to deal with these personal shortcomings regularly. One of the ways I've dealt with my rougher days has been by venting to colleagues at other colleges who are often experiencing the same noneense, or worse.

One coach told me that he caught his players passing a pint of Hennessy on the team bus after a game. Another lamented about his purported star player who was jailed two games into the preseason for stealing a car. The most disturbing tale was one that threw me for a complete loop. A veteran colleague called to get my take on how he should proceed with a situation.

Coach: Hey Coach, what's happenin'?
Me: Same old, man. Just trying to deal with the daily craziness. You know how it is.
Coach: Well, I got a brain teaser for you. It's kind of a complex situation. These fuckin guys... There's always something.
Me: If you're calling me, then it must be serious.
Coach: Well, yeh. I have a sense of how I'm going to deal with it but I just wanted your take on the matter.
Me: Shoot.
Coach: I got a call from somebody in the community telling me that one of my guys is on the Massachusetts Most Wanted website.
Me: Really? Did you check it out?
Coach: Yup. I went to the site and there he was.
Me: Damn, man. What are you gonna do?
Coach: Well, I'm obviously gonna talk to him about it. From there, we'll see. I just don't get how a kid on the Massachusetts Most Wanted list gets accepted at a state college without any alert going off. It's not like he's hiding out. The kid has been coming to school and going to practice for months!