Tech Thieves

I coach at least one thief per year. At some point during the season, without fail, somebody will inevitably steal from a teammate or a fellow student. Guys come and go from here, but the tendency for one of them to snatch an Ipod, Iphone, or laptop remains the same every year. The most troubling part about this is that I'm always caught off guard by the crook, even though I pride myself on being a great judge of character.

Last year, a young man (Lanky) who I strongly recommended to another coach went to his new school and stole a laptop within the first month of school. He only got caught because the laptop had a built in tracker that lead University Police to his dorm room. Lanky was also suspected of stealing a teammate's Iphone the year before while he was on my team, but that matter was never resolved. I didn't bother questioning him because he never gave me a reason to think he would steal from a teammate. In hindsight, I should have looked into it further since the accuser was one of his friends on the team.

The worst situation occurred five years ago when a staff member at the college invited some players over for dinner. After they left, her son discovered his Ipod and some money were missing. The thief turned out to be his cousin. Initially, everybody suspected one guy because he "seemed like the type", but eventually the cousin bragged about his heist and the scheme unraveled. The sad part about this story was that the cousin lived with them. He was taken in by his aunt because he had no place to go. Years later I was told that he stole over $500 from the family during the course of his extended stay.

The most recent theft occurred in a computer lab. According to the police report, one of my guys (Curly) conspired with a friend to take a classmate's Iphone. Never in a million years would I have attached Curly to such a petty plot. He wasn't a trouble maker and always did everything I asked of him. As a matter of fact, one of the first adjectives that came to mind (prior to this) when I though of Curly was genuine. In this case, however, Curly was far from the upstanding individual I had gotten to know.

While his friend created a diversion, Curly grabbed the Iphone. Before Curly could make his way off campus, however, he was confronted by Campus Police. I'm sure he was surprised by how quickly he was apprehended. Nobody but his friend knew that he had taken the Iphone. Like Lanky, Curly didn't realize that a lot of these new expensive devices have a built in tracker.

Me: I don't get it. Why did you do it? I would've never pegged you as the type.
Curly: I have no clue, Coach. I just did it.
Me: There had to be a reason. Did you need the phone?
Curly: Not at all.
Me: Were you listening last week when I talked to the team about instant gratification?
Curly: Yup.
Me: So why'd you do it?
Curly: I really don't know, Coach. The phone was there so I just took it.