Incompetence — I Wish These People Were That Smart
Date: 15 January, 2010
By: Chief
egrettably, they are not.
Vince Lombardi once famously, infamously or shamelessly stated:
"Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing."
Whether or not you agree with Vince it would appear that some people do. This attitude can have disastrous consequences upon people if the person who agrees with Vince is in some sort of a position of power and you, I or someone we know are not. Which is precisely what this story is about.
Incompetence strikes
A very un-good situation occurred at a high school not overly far from where I live and a damned good man, an honorable man, was fired and publicly humiliated.
You see it was the high school football team head coach who was the person getting axed. Said former head coach is also a neighbor of mine, as things go here.
Well, by God, why was he fired? And how was he publicly humiliated? Those are two very good questions, and I shall do my best to provide the answers. Hopefully this story shall, at a minimum, give the scurvy dog or dogs who fired my neighbor a terminal case of:
- Hemorrhoids,
- Peptic ulcers,
- Genital warts,
- Unending hiccups, and;
- Severe diarrhea.
Simultaneously.
While it would not be a pretty sight to observe it would, without any doubt, do my heart no end of good. Plus it'll serve the bastard(s) right. Oh, just in case you have not noticed — I can be vindictive as hell.
Why was the former head coach fired? Allow me to quote from the Roswell Daily Record:
"I was told that they wanted new leadership."
That little snippet is from the former head coach himself.
Ah, there is the answer. My neighbor, the former head coach, must have been incompetent. Wrong. If nothing else the school jerks are insinuating it. Correct. Again, quoting the Roswell Daily Record:
"[Redacted], who was fired Dec. 2 after a seven-year stint as the head coach of the program. [Redacted] was 47-33 at the helm of the program and led the Demons to two 2A state runner-up finishes and four district titles. Under [redacted], the Demons qualified for the playoffs six times."
A winning record
So let me see if I've got this correct, according to the local newspaper — the former head coach was publicly fired for:
- Winning four district titles,
- Making the playoffs six times,
- Led the team to two 2A state championship runner-up finishes, and;
- Had a regular season winning record (47-33) over seven years.
I might be blind as the proverbial bat but I fail to see how the former head coach could, by any reasonable stretch of the imagination, be considered incompetent. Or why the school felt that "new leadership" was in order. Additionally there is the not so minor fact of his record being a winning — not a losing record. Hmm, there are quite a few pro football coaches who can't make the same claim.
The only accomplishment he did not achieve was to win a 2A state championship.
As for the second question — when was the last time you were fired and the firing made the local newspaper? Indeed the dismissal was "announced" (quoting the Roswell Daily Record) by the school's athletic director. Public humiliation? I think that would qualify. All in the name of "new leadership." Pricks.
It seems quite clear to me, having been in a position of leadership for more years than I care to remember (or count), that the incompetent maroon or maroons involved in this abomination could not:
- Tell you the traits which make a good leader if they were carved in stone right in front of them,
- Pass a leadership examination if the fucking answers were tattooed to their forearms, and;
- Lead a duck to water if they sprouted feathers, a bill and quacked.
In short, they are worthless. But they are in a position of power and, quite possibly, pay homage to the Lombardi God. Slugs.
Leadership
But what of true leadership? Other than the glaring fact the slugs, pricks, scurvy dogs or all of the above have none, what about real leadership? The answer may surprise you but the vast majority of real leaders, good leaders, are not born — they are made. They are forged from the 14 traits of leadership.
Ah hell, I just opened up another can of worms. Hence, for your edification, here are the 14 traits of leadership:
- Justice,
- Judgment,
- Dependability,
- Initiative,
- Decisiveness,
- Tact,
- Integrity,
- Enthusiasm,
- Bearing,
- Unselfishness,
- Courage,
- Knowledge,
- Loyalty, and;
- Endurance.
If you would care to read the definitions which accompany each trait, you can do so here (it is a pdf file).
Now let me 'splain this once and for all, the former head coach possesses all of those traits. Honorable men do. It is as simple as that.
Yet, for reasons unknown, a single or possibly several slug(s), prick(s), scurvy dog(s) or all of the above, has attempted to destroy an honorable man's reputation — and that is despicable.
More than a coach
I do not know about the rest of y'all, but here in southeast New Mexico reputation is damn near everything. Reputation, as you well know, is a component, a subset if you will, of honor. And there is nothing, absolutely nothing, more important than honor. Anywhere. Period.
There are, on the playing field of life, things which are far more important than mere winning. Winning is transient, here today — gone tomorrow, but honor lasts a lifetime. The former head coach, my neighbor, taught those young high school minds something far more important than mere plays or winning — he taught them honor. Most importantly though — he taught them honor — by example.
Vince Lombardi was wrong.