ACHTUNG: This is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
I’m aware this won’t do any good, but I hereby resolutely urge Hopkins boys’ varsity basketball coach Darrin Smith to reconsider his resignation.
His stepping down solves virtually no problems. The community is still reeling and divided. The basketball team is in an awkward position with a new “unbiased” mentor who doesn’t know this team like Smith did. We all saw signs last week that the Vikings were showing a lot of promise on the hardcourt this year, judging by their performances in the first two games.
I understand that Smith didn’t want to put his family through the witch hunt any longer. I was told he made his decision first and foremost as a husband of a Hopkins Middle School teacher and father of two Hopkins students. And indeed, I have no clue about what kind of hell they have gone through as a result of this unfortunate development.
Though I don’t have all of the inside information, it appears the claims made against Smith were unfounded, were misunderstandings and sometimes the result of pure desire for revenge from helicopter parents.
To be sure, Smith failed to produce a winning season in his four years at the helm. But success in wins and losses for Hopkins basketball all these years so often as been a factor of being a football school and lately the culprit has been the league in which it plays.
The team was 6-15 last season and looked horrible in the early going. The Vikings improved near the end to almost pull off a district title.
The O-K Silver Conference last year had two teams that played in the state championship game, Godwin Heights in Class B and Northpointe Christian in Class C. Add perennial hoops power Calvin Christian and you very easily can account for six of Hopkins’ losses.
Hopkins has come a long way from the days of playing smaller rural schools. When it joined the O-K Conference, it signed on to full schedules of opponents, but much tougher competition.
Another claim was that Darrin Smith played favorites and that he practiced nepotism because one of his players was his son. That son was elevated to the varsity as a freshman and is a member of the current team. Though I think he needs serious work on his outside shooting, I am impressed with his rebounding ability, a big asset to a team lacking height against the likes of Calvin and Northpointe.
Furthermore, his son was elevated to the varsity in football last fall as the sophomore quarterback, not by Smith, but by Mick Francis.
The complaining parents saw their son come out on the short end of decisions made by both the basketball and football coaches and he was cut by Smith. Sorry, but deciding on who will play and how much is not done by polling parents and community supporters, but by the person hired to be the coach. That’s part of his job. The buck stops here.
Now that Smith has decided to step aside, I’ll say it again that no problems have been solved. The community remains divided, hard feelings still exist and I think it’s going to take more than a short period to heal.
This has been a sad chapter in the history of Hopkins High School athletics. I am sad to have witnessed it and sad that I had to tell the story.
Good luck to the Viking basketball players and their new “unbiased” coach. I think they’ll need it.
If you write an article and don’t know all the facts, reach out for people on both sides of the issue and don’t report on one side. If you want an informed article, written by someone who attended the school board meeting, look on MLive.com and you will find it.
Once again, it was not an article, it was an editorial. They are not the same.
No, that article was full of lies and half truths. This article is way more accurate. Who are you? That’s right…Lisa Battjes boyfriend…
I was at the school board meeting. What I witnessed was bitter jealous people who have their own agenda. Rather than teach their kids what character is and what it means to work harder they teach them to complain – sad. This person admits they don’t know the coach at all and has only been part of the scene for a few months but yet they are the most vocal. Puppet?
Like I’ve said before…when you hear so much feedback from people you don’t know well, it doesn’t take much to figure a situation out. Why would over half the team and former players show up to talk to the School Board? I know sports and have been around them, and coaching for all my life…this situation was wrong on so many levels, which is why there was a huge turnout for people against and not for the Coach. It doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to figure it out. If anyone would like to have a meaningful conversation about it, you should get some community members together and talk about it. It’s easy to hide behind a generic “Witness” profile, but I won’t.
The online petitions had less than 99 signatures – many of them young kids who signed likely because their parents told them to. The petition in favor of the coach had over 300 in support – that says a lot. Many former players are also in support. It is unfortunate that the character of the kids who were against the coach is being brought up but it says a lot about their parents and friends. Work for something instead of whining. You’ve heard a lot you say – not surprising it is all negative, look who you are around.
I was at the meeting too. It was not half the team. The former players were those who lost playing time to better, younger players and didn’t have the guts to try out this year. I heard a quote the other day, “If you want something you don’t have, change what you’re doing.” For those players in attendance, they just have mom, dad or mom’s boyfriend complain.
The same argument you use with kids parents who are not getting playing time is the exact same argument that these younger kids are getting special privileges because of who they know. Its not teaching these kids that hard work gets you promoted. You cant conceivable argue one way and not the other! So far in 3 games these young men have had minimal contribution and would do themselves a great service by playing down and getting experience. I do believe these young men have a good future and will be good players. But they are going to get there chance. But by playing 4-5 mins a game on varsity does not necessarily relate to greatness. Let these kids play freshman or jv and gain confidence. If we had LeBron James this wouldnt be an issue!! But we dont!
If you call being the leading scorer or the 2nd leading scorer in games minimal contribution then I think you don’t know what you are talking about. If we move these kids down then the freshman that got moved up to JV would have to be moved down and then 3-4 freshman/JV would have to be cut. The best kids are on the team and are contributing. Deal with it. Move on. Support the team. No we don’t have a LeBron James we have good athletes, that are good kids, that deserve to be on the varsity team that happen to be freshman and sophomores. Get over it!
I am so glad that this ‘article’, if you can call it that, stated that it is ‘not a fair and balanced story’…Phew! I was really confused for a minute. I am a parent who had a player in Darrins’ program for two years…the 2013/14 and 2014/15 seasons. I witnessed much favoritism and unfair treatment to players. The first year, starters were exhausted, playing the entire game, while definite unrecognized and/or unacknowledged talent and great energy sat on the bench. These ‘benchwarmers’ would be brought into games in the last 1-3 minutes…and we were always losing. By a lot. Each game the same. No effort to try something different. Which, by some is the non-websters’ definition of insanity…doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result. Insanity. Believe me, the starters families were just as unhappy with this as the ‘benchwarmers’ families. This group also played AYBT. (some had played Courthouse together since the third grade…which by the way got great training and instruction in their young years by a wonderful coach!) The coach they played for was greatly respected. These boys wanted to play for this coach…hard…wanted to do what he said…if he said ‘jump’ they would say ‘How High’! In fact, if he were to say ‘don’t breath, they would hold their breath. That’s how much they respected their coach…how badly they wanted to perform for him. And they did. The summer between these two seasons, not once was Darrin seen at a game. You would think that the Varsity coach would want to see what his team was actually capable of. Sure, there are probably many excuses of why he was not there, but most likely he did not want to see how much this other coach was respected. Ego? Definitely! The second Varsity season, one of these ‘benchwarmers’ started…every game. Finally…talent recognized!! And yet, unfair treatment continues. Talent and energy still on the bench! And for what?? Not winning that’s for sure. One game in particular sticks in my mind…Parent Night. And one player I will never forget. This player, a ‘benchwarmer’ for both seasons…talent, energy…the kind of energy that you don’t see very often…the kind of energy that puts him on the floor, diving for the ball, putting himself at risk, giving 120% always! On this evening, both parents were there…his father had come in from out of state to watch him play. There he sat on the bench of a losing game, only to come in during the last minute at best. 12 seconds left of this losing game, and what does Darrin do…pull him out to be replaced by another player! WHY, other than HUMILIATE THE STUDENT, would he do that!!! It was mortifying and heartbreaking to see!!! The two returning seasons since this, there have been virtually no seniors that have gone out…solely because they did not want to play for Darrin. Why is this? That is a very good question. A question that has been answered with the result of a new (interim) coach, and hopefully a new, solid, fair and honest and ethical program that our community can be proud of. So that, dear Editor, is what has been resolved here.