Occasionally, my mind wanders back to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when I encountered knotty problems of community journalism in my somewhat sordid career of more than 40 years in the field.
One troubling story I’ll never forget occurred during my sixth year of being in the business, in 1978, in Albion, where I was the sports editor of a six-days-a-week daily newspaper, the Albion Recorder.
I was responsible for covering four local high schools, Albion, Homer, Springport and Concord, and for covering Albion College athletics.
Because I had privately befriended some local coaches, with whom I consumed beer in social circumstances (“I liked beer!), I somehow stumbled onto a story that was puzzling and astonishing. My “Deep Throat” told me the Albion High School freshman basketball team went through a very successful season, and then participated in a special post-season tournament over a couple of weekends in Coldwater.
Albion, with the nickname Wildcats, won several contests in order to qualify for the championship finals against the host school. The Wildcats lost in that final contest, but coach Terris Wilson wanted to show his appreciation for his lads’ efforts by serving them champagne afterward in the locker room.
I had to do a lot of digging concerning the rumors I had been hearing and finally held a private meeting with the school’d athletic director. He admitted that the coach indeed served his players champagne in the Coldwater locker room after their championship loss.
Then I called the superintendent, who confirmed the story and said Mr. Wilson had received a verbal reprimand in his office.
The hardest part was calling Terris Wilson and asking him to confirm the dirt I already had dug up.
Mr. Wilson, obviously perturbed, quickly asked me, “Wait a minute. You’re not going to print a story about this are you?”
I had to break the bad news to him.
He was not hired back the following academic year, as he shouldn’t have been. But I wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t published.
Several years later, when I was editor of the Recorder, one of Mr. Wilson’s players, Nate Mitchell, publicly accused the school board and the Recorder of racism because while his freshman basketball coach had been raked over the coals, football coaches who appeared at a private party where beer was obtained by high school players got a free pass.
I publicly stated in response that I was not aware of such an incident. Furthermore, no one had come forward with a complaint. And the party of was held at a private home, not a school’s locker room.
Relations between me and the black community at times were strained because of stories such as this. Yet less than six months after being accused of being a racist, the local chapter of the NAACP specifically presented me with an award for coverage of the organization’s work and activities.
There is no justification for school staff/faculty providing alcohol to children, and the guy was lucky we wasn’t charged with a crime. How could a man that stupid be put in a position of authority over these youngsters? The fact that others have done worse does not lessen the coach’s culpability.