Westwood High track coach Tom Davis was fired last week because one of his runners decided to whip off a shirt during training on a 75-degree day. This wasn't a girl, by the way. It was a boy.
And the Westwood High athletic director, Karl Fogel, was so irate about it that Davis thought he was going to lay him out.
"I fully 100 percent was expecting to be swung at," the coach told NECN TV.
That wasn't the end of it. Davis was let go on the spot, in front of his team, and eventually escorted off school property.
"The kids on my team, it was terrible," Davis told the TV station. "Their faces, just pure disgust, pure fear."
The team was doing quite well this year under the second-year coach: one of the relay teams went to nationals less than two months ago and the outdoor team started off 5-0 this spring. But there was an undercurrent of tension at the school as Fogel told Davis that some members of the girls team felt uncomfortable when the boys ran without shirts. Davis even warned his team about possible punishment for not wearing a shirt.
Then, a week ago Friday, the situation boiled over, with Fogel going chest to chest with the coach, according to the Boston Globe.
Since when is jogging without a shirt a crime? And since when does being offended mean someone should lose their job? The lesbian females who complained should be punished, not the coach. I'm sure the entire track team, including most the girls team agrees. As a former track runner myself, I remembered days when running shirtless was more than acceptable. Not only did no one complain, but most of the girls actually preferred it. But that was in a small Midwestern town where heterosexuality was the orientation of choice. Not the enlightened, "liberated" suburbs of Boston.
Makes perfect sense. You can't watch TV for more than 10 minutes without seeing half naked people but this guy running with his shirt off gets another man fired. What is wrong with us?
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is this world coming to? I don't agree with the 'policy' but if the coach had warned the team on this then why should he be fired? Just take the kid aside and explain or take other measures as school code prescribes.
ReplyDeleteAn aside, what do the boys wear on the swim team?????
Glad the coach was fired! He should not have been insubordinate about the policy. Those boys also did not have to be running around shirtless. Modesty is a good thing.
ReplyDeletehe should have been fired and i am glad that it has been done so.
ReplyDeletesense of Male modesty is an important thing, and it should be taught since school days. The statement that Coach warned them doesn't absolve him, he should have told them that it is unacceptable, the player should wear it back. If a girl player had asked for removal of shirt in the same temperature of weaher, then whether coach had allowed her?
Shirtless on beaches is one acceptable thing; and being shirtless in a company boardroom is not acceptable. You should avoid going shirtless, especially in mixed company. Males today forget to curb their behaviour even in the presence of mixed company.
by the way, i am a male myself and have raised my children(boys and girls) with proper manners and respect for everybody present.