I am not a typical guy in the sense that my life does not revolve around sports. I love high school sports (and other activities), and we try to attend some of our alma mater’s each year. I even enjoyed OSU sports when I was a student and staffer there. However, I can’t tell you the last time I watched a sporting event on television. And, I go out on a limb saying this in Oklahoma, entirely too much emphasis is placed on sports in our culture.

Something is out of whack when sports, especially football, is placed in this elevated position. As a society, we have a stake in seeing to it that our children (I say this collectively since I have produced no spawn personally) are well educated (including religiously), and that can include sports as a means. Unfortunately, sports–and more specifically, winning at sports–has become the highest aim of entirely too many young people.

Notice I did not say excelling. Anything that is worth doing is worth doing well. We should strive for excellence at everything we attempt. But we must temper our striving with a few other things, like responsibility, priorities, and–oh, say–the law.

That is why it was so disturbing to read the article in the Muskogee Phoenix about Muskogee High School Football coach, Matt Hennesy. It seems the good coach was driving his car and struck a 7-year-old child. No one seems to contest the story that the kid rode out in front of Hennesy, and I do not fault him for the accident, as it sounds like exactly what it was. This sort of accident could happen to any of us. Coach Hennesy even made called the child and saw to it that he got medical attention (from the team’s trainer), both of which are commendable actions. Hennesy did not, however, report the incident to the police. He has now received some flak for that decision.

And here’s where it crosses into the absurd. When asked for comment on the incident by the Phoenix, Hennesy responded:

“I ought to be dealing with tomorrow night’s game — not this crap.”

And that’s where he lost me. He then went on to repeatedly assert that it was the 7-year-old’s fault and somehow expect admiration from the community in that he didn’t file a report even though the kid damaged his car.

A coach should be training young men (in this case, anyway) what it means to prioritize one’s life. And what it means to obey the law. And, for that matter, how not to respond to a newspaper. I can forgive the mistake. I have a hard time excusing the arrogance of Coach Hennesy’s response.

In an age when it’s bad enough that elected officials seem to believe they are more equal, I refuse to accept that a high school football coach has adopted an attitude that he is above the standards we must all abide simply because 22 young men were going to wrestle over a ball the next night.

Good coaches, and I have had some great ones, teach you that the games that are played are a type of life. There are rules and authorities; there are opponents; yet, you must find a way to excel toward the goal while avoiding, outplaying, and outwitting your opponents and abiding and obeying the rules. It’s a shame that the Muskogee Roughers apparently don’t have that kind of coach. Even if they win, they will still have lost.