Inside the Cupboard

What a time to be a sports fan in Jackson County.

Many moons ago, I was a stringer for the Jackson County Floridan. Covering rec sports was my most favorite thing to do. Unfortunately, it didn’t produce a lot of revenue. When I came to the TIMES, I was told I had unlimited sports pages (although the week I had 26 kind of pushed my luck just a tad).

Two rec departments have banner seasons with fall soccer. Keep in mind, rec doesn’t pay coaches to coach. They don’t get compensated financially. I will burn up a cell phone to get scores and stats so those kids can be highlighted in the paper from rec to college. If I have a contact, you best believe I will wear out a phone texting.

I want to start with a positive because I was told that was that was a sign of a good supervisor and I am the supervisor for sports information in Jackson County – self appointed of course.

Monday night, I sent out two group texts requesting info following the game. There were 12 games, 24 teams. I had info from 21 teams that night. Win or lose, they sent it to me.

NOW for the yuck.

I utilize many apps and websites for statistics. I am the first to acknowledge that athletics, like everything else has gone through some changes and, that all of those changes are not for the better.

Back when I worked in the school system, each school had an AD (athletic director) whose job it was to make sure each sport had referees, buses for away games, whatever they needed, that all FHSAA rules were followed, media outlets were notified of signings, game changes, anything that was out of the normal flow of sports.

Each morning you could hear results from the games that were played the night before on the radio (that station is no longer on the air).

Fast forward. It’s not like that. Coaches are not bound by the same guidelines – they are not held accountable to the extent in years’ past. I understand their salary doesn’t compensate for the number of hours but here’s the skinny on that – no one accepts a job without a notice of what they will be paid. Win or lose, lean year, fat year, should be treated the same when reporting to the media and recording in the sports apps. Losses are tough, but they are a part of life. I’ve worked with more coaches over the years than Carter’s has little liver pills and I can tell you I have had the pleasure of working with some awesome ones, some that would tell me “we stunk it up” without hesitation.

That’s not necessarily a reflection on the coaching staff or the players, it’s a fact of life. Coaches, be the bigger person, do the right thing, and that’s the way it is from Inside the Cupboard.