Scott Vickrey turned in his resignation last week as Carson High's head softball coach, and I for one am sorry to see him leave.
It was probably the worst-kept secret on campus that he would leave at the end of last season. Part of the reason he stepped down was because he became department chair, which requires a little more work outside the classroom, and the second is the burnout factor.
Vickrey, at least on the softball field, is a happy-go-lucky sort of guy. He wants to win, just like any other coach in any sport, but at the end of the day he realizes it's just a game and there are bigger and more important things going on.
The one thing I like about him is that he treats his players with respect at all times, and he worked hard at teaching fundamentals. That's all you can ever ask of any coach. I've seen his players make some really boneheaded plays in the eight-plus years I've covered his varsity teams, but you don't ever see him go ballistic and chew somebody out in public like some of his colleagues coaching other sports.
And, he has always been media-friendly, whether he's winning or losing. Whether he's 10-runned an opponent or been 10-runned himself, he makes himself available for as long as you need him. That is something you don't always see at any level.
Whenever I've needed "Vick" to call, he does. I can't remember him ever ducking out on that responsibility.
When Vickrey talked about his resignation, he talked about the past and present help he received from Jim Rankl, John Grant, Craig Kiser and Bob Carvin.
Vickrey said he would miss coaching, and that if he is needed in the future, he would be willing to come back.
Scott, we'll miss ya, buddy.
• • •
Imagine my surprise when I received the all-region softball list from commissioner Ron McNutt recently and noticed 22, yes 22, players receiving honorable mention status.
I never thought I would see the day where high school coaches turn all-region or all-league selections into "everybody who plays gets on the team."
In essence that's what these teams have come to. It's a joke.
Twenty-seven players were named to the first team and 77 total players were honored.
Let me see, and correct me if my math is off, but you have 11 teams, and 77 players made all-league in one form or another. That's an average of seven players per team.
Why not just put everybody on?
When will coaches do the right thing and make some tough decisions? It should be an honor to make all-region or all-league and not a given.
How does this sound?
One Player of the Year and one Pitcher of the Year, five infielders, four outfielders, one catcher, one DH and one utility player on the first team. Ditto for the second team. Honorable mention would be one player per position. You would cut your list in half.
Baseball did a little better, but not much.
A total of 69 players made first team, second team, honorable mention and players, pitcher and offensive player of the year. Definitely way too many.
So in baseball, an average of six-plus players per team were honored.
No offense, folks, but this wasn't a huge year for good baseball.
Baseball chose five first-team pitchers and 16 overall. Really? Get serious, guys. Make the tough choices.
I truly like the way college does things.
You get a ballot and you mail your ballot in. Why can't high school coaches do the same thing?
Have a date by when stats are due and then mark your ballot and send it in.
• • •
Bob Bateman, Carson athletic director, is hopeful that he will have soccer coaches hired in the next couple of weeks.
Truthfully, the soccer jobs, especially the boys' job, always seems to come under a lot of criticism no matter who is roaming the sidelines.
Soccer is one of those sports where parents, who maybe played when they were younger or who have sat on lawn chairs for 10 years watching their kids play, think they know more than the coaches.
Parents need to keep their opinions to themselves. If they don't agree with a strategy, oh, well.
If conversations start at home, all the parent is doing is undermining the coach, and that's never a good thing.
