Feedback, good or bad, is something we welcome
By T.G. SMITH
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tsmith@morrisdailyherald.com
Captain Lou Albano died on Wednesday. He was 76 years old.
Saw him perform as part of the WWE (then WWF) troupe back in the day at the old Rosemont Horizion (now Allstate Arena). Wanted to make sure you didn't miss it.
Now on to business.
Got a hand-written letter from an unnamed sports fan this week. To put it mildly, he is less than enamored with Morris coach George Dergo and the performance of his teams. I won't go into all of the details because I can't confirm them, but let's just say this sports fan got his money's worth in the letter.
The first half of the letter is mainly that of an angry fan who doesn't like the fact that Morris has lost 10 games in the last two years. For the record, that hasn't happened since the 1975-76 seasons under Dick Raber and Don Funte, respectively. It was also the last years before Dan Darlington took over the program. Ironically, those were Dergo's sophomore and junior seasons at MCHS.
So, I can understand where he is coming from.
I truly appreciate the response. Sincerely, I do. However, there is one thing I would like to clarify. In the letter, A Sports Fan says that last week that I "ask the people not to be negative about the program."
Just for the record, this is not what I said not meant last week when I wrote, "It's too bad that it's mainly only people with pent up negativity who do all of the writing. I know equal voices are out there. Feel free to respond."
What I was implying there was that we've had a lot of responses and virtually an ongoing conversation in the comment section after each game. Most of the voices are negative and that's what I was trying to convey. It is sad to me that this is the case most of the time.
Think about it this way, when was the last time you the loyal reader bothered to write to a reporter to tell them that you liked one of their stories? This either via longhand like A Sports Fan, by e-mail, by blogging, by commenting on-line or any other method?
I tell you who — virtually nobody.
On the other hand, if you don't like something you have read, or disagree with the author, many people clamor to be heard. They will fire off something in an effort to have a voice.
I don't mind that at all. Angry and or disgruntled responses are always welcome here. I only meant that it would be nice, if nothing else to balance out some of these comment strings, if more people who are content with the situation would speak up.
Never was the intent to tell people how they should feel.
I do not feel that I am a Dergo apologist nor his "puppet". He often gets angry with me over the way that I put the brutal truth out there about the football team. Also, other than the fact that I am an alum, I do not have a horse in this race any longer. I live in Marseilles and my kids go to school elsewhere.
In many ways, I think this gives me the freedom to have an unbiased style of reporting on Morris sports. At least most of the time.
A Sports Fan wants me to "write the truth", which I'm fairly sure I do on a regular basis — at least how I perceive it.
You say the "whole athletic program is shameful with not one winning program." Well, the truth of the matter is that: the Morris wrestling team has had 14 winning seasons in the last 15 years; the football team hasn't had a losing season since 2000 (with this year still in doubt); the boys swimming team hasn't had had a losing season in years; the girls swim team has the chance this year to have a winning record now in three of the last four seasons; the boys tennis team posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 15 years; the boys soccer team is on the precipice of its second winning season EVER; the girls basketball team has had winning teams in four of the last five years; the last time the girls bowling team had a losing season was 19 years ago; and the golf team hasn't had a losing season in the Dergo era.
When you say that I "have seen it both ways", I'm assuming you mean consistent winning teams in baseball and softball. On that we can both agree since each has seen a significant drop off in the past several years — though the softball team also had a winning season last year. Volleyball and boys basketball are roughly the same as they have always been.
That's the truth Sports Fan.
Keep the cards and letters and comments coming. It's one sure way of having your voice heard in an effort to make this world a better place.
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