Jen Toomey fired, Michael Toomey suspended from high school coaching.

this is just another incident. there is a history of poor decisions that the toomey's have made. if he is fired, it is not only because of this particular incident.

robotics wrote:

this is just another incident. there is a history of poor decisions that the toomey's have made. if he is fired, it is not only because of this particular incident.

Such as? I am not doubting, just wondering.

i remember the same stuff at my school. that kid i just going to get it tons worse now. we used to throw kids in dumpster and make them sit next to naked guys on the bus. I dont know why they/we acted like that but it was for shock value and to freak them out. as a fr in college we lived in fear in the winter as they would toss us into the pond which was probably better than when in the summer as it was a spot where disease thrived.

suck it up kids.

I've known the Toomeys for a long time—from before they were married and as a result think highly of each of them. I've never heard anything critical of them more important than the ever-present sport-specific talk about training strategies and race tactics.

Tom

If he questioned both the assailants and the victim and they all denied everything, what the hell else was Mike Toomey to do?

I'd bet my last dollar that the principal already had it in for Toomey for some reason and is using this to leverage his ouster. He's probably just jealous because he goes home ot an insipid cow while Mike's wife is extremely hot.

sounds like that kid AND his father need ass kickings. pussies.

Would any of you H.S. coaches out there have done anything different than Michael did?

robotics wrote:

this is just another incident. there is a history of poor decisions that the toomey's have made. if he is fired, it is not only because of this particular incident.

we are still waiting to hear you back this up.

green streak wrote:

Would any of you H.S. coaches out there have done anything different than Michael did?

Yes, I would have told the school. I work for them and have an obligation to do so. They may investigate further, or say there is nothing more to it, but it is their call.

Keep in mind that everything you are reading is from one side of the story. A school would not comment on such things beyond generalities. There may be far more to the story than we know.

I am not defending, nor condemning the coach, but trying to show that there is usually more to any story than meets the eye.

How about telling the principal! I wouldn't want kids like that on a team. Nothing funny or mild about it.

green streak wrote:

Would any of you H.S. coaches out there have done anything different than Michael did?

A few years ago I rooted out hazing activity in the program I took over. It was a brutal process and took a couple of years for us to work through. The answer is, yes, I would have gone to the A.D. and to the parents with something like that. I am to act in loco parentis, so that's what I have to do.

Nothing good ever comes out of true hazing. Horseplay is one thing, but it sounds as if this activity went beyond that.

-Toomey was wrong- he should have documented his investigation,at the least he should have alerted the dean of boys/detention dean(whatever title) or his boss the AD, that he got unsupported information about a hazing and when he spoke to the people involved the alledged victim said it was unfounded as did the others. A certain amount of kids will be kids stuff will happen but systematic hazing can not be part of the team environment. While a deeper investigation might have been the better approach, by not at least noting that he investicated and passed judgement that it was a non issue he let himself open to censor. The line for kids will be kids as an answer and this warrants corrective action always seems to be set on a slippery slope. Often you're damned if you do and damned if you don't BUT you're always wrong if you do not document these events and your handling of them. yeah it sucks trying to be the good guy.

Hindsight and remote viewing make it easy for me to come up with this comment but I belive it's correct.

yeah it sucks being a HS coach/teacher.

As to Jen getting fired because she's married to him-welcome to the real world.

wineturtle wrote:Toomey was wrong- he should have documented his investigation

Hindsight and remote viewing make it easy for me to come up with this comment.[/quote]

Yes they do. Had you been in the same situation, you likely have done even less than Toomey did and we could all tell you the next day how wrong you were

As to Jen getting fired because she's married to him-welcome to the real world.

Try to remember this comment the next time you get completely screwed over by the powers the be for something you have no responsibility for. No complaining now.

In high school our younger distance runners used to fight to get the seats closest to our coach on the bus because the senior throwers and jumpers would sneak to the front of the bus and grab us and give s pretty good beating in the back of the bus.

I think this type of thing is part of growing up and a coach should not get fired if the kid said nothing happened.

This is crap. Toomey asked the kid if anything happened and kid lied to him. He asked the perps about it and they lied to him. What more can you do? Launch a full out investigation with no evidence and cause a huge commotion in the athletic department?You hear a lot of rumors about kids but are you expect investigate everyone of them to the degree that you have stated?

I've delt with hazing in my program and, yes, I took the accusations very seriously, including involving our AD. I'm not trying to 2nd guess the Toomey's decision. I do wonder if he's not a teacher? Coaches without experience in education may inadvertently not follow up with the accusations adequately. To those that think hazing isn't a big deal, tell that to the kid and families that feel like a victim. There is a certain line that cannot be crossed and it's not fun for anyone to deal with those situations. Again, this is by means questioning the situation in Arizona, just giving an opinion from a coach that has had to deal with hazing in the past.

Blaiming the victim for not telling the truth is ridiculous. Think about it... he's in high school and doesn't want to cause trouble with the other kids, maybe he's afraid of retribution. Maybe they threatened to kick his ass if he said something. How do you think a lot of high school kids would respond?

As I posted above, I'm not judging the Toomey's by any means, just providing some perspective from another coach.

So have any of you picked up Cannonball Run on DVD yet? I thought that was the whole point of this exercise?

another hs coach wrote:

Blaiming the victim for not telling the truth is ridiculous. .

He didnt "blame the victom". He stated the fact that the victim lied.