Letter: Disagreeing with coach’s critics (Nov. 19)
I am writing this letter after seeing some of the comments lately in the Red Line. First of all, let me tell you that I have a son on the team and have had another son who played for coach (Randy) Blankenship when he first arrived in Madera.
The first year my son played for Madera High we had a parent meeting where the then-head coach for Madera High spent 30 minutes telling us how Madera could not lift weights like the Clovis schools, could not compete with the Clovis schools, but maybe we could play one of them tough and even beat one of them once in a while.
When coach Blankenship took over he told the players, as well as parents, that we could not only compete with the Clovis schools but beat them. I can still remember parents laughing and saying that he was crazy. My son played as a sophomore and the team got beat badly that year, as a junior the team did better and people said Coach Blankenship was doing all right. As seniors, the Coyote team my son played on made it to the semi-finals of the valley championships.
The next year I believe they were ranked in the top four or five in the state, and life was good.
Then Madera South came on the scene, and what talent Madera had was cut in half. Madera was lucky to compete with Clovis schools before and now it is next to impossible.
Yes, the team took its lumps this year. I can assure you that there is nothing harder than watching your son and his team try as hard as they can, and have it not be good enough.
For the seniors it is tough because they are caught up in the split of talent and have had a rough couple of years. Next year, I think Madera will have a better team, as the sophomores will be a year older, which will mean they will be bigger, stronger and, unlike the one Red Line person, a little smarter.
It makes me laugh when I hear people yell out and curse that coach B. is the cause of Madera’s problem, just how many valley titles does Madera have in football? I can say that in my years of watching Madera High play under coach Blankenship, I have never seen one of his teams quit and not compete, or watch him or his staff quit on the team.
By the way, when you complain about the score, at least get it right: it was 70 not 77.
A coach once told me, “there are no ugly babies,” but I think some are not as pretty as some others.
By the way, I wish he would pass more, but that’s my opinion, and we know what they are like, and everyone has one and they all stink.
By the way my first son has moved on in life, and tells me the lessons he learned from coach Blankenship help him every day. I could have done this on the Red Line, but I think if it’s worth saying then it’s worth putting your name on it.
Jim Bates,
Madera
I completely agree with Mr. Bates. Madera’s loss is Aptos’ gain. Watch what Blankenship does with this team. From what I’ve read he will have the support of the administration and athletic director.
That is something Madera High School needs, an athletic director with experience or at least an administrative credential. It’s funny how the MUSD Board of Trustees replaced Blankenship as AD because he didn’t have his administrative credential, now we have one with barely any coaching experience.
Madera High School won’t have a successful anything until coaches can coach without parental interference. Parents need to stop going to board members, principals, AD’s or local newspapers when their kids feelings are hurt or they don’t get the play time they think they deserve.