I admit that tracking down a coach who has been fired is not at the top of my fun list, but we’ve all got parts of our job we don’t like and still we power through. I’m sure it wasn’t much at the top of Royle’s fun list either to chat about the Reed administration’s decision to let him go.
While it would have been easy for Royle not to have returned my calls, he was gracious enough to do so.
I was impressed with his answers to my inquiries. He certainly wasn’t pleased with the axing, but he was ultra professional in his answers. I’m sure he’s frustrated and probably angry at some of the decision makers at Reed, but he never threw them under the bus while talking to me.
Despite chatting with numerous folks around Reed athletics, I haven’t been able to get a specific reason for Royle’s firing. I’ve only gotten a vague reason on a non-baseball related issue that surely can only be part of the story and would be unprofessional on my part to print.
But Royle never forgot his professionalism when talking with me. And it would have been an easy outlet for him to spew some negativity Reed’s way. However, he never did so.
Like I said, I don’t know what went down at Reed or why, but I do know Royle has taken the high road in the aftermath of his firing and for that I commend him.
•The spring sport season is a busy one for our staff at the Tribune. With baseball and softball games often being played at the same time and the occasional golf tournament or track meet taking place as well, there are times we have to prioritize. Since we can’t clone ourselves, we have to pick and choose which events we go to. At times, we catch just part of an event after being at another or trucking off to yet another.
With that in mind, we become instant friends of the scorebook keepers for local teams. So here’s just a quick, public thank you to Janice Bria at Sparks, Connie Gammon at Reed and Scott Hopkins at Spanish Springs. Thanks for your work all spring in catching us up when we’ve needed a little extra help.
•Congratulations to the Spanish Springs softball team. The Cougars dumped Damonte Ranch 12-1 Saturday to win 4A state championship. The title is the local school’s third in the last four years.
I expected Spanish Springs to be very good this spring, but I didn’t expect them to be quite as good as they were. The SSHS squad finished 33-1 and outscored opponents 318 to 18 on the season. That requires your pitching to toss a lot of shutouts.
I figured the Cougars would be among the favorites to win a Northern 4A and state championship, but they did it dominating fashion. The team’s efforts over the past three months have been impressive to watch. Congratulations girls!
•Northern 4A all-league awards lists were released this week. We’ll have a complete baseball and softball story in the coming days, but as I perused the names I came to a conclusion. The lists are watered down.
I saw the names of players who did not start or rarely played. I saw names of players who only got time in the field and not at the plate.
If you are not good enough to start or play regularly, you aren’t an all-league caliber player. That should be common sense.
It's sad that these awards lists were watered down. When this happens, it depreciates the value of the honor, especially for those who undoubtedly deserved it.
Two years ago, Northern 4A basketball coaches capped the number of players who could be awarded. If an athlete is named all-league in basketball, he or she earned it. There’s little debate.
Apparently, in Northern 4A softball, even the left-handed, reserve outfielder, who eats twinkies on odd-numbered Wednesdays evens gets an all-league slot. Thank goodness for that. If nearly everyone who suits up gets an award, what’s the point of having an extra award?
Dan Eckles is the Sparks Tribune’s sports editor. He can be reached via email at: deckles@dailysparkstribune.com
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