Greenie writes:
 
>At 04:48 PM 1/18/00 -0500, Bill Fenwick wrote:
>>UVM president's statements pretty clearly put the blame on the players
>>for the
>>situation ("a number of players were not completely truthful during our
>>investigation"), and I suspect Gilligan will be able to use the same line of
>>thinking to fend off those who call for him to be dumped.
>
>Well, the biggest question here is whether Gilligan was truthful during the
>investigation -- assuming that he was part of the investigation. If it is
>revealed that he was fully aware of the incidents, especially if he did
>nothing to prevent them (or perhaps encouraged them), it's doubtful he'd be
>able to wriggle out of a dismissal.
 
I have to think that he should be damned if he did know, and damned if he
didn't.  When we speak of a head coach of college hockey, especially one of
Gilligan's tenure, I like to think that this type of individual is
experienced enough to (along with his assistants) get inside a player's
head.  And when you consider that, in most instances, players are not named
captain unless it meets with the approval of the coaching staff, it strains
credibility to think that Gilligan did not have at least an inkling of what
his three captains were up to.  And, if he didn't, he probably wasn't doing
the job he should have as a coach.
 
My guess is that he treated this like a lot of parents of teenagers treat
the comings and goings of their kids.  The less known about the crazy
things they're going to embark upon, the better.  Think back to when you
were in high school or college.  Did you really want Mom and Dad to know
what you were up to at all times? Of course not.  And this, I believe, was
the attitude of Gilligan (and probably a lot of other coaches), "the less I
know about this, the better." Unfortunately when the details were explained
to him by LaTulippe, he did not take his responsibility as a coach and
educator seriously enough to cut his losses by suspending or dismissing the
perpetrators.  The feeble attempt to respond by rotating suspensions was a
case of too little too late. Things had snowballed beyond his and the
administration's control and now he may lose his job.
 
Just an observation from a student of history.
 
Greg Ambrose
GO UNH BLUE!!!
STILL #1!
 
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