With the political season in full swing and candidates digging deep to find skeletons of their opponents, you'll likely hear a few non-apologies this year.
Non-apologies, as I call them, are when someone doesn't admit doing anything wrong, but they apologize to anyone who “might have been offended” by their actions. Having been in the eye of a public storm myself, I know first-hand that it's better to remain silent than to offer a half-hearted non-apology.
Apparently, officials with Muscle Shoals City Schools still have that lesson to learn, based upon their responses last Friday to sanctions handed down by the Alabama High School Athletic Association after the school violated AHSAA recruiting rules.
Muscle Shoals High School saw its varsity football team placed on probation for the 2016 season that makes the program ineligible for post-season play. Additionally, an assistant coach was suspended from coaching for one year and the school was fined.
The AHSAA's investigation began after a TimesDaily article in January quoted a Wilson High School student who planned to transfer to Muscle Shoals as saying he had been contacted by Muscle Shoals coaches about transferring. Such action is prohibited by the AHSAA Handbook, Rule VI, Sec. 12, which states in part: “No person connected in any way with a school may contact a student or prospective student, or his/her parents or guardian, who resides outside of the school district to inquire or encourage them to transfer or enroll in their school for the chief purpose of participating in interscholastic athletics. “
The student was quoted in a daily newspaper clearly stating that Muscle Shoals officials had done just that. It was as open-and-shut an example of illegal recruiting as one could conjure.
So when the bad news came last Friday, you might think Muscle Shoals officials would exercise some humility in their response to disappointed fans, students and community members.
Think again.
The system issued a joint statement from superintendent Brian Lindsey and MSHS principal Chad Holden. School officials would not comment further after the statement was released. And the one-page press release put a spin on the school's wrongdoing that Donald J. Trump himself would be proud of.
The second paragraph of the statement attacked the reporter's article, claiming that a “thorough internal investigation” found “numerous inaccuracies” therein. Really? What were said inaccuracies? School officials conveniently left that information out of the release.
School officials trumpeted their “self-reporting” of procedural errors on the part of the assistant coach. One wonders how diligent Muscle Shoals' internal investigation would have been, or whether it would have taken place at all, had the local daily newspaper not printed an article wherein a student indicated a clear recruiting violation.
The statement further reads that school administrators and coaches “acknowledge errors were made in this situation involving a parent and student-athlete who wished to learn more about our programs and communicated an intent to transfer from another school.”
School officials acknowledge errors were made? How gracious of you. And after stating that Muscle Shoals “accepts the sanctions assessed by the AHSAA,” the statement goes on to say the system will appeal the AHSAA's disciplinary ruling.
Apparently, Muscle Shoals officials have a unique view of what constitutes “accepting sanctions,” just as they seem to have a distorted view of whether rogue actions from a coach constitute willful disregard of AHSAA rules or simply “procedural errors.”
Muscle Shoals City Schools would have been better off releasing no statement than the one that came out Friday afternoon.
Let's recap: Your school commenced its own investigation after an inaccurate article in the local newspaper was printed. In spite of the reporter's inaccuracies, the school's diligent investigation uncovered procedural errors in the course of responding to a student who, solely on his own, inquired about transferring to your school.
Further, you've taken steps to “more clearly define” expectations of school officials, even though those steps weren't enumerated. Finally, you accept your punishment, except that you're going to appeal the very same discipline you accept. And you will give no further comment on the incident.
Finally, you “appreciate the cooperation of the AHSAA” in working with you to discover the truth of the matter?
Guess it's Muscle Shoals' world, and the rest of us are just thankful to be living in it.
