Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

The player had as much opportunity as my son did when he played on the high school team as far as the stats show, I can tell you that. Not every player is going to play every inning, too many factors that come into play there to even address. Even players who are varsity athletes get varying amounts of playing time due to skill level, injuries, etc. There have been many players who started at RB as freshmen and thought they were the next Cole Hamels, only to find out they aren't what they thought they were. Now, if this kid somehow was really that good and was getting playing time on his travel team and being recruited at the college level, I would say there may be an argument to be made, but I don't believe that is the case here.
— November 27, 2017 8:18 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

High school sports are competitive, I believe you understand that. There are kids who either rise to the occasion or don't. Some can accept the challenge and continue to ascend as the game becomes more difficult and the competition level increases, some cannot. Those who cannot either accept the fact that their skills aren't enough to progress or they find someone to blame other than themselves. It is apparent that this player was given opportunity to play baseball at Rancho Bernardo, and had some success. From the chronology of this story, the kid should be going into his senior year. The coaches who he is filing suit against are all out of the RB program. So why did he wait until now to file this claim? I have to question the approach this kid's parents had in having their son play in this "proven abusive culture" for so long, especially if the coach responsible for the alleged assault was going to be the kid's Freshman coach. Hello, news alert - you just condoned the coach's actions and told your kid you don't care enough about him to pull him out of what you reported to the police and district attorney as an environment that you allege abuses children. That to me makes that parent complicit in his alleged abuse. Regardless of whatever fantasy that kid or his parents had about him playing Varsity baseball at RB, his parents abdicated their responsibility as parents to remove him from this situation. In fact, they apparently pursued staying in this "proven abusive culture" for three years. Not sure where they took "Parenting 101" but they are idiots. Don't get me wrong, if the allegations of abuse are true, no child deserves that treatment and there should be punishment. But I find it really odd that there was no pursuit of criminal wrongdoing. Law enforcement has a legal obligation to investigate and prosecute any assault with or without the consent of the victim. It sounds to me like the DA decided there wasn't enough evidence to pursue a criminal case. Not sure why that is, but they apparently didn't. That leaves the opportunity for the family to make a civil claim, however the fact that they waited over 3 years to make that claim, and then to name all of the other parties they did is pretty laughable on its face. The kid isn't guaranteed playing time, Blalock wasn't the party who alleged struck him. The only thing the high school has to do with it is the club coach rented field space from the district to host his practices and games.
— November 27, 2017 8:17 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

I think that the lawsuit is frivolous as it relates to the school district, principal and Blalock. The suit as stated clearly indicates that the boy was allegedly abused by the club team coach before even enrolling in the high school. It's a pretty big jump to say anyone other than that coach is responsible. It's called looking at the evidence as presented in the article. - Boy selected for club team in 2014, while in 8th grade - July 2014 alleged assault occurs - August 2014 boy begins classes as student at RB Any baseball being played by that kid prior to Spring of 2015 was under the auspices and supervision of the club team. You apparently are close enough to the program to understand that Blalock has nothing to do with that team. The Freshman coach was not doing anything a lot of coaches in San Diego (and likely all over America) do in that he was coaching a club team as a business, preparing the players for the opportunity to play high school baseball. I can tell you my son played for Blalock and never in a million years did Sam abuse a player, and neither did his coaches. Can you be everywhere and see everything going on at your company? Have you ever heard rumors about things happening at your work or elsewhere that ended up not being true? The examples you cited were not done by or condoned by the coaching staff. That assertion is ridiculous. If you think a school or district is going to protect a coach at any level who does that then you have no concept of risk management. If the risk is too great, the district's lawyers will give the district clear advise on the best course of action (cleaning house). That never happened with Blalock over his entire career. Why is that you think? Because he had no personal culpability. Is the school principal responsible if someone gets hurt when a knucklehead pulls a fire alarm and the school evacuates and there is no fire? Of course not, and your inference that the school, and Blalock, are responsible for the actions of other people is equally flawed. So, if there is a history of abuse with police reports to substantiate it, my question again would be if there is sufficient evidence against a coach or the school/district there would have been charges brought by the DA. The broomstick incident is a good example. It was perpetrated by students against students, criminal charges were brought as well as civil. If you think that ANY coach would be kept on after that incident if they were complicit you are mistaken. What undermines a legacy is people making assertions with no factual basis.
— November 27, 2017 8:17 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

No agenda, yet you don't include the name of the principal or athletic director named in the lawsuit, just the coaches. That's dubious. Did you even try to interview the coaches for the story? No mention of that, either. Like I said, if regurgitating legal filings at the courthouse qualifies for reporting, the standard is pretty low.
— November 27, 2017 7:01 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

If you think a coach encouraged this behavior, you're pretty misinformed. Coach was run out for physically bullying kids? Sounds like they were either informed there was a problem or discovered the problem and handled it. Hazing incident was player-on-player and was dealt with when it was discovered from my understanding. The administration and AD are not the coach, so if you have a beef with them, tell us why. I just think this reporting on this story has an agenda, which is evidenced by the need for the reporter to publish the coach's names and not the principal's, who is also named in the suit. Why do that? One visit to the school's website gets you that name, but the reporter has an agenda.
— November 22, 2017 1:49 p.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

Put your name, address and phone number out there for the world, Visduh, and I will do the same. In this environment. anonymity allows people to speak freely. Unfortunately, it also allows people to bully as your comment "We might wonder about the identity of gottatellthetruth, who just signed on to the Reader yesterday. But we will wonder and never know, thanks to being able to comment anonymously." clearly is intended to do. Everyone has an agenda in life, Visduh. I question why the reporter felt compelled to print the names of the baseball coaches named in the lawsuit but not the school principal. Was it too hard to find that? Makes me question his perspective as well.
— November 16, 2017 7:46 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

Visduh, I am glad you made that comment. Did I at any time make a comment that this story is not newsworthy or should be pulled? Please, let me know where I did that, because it certainly was not my intent. You clearly make the comment in your initial post that you feel getting physical with athletes is how the Rancho Bernardo baseball program and the coaches has achieved long-term success. That is a dangerous accusation, Visduh, which of course you are free to make under the cloak of anonymity. What I did comment on was the shoddy reporting. The reporter clearly only reported one side of this story and did not question even the most basic of assertions and claims made by the claimant that stick out like a sore thumb. So, instead of trying to suppress this story, I am actually asking the reporter to dig a little deeper, to ask the questions that need to be asked, and to develop the story to a point where it is representative of the whole story, not just one side of it. I am pretty sure the entire story is gleaned from lawsuit paperwork from the court system. There is no actual "reporting" going on here, he is simply regurgitating legal paperwork and offers nothing more than the claims of the student and his parents. That is pretty one-sided and again, a little digging (since he knows the name of the student) would shoot holes in the story about the conspiracy to keep him from playing. I am glad you stated in your initial comment that you looked at this school and decided not to go to it, because that allows people to see you have an agenda against the school. This is an award winning, successful school that constantly produces student who graduate and thrive in college and society. The sports programs are successful and well run. But again, this story appears to be slanted as a smear campaign against the school, the school's baseball program and coaching staff. It is clearly evident that the gentleman accused of the assault was running his own private club team and the player was allegedly assaulted while playing for that team. According to the crack reporting by Mr. Hargrove, it is evident in the story that the student was not even enrolled at the high school when the assault occurred. Assaults (especially against minors) are investigated by law enforcement and charges (if warranted) are brought by the district attorneys office. Why did this not happen? Seems to me that is a large part of this story that Dorian Hargrove completely missed. Heck, that's a huge question that as a tax payer I want to know. Making "people squirm" is not good reporting unless the reporting is factual, accurate and communicates both sides of story accurately. Mr. Hargrove should follow up on this story and address the questions that need to be answered. That is reporting. Notice what I just did there, Visduh? I asked the reporter not to "pull the story," but to dig deeper. Perhaps you understand now there is a difference.
— November 16, 2017 7:25 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

So they went to the police accusing an adult of assaulting their child and the police did nothing? Doesn't that beg more questions of you as a reporter? Doesn't that intrigue you and make you want to ask more questions as to why the police and parents didn't take action immediately? In your story you stated: "The complaint states that because Kelly was coaching the Warriors feeder team and not the high school team, nothing could be done. He continued coaching the school's freshman team that the plaintiff eventually went on to play for. According to the complaint, Kelly and Blalock retaliated against the boy for complaining to the cops by not letting him play. The following season the school decided not to renew Kelly's contract." It makes zero sense that the police could take no action "because Kelly was coaching the Warrior feeder team." He either committed a crime that could be prosecuted by the district attorney or not. Whether or not the law is enforced is not dependent upon which baseball team the kid is playing for. You obviously know the name of the student suing the school and could have looked up the students statistics on Maxpreps.com to see if he did or did not receive playing time. I know who this player is. I know that he played in 90% of the games during his freshman season, which is hardly a conspiracy to keep him off the field. The average player went up to bat 56 times during that season. This player exceed that number. Again, I don't see a conspiracy to keep him off the field. In his second season, he again played in 93% of the team's games and had an above average amount of opportunities at the plate. His 3rd season he played in far fewer games, because at this point he was being passed by younger, more talented players. But he still played in more than 1/2 of the team's games and received the opportunity to go to the plate on par with the team average. So the concept that this kid was systematically deprived an opportunity to play baseball at Rancho Bernardo is without merit. The numbers don't lie, he had as fair an opportunity as any player. Your reporting that Coach Blalock directed the coaches not to play him are not supported by the facts. All you reported is what the kid said in his complaint. Before you publish something that is going to disparage a person's reputation you should do a little digging yourself to see if the claim has any basis in fact. This claim does not. Another fact that you seem to take at face value is the claim of a traumatic brain injury. Apparent an eye doctor is qualified to diagnose a traumatic brain injury now. I assure you, they are not. Which again begs the question: Why is this student and family bringing this lawsuit now? What is the catalyst for it when he seemed to be happily trudging along playing baseball during his high school career? That is the question that you as a reporter need to be asking.
— November 15, 2017 6:53 a.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

I also have to question the agenda of the parents/player in this case. I am not justifying, condoning or dismissing the allegations, but why did this parent not press charges immediately against the coach? Why would he allow his son to play for this coach for his freshman season? Why now? If this coach, as the story relates, was such a loose cannon and they felt their son was in mortal danger, why would they allow him to play or be around him at all after that incident? Was it because they thought they could hold this over the coaching staff's head as a trump card to ensure their kid was kept on the team? If these events were reported to law enforcement and had merit, why did law enforcement not take action with an arrest? Perhaps they felt the claim had no merit if they investigated? This story forces people to ask more questions than it answers.
— November 14, 2017 2:02 p.m.

Error alleged in Rancho Bernardo High baseball

exactly
— November 14, 2017 1:57 p.m.