Never can say goodbye

The title of this blog was stolen from the old-school Motown hit by the Jackson 5.

Yes, that was well before Michael got "weird."

But the blog itself will have nothing to do with the Jackson 5, Michael "Jacko" Jackson or Motown music.

It has to do with school boards, coaches and hirings and firings.

I recently learned that the school board in Cloverdale voted against retaining an old friend of mine.

Bruce Cook, who had coached the Cloverdale girls' basketball team for six years, was let go at the board's recent meeting.

Bruce ended the 2007-08 campaign with a 15-6 record, including victories over all three Putnam County schools, long-time Class A powerhouse Eminence, Clay City, West Vigo and South Vermillion.

The previous season, the Clovers were 13-8. In fact, since Bruce took the job, he has guided Cloverdale to a record of 54-51, in addition to winning a pair of county titles and sharing conference titles.

The thought of a coach this successful being let go is baffling.

Bruce led Cloverdale to a 6-16 mark his first season. Prior to that, the Clovers were 3-18 and 2-20.

He won more games in his first season than the squad had won the previous two years combined.

But when decisions like this are made, no one can deny that there are other lurking agendas among board members in any capacity.

According to an article written by my colleague, BannerGraphic Sports Editor Jared Jernagan, Bruce learned he was not coming back as coach while "COACHING" the team in a summer league game at Cascade High School.

Can things get any weirder?

The seven board members in Cloverdale voted 5-2 not to retain a coach with a winning record? Come on.

Things do get ridiculous from time to time, don't they?

But, as I said earlier, sometimes, it's blatantly obvious that agendas are hidden when it comes to situations like this.

I believe this is qualifies as one of those situations.

People have seen this before. I've seen this before. Boards not bringing back qualified, winning coaches because they themselves believe there are other people out there (and more than likely, they have already started looking for the replacement) who can do "better."

Obviously, that isn't always the case.

Board members come and go. Coaches come and go.

Winning records? Well, sometimes they don't always last.