Titan ship has the right captain

Everyone is entitled to an opinion.

And because we’re fortunate enough to have been born in the United States, we’re all free to voice them, thanks to our constitution and the brave men and women who have died defending it.

But just having an opinion doesn’t make it a valid one, and an important component of the free speech process is the realization that if you express an untenable position, someone might just shoot it down in flames.

Lately, a few McDowell County folks – a very few, actually – have decided they think the McDowell High School Titans should have a different head football coach. One person who wrote a letter to the editor of this newspaper took an especially venomous tone and opined current coach Carson Gowan doesn’t even belong on the field.

That’s her opinion.

This is mine.

Ma’am, with all due respect, you and the rest of the folks who hold a similar viewpoint are speaking out of a portion of your anatomy that was never intended for talking.

The truth is Carson Gowan and his coaching staff are right where they belong.

See, I know a little more about McDowell High football than the average guy on the street. And I see firsthand how hard our coaches work. I see how comprehensive their knowledge of the game is. I see how much they love the kids who play for them. And I see the hurt in their eyes when those kids don’t win.

There isn’t a coach in any sport who hasn’t been second-guessed by the fans. It’s a part of the business, and coaches know that from the start. But I get tired of hearing people question the dedication and motives of McDowell’s coaches.

All it takes is a modicum of logic – and one simple question – to put the issue to rest, once and for all: Honestly, folks, do you really think you want the Titans to win worse than the coaches do?

The 2011 football season was my 19th covering the Titans. Long before this became my job, I followed them because they’re my team. I grew up here. I went to school here. This is my home.

There isn’t a single fallacy involving the McDowell football program that I haven’t heard a dozen times. My favorite has to be the old “no-one-will-play-for-him-and-there-are-better-football-players-walking-the-halls-than-on-the-field,” theory. This one has cropped up at least once a year since I was walking those halls myself.

Amazing, isn’t it? In addition to the squads we’ve actually managed to cajole into playing, we’ve had a conference championship team ‘walking the halls’ every season since 1982.

Too bad we couldn’t convince any of those dynamos to play for Coach Johnny Anderson, or Coy Gibson, or David Riggs, or Dave Haynie or Gowan. The last five McDowell Titans head coaches represent nearly every conceivable personality type and yet, every season, the best players in the school are walking the halls instead of playing.

I find a similar amount of mirth in the “he’s-only-starting-because-his-daddy-has-money/power/prestige,” assertion.

Granted, some Titans do see more playing time because of their dads – especially the ones who inherited the old man’s 6-foot-2, 250-pound frame or 4.6 speed in the 40.

But I digress.

The writing is on the wall, Titan Nation.

The ship is moving in the right direction. It picked up some speed on its way out of the harbor this year when a stray bounce of the ball or two was all that separated the Titans from a seven- or eight-win campaign.

To be sure, the old vessel took on some water in recent seasons. But there were eight coaches and 70 players down in the hold bailing as fast as they could.

Now that we’re underway, kick back and enjoy the cruise. We’ve got the right captain up there on the bridge.

Leave the man alone and let him steer.