Even in the student-friendly mystical womb chair of Oberlin, coaches have prerogative and authority to do some mighty callous stuff to their players. Case in point - Daniel Romano, the green-haired baseball boy, who was kicked off his team. The baseball boy wasn't simply kicked off because his hair was green ... he bleached the dye out. The boy was kicked of because he defied his coach and the coach probably didn't think he could help him win. Or possibly, he could have helped the team win, but his hair would make him more a detriment than an asset. Never mind the fact that the team needs all the help it can get after losing nine games in a week, or the fact that baseball players' hair is covered by hats - what in the hell dyed green hair has to do with catching, throwing, hitting and running fast is beyond us.
Let's back up a bit. Don Hunsinger, athletic director, says that Romano wasn't cut. Tom Mooney, baseball coach, says "he left on his own accord." Okay. Then it makes no sense for Mooney to "consult his superiors about the decision." What decision? If the boy wasn't cut and left on his own, what decision had to be made and what "individual decision" did Hunsinger back? If Mooney cut the kid because of his hair, he should admit it. Maybe the dyed hair was one of those morale-breaking distractions that coaches love to harp on. Don Hunsinger says he backs his coaches' individual decisions. Fine! But many of those individual decisions are predicated on individual player's ability. If the green-haired baseball boy was a .400 power switch-hitter or could bring a 90 plus miles per hour fast-ball, he'd still be on team regardless of what color his hair was. Again, coaching is about winning (okay, it's supposedly about all kinds of mushy character-widening things too, but winning is what gets better players, respect, and contract extensions). Mooney and Romano probably now know this all too well. The abusive authority spewed by many coaches is something with which players must deal. The individual freedom that leads to players dying their hair is something with which coaches, especially coaches at Oberlin, should expect, learn to deal and learn to win.
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