Taking stock of a frantic Friday: Moncman resignation and Central's loss

Friday was one of those frantic days that had me muttering to myself all the way through it, but was the kind of busy day that I will likely miss when I'm old, gray, wrinkly and my only thrill will be how fast I can shake that darn rockin' chair.

For me it became with a late night in Reading on Thursday for the Carrie Underwood. Entertaining show that lasted until nearly 11 and I didn't get back home until after midnight. If you like her, or just like to look at her, see the review and pictures on the Lehigh Valley Music Blog.

After putting that review together and getting some sleep, I was prepping for my trip to Sunbury when I received the e-mail from Liberty football coach Tim Moncman saying he has resigned. That changed my afternoon.

Got that done just in time to get to Sunbury and walked into the Shikellamy Fieldhouse just as the starting lineups were being introduced.

What to make of it all?

Well, Moncman has agonized over this decision for weeks. He's too classy to say it publicly but when you coach at a school like Liberty, the job is about much more than X's and O's and just the stuff that happens on the field.

It drains you, it consumes because you're not just a coach, you're often a father, a friend, a caretaker, a guardian etc. and you have to worry about so many different things.

It has been said that coaching 10 years at a school like Allen or Liberty is like 20 years at another school because it saps so much of your energy.

And there are some changes going on with the Bethlehem Area School District that Moncman -- and most people involved with athletics -- don't agree with. I've talked with other coaches about it. There seems to be decreasing support for sports in BASD, and so yes, there were other factors in Moncman's decision besides family.

I said earlier in the week that I don't like guys who use family as an excuse when they're actually being fired. Well, in this case, Moncman was most certainly not being fired.

The job was getting increasingly more difficult and Moncman could have taken all kinds of shots at the school board and the district and went out firing away, but in this case I believe he was noble in talking about family and let's face it -- with a blind child to care for -- it is very true that you need to make family a high priority. He was being totally honest when he talked about his wife Kim, a great lady, having to lead the way in caring for A.J. all of these years while Tim ran a football program.

So, yes, there was truth in him talking about family in this case and I believe he was very sincere in talking about the lesser demands of being an assistant coach somewhere. I know it has worked well for Ronalds and my friend Jim Tkach, both former head coaches. They love being assistants and not having to worry about all of the stuff that head coaches have to worry about.

And I definitely don't think this was about making more money -- although if it was -- who could blame Tim?Remember, Kim was a teacher who has had to put her career on hold because of A.J.'s condition. In a circumstance like this, who could begrudge anybody for wanting to do whatever he could to make sure everything was taken care of?

Bottom line is this is a terrific football coach and person and Liberty -- especially the kids -- will miss him immensely.

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As for Central Catholic's loss to Danville at Sunbury, well, it was disappointing. Danville's good, no doubt about it, but CCHS didn't play well and when you lose at this time of year, you want to say that at least you played well.

The whole situation just was not good with the Vikings this year and I don't know if anybody can feel very good about anything that happened.

When you go in to school officials and demand a coaching change as what happened here, like I said, it's just not something you're going to want to talk about with pride years later.

I wasn't at practice, so I don't know what went on.

But there seemed to be so much discontentment, unhappiness, even after the change, and so much backbiting and negativity that even surfaced in the comment section here on Groller's Corner that I don't know if this team was ever able to put its best foot forward with the possible exception of those two late wins over Parkland and Emmaus that put CCHS into the district playoffs.

I know there are some good kids on that team who worked very, very hard.

For the kids who are leaving, you hope for the best for them.

For the kids coming back, you hope they'll continue to work hard, even though football is the No. 1 priority for several of them.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the coaching situation.

Jim Rodgers, who took over at midseason, expressed an interest in returning.

But he's right in that the whole program needs to just let some things heal and the dark cloud that hovered over them to vanish before moving forward.

It will probably take several weeks, if not longer, before we know who will be Central's coach next year.

FROM KEITH GROLLER