The Green Phone was created so the fans could voice their opinions. Give us a call and let us know what’s on your mind.
CALLER 1: I was calling about the picture of (Live Oak softball catcher April Herrera) and (Gilroy softball player Kylie Herrada) in the newspaper. I’m calling about how (Herrera) is supposedly illegally blocking the plate. Well, it’s plainly obvious that (Herrera) is before the plate, (she) has the ball in hand and (Herrada) is barely starting to slide. So the (Gilroy coach Julie Berggren) was totally in the wrong in thinking that (Herrera) blocked the plate. Just to prove that. Thanks.
GREEN PHONE: Thanks for the opinion, Caller 1. However, the Green Phone believes the photo neither proves nor disproves Berggren’s complaint. Earlier in the week, Berggren told the Dispatch that she was arguing for what she felt to be the catcher blocking the plate before she had control of the ball, which is illegal according to a new rule implemented this year. However, the picture does not show this part of the play. Yes, Herrera has the ball in her glove, but does that prove she wasn’t blocking the plate before she had it? No. Nor does it prove she was blocking the plate. All it shows is that Gilroy’s Herrada didn’t beat Herrera’s tag. But that wasn’t the issue Berggren was arguing.
CALLER 2: Hi, I’m calling in regards to the article on Live Oak football and (head coach) Glen Webb. I think it’s outrageous (he was put on probation). It was a letter to the editor, it was a First Amendment Rights issue and I think the ACLU should get involved in this because it had nothing to do with recruiting. Furthermore, I think this is an actual effect of the school board having two high schools in a small community, and that this is only the tip of the iceberg and the beginning of the disputes between the two schools. It’s a disservice to the community and a disservice to the students to cause uprisings like this within the community. It’s a (white) collar/blue collar issue. Furthermore, I think the CCS board, there’s people on there that should have excluded themselves (in the decision) because their children attend Live Oak or Sobrato … and they should not have been involved in the decision-making process. This is not a recruiting violation. Every team has spring football. Every school is entitled and has the right to advertise its spring football program. It’s a First Amendment right to advertise their spring football programs … I think your paper should stand up for these rights and protect freedom of speech, like you all say you do, and protect the right to advertise spring football seasons. Everybody does it … It’s unbelievable, unacceptable to put Live Oak in this position. Thank you for your time.
GREEN PHONE: Caller, there’s more on the Glen Webb situation …
CALLER 3: I’m calling about the (Live Oak football) eligibility. I’m a Live Oak parent of some football players and I think what Sobrato did was force Live Oak into a harder schedule that the parents are going to have to pay thousands of dollars for and travel far distances. I think it would have been nice to have the same choices that Sobrato demanded for themselves, but were denied to us. I think they were unsportsmanlike and I think Coach Webb calling them that was a fair and accurate statement and I don’t see how it recruited anybody.
GREEN PHONE: And a couple more calls …
CALLER 4: I’m a Live Oak parent … calling regarding Coach Webb. I don’t necessarily think he was treated fairly. I think his letter was in response to some of the nonsense going on with Sobrato in particular. Take, for example, the editorial printed by their school nurse who stated that Webb didn’t care about kids’ safety. If that isn’t something that a parent or child in town could read and construe that the Live Oak program was unsafe and chose to go to Sobrato (instead), I don’t know what is. And I believe the nurse is a school official, so why isn’t Sobrato being put on probation?
GREEN PHONE: Last, but not least, all the way from Utah …
CALLER 5: I moved to Utah a year ago. I lived in Morgan Hill for 27 years. I was just reading the Morgan Hill Times on the computer and I wanted to comment that I think (Coach Webb) at Live Oak is an outstanding coach. What he was trying to do is improve his team, improve the program and he definitely is taking the hit as the scapegoat here. I support him 100 percent and think the school and the fans should support him 100 percent and Live Oak in fine tradition should continue with him as head coach. Thank you very much.
GREEN PHONE: Callers, we’ll continue to monitor this situation and report the news as it develops. Green Phone is of the opinion that the CCS treated Glen Webb far too harshly by putting him on probation for what is at best a fairly minor indiscretion in writing a letter to the editor. A warning to the school and Webb would have been sufficient censure in this case, rather than the public flogging issued by demanding an apology to the community. Given Sobrato’s recent blunders with regards to its own football program – pulling out of TCAL at the last minute and leaving other schools in the lurch after committing to playing in the league next season – this situation must seem doubly bitter for the Acorns.
