Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss
Rob Ford fired as football coach . . .
2 views
Skip to first unread message
ConsƦcons
May 22, 2013, 10:01:26 PM5/22/13
to
By the Catholic school board.
Seems they might not think that a fat. crack-smoking coach is not the
best role model for their kids.
____________________________________________________
Toronto’s Catholic school board has banned Mayor Rob Ford from coaching
football at any Catholic school in the city, ending a decade-long
affiliation with Don Bosco that has brought Ford personal joy along with
political praise and criticism.
The decision does not appear to be related to the crack cocaine scandal
Ford is now facing — which centres on a video in which Ford appears to
smoke crack cocaine and refer to Don Bosco players as “just f---ing
minorities.” Director of education Bruce Rodrigues had been reviewing
Ford’s role at Don Bosco since March, and spokesperson John Yan said
Ford’s dismissal was finalized before the scandal erupted last week.
“He can coach wherever he wants, but not at a TCDSB school,” Yan said
Wednesday.
The review was prompted by an interview with Sun News in which Ford made
comments that were called inaccurate by Don Bosco’s parent council, many
teachers at the Etobicoke school, and even the offensive coordinator on
Ford’s coaching staff. Among other contested statements, Ford said that
Eagles players would not attend school if not for the football program,
that many players “come from gangs” and from “broken homes,” and that
Don Bosco is a “tough school” in a “tough area.”
Related
Transcript of Doug Ford's statement at City Hall
“Mr. Ford has helped our students rise to the challenge and realize
their potential as both football players and young men,” Rodrigues said
in a statement. “This decision was based on what is best for our
students, our school and the Don Bosco community.”
Ford has now been ousted twice from a volunteer football coaching
position. He moved to Don Bosco after he was told he was unwelcome at
the Toronto District School Board’s Newtonbrook Secondary in North York
after a heated 2001 confrontation with a player.
Related
TDSB chair Chris Bolton said Ford is welcome to apply again to volunteer
as a coach with one of the board’s schools. “It’s always our position
that we vet whoever it is who comes through our processes and our
checks, and anyone who has a skill that we need, we would be willing to
have them,” Bolton said.
Still, the abrupt end of Ford’s tenure at Don Bosco is no doubt painful
for him. He started the program with thousands of dollars of his own
money in 2001 or 2002.
Related
Ford’s role as coach was a central component of his political persona.
Like most everything else about him, it was polarizing.
To admirers, the mayor’s devotion to the Don Bosco team was evidence of
his concern for the disadvantaged and for the young — an easy rebuttal
to the accusation that he was a hard-hearted slasher for opposing
government grants and social programs. To detractors — and even to many
council allies — his devotion was evidence of his unwillingness to
commit fully to the job of mayor.
Catholic trustee Maria Rizzo endorsed the board’s decision, saying Ford
does not “model appropriate behaviour” for students. John Del Grande, a
trustee and the son of Ford ally Councillor Mike Del Grande, said he has
heard many Don Bosco players thank Ford for his efforts to help them in
their lives.
“He tried his best. He’s not the most polished character, I think
everyone can admit that. But his heart was in the right place,” John Del
Grande said.
The school’s parent council said in a statement that its supports the
board’s decision to remove Ford at Don Bosco.
“We thank Mr. Rob Ford for the 11 years that he has dedicated to the
Eagles,” the parent council said. “He has done a great job coaching the
team. We wish him all the best.”
Ford took three hours off work nearly every weekday afternoon during the
three-month fall season to coach practice; his internal itineraries for
September, October and November were nearly empty after 1 p.m. In
September of last year, he drew widespread criticism for skipping 5.5
hours of a meeting of his own executive committee to coach the team at a
pre-season “jamboree” scrimmage in Newmarket.
In November, he missed 2.5 hours of a city council meeting to coach a
playoff game, then found himself embroiled in another controversy after
a Don Bosco player revealed on Twitter that a TTC bus had picked the
Eagles up after the game and ferried them back to their school.
Asked upon his return to the meeting why he had chosen football over
work, Ford told reporters flatly: “I only missed two hours. A semi-final
football game. It’s the playoffs. We’re undefeated. We’re number two in
the city.”
Ford had taxpayer-paid staffers help him manage the team, a practice
that prompted rare criticism from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. In
a likely violation of city rules, the aides used a government car to
attend games and practices — once even while Ford was away on a business
mission to Chicago.
Numerous allies told Ford privately that he should surrender his
coaching duties while serving as mayor, or at least hand the reins to an
assistant coach during city meetings. Ford ignored them, though he had
promised during the 2010 campaign to quit coaching if he was elected.
Ford led the Eagles to a Catholic title and then to the Metro Bowl
championship game in the 2012 season. Despite all the controversy, he
pledged to return as coach in 2013.
“I’ve made a commitment, I’ve done it for 20 years, and I’m not
changing,” he told reporters at the meeting in November. He told the
Star in 2007: “I’d do anything for these kids. Football has given many
of them another life and unified them; kept them busy doing the right
things and believing in themselves. I know they’ll tell you the same
thing. It’s a credit to each of them.”
Much of the Don Bosco community came to believe that Ford was tarnishing
the reputation of the school and its students. Don Bosco students and
teachers held a “Give Your School A Hug Day” in October in response to
what some believed was a Ford-fuelled perception that it is a
downtrodden football factory.
Nicholas Thompson, 16, delivered a speech about stereotypes. He said Don
Bosco’s black students were perceived unfairly. “It’s just like, ‘We’re
bad, we’re thieves, we’re criminals, we’re just sports stars,’” he told
the Star.
Ford has become a vocal critic of “Section 37” agreements, under which
the city allows developers to build bigger buildings than allowed under
zoning rules if they agree to spend money on “community benefits.” But
when Lowe’s wanted approval to build in Ford’s ward in 2010, he
successfully asked the company to spend $75,000 to upgrade the locker
rooms used by the Don Bosco football team.
_____________________
STATEMENT REGARDING MAYOR ROB FORD’S ROLE AS VOLUNTEER COACH OF THE DON
BOSCO EAGLES
http://www.scribd.com/doc/143054029/TCDSB-Statement-Regarding-Mayor-Ford-as-Coach-of-Don-Bosco-Eagles
Seems they might not think that a fat. crack-smoking coach is not the
best role model for their kids.
____________________________________________________
Toronto’s Catholic school board has banned Mayor Rob Ford from coaching
football at any Catholic school in the city, ending a decade-long
affiliation with Don Bosco that has brought Ford personal joy along with
political praise and criticism.
The decision does not appear to be related to the crack cocaine scandal
Ford is now facing — which centres on a video in which Ford appears to
smoke crack cocaine and refer to Don Bosco players as “just f---ing
minorities.” Director of education Bruce Rodrigues had been reviewing
Ford’s role at Don Bosco since March, and spokesperson John Yan said
Ford’s dismissal was finalized before the scandal erupted last week.
“He can coach wherever he wants, but not at a TCDSB school,” Yan said
Wednesday.
The review was prompted by an interview with Sun News in which Ford made
comments that were called inaccurate by Don Bosco’s parent council, many
teachers at the Etobicoke school, and even the offensive coordinator on
Ford’s coaching staff. Among other contested statements, Ford said that
Eagles players would not attend school if not for the football program,
that many players “come from gangs” and from “broken homes,” and that
Don Bosco is a “tough school” in a “tough area.”
Related
Transcript of Doug Ford's statement at City Hall
“Mr. Ford has helped our students rise to the challenge and realize
their potential as both football players and young men,” Rodrigues said
in a statement. “This decision was based on what is best for our
students, our school and the Don Bosco community.”
Ford has now been ousted twice from a volunteer football coaching
position. He moved to Don Bosco after he was told he was unwelcome at
the Toronto District School Board’s Newtonbrook Secondary in North York
after a heated 2001 confrontation with a player.
Related
TDSB chair Chris Bolton said Ford is welcome to apply again to volunteer
as a coach with one of the board’s schools. “It’s always our position
that we vet whoever it is who comes through our processes and our
checks, and anyone who has a skill that we need, we would be willing to
have them,” Bolton said.
Still, the abrupt end of Ford’s tenure at Don Bosco is no doubt painful
for him. He started the program with thousands of dollars of his own
money in 2001 or 2002.
Related
Ford’s role as coach was a central component of his political persona.
Like most everything else about him, it was polarizing.
To admirers, the mayor’s devotion to the Don Bosco team was evidence of
his concern for the disadvantaged and for the young — an easy rebuttal
to the accusation that he was a hard-hearted slasher for opposing
government grants and social programs. To detractors — and even to many
council allies — his devotion was evidence of his unwillingness to
commit fully to the job of mayor.
Catholic trustee Maria Rizzo endorsed the board’s decision, saying Ford
does not “model appropriate behaviour” for students. John Del Grande, a
trustee and the son of Ford ally Councillor Mike Del Grande, said he has
heard many Don Bosco players thank Ford for his efforts to help them in
their lives.
“He tried his best. He’s not the most polished character, I think
everyone can admit that. But his heart was in the right place,” John Del
Grande said.
The school’s parent council said in a statement that its supports the
board’s decision to remove Ford at Don Bosco.
“We thank Mr. Rob Ford for the 11 years that he has dedicated to the
Eagles,” the parent council said. “He has done a great job coaching the
team. We wish him all the best.”
Ford took three hours off work nearly every weekday afternoon during the
three-month fall season to coach practice; his internal itineraries for
September, October and November were nearly empty after 1 p.m. In
September of last year, he drew widespread criticism for skipping 5.5
hours of a meeting of his own executive committee to coach the team at a
pre-season “jamboree” scrimmage in Newmarket.
In November, he missed 2.5 hours of a city council meeting to coach a
playoff game, then found himself embroiled in another controversy after
a Don Bosco player revealed on Twitter that a TTC bus had picked the
Eagles up after the game and ferried them back to their school.
Asked upon his return to the meeting why he had chosen football over
work, Ford told reporters flatly: “I only missed two hours. A semi-final
football game. It’s the playoffs. We’re undefeated. We’re number two in
the city.”
Ford had taxpayer-paid staffers help him manage the team, a practice
that prompted rare criticism from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. In
a likely violation of city rules, the aides used a government car to
attend games and practices — once even while Ford was away on a business
mission to Chicago.
Numerous allies told Ford privately that he should surrender his
coaching duties while serving as mayor, or at least hand the reins to an
assistant coach during city meetings. Ford ignored them, though he had
promised during the 2010 campaign to quit coaching if he was elected.
Ford led the Eagles to a Catholic title and then to the Metro Bowl
championship game in the 2012 season. Despite all the controversy, he
pledged to return as coach in 2013.
“I’ve made a commitment, I’ve done it for 20 years, and I’m not
changing,” he told reporters at the meeting in November. He told the
Star in 2007: “I’d do anything for these kids. Football has given many
of them another life and unified them; kept them busy doing the right
things and believing in themselves. I know they’ll tell you the same
thing. It’s a credit to each of them.”
Much of the Don Bosco community came to believe that Ford was tarnishing
the reputation of the school and its students. Don Bosco students and
teachers held a “Give Your School A Hug Day” in October in response to
what some believed was a Ford-fuelled perception that it is a
downtrodden football factory.
Nicholas Thompson, 16, delivered a speech about stereotypes. He said Don
Bosco’s black students were perceived unfairly. “It’s just like, ‘We’re
bad, we’re thieves, we’re criminals, we’re just sports stars,’” he told
the Star.
Ford has become a vocal critic of “Section 37” agreements, under which
the city allows developers to build bigger buildings than allowed under
zoning rules if they agree to spend money on “community benefits.” But
when Lowe’s wanted approval to build in Ford’s ward in 2010, he
successfully asked the company to spend $75,000 to upgrade the locker
rooms used by the Don Bosco football team.
_____________________
STATEMENT REGARDING MAYOR ROB FORD’S ROLE AS VOLUNTEER COACH OF THE DON
BOSCO EAGLES
http://www.scribd.com/doc/143054029/TCDSB-Statement-Regarding-Mayor-Ford-as-Coach-of-Don-Bosco-Eagles
0 new messages