While we're on the topic of morons...
Coach says, 'they made me look like a monster' (Tony Thornton, Daily Oklahoman)
MUSKOGEE — In normal circumstances, tonight's game between two of the state's top football teams should be capturing all of Muskogee football coach Matt Hennesy's attention.
Instead, he was dealing with the fallout from a Thursday evening accident in which a 7-year-old boy's bike ran into the coach's car, which was pulling to a stop before leaving a parking lot.
The boy, Chase Thornton, suffered a broken collarbone, a knot on his head and road rash on a leg and shoulder.
The coach suffered a sullied reputation.
A story in Friday's Muskogee Phoenix quoted Hennesy as saying, "I ought to be dealing with tomorrow night's game, not this crap.”
The newspaper also quoted Hennesy as saying, "I'm not going to file a report against a little kid, even though my car was damaged. It was the kid's fault.”
Hennesy said the context of his statements was misunderstood.
"They made me look like a monster,” the coach said Friday.
Hennesy admitted he may have erred by not calling police after the accident. He said none of several witnesses, including a registered nurse, thought to call the police, either.
The accident happened about 6 p.m. as Hennesy was leaving the parking lot of Indian Bowl stadium. His Muskogee Roughers team, ranked third in the state's top class, had just finished its last practice before tonight's game against top-ranked Tulsa Union.
He said the boy, identified as Chase Thornton, ran into the front of his car while trying to dart across the street. Hennesy said he was looking the other direction and didn't realize his car had been hit until a football player who was riding with him told him.
The coach said he and several other people got out of their cars to help. Hennesy said he called the boy's father, who said he was taking care of a baby and would come as soon as he could.
By then, Hennesy said, his car was blocking the exit, and he was running 20 minutes late to a team dinner that included his superintendent and principal, so he left after the nurse told him she would tend to the injured boy. Two of his players carried the boy to the training room, Hennesy said.
He said he never heard from the child's father again.
The boy's father could not be reached for comment this morning.
About 10 p.m. Thursday, Hennessy said, he was watching game film when a Muskogee police officer called and asked him to come to the hospital and fill out a report.
The officer criticized him for not calling police after the accident but said no citation would be issued, Hennesy said.
The coach said he told the officer, "I'm not going to file a charge, because it's a kid.”
He said a Muskogee Phoenix reporter called his cell phone about 11 p.m. as he filled out the police report.
That's when Hennesy uttered the line that prompted a flood of e-mail responses Friday from angry readers.
"In no way, when I say I shouldn't be dealing with this crap was I referring to the kid or his parents,” Hennesy said Friday.
Instead, he said he was talking about filling out the police report and doing that interview.
[snip]
Under Oklahoma law, the driver of a vehicle involved in an injury accident is required to immediately call police.
The law is pretty clear in Oklahoma. The dude should have stopped and called the police. He certainly has no reason to act like he is somehow the victim, or that he somehow is entitled to flout the law because he is an all-important Oklahoma high-school football coach.
Hell, this guy may be clueless enough to become an exec at Southwest Airlines.
UPDATE (09-15-2007): The A-Hole's Muskogee team lost to Tulsa Union, 26-11. Woo!
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 09/14/07 21:08 | Other | Technorati
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