I just saw this item on StarTribune online:
"The Minneapolis Youth Coordinating Board unanimously approved a
$120,000, one-year contract Wednesday for former University of Minnesota
administrator McKinley Boston to serve as a consultant coordinating
programs."
And read in the Minnesota Daily yesterday that his job will be to
develop a city-wide athletic strategic plan, working with the University
and the city of Minneapolis.
All I can say is wow, that seems like a lot of money--assuming it is all
to him and doesn't include other staff or resources.
And what exactly does an athletic strategic plan look like, and how does
it differ from the planning that currently goes on at the park board and
school board. And is the lack of a athletic strategic plan one of the
major problems of our fair city? Is there an athletic strategic plan
GAP that I missed, that needs to be filled before the mayoral elections
next year. (I remember that Kennedy rode a supposed Eisenhower
Administration missile gap into the Presidency in 1960.)
Obviously I doubt that Boston's retention by the city was based on a
pressing city need. I also question whether it sends the right message,
given where Boston is coming from.
I know there is plenty of blame to go around in the UM cheating
scandel. And hypocrisy too.
(I was shocked, shocked to learn there was special treatment of
athletics at the U, and especially shocked, shocked to learn that
Haskins knewn more about it than he originally let on! And the federal
prosecutors--wanting to make the whistle-blower a felon--give me a
break. Will the cheating students then be indicted on felony charges
for defrauding the US Govt by getting scholarship money on false
pretenses--that's what the feds said Gangelhoff's (sp?) felony was
abetting. The players benefited more than she did by the, ah, crime.)
(NB--I despise academic cheating--but selective enforcement is unfair.)
Anyway, what example does retaining Boston set, given that he left the U
in the wake of the scandel. (Without reference to his actual role.)
For most of us who never were or never will be professional athletics,
athletics is about building values we should carry into the rest of our
lives--persistence, teamwork, sportsmanship, integrity. Youth athletics
should be as much about character-building as building physical prowess
or skill.
Boston may have gotten a raw deal in the scandal--I don't know, I didn't
follow the details closely enough. But is it the city of Minneapolis'
responsibility to make things right and take care of his transition.
(It is just the transition, right. I assume this really is just a one
year project. How long does it take to do a strategic athletic
plan--and does that include the public participation aspects.)
Alan Shilepsky
Downtown. A Minneapolis taxpayer.
