[HAROLD]

Here is my opinion of the whole situation. I see both sides of the argument but I actually agree with Coach Jewell TO AN EXTENT.

First of all, had the kid wanted to do this, he should have mentioned it to Coach Jewell before hand. There is a dress code that every member of the team wears. It's not that Coach Jewell is trying to be an ass about it. He just wants the team to conduct themselves in a professional manner. That I fully agree with and respect.

As for the O'Neill kid, I do not know him personally but do know his family and am really good friends with his uncle (was in his wedding) who was mentioned in the article. His uncle was diagnosed with testicular cancer in his early 20's. Furthermore, the kid has had many family members with cancer as have most of us.

I don't believe for a minute that Coach Jewell is against Breast Cancer Awareness. To think that is for a lack of a better word is just plain stupid. He informed the kid of the towel before the game which has already been mentioned as being a rule violation (state not team). Austin continued to wear the gloves. Personally I see nothing wrong with the gloves but continuing to wear them did go against team policy. Whether that is fair or not, it is the fact.

The boys father is a good man. His many years as a law enforcement official is enough to back that up. You know that he is going to be strict on his son having that background. However, I do think he over reacted with going to the newspaper and television stations. If there was a problem, it should have been taken up with Coach Jewell following the practice or the next day. No need to bring all of the negative publicity.

As for the whole thing, I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. As we all know, media tends to take the attention grabbing topic and run with it. In this case, and note, this is just my personal opinion, I think the issue the father had was with Coach Jewell making a scene and berating the kid in front of the whole team. The quote of "You don't care about the cause, you're just trying to stand out and look cool" would tick any parent off, especially one who's family has been touched personally by cancer. That was certainly out of line for him to say to the kid if that's how it went down. It was following a blow out loss to an arch rival so naturally a coach will be upset. When upset, we all have been guilty of lashing out. I think that may have been the case.

At the end of the day, I can vouch that Steve is a good guy. While we all question some coaching decisions, myself included, he truly cares about the boys best interest first and foremost. In a small town like Corbin where Redhound football reigns supreme over everything but family and God, that will upset people. Winning championships, whether fair or unfair is what people want. We all tend to overlook the internal affairs and focus only on the final result.

At the end of the day, both the kid, his father, and Coach Jewell all should receive some of the blame. However, this whole thing has been blown way out or proportion by the media, local residents, and us on message boards, facebook, and twitter. The whole thing could have and should have been avoided. What's done is done but the best thing to do is sweep it under the rug, let bygones be bygones and try to turn the season around. Austin played tonight against Casey County. Hopefully everyone involved can move on from here and let this not play a role in the decision.

As for Coach Jewell, as I said, he's a fine coach, good person but we all have questioned him at some point. In the end, a decision will be made either by him or the administration as to if Corbin will have a new coach in 2013. If that is the case, I can promise that this will have ZERO to do with any decision made with Steve Jewell's future.