“Decision making is easy 
when your values are clear.” 
Roy Disney

It’s been 25 years since I made an unpopular decision I’ll never regret.

In late spring 1998, I was asked by Ron Modeste, the principal at Saint Lawrence Academy, to step into the role of Athletic Director. The previous AD, who was also our head football coach, had decided to move his family back to Portland, Oregon. Ron had already lined-up an off-campus coach for the 1998 football team. While I had no interest whatsoever in doing the Athletic Director job, I knew Ron needed me to step up, so I agreed.

In my transition meeting with the departing AD, I was informed that the 1998 varsity football schedule was complete. There would be a total of ten games, the first five of which were preseason games. Saint Lawrence was fairly new to high school football. As a small school, there were few schools with which we could compete, so our kids ended up traveling to places like Biggs and Point Arena for games. When I looked at the 1998 schedule, I noticed that our last preseason game would be in Pacific Grove. I was just a bit surprised, as Pacific Grove had been a CCS runner-up the previous season. When I asked the departing AD about this match-up, I was told that both schools were in need of an opponent for Week 5 of the season. The two ADs had agreed to schedule the game just to complete their schedules.

In the first four weeks of the season, Saint Lawrence was winless, losing by more than 40 points per game. In the Week 4 game, our starting quarterback was injured and ruled out for the remainder of the season. 

Meanwhile, Pacific Grove was undefeated in their first four games, outscoring their opponents by more than 40 points per game. They boasted that they had fourteen returning seniors on their team, making them even more competitive than in the previous season. So on Monday of Week 5, I made the call.

I informed the Pacific Grove Athletic Director that Saint Lawrence would not be traveling to their stadium that Friday night for the game. I explained that the contest should never have been scheduled in the first place. Pacific Grove had more than twice the number of players on their varsity team. They also had junior varsity and freshman teams. Saint Lawrence had about 20 players, freshmen through seniors, on their one and only football team. Not surprisingly, the Pacific Grove Athletic Director was furious.

“You can’t do that!” he screamed into the phone. He went on to tell me how a significant percentage of his athletic department budget was funded by ticket and concession stand sales at their home football games. I assured him that I understood his concern, but that my concern, my only concern, was for the well-being of our student-athletes. The game would not be played.

The next day, I received a phone call from a sports writer from a local Pacific Grove newspaper. He wanted to discuss my decision to cancel the game. I was fairly certain that his article would reflect poorly on Saint Lawrence Academy and on me as the Athletic Director, but I was pleasantly surprised. The writer sent me a copy of his article when it was published. Rather than criticizing me for jeopardizing the Pacific Grove athletic budget, he was quite supportive of my decision, pointing out how refreshing it was to see the well-being of student-athletes prioritized over everything else. He also agreed that scheduling a game between the two schools, simply for the convenience of completing the season schedules for both teams, was an irresponsible decision on the part of both ADs.

Author Thomas Sowell made an interesting point when he wrote, “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions into the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.” 

In the end, despite the short notice, Pacific Grove was able to find a Week 5 opponent. They hosted Riordan High School from San Francisco, a WCAL team. In a well-contested battle, Pacific Grove lost the game, but I’m confident that, in the end, that loss was a far more valuable experience for the Breakers than another lopsided preseason victory over a weak opponent. I’m also confident that ticket and concession stand sales were far more lucrative than what would have been earned had Saint Lawrence played in the game.

“In any moment of decision,  
the best thing you can do  
is the right thing,  
the next best thing  
is the wrong thing, and  
the worst thing you can do  
is nothing.”
Theodore Roosevelt