Well that wasn't so smart...

She has DESTROYED Lexington basketball..she's a shame to the town and program

Why did it take the threat of a lawsuit to bring the group into compliance with Title IX? Shouldn't we also be asking why, after decades, Lexington is involved with a group that isn't following the law?

I personally like the "single gender" game option, but I'm curious as to what part of Title IX the "old" way violates? Does Title IX state that certain game times are preferable?

This has nothing to do with Title 9 and there is no violation. Ever been to a girls varsity game that starts later? There are more fans at the earlier start because there are more kids around for other activities. Girls games that start later have no fans. Plus the girls have to waste their time waiting for the JV team to play. The boys have more fans later, so they play later. I don't see the big deal here.

Some commenters seem to have no problem with the fact that the AD outright lied in order to advance her agenda simply because they agree with said agenda. The message this sends about the values of the town and the example it sets for the kids these people are supposed to be a role model for is shameful and dangerous, but mostly it is just sad. The fact that one of her supporters in the comments above is attempting to play the gender card tells you all you need to know about their character and inability to dispute the simple fact that the AD lied and was caught. A one week suspension is a slap on the wrist. Having gone to LHS and played basketball, I can vouch that many of the girls prefer to play earlier. In the days when the boys program was pulling in big crowds, the gym would be almost full to capacity for the last 10 or so minutes of the girls games, and the cheers and support the crowd showed the girls during this time was substantial and impressive. While Mrs. Robb is entitled to her opinion, I highly doubt any of the young women thought that this was an “insidious message” as she called it until the idea was planted in their heads by adults with nothing better to do than devote their time to perceived slights and insignificant issues. I don’t think the girls would enjoy playing the later game to a non-existent student crowd, but perhaps Martin could make attendance mandatory so no inadvertent messages are sent by the sparse crowds for the later games?

Just because some people think its a violation doesn't mean it is. The superintendent doesn't reference a specific article just that it brings us into compliance. FYI isn't it interesting that this happened in a sport the Mrs Martin is know for? She is a former 1000 point scorer and coach for girls basketball? Why wasn't this brought up for other sports? If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck regardless of what you tell me it is I will still call it a duck.

This behavior is outrageous and a poor reflection on all of us if we continue to tolerate it. . The AD is responsible for setting the tone and character of our athletic programs at LHS. Ms Martin has failed our town and our students. I am a parent of 3 LHS graduates, All 3 went on to play college sports, all three played mens and womens basketball before Ms Martin was the AD. They had great expriences and great memories. Since Ms Martin has joined we have been through continual and non-stop controversy around our athletic programs. I am still involved in town athletics and have watched as Ms Martins leadership causies disgrace to our town and demoralizes our students and faculty. We must hold her and the school administration accountable. A suspension and apology is not enough. We cannot have this person leading our children, she is not an example of good character or integrity but one of deceitt and lies. Ms Martin should resign so that we can move forward and restore honor and character to our town and show our children we will not tolerate this behavior. I am committed to this change and am signing my real name so you understand my perspective. John Igoe

This behavior is reprehensible and calls into question her entire tenure at LHS. Anyone who condones her actions must be a proponent of Machiavellian tactics, since they believe the ends justify the means.

I don't see anyone condoning her actions. What I see are people questioning 1) why this isn't being handled the way most school personnel issues are handled, and 2) why our league isn't already in compliance with Title IX.

My time at Lexington High School as a two-sport athlete was incredibly valuable in my maturation as a both a person and citizen. I was lucky enough to be mentored by faculty who upheld the highest degree of character which I strive to emulate. The lessons I learned from these coaches, teachers and faculty enabled me to chase my dreams.
I am a huge supporter of Title IX. I personally know 2 of the women behind the movement and have seen so many of my female peers reap the benefits of being involved with sports in a fair, equal and meaningful way. However, I'm not sure why Title IX is involved in the discussion of this regrettable incident. It's worrisome people believe it's okay to falsify other's words as long as the purpose is believed to be just. That rationale taints the cause itself. This is an embarrassing situation and a downright awful example to set for the kids of LHS. If one committed these offenses as a student at a University it would be grounds for expulsion. The ramifications for a public administrator, who is employed by Lexington taxpayers, should be worse and cause for termination. What else has she falsified, doctored and created out of thin air to further her agenda? The administration's response can only lead me to believe that this type of behavior goes up the chain. Afraid it would go public, so they released the indiscretion hoping to get ahead of the matter, responding with a slap on the wrist, hoping it will all go away. Let's not let it.

Diana, there is no violation of Title 9. Just some parent who thinks there is a violation because they aren't able to get out of their job earlier enough to watch their kid play. That has nothing to do with Title 9 (which is about equity). Some leagues have the Girls play away while the Boys play at home. What happens then is that the girls get no fans, but parents are able to get out of work to see their daughters play. And that is all fine and good, but spare me with the Title 9 BS.

Aggravated Citizen
Mr. Coolidge: I cannot believe what you just wrote. Ms. Martin is a public employee and represents our town and schools. Of course her actions should be made public. How dare you think that we the citizens and taxpayers of this town should not be made aware of these infractions. Her actions are intolerable and a blatent violation of protocol. I have seen first hand that the Lexington Public School Administration has become it's own "elite club" and overlooks, excuses and ignores bad behavior and rule-breaking on the part of its staff when it serves its purpose. Ms. Martin's deceitfulness is certainly grounds for immediate termination. She's an embarassment to the Lexington community.

A school administrator's gross misbehavior is supposed to be concealed by union membership? Great, just great.

Reverend E. Raleigh Pimperton III

How can she not be fired?

They need to fire her ASAP

I don't even know this woman, but I am struck by the fervor of some of the comments. Do we even know this whole story? We haven't heard her side of things. No, lying should not be condoned at all. But the tenor of some of the comments above seems to be in the "Burn her, she's a witch!" category. Has her tenure here been controversial? Has there been any other issue at all with her? It's hard for me to believe that one e-mail could cause this amount of vitriol.

This is a rather simple story. Martin lied, libeled and slandered a member of the Lexington community who simply asked for equal treatment of male and female athletes. I agree with those who are calling for an audit of the athletic department's finances. When Martin is willing to completely change the intent of another person's email, distribute it as a threat to the Middlesex League ADs to stampede them into a decision to change the schedule in a single day (although as it turns out there was no actual threat) and damage the parent's reputation in town and in surrounding towns, what unethical acts is Martin unwilling to do if it serves her own purposes.
She cannot be allowed to continue in a position of authority in the Lexington School System. Who can ever trust her after this?
Finally, the one week suspension is a slap on the wrist and an insult to the town. We deserve more principled leadership in our school system. As the Greeks say, the fish rots from the head. Ash's credibility is also gone now.

@dianna-she has destroyed the sports program..She must be removed ASAP

Last year I went to a few games and she's trying to coach the boys basketball team from the stands..Really?would anyone try that with Farias?i

This whole town's administration has gone to hell. Did you know it's Lexington's 300th Anniversary? Probably not, but there are little illegible banners all over town proclaiming it if you stop to look for them. Did you know a committee was formed to produce a series of events to honor the 300th? Probably not, because of the original plan to put on events almost daily, we've actually had 2 events, an attempted event that never got off the ground (and lost a ton of money in the attempt), and only 6 planned events left. That failed event means that if the 6 planned events remaining don't make a healthy profit, guess what's happening to our taxes next year to cover the committee's losses?

The comments made by "lifelong" resident once again focus the discussion on items not related to the behavior of Ms Martin. She used false information to achieve her goals. Attributed these lies to a member of our communty and caused pain and suffering for this resident that continues today. I believe she committed a criminal act in the way she altered documents and fabricated information related to the scheduling. By one account she made over 20 changes that were lies and she has publicly admitted she did this. This is not the type of administrator we want leading our children. i can only assume that since "lifelong" resident will not sign their real name to their comments that they too are perhaps not convinced their information is correct. If an individual will go this close to criminal conduct to change the time of a basketball game, we must be concerned that her previous finanical, program and personnel decisions also were dependent on fabricated information. The School Administration must do an open and complete review. The citizens of the town and our students are owed an explanation.
John Igoe

I am not from Lexington, but have played in the ML, had daughters who played, and coach at the Middle School level.

Many players prefer the early starting time (5:30) because it allows them to go home and study. In fact, this week's game (Melrose-Winchester) was scheduled at that time to facilitate studying for exams. Is studying only important during exam week?

Attendance is not dependent solely on starting time, but relates to the quality of play. For example, girls' hoop attendance locally has fallen relative to an era of greater success. I'd expect Lexington girls' crowds to rise as they have an exciting, talented team.

In Melrose, we can no longer cable broadcast both games of the boys and girls because of the split venues. As a result, the boys program gets minimal cable exposure. Obviously, costs increase because the schools must have the gyms opened for twenty dates versus ten.

More than anything else, this exemplifies poor leadership, inflexibility, and excessive concern for personal agenda.

Phil Jackson says, "basketball is sharing." This is the opposite.

Folks, I have deleted a comment from a user who violated our "Terms of Use."

Naomi Martin needs to be terminated asap. And Paul Ash needs to be reprimanded for his "email was well intentioned" comment. Really Paul, "Well Intentioned"? Stop defending a liar! Your just as bad as she is!
Naomi has zero integrity and Lexington is a laughing stock for not terminating her yesterday.
Liars and thieves don't change their spots.

What in the world were the rest of Middlesex AD's thinking. They receive an email "threatening legal action" and kowtow to a threat without any research or follow up? Taxpayers deserve better.

Why can't Tom Brinklow be the AD?He bleeds lexington

As for Martin... She is a total disgrace to our town and students. There is absolutely no way she should be allowed to keep him position. Lexington is a wonderful town and there is no reason to pollute it with an outsider like Naomi Martin.

Life long therpay i mean resident - your right your not along, very rare people ever are, certainly not in Lexington - I'm sure we know each other, and could make some guesses - point is, everyone has a right to an opinion. But this principal and AD, the 5th principal this century have enjoyed a vacuum of power since the league shake up and termination of all three long time coaches of the schools biggest sports, they are have become corrupted. These are lessons taught young, like it doesn't matter carl, if you punched the kid in the face because of a rascist slant, your not allowed to do that no matter what the motives or end points, especially on school grounds. petition in the works

and by "along" i meant alone....

http://gorilladunkdaily.blogspot.com/2013/01/lexington-ad-martin-suspended-over.html

Charlie paradise

@ Lifelong resident - U can just call me Carl, you know me, it's a small town and i'm second generation. 1st. The AD must be removed or all credibility for this department is jeapordized, i can't imagine this not happening. it's a major deal - no AD in the Middlesex league can ever trust her again on anything. That's not acceptable along so many lines. 2) I'm happy your a self proclaimed lifer, womb to the tomb in fabulous Lex-Vegas, I'm sad your still nursing these wounds from so long ago bit i cannot empathize. I graduated from ACE, that guy helped me out when no one else could. helped me get out. I also worked vinyl siding in college along side with the first graduate in the history of ACE! 1980 Billy Desmond. Who did you know in the ACE program? what did you know about those kids and their problems that put them in such a program? Coach farias was the only and I mean only guy that ever had a chance to help out that clan. We needed those doughout's out there, ours was a cast facing some f'd up situations for teenagers guy. I could generate a list of 10 in ten minutes, ACE kids, that LOVE the man and attribute him with savings their lives. Bottom Line - @ 32 years old this new AD, was in no position to fire Bob Farias in her second year. please visit yg-foundation.org and buy a lex-Vegas t-shirt today, support METCO! - Stay tuned for our doc on LHS hoop, we captured the 2006-7 season all in.

Typiacl LP - I have just seen an extra paragraph to our inital blog - we have a dozen people working on this GDD - it's been edited back to it's original format - LifeLong - u r correct - former coaches have nothing to do with this discussion. If she resigns it simply sends the mesasge of intolerance as it protains to unbiased threats to achieve something we know is important to this AD personally - and in general, i just think, it's a big deal. She's held to a higher standard - i also believe the principal was aware of what was happening in real time. And we must also call for an audit on the entire athletic department, smoke and fire with tax dollaras paying her life?? just has to be.

A petition has been set up that calls for action by the school committe and the school adminstration.
Here is the link, please post or distribute as appropriate to other forums.

http://www.change.org/petitions/lexington-school-committee-lexington-massachusetts-remove-ms-martin-as-athletic-director-at-lhs

@ LLR - I understand where your coming from. I happen to be on the other side of that equation but growing up was always aware of two sides, like any argument. I think often once you into a bigger world, these "tiffs" from adolsecents are often, not always, typically put into perspective. But it's the nature of our country, we are after all capatilists, are we not? And depending on what you want to do in your life, well, I'll say the commodity trading pits in Chicago in the mid 90's out of college made LHS basketball practice and rigor seem like a piece of cake. For every detractor, especially former players, I'll show you a captain and often a millionaire, and those who have crushed it typically point to their time at LHS hoops as a cornerstone of learning what it takes to be succesful, be a good teammate and a positive person off the court. Rollie like Bob used to say, to be a super star on the court, you have to be one off the court. The easy way out, again in my opinion is to say everyone plays, parents feedback essential and we're happy at .500 with no fans. That's not my America, but that is lexington, ground zero, from my eyes of the trophy generation. Success always brings a spotlight along with some broken egg's. Ultimately this title IX is the issue, this AD out of control, not to be trusted. The Bob thing was done years ago, and for me, the timing after the loss of his dear and talented hoop son, running him out was terrible.

Once and for all can we end the Farias debate? He was a product of Skip Karam and Fall River and in that mold he did things his way and practiced ruthless power politics. What did that mean? It meant if you were a friend of his, or in his good graces, or a player he wanted in the program - you loved him and felt his love back. If you were an "enemy" (and there were many), someone he distrusted, or a player he wanted out of the program - you hated him and felt his hatred back. Without question he was one of the finest basketball minds ever in Massachusetts schoolboy history and a tremendous inspirational figure for his teams....in his prime. But what the sychophants who defend his reputation so lustfully, fail to mention is he was way past his prime in the final years. Coaching practice from a chair, abandoning his signature full court press that was so effective but hard as hell to coach, and refusing to maintain even the most minimal professionalism in responding to emails or phone calls....his last five or six years were nothing like the years that Carl Easton and Dan Holbrook experienced as players. Have to give Holbrook credit, however, he came back and coached with the man...but its hard to believe he couldn't see that he had lost his fastball at the end.

But this episode has nothing to do with Farias - and yet all of the attackers of Martin either played for Farias (Easton, Holbrook, MacDonald) or had kids who did (Igoe) so their agenda has nothing to do with Ms. Robb, girl's basketball, or Title IX. It is just about Farias. If they even cared primarily about LHS athletics overall first and foremost then why no mention of how the girl's hoop team is finally playing an exciting brand of basketball? That Boys Soccer was #1 in the state a year ago? That the running programs continue to dominate? That girl's soccer and ice hockey and softball have been strong lately. Speaking of softball, none of these folks bring up that "wonderful Tony Porter" fired Kelly Harrington and the girl's soccer coach in the worst possible manners or that he fired Bob Hartshorn, then unfired him so he could coach one last year.....please. She is the best AD LHS has had since Brian McNally. She screwed up and lied in this case. Maybe she should be fired for that alone. But all the other charges against her are exaggerations and sour grapes from the Farias toadies.

For the folks who claim no Title IX violation took place here consider the law's language: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal assistance." This has clearly been interpreted in the past to include practice and game starting times. Title IX also mandates equal treatment in the provision of:
-- Coaching
-- Equipment and supplies
-- Game and practice times
-- Locker rooms
-- Medical and training facilities
-- Practice and competitive facilities.......

Someone needs to make the case that the 5:30 time slot was preferable for girls to 7:00...and just saying "my friends who are girls tell me it is better because they get home earlier" is not convincing. Besides if 5:30 is such a great time slot, why do the Middlesex League boys (and their parents) object to playing then?

Rick - it takes a couple years to run a good thing into the ground re; Boy's hoops. We see it all the time on Wall St, great company, great product, line up, new CEO replaces a leged who politcal board runs out, it takes a couple years to wreck a good thing. Remember this is 50 years done a certain way, passed along to the next, a chain a system. This year they stink, I could've coached that team to semi finals 2 years ago. Watch where we are three years from now, this is the beg. of a long term weakness for boys basketball. I also remember the gates at home games raised 10K plus over a good year, and funded so many other sports which are forever in jeaporady of being cut esp now in era of austerity and budget cuts. Tighe wasn't ready to leave given his wifes passing, hockey and basketball same - my issue was at 32, this lady, it wasn't her place to remove everyone. And now her ethics are called into question? Also on topic why has Lex had 5 principals since 2000? Lexington has and will always be one big experiment. I'm afraid this current line up of Ash, Lasa and Martin gotten too big for their bridges. The re-alignment of the league is a great case for termination. Talk to the AD's, and re aligning every winter sport was a mess. Plus they cut the bleachers down, remove the icon at center court, just sad. But the big experiment, so devoid of real problems, this is how shamefully we spend our time

http://www.wickedlocal.com/lexington/sports/x171139241/Suspended-Martin-deserves-some-slack#axzz2JJRWvS8O

She deserves some slack???? Because she was a great high school basketball player???? Doug is way over his head on this one.

I just re-read the emails. While Ms. Robb clearly does not state that she is going to sue the administration, its obvious to me that she infers it, and certainly left it open as an option with the wording of her email, and then signs her email "attorney at law"...yeah right, she obviously has no intention of suing.... So then Lex AD basically embellishes Robb's original email to try and persuade ML officials to change the schedule, ulitmately accomplishing Robb's objective, but not quite in the way Robb had hoped, and then she throws the AD under the bus....classic!....I woundn't be surprised if the whole thing was a set up to try and get rid of the AD, who if the vitriol in these posts is any indication, has been a lightening rod in Lex because she has changed things up a bit...hmmmm everyone is wondering why the AD wasn't fired..maybe because there is a little more to the story than meets the eye here folks.

By her own email, it was Ms. Robb who was pushing this agenda for the past 2 years, and she basically got most of what she wanted, but apparently pissed a bunch of people off in the process, and now finds it uncomfortable to go to games, which is unfortunate for her and her daughter, but you can't blame that on the AD. If the facts show that the AD had been pushing for this change all this time but the league had been ignoring her until she sent around the embellished parent email, then I would agree with your comment about it being the AD's agenda, but that's not how this appears based on the emails posted on patch. It looks to me like it was the AD pushing a parent's agenda. Robb's email cites legal sources, she cites what she has not yet done, but could do...signs herself as esq. ...the email definitely comes across as intimidating, and apparently the administration thought so too. I'd be willing to bet $$ there were verbal threats to sue....The AD is clearly to blame for having a temporary lapse of judgment in the matter (which apparently most of the sanctimoniuos posters on this board have never had) and I say temporary becasue based on my conversations with other ML coaches and ML league officials, they only have good things to say about her...but parents will be parents. And it does look like Lex is about to get a change, I just wonder if the cheerleaders will appreciate cheering for both the girls and the boys basketball teams!

So ML Parent4 the AD lied and used the parents name (she is very well known in basketball circles) and the fact that she is a lawyer to make a change that nobody wanted is ok? Remember that the student athletes didn't want this change either. The fact that the AD by including the parents name alienated her and her daughter from their friends and thus the joy of sports is the mothers fault? That's good blame the victim for something that will haunt the family for a long time. The AD committed a crime of ethics and lack of integrity which should be enough for immediate termination.

Frankly any administrator who doesn't believe she should be terminated should not be trusted either since they certainly don't believe in ethical behavior. What do people think would happen to a student who knowingly and admittedly plagiarized a final essay? As for the coaching decisions when the basketball and football coaches were forced out why weren't the best possible candidates hired? Instead 2 younger coaches with a lot less experience were chosen, I know some of the coaches who applied were division 1 coaches or former head high school coaches. Now they were older so maybe that was it? All I know is that if I was paying that huge user fee and my AD wasn't even selling tickets to games I would want to know why the best possible candidate wasn't hired for the students since they are the ones most effected by the choices the AD makes. I don't know the current coaches but I do know that the most high profile sports the school has ( from an attendance and media perspective) over the last 20 years have been reduced to worse then mediocre and that alone is unacceptable. BTW that is why most coaches will tell anybody publicly she is doing a fine job. So the Athletic Directer who represents my town lacks integrity or ethics, can't hire the best possible candidate, does nothing to help the department financially (no tickets), get bullied by an intimidating email and lets one parent influence her decisions doesn't get fired. Maybe she should be in town administration instead?

To Friend of LHS athletics, in response to your ethical analogy, I actually think that at most public high schools they don't expel students for plagiarizing on a final essay. Most school policies I can recall had an automatic F on the assignment and a possible suspension. So that actually looks exactly like what happened here. Suspended one week, essentially fined $2000, and publicly shamed. Her critics suggest Martin is a repeat offender, but I haven't seen any real evidence, just baseless rumors about "she must be cooking the books too." Only a repeat student offender student would be expelled. So it seems like your analogy is kind of a poor one to support your point of view.

Rick, your opinion on sports is definitely different. It is interesting that you think just because a candidate had a successful playing career makes them a good coach. Just as an example for you, John Hannah possibly the best guard in NFL history, terrible coach. The coaching woes will work its way out over time and people will see. Lexington football will continue to get stomped by the likes of AB and Everett every season and numbers will drop and Peterson's illegal summer workouts will come out to the public and we will have another ethical battle on our hands. Hobbs inherited a very talented team and took out the best player on the court while the team was up 12 and didn't put him back in till they were down 4. My daughter who is 8 was even upset by this. The basketball team will struggle and we (LHS) will turn into Belmont and Arlington and Stoneham where the best athletes will leave to go to private schools. The major issue I have with Ms. Martin is what has she done to help LHS. What is her contribution because right now it is difficult to find a redeeming quality to keep her in her present position.

I was the water boy on the sideline in 1985 when Lexington lost to brockton in Sullivan stadium for the D1 MASS SuperBowl. Lexington was loaded with scholarhsip athletes both local + METCO. Greg Mcmurtry then 18 before Michigan and the Patriot's took back the opening kick 90 yards for a TD in front 0f 20,000 people. The brilliance of basketball in that town, is given the demograhpic shifts and medium wealth over the last 30 years, Lex was an annual hoop powerhouse. The real losers in all of this are the kids missing out on what were college like programs - now it's hayden camp - AD is in the middle of it all - the re-aligning of the league is biggest issue. That and can never trust again - they want it to go away - it goes higher, principal green lighted the e-mail and please, please audit the finances, general protocol I'd think given the circumstances, petition building. http://www.change.org/petitions/lexington-school-committee-lexington-massachusetts-remove-ms-martin-as-athletic-director-at-lhs

"There was little attendance at hoop and football under Farias and Tighe in the later years, so dropping ticket sales was the right thing to do." Rick Jackson

http://gorilladunkdaily.blogspot.com/2012/03/03052007-where-defense-began-lynn.html

Typical Lexington Parent- Personally I don't consider 6-5 records in 2009 and 2010 (under Tighe) and 7-4 in 2011 (under Peterson) to be evidence of good football teams (at least in that 3 year span), especially given the calibre of ML football in general. I'm sure you are right about one thing- Lex having more violin players than athletes, so I guess I'm not sure ulitmately what your gripe is about the football coaching? Do you expect coaching to somehow make up for the change in demographics? Peterson's record is not that far off Tighe's record his last few years. And if the AD had hired either Almeida or Belcher they'd probably be gone by now because squeaky wheel Lex parents would bitch and moan about their style/tactics, just like they did about Farias,so instead she hires this seemingly young, energetic, enthusiastic guy, who just might be in over his head, but who wants to try to build a winning program. OMG, what was she thinking...

I understand that we parents want what is best for our kids and I get that we want to see our child be on a winning team. But when you replace coaches who scream in the face of their kids, or make some members of the team so uncomfortable they quit for senior year after being on varsity previously, who will seemingly do anything to win, or who skip coming home on the team bus with the kids, who coach from a chair in practice, or who don't do out of season conditioning or preseason conditioning so the kids are falling over during the first quarter on the field, or who feel they are too superior to attend the League coach's meeting in their sport year after year.....when you replace those coaches with someone who is ethical, exhibits sportsmanship, treats kids fairly and equally, is prepared and who does their best to educate all the children in their care....you hope that they can also win enough games to make tournament. That hasn't happened in football and won't for a while. That probably won't happen for Boys Basketball this year. So I understand the parents frustrations. But it is happening for many other sports at LHS like girl's field hockey, Cross Ctry, and boys's soccer. There is so much more than the record to consider; please know that what was happening before - for at least some of the kids - was much worse. Even sports like Boys Hockey which is terrible on the ice, but is SO much better in the police log now than just 3 years ago. Those things matter too.

I think this Title IX Blog gets to the heart of the matter

http://title-ix.blogspot.com/2013/01/hs-athletic-director-suspended-over.html?spref=fb

Typical Lexington Parent- Personally I don't consider 6-5 records in 2009 and 2010 (under Tighe) and 7-4 in 2011 (under Peterson) to be evidence of good football teams (at least in that 3 year span), especially given the calibre of ML football in general. I'm sure you are right about one thing- Lex having more violin players than athletes, so I guess I'm not sure ulitmately what your gripe is about the football coaching? Do you expect coaching to somehow make up for the change in demographics? Peterson's record is not that far off Tighe's record his last few years. And if the AD had hired either Almeida or Belcher they'd probably be gone by now because squeaky wheel Lex parents would B!@#h and moan about their style/tactics, just like they did about Farias,so instead she hires this seemingly young, energetic, enthusiastic guy, who just might be in over his head, but who wants to try to build a winning program. OMG, what was she thinking...

She lied and admitted it to further her own agenda. Again please remember that the student athletes didn't want the solution she forced down the throats of the Middlesex League either which btw cost every team in the league additional money for buses, score keepers, gym staff etc. She can't hire qualified coaches, she allowed teams to change the school colors to powder blue in some instances, the middle of the basketball court had our mascot removed, the trophies- team photos and accomplishments were removed from the AD office. She handed out certificates with the wrong minuteman on them and when asked about them did not ever respond to emails. Showed up at banquets without proper attire. Doesn't help coordinate college coach visits with student athletes. Wants to pool all of the fund raising money each teams parents work hard to raise into a general pool for her to distribute achievement after she sees fit. In other words she has destroyed any sense of Athletic pride the LHS community as a whole had not just current students but alumni as well. Additionally as I have said before if the principal (herself a former LHS athlete) thinks the suspension is enough then I feel sorry for anybody who has children playing sports here.

Rick Jackson - I am not going to say that Reggie Hobbs is not qualified to coach high school basketball... But, there is no way he was a better fit for the Lexington job than Tom Brincklow. Brincklow was the head assistant for Lexington for 18 years. In addition to being a captain on one of the best teams in the last 30 years, Tom was also a great player. He worked in the LABBB program for over 20 years and he knew everyone in the school / town. There were numerous times where he could have left for head jobs at other schools, but he wanted to one day lead the program that he dedicated his life to. In addition, Brincklow was a hall of fame post player at Westfield State.

Did Hobbs play college ball? I know he was an assistant at Tufts and Endicott for about 8 years or so. What else makes him more qualified? D3 college assistants do not do a whole lot other than recruit and do some scouting reports / player workouts. Trust me, I was one.

Tom was screwed over because administration wanted a complete overhaul of the program. Fact! I was with Farias his last year and I saw everything that happened.

Josh Sharma left because he knew Hobbs could not develop him. Leaving LHS was the smartest thing he could have done.

Rick - You also mentioned: "abandoning his signature full court press that was so effective but hard as hell to coach" - This statement is not true!

I don't believe Farias fell off at the end. His last year he fought through the pain of his grandson's death. I was there and saw it first hand. The parents were harassing him nonstop and I watched Naomi Martin sit in the bleachers and not say anything to the parents who were being completely inappropriate. They all thought their kids were big time college players. They weren't. We finished the season 16-5 and cut it to within 9 points of Lynn English - one of the best teams in Eastern Mass. We finished 2nd in the Middlesex league behind a very good Belmont team. We lost 3 league games - two to Belmont in close games.

The year before LHS won the Middlesex league and advanced to the semis with Dan Okeefe and Mike Igoe. Right before that Tom Henneberry led the team to a 22-0 record before failing in the semis. The year before, Jimmy O'keefe took them to back to back semis appearances and league titles. Before that, we won the league 4 straight years in a row. I was on the team for 3 of them.

So what exactly are you referring to when you say Coach Farias lost his fast ball?

The 2000's were arguably his best years ever!

Also - you said that Hobbs was a basket away from the Garden his first year. Sorry, this statement is not true. They were actually 13-9 overall, 11-7 in league play. This was the year that Melrose beat lexington for the first time in 14 years. In addition, we were swept by Burlington - probably for the first time in school history.

Since I was an assistant the year before I am well aware of the talent that team had. They should have won the league EASILY. Hobbs is a great guy, but not the right man for the LHS job!

Ok - my rant is over!

To ML Parent4 as for the football record check your facts. In the new coaches first year he won 4 games total with 5 all league players returning including suffering some of the worst defeats in the over 35 yrs. That is bad high school coaching. He also does nothing to help the athletes when it comes to recruiting. I know some college coaches that have called him multiple times to get information only to never get a call back. Coach Tighe is responsible for thousands of students getting into colleges they would not have gotten into something the current coach knows nothing about so please stop trying to compare him to a man as great as Coach Tighe. The coaching arguments are about winning and losing not about rotating players so everybody gets a participation ribbon. Athletics at the High School level shouldn't be about making sure every player plays it should be about being part of something bigger then the individual. Unfortunately society is about me not we anymore and that is troubling for the generations to follow.

To Friend of LHS athletics: you hit the nail right on the head. I was a parent of one of the 5 all-league players and our son's recruiting hopes ended the minute the new coach took over. We heard directly and in person from the UMASS Amherst coach that he was denied critical recruiting contact with the coach by the AD. It felt like he had been black-listed somehow. The new LHS coach managed to take a group of kids who had been undefeated as freshman and deliver a tragically losing varsity season. He benched critical players in key games for small amounts of "disrespect" in practice, hurting their recruiting and causing the team to lose the game. In my day, you ran stadium steps or laps and moved on. Not with this guy. And none of those players went on to play college ball with or without a scholarship. He effectively ended their hopes and dreams. It is a sad state of affairs for the players involved.

When was the last time LHS basketball didn't make the tournament? Hopefully Burlington has a down year next year cuse I doubt the football team will win any games anybody catch the realignment for football? LHS will be stoneham in no time

This says it all the man featured in below video didn't even apply for the job. Home grown, state tournament MVP and one of the best coaches in the state. He turned around Needham, Concord and now has Woburn atop their the Libery Division? (See AD naomi) having swept Lexington twice this year. A dream job, he didn't want to deal with the current administration, tragedy! It appears this years team has quit, shake my head life lessons lost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HagNPLJ1wPU&list=UU1pvKTW85QZ77lcd_QqLAgw&index=14

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b44dddm5vSc&list=UU1pvKTW85QZ77lcd_QqLAgw

hope everyone's happy - This was known as one of the best jobs in the state and it was gifted, gifted to un qualified Hobbs.

So two things stand out to me, reading through the comments on this article

- That the overriding passion and interest here primarily comes back to the removal of Coach Farias - with terrible timing and lacking a plan of succession - by the present Athletic Director, an injustice well-highlighted above by Danny Holbrook, Carl, and Mac. This is a testament to Coach Farias’ influence not just within Lexington basketball, but also with many of us students in-need (ACE program et. al).

- That the true focus should be on the actions of the Athletic Director specific to this case. Title IV makes absolutely clear that there should no gender bias in interscholastic athletics; when AD’s recognize inequities they should raise concerns and champion new measures. What they shouldn’t do is manipulate the process through falsified comments, exaggeration or hyperbole. A well measured discussion may have yielded the same result in basketball scheduling, and could also have led to closer looks at other gender issues. However through deceitful statements, the AD undermined the principle of the point and lost the trust of the community.

I don't understand why everyone is jumping down Ms. Martin's throat. A parent filed a complaint, Ms. Martin acted on that complaint. YES, she may have altered some things in the email, but 1. we don't know what has been threatened verbally, and 2. Ms. Martin was trying to push for what this parent wanted.

Now that Ms. Martin fought for getting the girls their timeslot (which they didn't want), this parent is now mad? I just don't get it.

Let's be clear here, this woman didn't alter an email that would ultimately change someone's life. BUT, firing her would change her's. Everyone in Lexington is so quick to pull the "we pay your salary" card when you have to realize that it is someone's LIVELIHOOD on the other side.

Ms. Martin may have made a mistake, (haven't we all?), but is it really worth firing her, ruining her career, and everything that she lives for? I think not.

To Student Point of View

The issue that is compelling the citizens of Lexington to "jump down Ms. Martin's throat" is the fact that Ms. Martin took an email from a parent and intentionally altered that email in a way that completely misrepresented the views/intentions of that parent.

That is unethical and completely unprofessional conduct which calls into question Ms. Martin's leadership. If she has chosen to use manipulation and fabrication in written documents to advance a gender equity issue, the citizens of Lexington must question in what other way will Ms. Martin manipulate and fabricate documents to advance other issues. Yes, we all make mistakes. Unfortunately, some of those mistakes are serious enough to be worthy of losing your job.

Student Point of View -- you have a steep learning curve! Ms Martin did not make just any mistake. She intentionally and knowingly fabricated and falsified information to manipulate the process. If you end up making similar "mistake" at college, you will be facing a one semester suspension once the conduct committee is done with you.

SHE DIDN'T FABRICATE AN EMAIL!!!! Did anyone READ the documents?????? The ONLY words she changed were when it said "LHS is in clear violation" to "LHS and the League are in clear violation" which only HELPS Ms. Robb's point of view. The things about threatening to sue and going to the press are so obvious if you can put two and two together. Ms. Robb said that she didn't sue, didn't go to the Globe, etc. This means that she CLEARLY verbally threatened this to Naomi Martin in person because she said in the email look I didn't do it. SO when Ms. Martin emailed the other ADs, she included this information, NOT AS A QUOTE, merely as her comments on the issue.

I would hope the institution I choose to attend would not suspend me for a semester if I forwarded along information and provided my comments to people that could only HELP ME FIGHT FOR SOMETHING THAT I BELIEVED IN.

Whatever, not worth fighting for. We have our opinions. Lexington didn't fire Ms. Martin because they reviewed the information properly.

Student Point of View -- Ms Martin was found GUILTY of unethical conduct when she knowingly falsified and fabricated information in her email to the Middlesex League ADs. This is a fact. She even apologized for it via $300 per hour PR consultant LPS had to hire to clean up this latest mess. LPS has not yet fired her, but let's hope it is only a matter of time when that takes place. When you choose your institution to continue your education, you certainly do not want its admission officers to think, hmmm...this student comes from Lexington where even the AD lies and cheats.

That's rude.

You reap what you sow. If the town supports unethical conduct of its leaders, it will get a reputation, it is that simple.

lexwriter, in what way did the school administration "support" unethical conduct? Ms. Martin was suspended without pay. If by "the town" you mean to say the townspeople of Lexington, I would politely suggest that you click on the link posted above that will display the article written by Doug Hastings. Seeing that he has covered LHS sports since 1984 and that he has witnessed Ms. Martin on the job firsthand, perhaps the time has come for cooler heads to prevail.

Doug Hastings may have covered the LHS sports since 1984 but he has a rather partial view of Ms Martin. He has not been there when Ms. Martin has falsified information, made bad hiring decisions on coaches (football and boys basketball are the obvious ones -- and mind you, I am pointing our the hiring decisions, not firing decisions), when she has failed to assist in the college recruiting process, blacklisted student athletes, brought incompetent speakers to the mandatory new season night for students&parents, placed her own kids in dangerous situations by having them hang out on the sidelines during LHS games, etc. Honestly, even if she had been a picture perfect AD with absolutely no faults, she knowingly acted unethically and she is responsible for her actions. LPS has fired teachers for far lesser "crimes", it is time for Ms Martin to go.

lexwriter, so who exactly would you have selected to replace Farias? It sounds to me that you - amongst the others here calling for her dismissal - have been waiting for an opportunity to pounce ever since the coaching changes.

@ Lifelong - her age simply re-enforces what hindsight now reveals, wrong person for the job, Hobb wrong guy for the job, look she should've been fired based soley on the re-alignment of the Middlesex league! Forget kids treated fairly, everyone plays, no yelling, I've heard the new coach swears a great deal but this is the lesson. 4-8 ahead of only 3-9 Belmont. You'd never see this Lifelong with Coach farias, beacause above all, his was a team that NEVER QUIT. That's the lesson, this team has rolled over, Coach farias never allowed quitting. Hobb's struck the lottery with this job - remember coach Sullivan not applying says it all, even if he did, her boy would've gotten the job. The last thing the silver spoon crowd in mighty lex-Vegas needs is quitting. There lives are on track and easy anyway - it makes me sick, the parents, the entitlement, the whining adults, ban tag, ban chat's, ban limo's, ban yelling and de emphasize sports, yes this was a reason. The wussification of america, hey you guys can have her, I'll stay a Woburn fan and enjoy Washington DC laugh from afar of definding this GI Jane, whose bazooka might have mis fired once too many times. Lastly and to quote my lexington barbar, paul (legend) at Tricon barber ship, Cahl, if this was Waltham, they'd had a statue for him." u lost 1 - please click and view, when we were kings.... http://gorilladunkdaily.blogspot.com/2012/02/lexington-high-school-basketball-03-05.html

http://gorilladunkdaily.blogspot.com/2011/09/122606-sat-prac-before-wilbur-cross-4-0.html

just another practice in 2006 ? think again, dispels so many myths here as they relate to this thread / hoops. The AD thing in my mind is a no starter, she's had an awful tenure here, she better fight it, tough to bounce back from something like that, move to Indiana - anyway - There are 10 different things here happening in this practice that go beyond special. Yes players come back, in this case a pro playing overseas, former Syracuse captain along with the Boston globe playing of the year, d1 from year before. And Mac even calls his high school coach after leaving the team at Brown , wow. "if it was Walthem they'd have a trophy of him" Paul Barber, Tricon. Remember, this is one of the darling jobs in all of sports in the entire state, this again shows a little bit why - #neverquit - PS: would love to sit in on a practice theese days, tragic ! no longer a classroom

More than just the leaving of two great coaches - new coaches do not appear to know anything about recruiting - where are the scholarships? When will the AD train coaches in how college recruiting works? So many talented athletes without college futures ... tragic.

LifelongResident -- with all respect, you may be a lifelong resident but clearly you are not a lifelong fan of the LHS ultimate frisbee team if you do not know that their actual team name is hucking fooligans. Nice bid!

Since 2000 the only basketball scholarships were Finnegan, Dan Okeefe, Dane Dilegro, and Scott Tavares. Tavares left early to prep and was on one of the best prep teams in the country -right place right time for a scholarship. . Mark MacDonald would have received one if he didn't goto Brown and maybe Lawson too. But Lawson played for his dad who works at Bentley so I assume he went for free anyway. Obviously josh sharma would have been another. I don't see a dramatic drop off in basketball scholarships whatsoever -not sure about football. . It's very hard to get 80 to 200 grand worth of athletic scholarship money when you aren't that good. Remember - whatever division, college is the next level. Just because your child shines in the middlesex league does not mean they are scholarship worthy. If you looked at scholarship offers in the middlesex league over the last 14 years, I would bet that there were less than 10 in basketball. Someone prove me wrong.

If its true that coaches aren't returning calls then that is horrible and it has to be dealt with. They can at least return calls and give their honest opinions. How would you react if they told college coaches that they don't believe your child is good enough though? If all my father knows in life is engineering, who is he to say that my coaches opinion of me is wrong? One thing I learned at LHS is EVERYONE LOVES THEIR KID!

Glad that we do not have to rely on your memory, TypicalLexingtonParent. We can check rivals.com and U.S. Army combine attendance and pretty much figure this out, and when we do we find scholarship worthy players since 2003. We can check the all-league honors that typically get scholarships, and realize that LHS stands out as not having the scholarship offers compared to its peer institutions. Even if you were correct that none since 2003 were worthy, why not? Freshman team went undefeated just before Martin came on board. Simple statistics would say that there would have been the raw talent and athleticism that was not developed by the program and that is a huge problem.

Lexfam - Jimmy Okeefe played at Bates ncaa division iii. Division III does not offer athletic scholarships. The list I mentioned earlier is correct. CJ Enere was one of the best Bball players in the last 20 years. He played d3 at brandeis and babson. Tom Henneberry could have played higher but is a great d3 player now. Tom holds a 3 point record at lhs and was an all-scholastic. It's hard to get a scholarship. These were high quality highschool players on great teams.

Typical lex - the last legit football player went to brown but Ivy League does not offer athletic scholarships. He probably would have had a scholarship had he gone somewhere else. Same deal with mark MacDonald.

Holbrook, agreed. I was counting them as the scholarship athletes. D1 to me means scholarship, we are on the same page.

Lexfam, unfortunately if your son is not on a D1 program now then he is not a scholarship athlete. They would have given him a preferred walk on for the spring or at least the ability to walk on in the future.

Well they are there, my squad in 93 had 5 scholarship athlete's, 3 from hoops. make no mistake about it, the ride is tough, better to find the right school tyhan always shoot for the scholarship, either way you need a coach who knows the lay of the land + has the connections, knows everyone and vice versa. Wow, this AD is a nightmare, basketball just one issue Also, the program misses the legendary assisants that Coach Farias always attributed a great deal of his success to, former players, legends, and current players are shut off from the legacy, the former players that come back. Like now 2007 MVP T. Henn I'm trying to get a job down here in DC at my brokerage firm, why, because of Lex basketball, can't put a price on that. and it happened in Fall River years ago to tjhe man's mentor- anyone ever seen 30/30? haters understand how big this thing is?

http://gorilladunkdaily.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=3l-6tjwBAAA.zF2W15pKZrA97nQ-w-aHsg.GHPrKqzsV_oU1Ye1zlQV4g&postId=4295251681426392784&type=POST

u can imagine what led to this - she felt very powerful moving mountains with relative ease, and this inflated her sense and that ego caused this slip up, again unethical for an AD, non starter has to be removed. remember the lesson of Nixon and absolute power? that's what happened - hilarious what fly's with this town and what doesn't - all lenses and personal it seems.

thank u my man ! those are the words, her agenda, so very narrow. yeah i think the next step after hopefully the AD is removed or the next petition is to lobby for hand picked and willing successors to both football and basketball. "Glory Year" guys, and there are a ton of overtly qualified canidates. One that comes to mind is the famous Albert "Buzz" Middelton, (83) he was born to be a coach. I heard Jim O'Brien tell Bob Farias at Logan airport my senior year of high school that "Buzz" Middleton a former captain of his St. Bonaventure (A-10) was the best d guy he ever coached. And the way he played the game, a coach on the court with a lion heart. He's local - BTW look at the outrage this one recent pic took of the LHS gym, allot more of us out there then people think - much heart in this

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152493340320401&set=a.82461100400.148963.596385400&type=1&theater&notif_t=photo_comment_tagged

Naomi Martin MUST BE TERMINATED!
Are you people in Lexington Nuts? Or are you just a typical rich town with left leaning ideals that when the chicken's come home to roost you circle the wagons?
She did wrong, Ash is supporting someone how has done wrong. Terminate without predjudice and move on.

This is the saddest response from a town in a clear cut case of bad ethics and lying I have seen in some time.

Do the right thing.....terminate, replace and move on.

Oh my God! We're doomed because other coaches now have control of sports programs that were in place for decades. Coaches who replaced LEGENDS that could've kept us winning and feeling great about ourselves. What's deeply ironic for me is that all this talk about Ms. Martin and Coach Hobbs should have been on the table when Farias was wreaking havoc with the student-athletes he had under his tutelage. Let's cheer for the boys and girls who take the field or court with courage and fortitude today and put the past behind us. Firing anyone will not bring Farias or his cronies back. Learn to live with it and move on.

I'm sure there has been some good during her tenrure. One element is the fact the AD, the Principal this is the last thing they won't to do (fire said AD), as it gives validation to the chorus of people we've seen come out of the woodwork whose voices in the stampede to fire the coaches that made Lexington, lexington, this is new lexington. and I imagine the powers that be must be pissed she opened up this discussion. In the minuteman, the first three articles are on girls sports, they won, martin + lasa, u won - no doubt about that. There's a factor and you must talk to long time residents whose kids and kids went through this school system. lexington has jumped the shark years ago on parental interference. And it's out of control. Ash has to let her stay less he admit, they all really messed up. Again 5 principals in 12 years? That's the # you look at, the barmoeter of parents gone wild in lexington the great public school experiment is crazy The timing with Bob is something they'll answer for at some point in karma and maybe this is part of it,so gangster. But the hiring process was an inside job, the re-alignment of the league? frisbee, curling, etc. You've won, this is about trying to right a wrong (s), this is about accountability from our educators. The people that say it's a white lie, what's the big deal, this reaction is crazy are the same people that given a tide change of the politcal nature would be up in arms. And I call bullshit on that.

Boys xCtry 7-0
Girls xCtry 6-0
Field Hockey 11-4-2
Football 4-7
Boys Golf 10-1
Boys Soccer 6-4-5
Girl's Soccer 9-8-3
Girl's Volleyball 8-11
Girls Swimming 0-3
Boys Hoop 9-13
Girl's Hoop 14-3
Boy's Hockey 5-13-1
Girl's Hockey 12-3-2
Boy's Track 4-2
Girl's Track 6-0
Boys Swimming undefeated
Wrestling 1-5
Those are the records - some good, some bad, judge for yourself....everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Compare them to the rest of the league. Compare them to previous LHS Athletic Directors. Then make up your own mind - everyone who has posted here so far (me included) has their own bias, their own viewpoint, and their own agenda. But the records and information are there to be had. Go to a game - watch the way the coaches, kids, parents, and spectators behave, compete, and interact and then decide whether these programs represent our town well. If so, keep her. If not, make a change.

Varsity sports in the town of Lexington have been emasculated