Middletown AD leaving

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   Journal story tells us that AD Zupka is leaving after three years to take the AD job at Milford. Zupka tells us that "a lot of great things have happened" during his tenure as AD. Let's see how that relates to reality.

The football team has been a bust for years with losing records for most of that time. There have been several seasons where the team went 1-9 or 0-10 in wins and occupied last place in the conference. Don't see any signs that would tell the community that there is any measurable improvement on the horizon. 

The basketball team has performed only slightly better but has had losing seasons for years as well. A "good season" at Middletown would include .500 seasons and a competitive, talented, winning season seems to be an enigma. 

The baseball team went 0-18 last year according to the recent article in the Journal and can usually be found at the bottom of the standings. 

Minor sports such as bowling, soccer and golf may have performed better but, I would imagine, those who follow sports don't consider these as important as the basic three mentioned above. 

Mr. Zupka tells us the system has good coaches in place but it appears the coaches are severely limited to the talent in this city. Seems the talent level has decreased tremendously here the last few decades. In defense of the coaches, they must take the role of mom and dad while trying to develop the player to be competitive. An almost overwhelming role for them. We really can't expect even the best coaches to assemble a competitive team if the quality of the athlete is not available and mom and dad are not there to help teach discipline and responsibility to their kid. Same goes for controlling any discipline and responsible behavior in the classroom. Perhaps introducing some military tactics would entice better behavior in this case. Unfortunately, the kinder/gentler, "don't touch my angel" parents get in the way of forming decent human beings in the high school ranks.   

We have great sports facilities in this town. The new field at the corner of Manchester and Breile, the new "Wade Miller Arena" are topnotch and much more fancy than should be at the high school level. Barnitz has always been a tremendous facility for football and was made even better with the new upgrades. Still, it would be a pleasant change of pace if the quality and winning tradition would reflect the new facilities. Now, we have Taj Mahal schools with sports facilities that match. Problem is, we don't have quality sports or academics to match.  

It would appear, when comparing any school officials rhetoric to the actual situation of poor performance, both academically and sports-wise, Mr. Zupka has added to the embellishment that we frequently hear from the Middletown School District. It is sad to see denial of the reality of the situation in action. When will they learn that it is what it is and leave their fiction behind?

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VietVet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008	Post Options Post Reply Quote VietVet Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Middletown AD leaving Posted: Mar 17 2019 at 8:46pm
	Journal story tells us that AD Zupka is leaving after three years to take the AD job at Milford. Zupka tells us that "a lot of great things have happened" during his tenure as AD. Let's see how that relates to reality. The football team has been a bust for years with losing records for most of that time. There have been several seasons where the team went 1-9 or 0-10 in wins and occupied last place in the conference. Don't see any signs that would tell the community that there is any measurable improvement on the horizon. The basketball team has performed only slightly better but has had losing seasons for years as well. A "good season" at Middletown would include .500 seasons and a competitive, talented, winning season seems to be an enigma. The baseball team went 0-18 last year according to the recent article in the Journal and can usually be found at the bottom of the standings. Minor sports such as bowling, soccer and golf may have performed better but, I would imagine, those who follow sports don't consider these as important as the basic three mentioned above. Mr. Zupka tells us the system has good coaches in place but it appears the coaches are severely limited to the talent in this city. Seems the talent level has decreased tremendously here the last few decades. In defense of the coaches, they must take the role of mom and dad while trying to develop the player to be competitive. An almost overwhelming role for them. We really can't expect even the best coaches to assemble a competitive team if the quality of the athlete is not available and mom and dad are not there to help teach discipline and responsibility to their kid. Same goes for controlling any discipline and responsible behavior in the classroom. Perhaps introducing some military tactics would entice better behavior in this case. Unfortunately, the kinder/gentler, "don't touch my angel" parents get in the way of forming decent human beings in the high school ranks. We have great sports facilities in this town. The new field at the corner of Manchester and Breile, the new "Wade Miller Arena" are topnotch and much more fancy than should be at the high school level. Barnitz has always been a tremendous facility for football and was made even better with the new upgrades. Still, it would be a pleasant change of pace if the quality and winning tradition would reflect the new facilities. Now, we have Taj Mahal schools with sports facilities that match. Problem is, we don't have quality sports or academics to match. It would appear, when comparing any school officials rhetoric to the actual situation of poor performance, both academically and sports-wise, Mr. Zupka has added to the embellishment that we frequently hear from the Middletown School District. It is sad to see denial of the reality of the situation in action. When will they learn that it is what it is and leave their fiction behind?
	I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.

spiderjohn Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Prominent MUSA Citizen Joined: Jul 01 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2749	Post Options Post Reply Quote spiderjohn Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Mar 18 2019 at 7:45am
	imo If you are not from here, Middletown schools and Admin are pretty much a training ground and stepping stone resume builder. I enjoyed mr.zupka though it seemed that he was on a very tight leash. He was rumored to be job-seeking after his first year. As vet says. we have top shelf facilities and some very good coaches now with less than top shelf results. Talent levels are less than the norm though the attitude/desire to win seems to be improving. We are now the smallest school in the GMC, which has added to our athletic struggles. Cross country and bowling seem to be going well and are consistent, with football and basketball hopefully on the improve. Will be interesting to see who replaces Aaron—my guess is that it will be his assistant.

buddhalite Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Citizen Joined: May 11 2017 Location: Middletown Status: Offline Points: 499	Post Options Post Reply Quote buddhalite Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Mar 18 2019 at 2:55pm
	Well Vet, I've never seen a CEO of a failing company hold a press conference and hype up the fact that the company is failing. Even when it is apparent to the whole world that the sky has fallen - public figures still point that the sun is still shining. The sports accomplishments (or lack thereof) bother me none. It would be nice to have winning teams, but that doesn't add to the credibility of a district rated in the bottom 15% of the state. But, I share your concerns....millions spent on arena, schools and fields....not only do we have no extra-curricular achievements about which to greatly boast - we are stuck in a failing school system as well. I don't know if that is the fault of the students, teachers, admins or the janitors - but it is of grave concern. Maybe we should have hired more teachers and kept the old building.
	"Every government intervention [in the marketplace] creates unintended consequences, which lead to calls for further government interventions." -Ludwig van Mises

VietVet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008	Post Options Post Reply Quote VietVet Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: Mar 18 2019 at 7:05pm
	buddhalite: "I don't know if that is the fault of the students, teachers, admins or the janitors - but it is of grave concern. Maybe we should have hired more teachers and kept the old building." I have to point my finger of blame toward the apathy of the voting people living here who have accepted the low academic and sports performances. The people living here seem to condone low standards as they voted for the 45 million dollar bond levy building of the elementary schools, saw there was no positive progress and then voted for the 96 million dollar bond levy for the high school expansion, the new practice field, the new middle school and the mega campus complex they have built on Breile at Manchester. Incredible! Did you not see that your 45 million did nothing toward improvement? The only way the school people would have gotten the message that their performance was not acceptable to the community was to reject both levies, but we all saw what happened. The voters bought the school message hook, line and sinker and actually believed that new schools would produce better results. Same thinking that a new, fancy gym would produce a better basketball team and a 2+ million dollar upgrade would produce a winning football team. They were wrong but don't seem to want to complain that they were cheated out of their tax money. Millions spent.....nothing positive produced......and still, most must be satisfied at this scenario. Amazing blindness shown by the people of Middletown here. Gullible as hell. The school supporters know they can fool the voters now and will continue to use them knowing they will drink the propaganda kool-aid time and time again. Gullibility, apathy and blindness to reality from the people living here, is a pathetic thing to see.
	I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.

VietVet Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MUSA Council Joined: May 15 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7008	Post Options Post Reply Quote VietVet Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: May 01 2019 at 5:00pm
	MIDDLETOWN — The Middletown City School District announced Tuesday that Justin “J.D.” Foust will be its new athletic director. And now, the typical speech we hear from ALL AD's or Superintendents when taking on any Middletown position..... "“I am very excited to be joining the positive(??? (don't know about that) movement in Middletown,” Foust said in a release. “The Middies have had a tradition of proven success (just not within the last decade or two), and I am proud to be the next athletic director. I am looking forward to building relationships with the students, coaches, alumni and community of Middletown.”" (Just start winning and being competitive for starters) followed by the support speech..... "“He brings to us a wealth of experience in the field and some outstanding skills that will take us to the next level with athletics,” Middletown principal Carmela Cotter said. “He is excited to be on our team and to become part of our Middie family as we strive for future success.”" with the typical result of them staying a short period of time until they see the writing on the wall and move on to more lucrative positions in higher performing districts...... Nevertheless, I wish the new AD well in his tenure, be it short or longterm, with the Middletown district. It will take a special type of person to persevere here. A person who has exceptional patients and forgiveness given the many shortcomings both in academics as well as sports. It is far from what it use to be as to excellence.
	I'm so proud of my hometown and what it has become. Recall 'em all. Let's start over.