Saturday, April 22, 2000
Coach, players support Doerger
BY Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
McNicholas boys basketball coach Jerry Doerger lost his job for harsh comments he made about officiating.
That didn't cause Withrow coach George Jackson to hold his tongue when discussing his colleague Friday.
“It's a sad day for high school basketball, particularly in Cincinnati. It's a shame that a great coach like Jerry loses his job over an incident like this,” Jackson said.
“Jerry is one of the best coaches around and deserves some kind of reprieve or whatever.
“The system is screwed up. These guys (officials) are in cahoots. They have as much or more control on the outcome of a game than any player or coach.”
Doerger was fired Wednesday as the result of openly criticizing the officials after McNicholas lost to Dayton Christian in the district championship game March 9.
Though he didn't condone Doerger's actions, Jackson was sympathetic. In Withrow's sectional tournament loss to Hamilton, the Big Blue shot 39 free throws.
“One of the referees had ties to the City of Hamilton,” Jackson said. “I'm sick and tired of getting the raw end of the stick with officials, and there's nothing we can do as coaches.”
Mike Sylvester, who played under Doerger at Moeller from 1966-70 and went on to play pro ball in Europe, was shocked by the coach's firing.
“If all of us were punished like this for mistakes we've made, we'd all be unemployed,” Sylvester said.
“Jerry was tough and demanding but was one of the best coaches I played for. He turned kids into players. I wouldn't have excelled in college or made a dollar in professional basketball if it wasn't for him.”
Former McNicholas guard Brad Cupito, a 1999 graduate and now a backup quarterback at Indiana University, had nothing but praise Doerger.
“I tried to get in touch with Jerry last week before this happened to thank him for the lessons he taught me the four years I was at McNicholas,” Cupito said.
“This is a great injustice to a person who did so much for kids and basketball. He taught me more about life than about basketball, and I owe him a lot.”
Cupito's younger brother, Bryan, a sophomore at McNicholas, was saddened by Doerger's firing.
“All the players loved him, and he loved us,” Cupito said.
McNick athletic director Dave Boettger and principal Thomas Bill were unavailable for comment.
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