Krause: Barton, city should work to find mutually acceptable solution to coaching crisis

Perhaps someone – in language that doesn’t border on vitriol or invective – can explain to me what Buzzy Barton has done that’s so wrong.To recap: Last year, Jack O’Brien walked away from coaching the Lynn English boys basketball team on the first day of practice. That left principal Andy Fila without a coach, and the season only two weeks away – hardly enough time for the proverbial nationwide search.’So, Fila went to a tried and true Bulldog – one who had served nobly as a coach in the past – and asked Buzzy Barton to be the interim coach and pick up the pieces.Practically before Buzzy could say “yes,” Mayor Chip Clancy angrily protested the hiring, saying Barton, who is out on permanent disability due to a back injury suffered while serving as a firefighter, shouldn’t be allowed to accept money from the city for coaching. It was tantamount to double-dipping.And Clancy’s right. Barton is on disability. And if we were talking about Barton accepting a physically demanding city job that paid $30,000 a year, I’d be in Clancy’s corner on this one.But as with everything else in this world, there are shades of gray. Barton isn’t going to get rich coaching, because this is certainly not – as some have tried to suggest – a full-time job. He works off a stipend that comes nowhere near close to being a living wage.Also, Barton is not the one dribbling up and down the court and taking (and perhaps giving) elbows under the boards.But this does speak to an issue that could possibly go a long way toward resolving this situation. Some of Barton’s critics feel he should sign a release absolving the city of financial responsibility in case he hurts his back on the job.While this is certainly easy to say, it’s harder to put into practice, because under the terms of Barton’s disability, the city is obliged to carry the costs of whatever injuries Barton sustains, regardless of how he sustains them. So in the eyes of the law, the city is liable whether Barton rolls out of bed the wrong way and tweaks his back, or if he falls down at center court.Still, if resolving this sticking point could make this whole mess go away, then I think it’s worth trying to arrive at a solution. Perhaps – and even though he’s under no legal obligation to do so – Barton could agree to refrain from engaging in activities that would clearly exacerbate the possibility of injuring his back (such as dribbling drills, layup drills, or anything else that falls outside the purview of a generally-accepted normal activity).If said activities need to be clearly spelled out, then Clancy would have to accept that the city would be liable for anything falling outside those parameters.This would – of course – take the onus off Buzzy if he gets up out of his chair in the middle of a game and leaves his back on the seat ? because he could do that in his own living room, getting up to answer the door.This shouldn’t be hard to live with, as Barton has assistants who can do the more physical work that coaching often entails.Barton worked best as an organizer and a calming influence (especially since No. 1 assistant Jim Silvio is not the calmest person on the planet). The Barton/Silvio partnership flourished, and Fila rewarded him by hiring him permanently.And the feud bubbled back to the surface – which is where it is as we write this.We have to acknowledge here that Barton and Clancy have a history of being on opposite ends of issues, but that’s only fitting as Barton was the president of the local firefighters union during Clancy’s first term as mayor. Such conflicts are inevitable, and it would really disappoint me if any battles between the two have affected this issue.And I really don’t think they have. So I repeat my question. What has Buzzy Barton done that’s so wrong? He answered the call when asked. His team of coaches worked diligently on behalf of its players. He and his coaches are willing to do so again ? for a salary that doesn’t even come close to the amount of blood, swea