Krause: We lose focus when we hone in on the negative

Perhaps it’s the nature of people that, when they’re agitated and feeling negative, they need a place to spout off; but when they’re OK with everything, they just let it be.An examination of The Item’s online blog, where readers get a chance to respond to stories – without benefit of an editor – will find the slant overwhelmingly negative. I suppose that’s to be expected. With happiness often comes serenity.That said, people can still surprise you in their sheer ability to focus entirely on the negative.A perfect case in point: We had two stories in Wednesday’s paper involving Lynn high school coaches. The first was the truly inspirational story behind Al Melanson’s heart transplant; the second involved Matt Durgin’s decision to coach football at St. Mary’s, four months after he said he was stepping down at Classical.As of 1 p.m. Wednesday – which is when I looked at the blog – there wasn’t one comment about Melanson. I find that odd, since this is the type of story that can make you cry for both happy and tragic reasons at the same time. It brings out so many emotions ? not the least of which is that something incredibly good came out of something incredibly awful.Yet no one found it compelling enough to make a comment.On the other hand, there were four comments about Durgin – one positive, the other three sadly predictable harangues about what a bag job it was.This is the type of systematic negativity that keeps the City of Lynn from realizing its potential. People feed off it, and into the abyss it creates seeps every other problem the city experiences, from crime, to blight, to political inertia ? everything.Durgin doesn’t need me to defend him, but I will anyway.The man gave 10 years to coaching football at Classical, and no one can seriously suggest he did anything halfway. His teams won, and if you asked other coaches in the Northeastern Conference, they were uniform in their admiration for how he conducted himself, and how his teams conducted themselves.He left prior to the 2004 season because he was approached and saw an opportunity to advance. Those who would knock him for that obviously have no ambition. Otherwise, they’d understand completely.It didn’t work out at Malden Catholic. Gee. That’s never happened before, either, has it? Meanwhile, things didn’t work out any better at Classical, so when Durgin was ready to come back, Classical was ready to accept him back. Wow. How horrible.I’ll let you in on a secret. That’s the story of my professional life, too. I left The Item, it didn’t work out, and The Item took me back. So we’re both horrible people, I guess.Durgin gave Classical three more excellent years. Last fall, he was about a minute away from a huge upset over a powerhouse Gloucester team before the Fishermen woke up and realized what was about to happen. The Rams lost, but finished the season 8-2. One of his players from that team is going to Harvard. Two others got scholarships to Merrimack.Was he not the epitome of what a high school coach is supposed to be? Can anyone seriously suggest that Matt Durgin was simply biding his time so he could jump to St. Mary’s? Please.Durgin’s virtues are simple. He is consistently modest and has an easy ability to laugh at himself. As much success as he’s had, this has never been about him. Think of all the high school coaches who have become such egotists they’re almost impossible to handle. Not Durgin.He said he was stepping down in April because he wanted to watch his daughters grow up. I believed him. Yet at the same time, it was obvious in talking to him that this was a difficult decision. He loves coaching. But he felt that splitting his time between his family and his players benefited neither.And let’s not forget that we are talking about coaching in the inner city. Even if you love it, it’s a demanding job and you can multiply all its usual elements times about 10 when it comes to coaching sports at either Classical or English.At St. Mary’s, he might as well be