Bloomquist resigns after 21 years as EHS coach
The end of the Rick Bloomquist era — spanning more than two decades of Emporia High boys basketball — almost came a little quicker than it ultimately did.
After the Spartans’ one-point substate loss at Great Bend early last month, capping a frustrating 6-15 season, Bloomquist says he “came pretty close” to a postgame resignation right in the locker room.
“Everything piled on top of everything in that game,” he said. “And I said, ‘You’ve gotta give yourself time.’”
So Bloomquist took a few weeks to think about his future — and decided that his first instinct was the right one, resigning after 21 highly successful years as the Spartans’ basketball coach to pursue other coaching opportunities.
To read complete story see the print edition or the online print edition.
bball71 (anonymous) says...
This sounds a little bit different than what I heard although I bet the kids would have liked his resignation after the sub state loss
April 13, 2010 at 4:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheese (anonymous) says...
Kids these days are lazy ........well I shouldn't say that in general because some still do things the right way and work hard........ "Coach doesn't start me", I quit. "Mommy and Daddy coached yelled at me today.....it's ok son I will go in and talk with the administration tomorrow" Good luck to the next coach, a lot of head case kids, head case parents and lack of student support makes this a real below average job....
April 13, 2010 at 8:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
Cheese you are right the kids are lazy and they will make the Coaches job a pain and those crazy parents who get an attitude just because kids get a little but chewing by the their Coaches. Remember the Coach is there not for pay they are there because of the love of the game and the kids. We must support the coaches no matter how they treat the kids. They will make the kids better people in the future. The coaches are never wrong.
April 14, 2010 at 7:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sloan (anonymous) says...
Coach B had a good run and decided it was time to go. After the season they had it sounds like a good decision. Don't blame this on the kids and their parents.
April 14, 2010 at 9:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ksgirl_76 (anonymous) says...
My sons are not old enough to have played for Coach Bloomquist at EHS, but have participated in Spartan League for a number of years. He is great with the younger kids and runs a wonderful program. I hope he continues.
April 14, 2010 at 10:41 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
solong (anonymous) says...
UsayULoveGod, "We must support the coaches no matter how they treat the kids. They will make the kids better people in the future. The coaches are never wrong." That is a preposterous statement, Bloomquist is a good coach, but the only one that doesn't make mistakes is God!
April 14, 2010 at 11:24 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
Solong , Kids need to be toughen up. Let the Coaches do what they need to do. No matter what ! We just need to sit back and not complain.
April 14, 2010 at 12:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sloan (anonymous) says...
The coaches are never wrong? Not true! They can say and do things that are very wrong. But most parents tell the kids that is just part of playing a sport and to deal with it. Unfortunately some parents want to be the coach and that is where the problems begin.
Best wishes to Coach B and good luck to the new coach!
April 14, 2010 at 12:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
"Solong , Kids need to be toughen up. Let the Coaches do what they need to do. No matter what ! We just need to sit back and not complain."
Great mentality, lets all be mindless followers shall we? There are many instances when coaches are in fact wrong. "Toughening up" is one thing, bestowing that kind of unquestioned authority is a foolish notion, especially when it involves children.
April 14, 2010 at 12:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
solong (anonymous) says...
UsayULoveGod, I agree that today's kids need to toughen up, what I don't agree with is that coaches do not make mistakes or that they don't sometimes make mistakes in how they treat their kids. That is ludicrous, they are not infallible.
April 14, 2010 at 12:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheese (anonymous) says...
sloan (anonymous) says...
Coach B had a good run and decided it was time to go. After the season they had it sounds like a good decision. Don't blame this on the kids and their parents.
Who shall we blame.....Obviously the system works when the kids have the right mental approach and the parents stay out of it, when the team is littered with people that think they are too good, or don't go 100% dedication for the team then 6-15 seasons are what you get!!
April 14, 2010 at 3:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
Yes , those kids did not even try. They just gave up before it started. The Coach trained them to do better. He tried his best to motivate them. But they did not try hard enough and alwys complained about him yelling and screaming. Bunch of babies. Coach bloom did his job to the best of his abilities.Do not blame him. He won 245 games in 22years.
April 14, 2010 at 5:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Usay
From what I could ascertain the talent level of this year's Emporia High club was not all that great. Is that the kids fault or the coach? According to you where does the blame lie? There are more variables than just the kids, he had a team in the mid 90's that should have won state, and possibly again when he had Wise.
Some math:(ballpark figures)
Avg high school games in a season= 20 games
Bloomquist's tenure- 22 years
22x20=440
245 wins at that pace equals a 55% winning percentage give or take. So your maintaining that over a 22 year career it was the kids fault he was just breaking even? Stop being so one sided, it's ridiculous. Bloomquist came in instituted summer leagues and spring leagues and did a lot of good work with kids, at young ages, when being tough is learned. Your logic just makes no sense sir.
April 14, 2010 at 6:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheese (anonymous) says...
good ole
not sure if your logic makes sense. I don't think toughness is taught with spring and summer leagues, that is when the kid is being turned onto the game and it's about fun. Coach Bloomquist did a great job of getting the youth of Emporia excited about playing basketball, not sure he was concerned about teaching toughness in a spring or summer league. Secondly I think winning over half of your games is a pretty good feat, especially when over half of the school is hispanic and not known for being basketball players. I can remember only a couple of hispanic players, the Torres kid a couple years ago and a Bueno kid in the 90's...... Sure he should have one with Wise, but a kid scored 40+ points in a career game, those things happen. Again, I am not about blaming kids, but they do have to have some accountability towards wins and losses just like the coach does. But I don't ever remember Coach Bloomquist saying it was his coaching that brought on the wins, he always gave credit to the kids, but when they lost for the most part he took the blame.
April 14, 2010 at 7:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
He taught dedication to the sport and that hard work and commitment during the off season will pay big dividends, the blood sweat and tears approach and pushing oneself was his approach, if that does not facilitate toughness what does?
Hispanic population or not Emporia has had it's share of talent, he had D1 talent in the mid 90's when he took second, that group of kids very well could of been the best overall group of athletes in Emporia High history, a few of them were every bit as good as the kids earlier this decade.
My point was more aimed at Usay, he implicated that is was never the coaches fault, my point was that while Bloomquist did an admirable job building a program that was laughable before him, 50 percent winning percentage is perhaps substandard in my book given the talent and program he built here. I think he is a good coach and left the program in far better shape than it was in when he started.
April 15, 2010 at 8:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheese (anonymous) says...
D1 talent????? Wise has been his only D1 basketball player in 21 years and he went to Idaho.
April 15, 2010 at 10:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
He has had other players that could have played at a small D1 school, in fact there was an article just the other day about a kid the other day:
http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/20...
Just because kids don't go to D1 schools does not mean they lack the talent or have the offers, might be they think another school a better fit.
Now if you wanted to maintain that Emporia High has not had a big time D1 player in the last 21 years, I agree with you there, I don't know if we have ever had a kid go to a major player.
April 15, 2010 at 10:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bball71 (anonymous) says...
Hey Cheese...After reading all of your posts it sounds like you don't think Bloomquist resigned either... It sounds like you blame his leaving on the kids, parents and administration.... I thought he just needed some change so he resigned!!!!!!
April 15, 2010 at 2:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
D1 players ? I also read the artilce about the player that is going D1 from Butler. My 1st question is why was he not more productive here and why was he not recruited by Emporia State. . What happen to the group of kids that went undefeated in Middle School 4 years ago ? Must have been those Parents
April 15, 2010 at 2:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
Usay,
"My 1st question is why was he not more productive here and why was he not recruited by Emporia State."
Perhaps he hit the weights and matured physically and as a player? You know, hard work and all that? Maybe he passed on ESU in hopes of working towards a D1 school?
"What happen to the group of kids that went undefeated in Middle School 4 years ago ?"
Maybe they matured early, maybe the other teams outworked them. There are so many factors involved trying to blame it on coaches or parents is pretty laughable. There are reasons for all of this and I find it foolish to believe that the parents are the ones at fault.
April 15, 2010 at 3:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
admireed (anonymous) says...
goodold.....you should sit down with an experienced HS coach, any sport, and talk with them about kids and parents today and yesterday.
Edward McKernan
April 15, 2010 at 3:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheese (anonymous) says...
bball71 (anonymous) says...
Hey Cheese...After reading all of your posts it sounds like you don't think Bloomquist resigned either... It sounds like you blame his leaving on the kids, parents and administration.... I thought he just needed some change so he resigned!!!!!!
Not sure how you come to those conclusions.......he resigned, had to have a reason to do so, I am just stating the obvious ones!! :)
Admireed........good point!
April 15, 2010 at 3:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
goodoleboy (anonymous) says...
admireed,
When does today end and yesterday begin in your scheme of things?
April 15, 2010 at 3:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lookingin (anonymous) says...
EHS has some outstanding athletes playing basketball this year. Gentz, Childs, Canales, to name a few. It seems the players lost respect for the coach for some reason. Why? Was it the antics of the assistant coach that was removed? Was it a history of abusive and intolerant behavior? great with kids programs? absolutely! A program in need of a change! yes.
April 15, 2010 at 8:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
realdude (anonymous) says...
Some of you people are ridiculous..honestly have to be kidding me? Undefeated in 8th grade huh? Well lets be realistic.... There were players like Greg Longbine who was not there in High School or Seth Torres who ended up not playing. Luke Barnwell left the program. Those are some big players missing. So what are you really talking about? Basketball changes, and players change or lose interest. Coach Bloomquist doesn't make people worse or run them away. Anyone who wants to hate on Coach is just crazy. In some cases parents are ridiculous about it. Complaining to the administration? Really people? Grow up...Your gonna get on here and complain about a coach that just worked his ass off for 21 years to make this a successful program and be happy that he is leaving? That is a Joke! People complained so much, tired to baby their kids so much that they got a 6-15 season and now the coach is leaving. Hope people are happy..if thats what they wanted. Cause I guarantee, even if the kid didnt play, they are not happy about coach leaving.
April 15, 2010 at 11:06 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheese (anonymous) says...
lookingin (anonymous) says...
EHS has some outstanding athletes playing basketball this year. Gentz, Childs, Canales, to name a few. It seems the players lost respect for the coach for some reason. Why? Was it the antics of the assistant coach that was removed? Was it a history of abusive and intolerant behavior? great with kids programs? absolutely! A program in need of a change! yes
A couple of questions.........what assistant coach was removed?? Who had the history of abusive and intolerant behavior??
April 16, 2010 at 7:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )