If sitting in the bleachers and silently rooting for the hometown team is a crime, color me guilty. If being highly entertained by the actions of a flamboyant coach who a has knack for ringing up the wins is a fatal character flaw, I’ll admit to that one, as well.

That being said, the sudden apparent fall of Kingston girls basketball coach Kevin Strozier is like a stab in the gut. Strozier, the first girls basketball coach for the nearly new Kingston Buccaneers, coached with such a passion that spectators would easily believe the world’s fate lie in the outcome of the game.

He’d pace up and down the sidelines, his face scrunched in concern, throwing gentle jabs at the referees. He treated each player as an individual, yet taught them the power of teamwork. He is a great coach. Period.

But even great coaches are human. When Strozier up and resigned Nov. 12, the community raised its collective brow. Our sports writer, Brian Olson, asked all the appropriate questions, including the biggie: “Was Strozier on administrative leave when he resigned?” For that, we received the typical “no comment” on the grounds that it’s a personnel issue.

We called Bill Will of the Washington Newspapers Publishers Association. He assured us that it is, in fact, OK for them to release that information. So our writer tried again and a different picture emerged.

As it stands now, there were rumors that Strozier had partaken in illegal drugs with students. That allegation was investigated by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office. The Herald is currently awaiting response on a Freedom of Information request to get those records.

I stress that this is an investigation. There is not yet a determination of whether or not this allegation is true.

Now it comes into question: when Strozier was hired to coach the Bucs in 2007, it was well documented that there were some issues at his last school, Lincoln High in Tacoma. He was placed on administrative leave after being accused of not following procedures regarding an altercation between two players at a practice.

The North Kitsap School district did its homework and was satisfied that was a one-time incident. So they gave him a second chance.

I believe in second chances. It’s just unfortunate that this second chance turned out the way it did.