Note to all sports coaches: The term "lighting a fire under your team" is not meant to be taken literally.
Unfortunately for a high school baseball coach in Utah, he apparently did not get that memo. Steve Ross, the head coach of Clearfield High School's varsity baseball team, has been placed on administrative leave after allegedly pouring 15 to 20 gallons of unleaded gasoline on the team's home field.
Ross ill-advised gas dump was apparently an attempt to dry out the wet field. During a game in late March, a parent noted that the field smelled like gas, and a formal complaint was filed.
Now instead of a dry field, Clearwater has no field.
While Ross is stuck at home facing the consequences of his extremely poor decision making, the field is being dug up by, as the Davis County Health Department examines exactly how much damage the gasoline has done. There's concern that the gas has penetrated the soil enough to contaminate the groundwater.
It sounds like Mr. Genius Baseball Man's drying method has turned into a rather expensive and inconvenient sideshow for the school, and his baseball team is left without a coach until Clearfield decides what they're going to do with Ross.
In the meantime, the school may want to invest in a tarp.
