Randy Armagost can be gruff.

The Moniteau High School boys basketball coach has a loud, booming voice. Anyone who has attended a Warriors basketball game knows it can carry from baseline to baseline.

He isn't shy about letting his players know of his disapproval.

He isn't shy about praising them, either.

The last time I checked, that was pretty much part of the job of being a head coach.

Find me a coach who hasn't yelled at a player. I dare you.

If you can, I will give you a Bobby Knight bobblehead doll. Maybe I'll even get Jon Gruden to caddy for you on your next golf outing.

Yet some in the Moniteau School District do not like the way Armagost conducts his coaching business.

They say he yells too much. They say they don't like how he treats his players. They say they don't like his actions during games.

So, they want him gone.

It appears they will get their wish. On Monday, the Moniteau school board voted 6-3 to open the boys basketball coaching position.

Translation: They fired Armagost.

School boards don't like to use the word "fire." It's too direct. It's too truthful, so they mask it in phrases like "opening the position."

But make no mistake. That 6-3 vote all but axed Armagost.

Sure, Armagost is free to reapply for the job — another way school boards soften the blow of letting a guy go.

But Jason Kendall has a better chance of leading the National League in home runs this season than Armagost has in getting rehired as boys basketball coach at Moniteau.

Once again, a few blustering parents will get their way.

Maybe this is the best thing for Armagost. I don't know why he or anyone else would want to coach high school athletics these days.

This situation is a symptom of a bigger problem.

The inmates are gaining control of the asylum. Don't like the way a coach is coaching? Complain loud and long enough and maybe the school board can be suckered into making a change.

It's sad, really.

Armagost's assistant coach, Pat Kerlin, spoke at Monday's school board meeting. He talked about how he had similar problems when he was the girls basketball coach atA-C Valley.

You know there is a problem when coaches are under that kind of scrutiny at a school the size of A-CValley.

Armagost is just another casualty of a flawed system.

He has compiled a 112-87 record in his eight seasons on the bench for the Warriors.

That record speaks for itself.

So do the 700 names on a petition in support of Armagost.

So do the 20 people who stood at the school board meeting to speak on his behalf.

So does the zero people who stood to explain why he should be canned.

I guess they were home watching Michel Therrien yell at the Penguins.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle