Jeff Papas

The Cloquet School Board's special meeting Monday, Aug. 6, to officially accept Kevin Smalley's resignation has introduced us once again to one of the less attractive sides of high school sports. Call it "puck politics."

Now, with the departure of coach Kevin Smalley, the 2018-19 Lumberjacks will have their third head coach in the last three seasons — an unheard of turnover in one of the state's most storied programs.

There's a tug of war going on in communities all over the nation, and, like politics, it never seems to end. One season ends. The next begins. But in smaller communities, many of the players stay the same. Except when they don't. And there's the rub. Allow me to explain. Carlton...