I love the story of Coach Jim Montgomery. Not just because he took the DU Pioneers to a national championship, or because he has led the Boston Bruins, my third hockey team, on a record-breaking, history-making season. It’s definitely not because he was coach of the Dallas Stars (a hated Avalanche rival).
It’s because after being unceremoniously fired from the Stars in 2019, Montgomery found a way to have an extraordinary second act.
I don’t know the intimate details of Montgomery’s downfall, but it involved what was apparently serious alcohol abuse. After being fired, he checked himself into rehab. Once he felt well enough, he slowly started rebuilding his career, landing another head coaching gig ahead of the current NHL season.
In our cultural climate, there is very little forgiveness. When someone falls short of contemporary moral values, we “cancel” them (to use the popular term). I’ve been guilty of it myself, because it can be difficult to look past violations of a deeply held moral value.
But everybody deserves a second chance. Who among us hasn’t made a mistake? Said something we later regretted? Behaved in a manner unbecoming? Or maybe, like Montgomery, engaged in activity detrimental to our loved ones (not to mention ourself)?
It is heartening to see a person rewarded for acknowledging his errors and doing the work to mend himself.
It’s a good reminder that we ought to be more patient and forgiving, because people can do great things if given a second chance.
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Speaking of second chances, what about third, fourth, fifth chances . . . for financial institutions. Are we living through another “too big to fail” moment, with massive banks being bailed out by governments, whether SVB in the US or Credit Suisse in Switzerland?
Like many average Americans, I resent the government guarantee that banks expect. Some of these banks take relatively large risks with impunity. Arrests don’t follow their criminal mismanagement, even as they rely on the government to prop them up well beyond the limits set by the FDIC.
Even though the subprime mortgage was fuelled by predatory lending, I was willing to accept “too big to fail” in 2008. Fifteen years later, not so much.
I’m not a socialist, but if the government is guaranteeing 100% of deposits, and is moving to cover those when a bank goes belly up, why is that bank still allowed to operate as a private business? If the state is guaranteeing a business, is it not then a public service?
Shana Goldberg may be reached at shana@ijn.com
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