If you're a high school athlete, or the parent of one, you take as a given that no matter what happens on the field or the court, whether the clock is at the beginning of the quarter or half or reads three zeroes, that your coach will stay there with you to the bitter end. After all, the captain should always go down with the ship, right?

Look, New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick admittedly has a lot more on his plate during and after a game to be concerned about than how his actions are viewed in a broader context and the example he sets. He should want to be a role model, but, at that level, he isn't paid to be one.

That said, if your kid's coach pulls the stunt that Belichick did at the end of Sunday's Super Bowl, by walking off the field with a second left, even after he and the opposing coach have shaken hands, feel free to march into the athletic director's office directly after the game and demand the coach's dismissal. You'd be completely justified.

A coach shouldn't be held accountable for everything that kids do before and after the game, but he or she certainly should have to answer for what happens during the game and they ought to be there through all of it.