I just can't seem to get past this, so I am going to vent a little.
On Monday night our boys basketball team traveled to another town in the area, well I'll just come out and say it, HOWARD. I was going keep the town name out of it, but when they entertained the way that they did - it should be said just exactly who they are!
Let me say that I am a huge fan of our school's sports. I can probably count on one hand the number of games (football and boy and girl basketball) that I have missed in the last three years. Yeah, I'm that much of an athletic supporter (I ment that to be funny). I have a niece and a nephew that play on the JV and Varsity level and I also know all the players (one of the great things about living in a rural community).
Back to Monday night. I was told that HOWARD had not won a game yet this year, so I prepared for our boys to do very well - until I saw the low level that Howard plays at. They were the dirtiest players I've ever seen. They were sassing back to the refs., slapping the backboard, taunting one of our players that had fallen down, staring down our coach, pushing, shoving, holding, they even tackled one of our guys. Did they think this was a football field or a hockey rink? The refs. let them play like that. They called no T's! I repeat, they called no T's! I have never seen such terrible reffing in my life. What made me even more upset was that their coach let them play like that. Does he realize what he's doing to those kids?
I am a person that has no problem hollaring during a game. Usually, I'm full of encouragement to the players, to which our players I remained. On Monday I, along with every Hamlin fan, changed our tone a bit. No, we didn't say profanity or horrible things, but we did let the ref. know that they were doing a terrible job and why should they allow that kind of play.
I couldn't have been more proud of our boys. They just kept playing good basketball and never stooped to HOWARD's level. The scoreboard showed that we lost by 3 points, but if that's the only way HOWARD can win a game, so be it. I don't know how you could be proud of it though. I feel sorry for those kids and for any other kids that are under that coach. I'd like to send him a copy of the movie "Facing Giants". I haven't even seen the whole movie but on Sunday I saw two clips from it and that was enough to know that it's a good one with good lessons to learn.
The Districts have started and our girls will be advancing to the second round due to a good win last night. My best of luck to all the players and as always, I'll be in the stands cheering them on.
9 comments:
That is just awful!! How terrible of the refs to allow all of that to happen and not call technical fouls.
I've heard that(the playing dirty, and etc) about Howard before.
It seems like when we (Madison) have wrestled them before that they have been like that.
How frustrating -- especially because Howard's poor sportsmanship was rewarded with a "win." Why do parents and others in authority allow that kind of behavior? (Although sometimes the parents are just as bad as their kids.)
I'm glad to see you post again. I'm also happy you gave the name. It is a terrible shame that the school itself is allowing that. The worse shame is it is teaching bad behavior to the students and players.
God answers prayer and we are called to be intersessors. I for one will begin to make this a matter of prayer.
I too, have gotten into watching sports!! I do not have any family or children in the Madison school district (yet) but it has been so fun to be an athletic supporter. It does help that the Madison boys have been doing well. Let's hope they keep it up! There have been times when I couldn't BELIEVE the way the players (not ours) play and how they get away with it. That is really TOO bad for the children playing the sports! I hope my children grow up to be good athletes...attitude and all!
That is awful. Dh used to help coach the local HS soccer team with his college roommate. They went to a Chrisian College were you played following the rules, accepting your loses and humbly rejoicing in your wins. Well, this is how they taught their players to play and sadly, the other schools in the area didn't do that and the refs wouldn't call them on it either. It is hard to teach our children values and fair play when the opponents aren't mirroring it back to them.
There is nothing worse than watching your team or your own kids lose because of poor sportsmanship. Jenna played tennis at a high level in HS. It just hurt so bad when an opponent cheated or crossed the line. We had to constantly remind Jen that it was required of her to do her best and play fair. She could not answer for the other girl. If she lost because someone else cheated at least she could hold her head high knowing she had done her best, more than the other girl could say. What fun is winning if you have to cheat to do it?
I say boycott all sporting or social events with or against Howard, put the word out to all the other schools in the area, and get all the other parents to deluge the local media to start watchdogging them.
Outside pressure can have an enormous effect and even if the Howardian's go back to their "cheatin" ways once the media attention wears off, you've at least set an example for your kids to follow in how to "do the right thing."
Since I am from Howard, I have few words to say about that game as well. I don't think that any players played "dirty". As calls were made, the Hamlin crowd would stand and yell offensive things to the refs. If anyone should be ashamed of the way they acted, it should be Hamlin's crowd. Just because our boys hadn't won a game yet doesn't mean that they should just let your boys win. Also, not every one in Howard is associated with the Boys Basketball team, so to say that everyone plays "dirty" or "cheats" is not true. I do believe that people take these games to seriously. Maybe everyone should just relax and not worry so much about winning but have fun like the game was intended for.
Sincerely Sara Rentschler, Howard High School Senior
Sara Dear, I know we yelled at the refs - for good reason. Your boys played dirty and got away with it. Take a look at the video - you'll see everything I listed did happen. Of course I don't think you should just hand the game over to us - just play by the rules and with a little respect to the game and the players. I don't think everyone in Howard is dirty or cheats - but if you let them play the way they did or let the coach continue the way he did, then what does that say about your school. Not for one minute do I think I take a game TOO seriously. I love the game and everything about it - when it's played by the rules. It's not about winning - its about playing the game by the rules and having fun doing it.
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