I have been catching up on reading other people's blogs today. I've noticed that there were some posts and comments regarding sportsmanship.
I grew up in Howard, and I've moved back to Howard to raise my daughter. I wanted to share my point of view on things, and remind everyone that generalizations about any town can be very hurtful to those who live there.
There has been rivalry between Howard and Madison for as long as I can remember. I was a cheerleader in High School and remember several incidents in which the Madison players and fans acted in an unsportsmanlike way. Although these incidents occurred, I do not disrespect Madison, as a matter of fact I have many friends who live there.
I want to point out a few things about our basketball team. These are not excuses, but I believe these may be some contributing factors: We have only 3 upperclassman on our varsity team. Everyone else on the team is either a freshman or sophomore. Their coach is in his first year here. I'm not sure if he's coached previously to this or not. I do know that he'd taken several years off from teaching and this is his first year back.
Because of my job at the High School, I'm in the classroom with these kids every day. I know each one of them personally and I know most of their families. Our boys are a good group of kids. They are respectful, kind, and are turning into responsible young adults.
I want to express my pride in our young team. They stuck it out and gave their all despite the fact that they didn't win. How many of you would have given your all to a team that only won one game? How about fans? Do you think you would have supported your team if they continued to lose game after game? Our fans did.
As far as the game against Hamlin goes, I didn't actually see the game, because I was at the door taking tickets. So, I can't say whether our boys "played dirty" or not. Let's remember though that these are 15 and 16 year old kids.
In the game against Madison, I wasn't there, so I have no idea how they played. I am proud of the fact that they scored 40 points against a team like Madison, who has mostly upperclassmen and a winning record.
It's too bad that there has to be so much resentment out there over a GAME. I still believe Howard is a great community and a great school. Hopefully, with another year of experience under their belts, our team will have a more successful season next year. And hopefully people will see that a basketball game is not merits in which to judge an entire town.
I certainly didn't say anything bad about Howard...just that the game was boring. Because it was. I didn't direspect your players, your team or your town.
ReplyDeleteIf you weren't at the game - maybe you shouldn't say anything about it. I was there and saw it with my own two eyes. Good kids don't act the way Howard did when we played them. And as far as having such young players - WHATEVER! Our girls team is half freshman and they don't even come close to playing like that. Nor would they because they are good players with respect to the game and their coach. I'm not saying the whole town is this way - just the boys bb team and coach! If it's his first year coaching - well, he should start by teaching his team to respect others and the game. Look at a video of the game - you'll see everything I mentioned in my post happened. Sorry if it made you upset.
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