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It is
Thanksgiving week, a time for gratitude and appreciation, when the
people of this great and powerful nation bow their heads to reflect
humbly on football and Christmas sales. So be it, but maybe this
year there is a reason or two to give thanks for the pigskin.
There was a
time when parents encouraged their children to participate in sports
to build character. The example set now by some college and
professional athletes gives one pause; there are days when it’s hard
to tell the sports news from an episode of "COPS." It can be just
as tough to distinguish the fans from a mob.
I have before me the sports page from yesterday, or as I
write this, of November 23. On that day alone, Ohio State
University fans celebrated a Fiesta Bowl berth with the traditional
arson rampage, setting afire cars and furniture; a Washington State
University crowd expressed its polite demurral with a referee by
clobbering the opposing team with bottles and trash; jubilant
Clemson fans made merry by dog-piling a 67-year-old sheriff's
officer, hospitalizing the man, and; University of California,
Berkeley supporters rushed security guards after the Bears beat
Stanford, earning many a set of matching bracelets – with chains.
Whether they like it or not, college and professional
athletes are role models, thus it is no surprise that youth sports
are not immune from the same thuggery. In the last few weeks,
hazing assaults by athletes made news at two high schools near
Sacramento, California, and at a third in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
In Pittsburgh, doting parents at a private school took
its administration to court last month in an attempt to force the
reversal of a decision to withdraw the team from competition after
two football players sexually assaulted a 15-year-old teammate. The
court let the school’s decision stand.
School sports are still largely a positive experience,
teaching confidence and teamwork. Unfortunately, following the
example of some pro and college athletes, adult mentors in youth
sports can forget such niceties as sportsmanship and plain old good
citizenship.
Then there’s
Coach Dave Frantz of Northwest High School and Coach Derek
DeWitt of Waverly High School, both in southern Ohio. Frantz has
long mentored mentally handicapped student Jake Porter, allowing the
boy to practice with the team and suit up for games. Following
Frantz’ lead, Porter’s teammates have taken him under their
collective wing.
But Porter had never played in a game, a streak Frantz
decided to end with the help of Coach DeWitt, who agreed to let the
boy take a snap and a knee (end play) in an upcoming game if the
score wasn’t too close.
It wasn’t. Ahead 42-0 with five seconds to play, DeWitt
told an astonished Frantz he wanted Porter to score. The referees
and players on both teams quickly conferred and agreed. After
initially running the wrong way, Porter lumbered to the end zone
accompanied by players from both teams and a tearful standing
ovation.
At Marquette Catholic High School in Alton, Illinois,
Coach Mike Slaughter faced the toughest decision of his coaching
career when 16 starters on his 10-0, once-in-a-lifetime dream team
were caught drinking at an underage booze bash. Despite an
approaching playoff for what might have been the schools’ first
state championship, Slaughter
suspended all 16 players. One was his star halfback –
and son.
Marquette lost 63-0. Slaughter told the suspended
players they did not have to attend; they did anyway and rooted on
the second and third string. Administrators, parents, and yes, the
players, almost universally supported the coach.
In doing so, they built up the players in a way that a
state championship would not. And, like coaches Frantz and DeWitt,
they set an example from which even the pros could learn.
On Brentmorrison.com: Links to related news.
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