COMMENTARY: As rivalry week gets closer, let's not lose focus of sportsmanship
By Keno Sultan
Stark County Prep Press writer
www.starkcountypreppress.blogspot.com
Last week I could not help but to think about a bizarre scene that raised eyebrows around the state of Texas that eventually went nationwide.
How many times have you heard a parent whether it be a mother, father, aunt, uncle or grandparents tell their unruly child to go get their belt? We all have heard it at some point in our lives. And yes we all were spanked with belts if we got out of line.
Last week, Willis High School out of Texas did just that literally. After a 77-0 win over Cleveland High School, the Willis players had belts in the post-game handshake line and spanked, yes, spanked Cleveland players in the line as they exchanged what was supposed to be positive pleasantries that turned into a stunning fiasco and then flaunted off their belts via video.
You can imagine an adult spanking a misbehaving child with a belt. But certainly not a high school athlete spanking other in that BTA challenge, known as "belt to (butt)." It truly was a denigration of what sportsmanship is supposed to be about. The actions of the Willis football players in my frame deducted from what was an otherwise good win. Where was the student-community-athlete formula at? Did Willis players not forget that they are students first, then members of the community, and finally an athlete? Where were the coaches at to address their players about the flagrant transgression?
As rivalry week approaches there are multiple rivalry games to be played around Stark County a week from now. Tuslaw vs. Fairless, Perry vs. GlenOak, North Canton Hoover vs. Jackson, Canton Central Catholic vs. St. Thomas Aquinas and many others concluding with the biggest hamburger on the plate, the 135th Canton McKinley-Massillon contest on that pristine fall Saturday afternoon.
I want to remind players, fans and coaches about the tenet of sportsmanship. Sportsmanship is something that is ingrained into an athlete the moment they sign up to play pee-wee football that carries over to junior high all the way to high school and hopefully a playing career in college leading to the professional league. Coaches have an obligation to infuse the tenet of sportsmanship into a young man. The player is obligated sans debate, discussion, or negotiation regardless of the finality of the contest regardless of happiness or sadness (even in their understandable anger of losing) to shake hands with his opposing competitor, tell him "good game" and wish him luck.
Think about this. Cleveland players were already feeling awful about their 11 touchdown setback. How do you think their family relatives felt seeing their loved ones spanked by teenagers their same age in the 14-18 age department? Those same athletes at Willis High responsible for the transgression just might cross paths with those players again in college or beyond that if life takes them that far. And forbid if that BTA challenge descends to the lower levels via junior high or pee-wee for that matter. That's sending a negative message and it is one truly not OK at all.
The players from Willis were suspended for the first half of their next game and relegated to community service. With all due respect, a first half suspension is a benign slap on the wrist. The players liable for that reprehensible display of tawdry sportsmanship need to be made an example of. They need to be suspended for the entire season to think about their actions, seniors or not. Imagine how they would feel if they were on the wrong end of that 77-0 score and Cleveland players were the ones smacking Willis players with belts.
What I viewed from that video, you can honestly say that no coach in Stark County will have condoned that, especially the old guard coaches. A McKinley Bulldog would have never spanked an opposing player with a belt under Thom McDaniels. A Lake Blue Streak would have never spanked a weeping player with a belt under Jeff Durbin. A Central Catholic Crusader surely would have NEVER thought of committing the same loathsome action with a belt under Lowell Klinefelter. I can go on and on with that but the bottom line is that sportsmanship was tossed out of the stadium and it needs to be addressed.
Please not lose the meaning of sportsmanship. Displaying sportsmanship means shaking hands with your adversary regardless of the finality of the score. Displaying sportsmanship means exchanging positive good will to your competitor for a good game. Displaying sportsmanship means wishing your opponent the best of luck as they continue on with their season. Displaying sportsmanship is reinforcing the true meaning of a student-community-athlete and that is student first, member of the community second, and then an athlete; not student-athlete but student-community-athlete.
Willis High players lost sight of that. They lost sight of the fact that they were playing for those who played before them and those who will play after them. How do you think a kid will feel seeing high school players commit the action they saw? Next think you know they will think that it is OK to execute an abhorrent behavior by spanking your opponent after a win. Think about how former Willis players felt seeing the men competing after them when they saw the belts go across Cleveland players.
Stark County players and coaches, when you play your rivalry games, show how sportsmanship is supposed to be performed. Don't descend to the level of Willis and their athletes. Display why Stark County is one of the best places to watch high school football on Friday nights. Let handshakes do the talking, not belts.
Cleveland displayed proper sportsmanship by not retaliating in the handshake line that may have caused an even greater temblor against their tormentors. I wish them nothing but the best for better days will come for them.
Stark County high schools, show how sportsmanship is performed. Display why Stark County is one of the best places for high school football. End the game with handshakes, not belts.
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