Blogger’s Note: I had an entirely different basketball story in mind to blog about, involving college fans and a rivalry that went too far last weekend at the Carrier Dome. But I came across two stories about high school basketball teams tonight – showing both the best and worst of sports and competition – and this seemed a more important – and more universal – post to write.
Two High School Basketball Stories:
The first was one of the front page videos on ESPN. It is a video of a brawl that broke out at a state tournament game in Alabama between Carver-Montgomery High School and Valley High School. – it began with a single foul and escalated into fans coming out of the stands, multiple people being arrested and the game being suspended. Now Alabama High School Athletic Association officials were looking at video and talking to witnesses to determine a winner (Carver was up 52-37 with 6:23 left in the game so I can’t imagine how this would be to difficult). The winner is scheduled to play in the next round on Friday morning.
Honestly, I kind of feel as though whoever the “winner” is should forfeit the game. It seems like the title would be tainted if they won, and as it sounds like both schools were at fault, it seems likely that some sort of sanctions would be imposed at some point. How can Carver allow their team to represent their school on a state level after this event? Why would the school want the publicity that will likely follow them into the game, given that that the video is all over ESPN and googling “Alabama high school hoops brawl” brings up tens of hits.
The second story I found on Tumblr tonight. It is about two missed free throws. Johntell Franklin, a player from Milwaukee Madison had his mother die of cancer. The basketball team from DeKalb (Ill.) High School had travelled two hours to play Madison, and agreed to delay the game a few hours, because Aaron Womack, Madison’s coach, was at the hospital with his player, and had to gather his team. The game began. Franklin arrived in the second quarter, and was not on the roster his coach had handed in. Playing a player not on the roster would assess a technical foul to Madison, allowing DeKalb to shoot two free throws. The DeKalb coach asked the referees not to make that call – the refs said they had no choice. And so DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman asked which of his players would take the shots. And then he said, “You realize you’re going to miss, right?” As the players of Milwaukee Madison watched, DeKalb’s senior point guard went to the line, poised to shoot, released the ball – and the ball rose two feet in the air, fell to the court and rolled towards the ref. The ref returned the ball to him. Repeat. Play continued. The game ended – Milwaukee Madison won. The coaches took the two teams for out for pizza.
And then afterwards, Womack emailed a letter to the DeKalb Daily Chronicle recounting the story, praising the DeKalb team, coach, and the player who stood at the line.
Two different games, four different teams, two very different endings. Sports are about passion, about improving, about learning, and yes – about winning. But what you do on the court stays with you when you step off. Some players in Wisconsin and Alabama have learned that this month.
