11.03.07

Shame on the football coaches & players

Posted in Redwood Living at 10:32 am by Lynette

Football last night and our Del Norte Warriors have finished the regular season 9 - 0.  I was surprised to see the stands partially empty.  This is small town America where football and basketball are supreme.  Most people either go the games or tune in to our local country station to listen to the live broadcasts.   I guess they decided why go, the last time they played McKinleville they won 50 - 0. 

We have a very good team this year, no where near the team combination of Chuck and Buck a few years ago.  Buck Pierce, our home town famous football guy, is the quarterback for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League.  They won the equivalent of the Super Bowl in Canada  last year. 

Even though this year’s team is talented, they will go on to play either Marin Catholic or Napa.  They will get stomped as they usually do.  Coming from a small town where the County population is 13,000 to play a team like Marin Catholic who recruits from many hundreds of thousands players seems unfair to me.  But it’s just football baby!

There was an unfair event that happened at the game last night.  As usually happens in a game where semi-men clash into each other wearing metal head gear and pads, there were injured players.  The stands go silent, the PA guy says “we have an injury on the field”.  The players on each side ‘take a knee’, no one talks, the cheer leaders ‘take a knee’.  It is dead quite.  Then the player gets up and walks off the field.  “He is up and walking on his own” the announcer guy says.  Everyone claps and the game goes on.

During the 3rd quarter the cheer team was doing one of those tower-lifty-thingies that most mom’s cringe at.  While bringing the ‘flyer’ down they dropped her.  The game went on.  There was a bit of mumering, the cheer coordinators ran out.  She lay flat on the ground, legs flat, not moving.  The game went on.  We held off the advance of the other team to stop a touchdown by them.  The cheer adults called for the ambulance.  They brought the board, had her sit up for a while.  The game went on.  We got the ball and marched down the field.  They got the cheerleader up and walked her to the ambulance.  She collapsed again.  Yippee, we made first down.  Where is the justice in that.  It just shows what is really important.  Football players, not cheerleaders.

Shame on you fans.  Shame on you football players.  Shame on you announcer guy.  Shame on your coaches. 

I have half a mind to write a letter to the editor.

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