Letter to the editor about WHS vs Freedom

[FONT=&quot]First of all this is completely erroneous and I am working on a response as we speak.[/FONT]

WHS fans could act better
Editor:
On Tuesday night, the Watauga Pioneers varsity men's team pulled out a last minute win over the Freedom Patriots. The glory of this victory was significantly diminished by the appalling behavior of the Pioneer fans. With less than one second left in the game, a Patriot athlete fell to the floor in obvious pain. Instead of showing appropriate respect and compassion for this athlete, Watauga fans ridiculed the Patriots for losing possession of the ball. As the officials directed the Pioneers to put the ball back in play, the Patriot athlete remained ignored, still writhing on the gym floor. When the Patriots coach tried to draw attention to his injured athlete, he was awarded two technical fouls and was ultimately ejected from the game.
At no time did the Watauga fans show any concern or compassion for the injured Patriot; instead, the crowd rudely cheered the ejection of the Patriots coach.
I understand that the officials must keep control of the game and had judged the coach's behavior inappropriate. However, I believe had the Pioneer fans fallen immediately silent when the student athlete fell to the floor injured, the officials would have become immediately aware of the injury, and the Patriots coach would not have to have gone to such extremes to get medical attention for his athlete.
As a parent of a Pioneer athlete, I am both saddened and outraged that Pioneer fans would actually cheer, not to mention shout out rude suggestions to the visiting coach, when a student athlete is injured. That Patriot athlete was someone's child, perhaps his parents weren't even in attendance. I certainly hope that if my child was injured at a game, that all the parents, from both teams, would extend to my child the care and compassion that every student athlete deserves.
Finally, I have to wonder how many times per night the "Watauga Pioneer Request for Sportsmanship" would need be read for the Watauga fans to actually hear and heed it. Come on Pioneer fans, let's support all the athletes!
Heather Clark
Boone​

 

Pioneers are not unsportsmanlike
Editor:
This is in response to Heather Clark’s letter about the Watauga High School vs. Freedom basketball game. Ms. Clark (no relation) fails to paint the entire picture. Freedom managed to get off three shots and the ball finally fell out of bounds to the Pioneers with nine-tenths of a second left, signaling what would essentially be a victory for Watauga. Freedom’s third shooter lay on the floor, whether it be in physical pain because he was fouled or the emotional pain of a defeat. Watauga fans did not ridicule, they celebrated a hard fought victory over a worthy opponent. The officials, who performed admirably, recognized his injury. They did not signal for the ball to return to play.

The actions of the Patriots head coach were not to draw attention to the injured athlete but to protest what he thought was a foul. The manner in which he did so warranted the technical fouls. Coach Rogers was not going to extremes to get them to recognize the injured player as Ms. Clark stated.

I have sympathy for the injured athlete, as I am sure all Pioneers do. However, to suggest that the fans’ reaction to an exciting play was poor sportsmanship brings up questions about what we consider poor. Watauga has seen an unprecedented year of athletic success and it is thrilling that we have experienced exciting finishes such that we have not seen in years.

Finally, the Watauga High School administration has put extra emphasis on sportsmanship. I believe that we read those announcements on sportsmanship more than any other school in the conference. Watauga fans go farther than any school we have faced this season in showing good sportsmanship.

Our school does not permit our students to sit on the front row of the bleachers and, at the first sign of unsportsmanlike taunting, the administration takes steps to address the issue. One needs to realize that they are attending a sporting event and that cheering your team on to victory is in no way poor sportsmanship.​

 

On Watauga Coaches

When the Titans were up at Watauga, I was sitting with some other parents on the Watauga side and we thought the fans and the team showed a lot of heart and class. The problem we all had were with the coaches.

The JV boys coach was yelling and taunting the players and taunting at individuals in the crowd. There were some immature fans from McDowell and one was removed. That was too bad there had to be folks like that.

The greatest problem was when "Buggy", (#24)had a slam, the varsity coach dressed down their player in front of the Gym.
Obviously, the varsity coach thought that he could have stopped him. It was an obvious sign of immaturity on his part.

I thought the Watauga fans were great, especially for such a hard fought loss, but the coaches left a lot to be desired. They were immature, and especially the boys JV coach had to win at any cost. They were reminiscent of East Burke.

The girls coaches were a class act.

It is always great to be at Watauga, where the fans and the students have such great heart.

But find some real coaches who care about their kids and the schools reputation.

 

Its seems to me like your major problem was with Coach Sanders (varsity) and Coach Anderson (JV).

Frankly Coach Sanders has a close relationship with all of his players and even if he gets in the face and chews them a little they still like and respect him. On that play were Buggy got the dunk, John could have stopped him, and could have not turned the ball over. John fully understood this, and if a coach chews his own player I see no problem.

Now to Coach Anderson. I have played under him, and have worked with him. Never, ever, ever have I seen him do anything unsportsmanlike or lacking class. He is one of the most upstanding, christian individuals I have ever know. Hopefully you are speaking of another one of our coaches. Coach Sanders had the McDowell fan removed, not Anderson. When he was confronted by a McDowell JV player after one of ours fouled out, he calmly told him not to address the opposing coach. Which any player should know. After that the McDowell player challenged Anderson, to which he said nothing and went straight to McDowell's JV coach to tell him the issue. McDowells coach yanked the kid.

I do not believe that Coach Anderson would ever taunt anyone, over anything and I do not understand his trying to win at any cost.​

 

Actually WHS-the Mcdowell JV player that you were referring to said something to Coach Anderson and then Coach Anderson started jawing back at him-which was a bit out of line. Mcdowell's coach pulled the player and apologized to Coach Anderson-after the game Coach Anderson apologized for jawing at Mcdowell's player and the issue was settled. I don't think Coach Sanders or Coach Anderson either one are the least bit classless-they are both young coaches who are still very emotional on the sidelines-as the years move along they will mellow out a bit, but their behavior is neither inappropriate or unusual IMO.

 

RE: Watauga coaches

WildBill, if it is alright with you, I'll let you hang onto your two cents and allow you the opportunity to collect the facts before passing judgements. This is the least I would expect from a pastor, as your profile indicates you are.

Coach Anderson does not need myself or anyone else to defend his integrity. His reputation among his colleagues, parents, students, and church congregation, as well as his eight years teaching & coaching, speak volumes alone.

As for the incident with McDowell, Coach Anderson demands from his players, above all, respect - for each other, for the coaches, and for the program. With that in mind, to be disrespected as he was by the McDowell player, yes he was angry. But, NEVER would he address, much less taunt, an opposing player or coach unprovoked and to insinuate such only shows your own immaturity and classlessness.

This discussion should be considered just as the JV coaches considered it - dropped.

 

I agree 100% with married2atitan. Wildbill, the jv coach was not taunting the players and if you knew Coach Anderson at all, you would say he was one of the nicest guys you've met. He also isn't going to let a player from another team tell him to shut up so that's why he said something to the kid. It wasn't at all disrespectful to the player, and he then confronted the Mcdowell coach to tell him what happened. So please, get you're story straight. And to say that Coach Anderson had to win at any cost is pathetic. He subs his players more than any other team in the conference to get them ready for the next level. There has not been one game this season where one player hasn't played. Each player plays every game. I don't think you can say that about the other teams in the conference. It just shows how good of a coach he is that he can win with different players on the court. The coaches are intense, but I dont think the players would want it any other way. Wildbill, I noticed that was you're first post, maybe you should make it you're last.

 

Seminole-


Not sure why you think that the Mcdowell player told Coach Anderson to "shut up" because that did not happen. Coach Anderson is the one who told the player to "keep his mouth shut" and that is what brought the Mcdowell coach down the sideline to figure out what was going on. Coach Anderson is a class act and a great coach-I just want to make sure that all the facts are straight regarding all parties involved.

 

TIMEOUT- The facts of the situation are being distorted way farther than they should.

I sat right behind the entire situation at the end of the bench while this went on.

Dennis got called for the charge and was fuming because he fouled out. He would have gone off, if Anderson had not calmed him down. The ref walked by to inform Anderson he had fouled out. Anderson made a comment about how he didn't think it was a charge. The McDowell player came up and said, shut up, thats just good defense dawg. Anderson said to the player Do not speak to me. The McDowell player than said, you want a peice of me before being escourted out of the situation by the refs.

I dont see how Anderson should apoligize for anything. You should not talk to the opposing coach.
​

 

I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that he told the coach to shut up because I talked to Coach Anderson afterwards. Either way, we all agree that he is a class act no matter what story we hear. Sorry for the mistake if I was wrong.