[CaptainMorgantown]

I’m going to be unpopular on this thread. If the circumstances of the game allowed for coach to substitute the freshman running back Logan Thompson in during the regular course of play to score a touchdown, that would be wonderful. But to deliberately step out of bounds to set up the play seems to me like another form of hot-dogging.

The touchdown was scored in the 4th quarter of a 56-27 blowout of their rival by St. Clairsville. The stunt was planned by the St. Clairsville coach; it wasn’t a spontaneous act of kindness by the senior Fern.

In a sport like football, where every player is working hard on every play, it disrespects the opponent to say it’s so easy to score a touchdown that we can let the freshman go the last few inches. It disrespects the freshman Logan Thompson, who evidently is a talented athlete in his own right, to score his first touchdown under contrived circumstance. And it calls attention to the coach and senior Fern, much more surely than if Fern had just run the ball into the end zone.

I’m going to be in the minority on this thread, but it seems to me that this was more a selfish act of poor sportsmanship by the coach of St. Clairsville to draw attention to himself against an overmatched opponent, than a spontaneous act of kindness.

[null and void]

I believe you are correct; you are going to be unpopular, and you are in the minority.

[fr_freak]

I’m going to be in the minority on this thread, but it seems to me that this was more a selfish act of poor sportsmanship by the coach of St. Clairsville to draw attention to himself against an overmatched opponent, than a spontaneous act of kindness.

I see what you're saying, and there is a lot of truth to that, but the opposing team is certainly aware by now, even if they weren't at the time, of why this team did what they did. I could see them being offended at first, but understanding it later. And, in a blowout game, stuff like this goes on. I remember playing high school basketball, and when we were far enough ahead, second and third stringers would come in, even some of the bumblers would get playing time. Would the opposing team be offended by that? No, because they knew they had lost already.

[bigdaddy45]

I kept looking at this thread to see when the Debbie downer would show up. And I wasn’t disappointed.

Geez, lighten up. They made the freshman run it in. No one gave him anything. They did a nice thing to help a kid, and the opposing team wasn’t impacted in any way. There’s no hot-dogging. Just a selfless act.

If you were in the stands, what would you have done? Booed?

[Strategerist]

I’m going to be unpopular on this thread.

Eh, I'm pretty used to that, so I'll join you. I think it's pretty terrible, meaningless, and exploitative.

I'll predict that this sort of gimmicky tribute stuff will soon get completely out of hand in high school sports, much like those odious roadside memorials to car crash victims have on our highways.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

I’m with you. The whole affair is kind of syrupy and mawkish; the kind of thing you’d expect from a thoroughly emasculated society. They ought to have let him in on a couple of plays in a more-or-less meaningful situation; that would have given him (and maybe Dad looking down from Heaven) a better feeling than all the made-up opportunity in the world.

[P-Marlowe]

I’m going to be unpopular on this thread.

Boy did you ever drop a turd in the punchbowl.

[hoosierham]

I agree.

A meaningless “accomplishment”.

If the freshman had been given the ball in a regular play,great.If the first ball carrier had been tackled or forced out of bounds by the defending team ,and the freshman brought in then,still great. But the fact the first carrier COULD choose and DID choose to stop made the play a gimme.

Personally I once had someone “help”,unasked I might add, my achieving a Scout merit badge as a young teen. In doing that,they ROBBED me of the chance to accomplish it on my own merit and made THAT badge worthless to me. But everybody got to “wrap it up” quickly and go on to the next activity.

I believe such “help” is more about the helper than the recipient of the “help”.Like parents doing their children’s homework the child learns nothing of value.

[Pining_4_TX]

I agree with you. How did the other team feel being used as a prop in a show of sentiment? The coach and team could have showed support for their teammate in other ways. I think this showed disrespect for the opposing team and for the game.

[WVKayaker]

I’m going to be unpopular on this thread. ...It was piling on a weaker opponent ... ...CMT

see what you're saying, and there is a lot of truth to that, but...- fr_freak

I'll add to the "but".

I see sports differently, I guess. Winning and losing are part of life, but life is more than football. I see this like the Marines who dictate "leave nobody behind". It is more about team building.

I see the inclusion of this incident in a different light, I guess. I doubt anybody on the other side said anything negative.

Our problems in this world come too much from selfishness. Me, me, me, ad infinitum! Many of the problems within our AMERICAN society are related to that fact.

BUT, if I wanted to employ somebody, I would prefer he worked with the team, and not just for himself.

High school football is for team building. That they play a game with winners and losers just shows the realities of life. Today's society stresses the team concept too far, though. A Fanatic is a guy wearing a cheesehead that can't talk about much else. It reveals much about them. It shows that they are trying to fill a void vicariously.

I don't get excited about pro sports. I just watch for entertainment and choose a side for fun. I watched the Broncos storm past the Chargers the other night, when they were so far behind that I went to bed and left the DVR running. I ended up watching the recording the next morn and was quite surprised that they pulled off the comeback...

While I can see your point, I'd rather let the youngster cross the goal line and feel good when his Pop just left this world. The runner who stopped may have been 'coached' but it was still an act of kindness to a hurting soul! Nobody lost anything since the game was already decided, but IMHO, most that were there gained a lot!

BUT, if you only want to think of yourself, you better be self-employed! Life is better when folk are working together...