The Bobcat Nation

This was in today's Billings Gazette. Are the fans, parents, coaches, etc. ruining the game? Personally, I think this article is quite interesting. How about you...


Kimmel column: Lack of sportsmanship is reprehensible
By Slim Kimmel, Billings Gazette

This is a column I don’t want to write.

Given a voice, though, something must be said. Believe me, I would prefer to keep the focus of our high school sports coverage on the games and the kids.

But too often that isn’t the case.

Poor sportsmanship is dominating our headlines.

In Fairview, a group of parents complained enough to convince the head football coach that resigning after two games was the best thing for not only the team, but for himself and his career.

Was he the best coach? No, and he would admit that. He would also admit that he’s made his share of mistakes on the sidelines, both as an assistant coach and head coach.

But did he deserve more respect than what he received? Unequivocally, yes.

In Butte, an assistant coach deliberately shoved, pushed or bumped — depending on which account you believe — the opposing head coach. The Zapruder-grade video doesn’t confirm one way or another. There’s no argument, though, that the rivalry between Butte Central and Billings Central has grown more hostile in recent years. Both programs are to blame, at the very least including coaches, if not specifically coaches.

On a Billings sideline during a recent game, a head coach had to have a player removed and sent to the locker room for arguing and fighting with teammates and coaches. The emotional player’s demonstrative behavior was unacceptable, no question. He wasn’t the only one on that sideline, though, that demonstrated poor judgment in his words and actions during that game.

A fan sent me a letter expressing his concern for the fans’ and players’ safety in another environment. For the first time since I’ve been covering games, I felt uncomfortable on a team’s sideline earlier this season.

Fans, coaches and, yes, players, yelling and throwing tantrums has become a part of the sports spectacle. It’s not uncommon to hear them spewing insults at officials — things you wouldn’t expect to hear anywhere else during your day-to-day routine.

But this season — and, really, even further back — things have taken another atrocious step. It’s baffling.

But more, it’s concerning. Disgusting, unacceptable and reprehensible.

The line that once separated tolerable behavior and poor sportsmanship has long been erased.

Sports are supposed to teach young athletes life lessons: working hard and seeing that hard work pay dividends; overcoming adversity; dedicating yourself to your teammates; respecting yourself, your teammates and your opponents. And much, much more.

The Montana High School Association assigns responsibility to “each member school to ensure that all individuals … conduct themselves in a sportsmanlike manner” in its handbook. The MHSA goes on to state that “the coach bears the greatest burden of responsibility for sportsmanship,” specifying coaches’ requirements as role models.

Sections in the handbook continue on to outline acceptable behavior expected of officials, players, students and fans.

But what can we expect when high school kids are often the most mature people in the stadium?


Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/sports/high- ... z3ELdCswbp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pretty topical article. I've watched several games this year and for the first time in years, I observed an inexperienced (hope that's all it was) officiating crew completely lose control of a game in Whitefish tonight. When defensive linemen are tackled while a quarterback is scrambling in front of an official and holding is not called numerous times, the kids emotions (football is an extremely emotional game) not to mention the friends and parents have a tendency to lose control.

The scene was made even worse when the five officials literally ran for their vehicles in formation as soon as the final gun sounded. As I made my way out of the stands, the mothers of the kids yelling and cussing at each other was a sight to behold. I thought sports and competition was supposed to be a healthy outlet, but man I've watched some games this year that I left wondering why some of the folks go to support the kids. It's understood in any and all parts of the country officials are fair game and they sometimes need the crowds help to make the correct call, so I wonder why we have such an emphasis on "sportsmanship" with regards to the zebras screwing up all the time out here?

I've always felt officials are supposed to be impartial, and I suppose the inexperience and lack of understanding is one of the major reasons we have so many incidents, especially in football. I kind of appreciate at times we don't have incidents as one of my friends in the South had in her school system. The losing team beat the opposing coach so bad after the game he missed most of the season.

Years ago, I used to watch baseball and hockey and wonder what everybody complained about when we'd get in fights on the football field or basketball floor.

I really don't see much difference today than what I watched when I was a kid except I don't have the fun of watching dads duke it out in the parking lot after a game. As I was raised in the Gallatin, I always thought it'd be fun to go to Butte where the fire department actually had to hose the crowds to break up fights.

Cat Grad wrote:Pretty topical article. I've watched several games this year and for the first time in years, I observed an inexperienced (hope that's all it was) officiating crew completely lose control of a game in Whitefish tonight. When defensive linemen are tackled while a quarterback is scrambling in front of an official and holding is not called numerous times, the kids emotions (football is an extremely emotional game) not to mention the friends and parents have a tendency to lose control.

The scene was made even worse when the five officials literally ran for their vehicles in formation as soon as the final gun sounded. As I made my way out of the stands, the mothers of the kids yelling and cussing at each other was a sight to behold. I thought sports and competition was supposed to be a healthy outlet, but man I've watched some games this year that I left wondering why some of the folks go to support the kids. It's understood in any and all parts of the country officials are fair game and they sometimes need the crowds help to make the correct call, so I wonder why we have such an emphasis on "sportsmanship" with regards to the zebras screwing up all the time out here?

I've always felt officials are supposed to be impartial, and I suppose the inexperience and lack of understanding is one of the major reasons we have so many incidents, especially in football. I kind of appreciate at times we don't have incidents as one of my friends in the South had in her school system. The losing team beat the opposing coach so bad after the game he missed most of the season.

Years ago, I used to watch baseball and hockey and wonder what everybody complained about when we'd get in fights on the football field or basketball floor.

I really don't see much difference today than what I watched when I was a kid except I don't have the fun of watching dads duke it out in the parking lot after a game. As I was raised in the Gallatin, I always thought it'd be fun to go to Butte where the fire department actually had to hose the crowds to break up fights.

Not sure which side your on here but here is my take on your story, that was a game between Columbia Falls and Whitefish that you speak of. A year ago our team (Fergus) traveled to Columbia Falls, the fans were perhaps that rudest and most obnoxious that I have ever seen at a HS Game, how often to you go to a game where home fans walk the sidelines of the visitors side talking smack and mouthing off to the parents and players of the visiting team. This year they returned to play in Lewistown and since I am on the chain gang I get to see up close how the coaches and team act, they were mostly punks and the coach was a foul mouthed jerk, His lack of sportsmanship included an onside kick when the clock was running (35 point rule) but didn't stop there, when Fergus substituted by pulling all starters and playing backups, CF maintained a majority of their starters on the field. I saw CF players throw punches and say rude offensive things about other players and generally act like punks. After seeing their coach it is not hard to see why the kids are like that.

Cat grad, officials are taught to leave asap after a game, specifically to avoid any conflict. It may seem like they were avoiding that specific contest, but I've jogged off the field even after a blowout

I had a coming to Jesus moment about 4 years ago when my daughter was playing Junior Varsity basketball and I was very disrespectful to a ref. It turned out a week later this ref who was volunteering to coach my grandson indoor soccer. He made a little money reffing, but he was getting paid nothing to coach my grandson. He didn't even have a kid playing. He was a 21 year old kid who was stationed at Malmstrom air force base coaching because he loved to help kids. He was also deploying to Iraq right after the soccer season. Yeah, I realized that I was being the jerk I was so used to criticizing. My daughter and grandson deserved a better role model than that, so I changed. Every fan and parent has that obligation to do that. There is a critical shortage of officials for high school football. Some of these officials can literally work every night of the week except sunday and family night. We have people who are stepping up to help out and they get treated like crap. They are not perfect, but they are not screwing your team out of malice. They are humans. Be responsible. Sign up to ref or leave them alone. Let the coaches talk to the officials. Although they can be worse than parents and fans too. If you have fan near you being inappropriate, do what you can to stop them. Do your part and lead by example.

I've worked four games in a week, and know many refs who have done more. Combined with weekly meetings on Wednesdays when games are rarely scheduled, and officials are pretty busy during the fall

Back in my heyday, I used to do 7-8 games per week ranging from 5th grade to varsity. That's pretty common around the state, even for the larger pools....we have one of the biggest pools around with 35. Its a thankless job that becomes more thankless all the time....as Cat Grad has so graciously demonstrated. Who wouldn't want to take all of their spare time to pour over rules books, attend study clubs, etc all for 60 bucks and the privilege to be berated by a few hundred armchair experts

cats2506 wrote:

Cat Grad wrote:Pretty topical article. I've watched several games this year and for the first time in years, I observed an inexperienced (hope that's all it was) officiating crew completely lose control of a game in Whitefish tonight. When defensive linemen are tackled while a quarterback is scrambling in front of an official and holding is not called numerous times, the kids emotions (football is an extremely emotional game) not to mention the friends and parents have a tendency to lose control.

The scene was made even worse when the five officials literally ran for their vehicles in formation as soon as the final gun sounded. As I made my way out of the stands, the mothers of the kids yelling and cussing at each other was a sight to behold. I thought sports and competition was supposed to be a healthy outlet, but man I've watched some games this year that I left wondering why some of the folks go to support the kids. It's understood in any and all parts of the country officials are fair game and they sometimes need the crowds help to make the correct call, so I wonder why we have such an emphasis on "sportsmanship" with regards to the zebras screwing up all the time out here?

I've always felt officials are supposed to be impartial, and I suppose the inexperience and lack of understanding is one of the major reasons we have so many incidents, especially in football. I kind of appreciate at times we don't have incidents as one of my friends in the South had in her school system. The losing team beat the opposing coach so bad after the game he missed most of the season.

Years ago, I used to watch baseball and hockey and wonder what everybody complained about when we'd get in fights on the football field or basketball floor.

I really don't see much difference today than what I watched when I was a kid except I don't have the fun of watching dads duke it out in the parking lot after a game. As I was raised in the Gallatin, I always thought it'd be fun to go to Butte where the fire department actually had to hose the crowds to break up fights.

Not sure which side your on here but here is my take on your story, that was a game between Columbia Falls and Whitefish that you speak of. A year ago our team (Fergus) traveled to Columbia Falls, the fans were perhaps that rudest and most obnoxious that I have ever seen at a HS Game, how often to you go to a game where home fans walk the sidelines of the visitors side talking smack and mouthing off to the parents and players of the visiting team. This year they returned to play in Lewistown and since I am on the chain gang I get to see up close how the coaches and team act, they were mostly punks and the coach was a foul mouthed jerk, His lack of sportsmanship included an onside kick when the clock was running (35 point rule) but didn't stop there, when Fergus substituted by pulling all starters and playing backups, CF maintained a majority of their starters on the field. I saw CF players throw punches and say rude offensive things about other players and generally act like punks. After seeing their coach it is not hard to see why the kids are like that.

2506, sounds like a lot of similarities to the CF/Whitefish game. Early in the game one of the CFalls kids threw a punch and received a personal foul and then proceeded to yell at the ref and was ejected. The coach followed that up with a personal foul of his own. I heard similar from our chain gang about the sideline behavior of the head coach. Their coaches in the box spent the entire second half yelling at the refs. When the game was over, at least 2 of the CFalls kids ran towards the refs yelling obscenities at them as they were running off the field. I'd guess the moms referenced above were all from CFalls yelling at each other. A handful or more of the CFalls kids were singled out by the refs for very poor sportsmanship and have been given some community service as a result. As for the game, I was surprised at how Whitefish dominated CFalls. If not for a fumbled punt that gave them some momentum in the 3rd quarter, I think it would have been a shutout.

Whitefish cats wrote:

cats2506 wrote:

Cat Grad wrote:Pretty topical article. I've watched several games this year and for the first time in years, I observed an inexperienced (hope that's all it was) officiating crew completely lose control of a game in Whitefish tonight. When defensive linemen are tackled while a quarterback is scrambling in front of an official and holding is not called numerous times, the kids emotions (football is an extremely emotional game) not to mention the friends and parents have a tendency to lose control.

The scene was made even worse when the five officials literally ran for their vehicles in formation as soon as the final gun sounded. As I made my way out of the stands, the mothers of the kids yelling and cussing at each other was a sight to behold. I thought sports and competition was supposed to be a healthy outlet, but man I've watched some games this year that I left wondering why some of the folks go to support the kids. It's understood in any and all parts of the country officials are fair game and they sometimes need the crowds help to make the correct call, so I wonder why we have such an emphasis on "sportsmanship" with regards to the zebras screwing up all the time out here?

I've always felt officials are supposed to be impartial, and I suppose the inexperience and lack of understanding is one of the major reasons we have so many incidents, especially in football. I kind of appreciate at times we don't have incidents as one of my friends in the South had in her school system. The losing team beat the opposing coach so bad after the game he missed most of the season.

Years ago, I used to watch baseball and hockey and wonder what everybody complained about when we'd get in fights on the football field or basketball floor.

I really don't see much difference today than what I watched when I was a kid except I don't have the fun of watching dads duke it out in the parking lot after a game. As I was raised in the Gallatin, I always thought it'd be fun to go to Butte where the fire department actually had to hose the crowds to break up fights.

Not sure which side your on here but here is my take on your story, that was a game between Columbia Falls and Whitefish that you speak of. A year ago our team (Fergus) traveled to Columbia Falls, the fans were perhaps that rudest and most obnoxious that I have ever seen at a HS Game, how often to you go to a game where home fans walk the sidelines of the visitors side talking smack and mouthing off to the parents and players of the visiting team. This year they returned to play in Lewistown and since I am on the chain gang I get to see up close how the coaches and team act, they were mostly punks and the coach was a foul mouthed jerk, His lack of sportsmanship included an onside kick when the clock was running (35 point rule) but didn't stop there, when Fergus substituted by pulling all starters and playing backups, CF maintained a majority of their starters on the field. I saw CF players throw punches and say rude offensive things about other players and generally act like punks. After seeing their coach it is not hard to see why the kids are like that.

2506, thanks for the insight, sounds like a lot of similarities to the CF/Whitefish game. Early in the game one of the CFalls kids threw a punch and received a personal foul and then proceeded to yell at the ref and was ejected. The coach followed that up with a personal foul of his own. I heard similar from our chain gang about the sideline behavior of the head coach. Their coaches in the box spent the entire second half yelling at the refs. When the game was over, at least 2 of the CFalls kids ran towards the refs yelling obscenities at them as they were running off the field. I'd guess the moms referenced above were all from CFalls yelling at each other. A handful or more of the CFalls kids were singled out by the refs for very poor sportsmanship and have been given some community service as a result. I heard that CFalls also ran a fake punt and an onside kick against Browning when up by the mercy rule in the second half. I've been on the chain gang for games in past years, and you realize pretty quick that these refs are not the greatest, so you better learn to deal with it. You can either coach your team or complain about the refs. As for the game, I was surprised at how Whitefish dominated CFalls. If not for a fumbled punt that gave them some momentum in the 3rd quarter, I think it would have been a shutout.

In another thread, I compared the difference between Southern officiating and Western officiating. I like to think more than anything our officiating can be easily explained in that we simply don't have the population to provide a quality product.

As far as the supposed behavior of a group of 14-17 year old kids after getting beat in a rivalry game, I'd put what happened after the game squarely on the shoulders of a school system without adequate crowd control on the part of not just the administrstion but especially their athletic director. I understand the punishments of the C Falls kids were a direct result of a letter she filed complaining about the visiting team and nothing was said about the taunting her team did to precipitate their response. The only thing worse than a poor loser is a poor winner.

At least the kids all realize its just a game. I understand she got rather hysterical and was actually yelling at the C Falls kids and one of the kids asked her "What are you going to do about it!" when she got in the face of the opposing team instead of worrying about her school.

As far as the C Falls coach? Yeah, he played for Idaho State, has state championships from the state of Washington and has probably forgotten more about football than I will ever know. I know the kids and the town love him and Whitefish doesn't much care for their athletic director. Don't really know why and don't care.

Cat Grad wrote:

Whitefish cats wrote:

cats2506 wrote:

Cat Grad wrote:Pretty topical article. I've watched several games this year and for the first time in years, I observed an inexperienced (hope that's all it was) officiating crew completely lose control of a game in Whitefish tonight. When defensive linemen are tackled while a quarterback is scrambling in front of an official and holding is not called numerous times, the kids emotions (football is an extremely emotional game) not to mention the friends and parents have a tendency to lose control.

The scene was made even worse when the five officials literally ran for their vehicles in formation as soon as the final gun sounded. As I made my way out of the stands, the mothers of the kids yelling and cussing at each other was a sight to behold. I thought sports and competition was supposed to be a healthy outlet, but man I've watched some games this year that I left wondering why some of the folks go to support the kids. It's understood in any and all parts of the country officials are fair game and they sometimes need the crowds help to make the correct call, so I wonder why we have such an emphasis on "sportsmanship" with regards to the zebras screwing up all the time out here?

I've always felt officials are supposed to be impartial, and I suppose the inexperience and lack of understanding is one of the major reasons we have so many incidents, especially in football. I kind of appreciate at times we don't have incidents as one of my friends in the South had in her school system. The losing team beat the opposing coach so bad after the game he missed most of the season.

Years ago, I used to watch baseball and hockey and wonder what everybody complained about when we'd get in fights on the football field or basketball floor.

I really don't see much difference today than what I watched when I was a kid except I don't have the fun of watching dads duke it out in the parking lot after a game. As I was raised in the Gallatin, I always thought it'd be fun to go to Butte where the fire department actually had to hose the crowds to break up fights.

Not sure which side your on here but here is my take on your story, that was a game between Columbia Falls and Whitefish that you speak of. A year ago our team (Fergus) traveled to Columbia Falls, the fans were perhaps that rudest and most obnoxious that I have ever seen at a HS Game, how often to you go to a game where home fans walk the sidelines of the visitors side talking smack and mouthing off to the parents and players of the visiting team. This year they returned to play in Lewistown and since I am on the chain gang I get to see up close how the coaches and team act, they were mostly punks and the coach was a foul mouthed jerk, His lack of sportsmanship included an onside kick when the clock was running (35 point rule) but didn't stop there, when Fergus substituted by pulling all starters and playing backups, CF maintained a majority of their starters on the field. I saw CF players throw punches and say rude offensive things about other players and generally act like punks. After seeing their coach it is not hard to see why the kids are like that.

2506, thanks for the insight, sounds like a lot of similarities to the CF/Whitefish game. Early in the game one of the CFalls kids threw a punch and received a personal foul and then proceeded to yell at the ref and was ejected. The coach followed that up with a personal foul of his own. I heard similar from our chain gang about the sideline behavior of the head coach. Their coaches in the box spent the entire second half yelling at the refs. When the game was over, at least 2 of the CFalls kids ran towards the refs yelling obscenities at them as they were running off the field. I'd guess the moms referenced above were all from CFalls yelling at each other. A handful or more of the CFalls kids were singled out by the refs for very poor sportsmanship and have been given some community service as a result. I heard that CFalls also ran a fake punt and an onside kick against Browning when up by the mercy rule in the second half. I've been on the chain gang for games in past years, and you realize pretty quick that these refs are not the greatest, so you better learn to deal with it. You can either coach your team or complain about the refs. As for the game, I was surprised at how Whitefish dominated CFalls. If not for a fumbled punt that gave them some momentum in the 3rd quarter, I think it would have been a shutout.

In another thread, I compared the difference between Southern officiating and Western officiating. I like to think more than anything our officiating can be easily explained in that we simply don't have the population to provide a quality product.

As far as the supposed behavior of a group of 14-17 year old kids after getting beat in a rivalry game, I'd put what happened after the game squarely on the shoulders of a school system without adequate crowd control on the part of not just the administrstion but especially their athletic director. I understand the punishments of the C Falls kids were a direct result of a letter she filed complaining about the visiting team and nothing was said about the taunting her team did to precipitate their response. The only thing worse than a poor loser is a poor winner.

At least the kids all realize its just a game. I understand she got rather hysterical and was actually yelling at the C Falls kids and one of the kids asked her "What are you going to do about it!" when she got in the face of the opposing team instead of worrying about her school.

As far as the C Falls coach? Yeah, he played for Idaho State, has state championships from the state of Washington and has probably forgotten more about football than I will ever know. I know the kids and the town love him and Whitefish doesn't much care for their athletic director. Don't really know why and don't care.

So I guess that it is alright to act like a total douchbag if you have that pedigree or play for a coach with that pedigree?

In my experience with him, he's not much different than any other coach, temperament wise

Come on 2506. You saw the offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties which precipitated the onside kick in Lewistown. Was it Passow, Crawford or Butcher that creamed the C Falls kid? Not that it matters now, but I recall the Lewistown coaches getting the unsportsmanlike flag in that game.

After that hit on the C Falls kid, I personally would have thought less of Schweikert had he not defended his team.

Remember all these C Falls and Whitefish kids hang out and even play Legion Baseball together. What Whitefish's Athletic Director did to the C Falls team after the game so reminded me of what happened to an opposing coach in Georgia when he got in the middle of the other team instead of taking care of his kids. Do you honestly think the C Falls kids knew or cared who she was after listening to her kids with these comments: "Number one my ass!" "****** overrated!" "Scoreboard, number1"

The home team has a responsibility to provide adequate crowd control and security for the safety of the visiting team. She, the Whitefish AD, woefully failed in her official capacity and as a minimum should be reprimanded by her board and in my opinion should be relieved of her duties. I feel the C Falls administration should file a complaint wirh the Montana High School Activities Association.

Football is an extremely emotional GAME. It's more than a game to this bunch of 13 or 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 year old kids. When baseball teammates futily attempt to correct officials and even tell one "That was a clean hit." and they don't wave a flag off, something's wrong. Or when both teams are trying to help the officiating crew with the penalty yards, for instance when they only marked of five yards on a holding call and the Whitefish and CFalls kids are telling them they're wrong I can't help but laugh as I know Schweikert must be going crazy with the quality of officials we have out here.

Cat Grad wrote:Come on 2506. You saw the offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties which precipitated the onside kick in Lewistown. Was it Passow, Crawford or Butcher that creamed the C Falls kid? Not that it matters now, but I recall the Lewistown coaches getting the unsportsmanlike flag in that game.

After that hit on the C Falls kid, I personally would have thought less of Schweikert had he not defended his team.

Remember all these C Falls and Whitefish kids hang out and even play Legion Baseball together. What Whitefish's Athletic Director did to the C Falls team after the game so reminded me of what happened to an opposing coach in Georgia when he got in the middle of the other team instead of taking care of his kids. Do you honestly think the C Falls kids knew or cared who she was after listening to her kids with these comments: "Number one my ass!" "****** overrated!" "Scoreboard, number1"

The home team has a responsibility to provide adequate crowd control and security for the safety of the visiting team. She, the Whitefish AD, woefully failed in her official capacity and as a minimum should be reprimanded by her board and in my opinion should be relieved of her duties. I feel the C Falls administration should file a complaint wirh the Montana High School Activities Association.

Football is an extremely emotional GAME. It's more than a game to this bunch of 13 or 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 year old kids. When baseball teammates futily attempt to correct officials and even tell one "That was a clean hit." and they don't wave a flag off, something's wrong. Or when both teams are trying to help the officiating crew with the penalty yards, for instance when they only marked of five yards on a holding call and the Whitefish and CFalls kids are telling them they're wrong I can't help but laugh as I know Schweikert must be going crazy with the quality of officials we have out here.

Yep, Feller got a flag for chewing out the ref because he tried to start the next play while we had an injured player on the ground, he had been warned to stay off the field and had finally had enough of Bowen's narcissistic crap. BTW Feller is an MOA Master and know the rules and will fight for his kids. The flag on CF was for language by a player, I was standing 5 ft from Schweikert when the ref told him what it was for.

Who is Crawford?

You must be one of those proud CF parents that stands on the sidelines and yells obscenities at the other team.

I am not going to doubt that Schweikert knows his football, however his sportsmanship and conduct on the field leaves a lot to be desired, and he knows it, he was talking on the sidelines (to other coaches) how stupid it was to do the onside, and admitted that he should not have called it. But then I hear that he did the same at Browning so his morals must be pretty weak.

Tanner Crawford, #76. As I didn't record this game, as previously stated I'm not certain about the number but I know he was rather portly, that is to say, he had to hold his arms out in order to discern whether he was waddling or rolling.

Obviously, you saw what the kid did and yet somehow you are finding it okay to justify his actions because he's from your hometown? What would you want the C Falls kid to exclaim? "Shucky darn! Why did you do that!"

And no, although I have a rather aserbic tongue at times, I can ordinarially be found laughing and mocking those big people you speak of on both sides, especially since I have so many relatives in and around Lewistown

And for what it's worth, I think the kids calling the games themselves would be more fair and better organized than the officiating they're being subjected to by the adults involved and the events would without a doubt also be better organized.

Cat Grad wrote:Tanner Crawford, #76. As I didn't record this game, as previously stated I'm not certain about the number but I know he was rather portly, that is to say, he had to hold his arms out in order to discern whether he was waddling or rolling.

Obviously, you saw what the kid did and yet somehow you are finding it okay to justify his actions because he's from your hometown? What would you want the C Falls kid to exclaim? "Shucky darn! Why did you do that!"

And no, although I have a rather aserbic tongue at times, I can ordinarially be found laughing and mocking those big people you speak of on both sides, especially since I have so many relatives in and around Lewistown

And for what it's worth, I think the kids calling the games themselves would be more fair and better organized than the officiating they're being subjected to by the adults involved and the events would without a doubt also be better organized.

No Tanner Crawford at Fergus

Got the name from the program your school gave out. No biggie. Doesn't matter as you evidently recall the incident.

And as far as the kid who was kicked out of the game at Whitefish? His own teammates went off on him. They are all just kids.

Cat Grad wrote:Got the name from the program your school gave out. No biggie. Doesn't matter as you evidently recall the incident.

And as far as the kid who was kicked out of the game at Whitefish? His own teammates went off on him. They are all just kids.

You sure you have the right program? And no I am not sure what you are talking about, must have missed it, maybe your coach was dropping the F bomb at players on both sides at the time and it diverted my attention..

And BTW Butcher didn't play in that game, hip injury

You 2 are modeling the behavior that the article mentions. So willing to point fingers at the opposition and not able to see their team's part in it. That is why this will always be a problem. We have a hard time as fans being objective.

On a very personal level, I know that an onside kick and fake punt were not attempted in the Columbia Falls v. Browning, and in the case of the CF v. Fergus, the onside kick was attempted in response to a blatant late hit out of bounds on a C-Falls player. No parents are allowed on our sidelines and to the person who isn't afraid to point fingers on the Fergus' chain gang, maybe you should ask your town's own players about the trash talk that they started and that both they and the coaches carried out throughout all 4 quarters. Two sides to every story. Here's ours.

Thanks for all this insight on those douche bags from C-Falls. Thank goodness you matured adults have more common sense than to call a 17 year old a douche bag. Oh wait. Thanks also for the bulletin board material.